Speeding up with TikTok: the Sped up song versions

 I want to dedicate this note to a new trend in the musical field: the Sped up song version, which basically consists of increasing the speed of a song to 150%. This practice was generated on TikTok thanks to contributions from anonymous users. They would tune the song to the new style and make it freely available for others to upload with their own videos or choreographies. Regardless of whether Sped up song versions are considered a valuable artistic product or not, the truth is that originally, this was a community and anti-capitalist movement. This is because TikTok users who made their own versions posted them on the networks for free circulation and did not obtain financial benefit from it. To this, we should add a huge number of tutorials with tricks to make your own accelerated version that can be seen on various platforms like YouTube.

 

The side effects of Sped up song

The trend of Sped up song versions has contributed not only to generating new hits but, paradoxically, has helped turn relatively recent pop songs into unexpected super hits, even if they initially weren’t.  This is the case, for example, of Sure Thing, by the American R’n’B singer Miguel (original from 2010), Die For You, by The Weeknd (from 2016), Cool For The Summer, by Demi Lovato (2015), Sway, by Michael Bublé (2003) or Say it Right, by Nelly Furtado (2006).

In all these cases, the exponential increase in clicks has been so overwhelming that the artists themselves have succumbed to the trend and started to publish these versions officially. TikTok content with the #spedup hashtag already has 10 billion views, and, according to data published by the US magazine Billboard, 80 of the 100 most listened-to songs on that social network have an altered tempo. The phenomenon has already spread in such a way that Spotify has even created an official playlist of Sped up song versions, which exceeds a million likes and includes songs by superstars such as Madonna and Rihanna.

 

A generation Z movement

The rise of this practice confirms that TikTok users, mostly composed of generation Z individuals, are no longer satisfied with being mere passive spectators. “Fans come to our platform not so much to enjoy the music, but to express themselves creatively and connect with each other through it, and with their favorite artists. Fans here have the chance to participate in the musical creation process”, says Soraya Castellanos, head of TikTok Content, Community, and Associations in Spain and Portugal. “Within our community of users, a movement is generated, an impressive wave of inspiration, which invites collaboration and enrichment of the content. People riff on ideas, take full advantage of our effects, and use sounds that someone has created on the other side of the world,” she adds.

Although speeding up a song by itself doesn’t have much merit, there is no creative decision beyond that tempo change, it is possible to build on that idea to introduce other new elements. Surely faster songs will also be made and heard due to this trend started by the Sped up song versions. In this sense, TikTok users are the true generators of a trend and the music market adjusts to it.

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