ARE YOU PREPARED FOR A TIKTOK SHUTDOWN?

Make sure you've got a direct line of contact with your biggest fans

TikTok's CEO Shou Zi Chew hit up Congress on Thursday to defend his app against skeptical lawmakers who are concerned about its potential threat to national security.

How’d it go?

“I think this actually increases the likelihood that Congress will take some action,” said Mike Gallagher (R-Wis).

What’s all the fuss?

“Governments have expressed concerns that TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, may endanger sensitive user data,” says the NYTimes.

Politics aside (hey now!), what’s this mean for the bands that use a platform with one billion monthly active users?

Here are some bands (and their follower counts) on TikTok based off of Apple Music’s Headbangers and Spotify’s Heavy Metal playlists.

Metallica 2,500,000
Slipknot 2,000,000
Sophie Loyd 448,000*
Iron Maiden 386,700
Lamb Of God 151,500
Megadeth 140,300
Avenged Sevenfold 90,600
Powerwolf 78,800
Judas Priest 36,300
Nita Strauss 31,400*
Killswitch Engage 23,600*
Extreme 3,948
Of Mice & Men 3,085
Self Deception 167*
*Not verified

What happens if TikTok is shut down and you lose contact with 100,000 fans?

How might that affect your next album pre-order?
Or tour announcement?
Or letting your fans know that you aren’t cancelling your appearance at some big summer festivals?

Ahem. Have an email list (just like most of the artists on that list above).

Sure, some fans follow on other social media networks.

Remember when Elder lost access to their Facebook account in September of 2022?

Access to 78,000 Facebook followers gone, and now they’re left trying to get word out to their Instagram audience of 42,500 fans about the situation.

This will get worse before it gets better.

TikTok could shut down.
Twitter could go bankrupt.
Facebook is doing the Metaverse still, right?
Instagram is all about video, er… Reels, Notes, no - carousels!

We’ve got zero control over any of these platforms, so start your Social Media Escape Plan TODAY.

Get one fucking fan onto your email list today.

Get one customer in your online store to opt-in to your newsletter.

Get 100 fans in the habit of going to your website, and converting 5% of them to subscribe to your email list.

Stop whining about about reach, and fighting over vanity metrics and build a direct line of communication to the only thing that matters in this whole damn thing - your fans.