Artists and labels heavily dependent on TikTok for marketing and fan engagement have 75 days to strengthen their presence on other platforms, as the app’s future in the US still hangs in the balance, despite a temporary suspension of the ban that went into effect at the weekend.
As expected, President Donald Trump’s flurry of first-day executive orders included actions to delay the TikTok ban, directing the Department Of Justice to pause enforcement for 75 days. While this keeps TikTok running for now, buying more time for the platform and its millions of creators, the underlying concerns about Chinese ownership and data security still remain unresolved - and seem likely to become a key point of contention in wider political negotiations between Trump’s government and China.
The “unfortunate timing” of the TikTok ban the day before he returned to the White House, Trump wrote in his executive order, “interferes with my ability to negotiate a resolution to avoid an abrupt shutdown of the TikTok platform while addressing national security concerns”. Pausing things by 75 days will “allow my administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward”.
The temporary reprieve offers a clear deadline to secure fan relationships beyond TikTok, with a number of industry practitioners urging artists, labels and creators to prioritise collecting direct contact information - especially email addresses. While switching focus to other social platforms can be tempting, email remains one of the most reliable ways to maintain fan connections independent of any platform.
Where Music’s Going Founder Rob Abelow recommended that approach to artists in a LinkedIn post over the weekend, writing, “This is what every artist should do right now: open TikTok; add a sign-up form to your profile; add a message in bio asking fans to join; post about the need to connect directly. Email, SMS, community - I don’t care. Just do it”. He then added “Even if TikTok isn’t banned, take this to heart. Own the relationship with your fans”.
Symphonic Distribution’s Randi Zimmerman offered similar advice in a post anticipating last weekend’s TikTok ban. As well as urging artists to download and securely store all their TikTok videos, just in case, she added, “building an email list is particularly valuable since it provides a direct line of communication with your audience that isn’t reliant on any social media platform”.
Although that advice is particularly relevant to US-based artists, labels and creators, it also applies to anyone with an audience in the US market. Wherever they are based in the world, creators should also be aware that - while the TikTok ban is on hold - the app’s future in the US remains uncertain.
Trump had already announced that one of his first acts as President would be the postpone the TikTok ban, which came into effect on Sunday as a result of an act passed by US Congress last year based on concerns that the Chinese government has access to US user-data via the app’s China-based owned ByteDance. TikTok had already switched off the app within the US as the ban hit on Saturday night, but then switched things back on after receiving the reassurances from Trump.
TikTok was gushing about Trump’s intervention, making sure its 170 million US users knew they were still getting their daily short-form video fix thanks to the new President. However, the data security concerns that motivated the ban remain, including within at least parts of Trump’s new government, and TikTok and ByteDance may be less keen on the new President’s proposals for addressing those concerns.
In a Truth Social post about TikTok on Sunday, Trump said he would like the US “to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture”. That could be read to mean the US government owning a stake, but he presumably meant his American billionaire buddies having an ownership interest. Congress already gave ByteDance the option to sell TikTok to avoid the ban, an option ByteDance resolutely rejected. It’s not clear if selling half the app business would be an acceptable compromise.
Though it’s not just ByteDance management that matters in that domain, as a sale would need approval from the Chinese government. According to CNN, when China’s Foreign Ministry was asked about Trump’s TikTok plans earlier today, a spokesperson said that the “operation and acquisition of companies” should be “decided by companies”, and the US should “earnestly listen to the voice of reason” and “provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment”.
Trump apparently discussed TikTok with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a phone call on Friday. The new President previously threatened to apply significant new tariffs on Chinese imports, but that wasn’t part of yesterday’s flurry of executive orders. When asked about such tariffs by journalists, Trump indicated that TikTok ownership could become part of wider trade talks.
CNN quoted the new President as saying, “If we wanted to make a deal with TikTok and it was a good deal and China wouldn’t approve it … I think ultimately, they’d approve it because we’d put tariffs on China, maybe”.
Add in comments from Honorary Chair of the Trump Suck-Up Club, Elon Musk, to the effect that while he supports TikTok continuing to operate in the US, he’d like us all to remember that his social network X is not allowed to operate in China, and that’s not fair, who knows where things will head next?
Which brings us back to how creators and musicians who utilise TikTok can futureproof themselves, so however things turns out they can continue to engage fans.
As the US TikTok ban loomed last week, there were reports of creators experimenting with alternative social media apps, though that included Rednote and Lemon8, both also owned by China-based companies - indeed Lemon8 is owned by ByteDance and was also subject to the short-lived shutdown over the weekend. Others speculated that Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts would benefit most from a TikTok shutdown, in terms of both creators and audience.
Though, rather than jumping ship to a single TikTok rival, it’s probably a better strategy for creators and artists to engage a fanbase on multiple platforms, while also encouraging fans to directly connect by email or a direct-to-fan platform that provides more control over the fan relationship.