Dadju has beef with TikTok , and this time it has nothing to do with a dance challenge.
The French-Congolese singer has criticised the platform’s influence on the music industry, arguing that TikTok hasn’t just changed how we discover songs , it’s changing how artists make them.
His assessment was not particularly subtle:
« TikTok, pour moi,a détérioré la musique »
Dadju’s argument is that listeners increasingly consume one specific part of a song instead of sitting through the entire track.
And artists know it.
Songs that might once have comfortably lasted four minutes are becoming shorter, hooks arrive faster and certain sections can be deliberately designed with one goal in mind:
please, algorithm, pick me.
TikTok has undeniably become one of the biggest engines of music discovery. A random 15-second clip can revive a decade-old song, turn an unknown artist into a global name or send a track flying up Spotify charts.
Great for discovery.
Potentially weird for songwriting.
Because if every artist is trying to create the 15 seconds people will use for an outfit transition, what happens to the other three minutes?
Dadju believes the pressure is affecting both the variety and quality of contemporary music, although he also acknowledges that talented artists and strong records obviously still exist.
And whether you agree with him or not, he has opened up a genuinely interesting question.
TikTok used to follow music trends.
Now, are musicians following TikTok trends?
Because if the bridge disappeared so we could get another sped-up chorus…
