Simon Fuller, renowned hit-maker and founder of XIX Entertainment, and TikTok, the short-form video app with a mission to inspire creativity and bring joy, today announced a ground-breaking partnership to discover the most talented music performers on TikTok and create a first-of-its-kind global music collective.
Through an in-app audition process on TikTok, Fuller – an entertainment industry icon and creator of the Idol franchise, which re-defined how television could provide a launch platform for music talent – will be looking for extraordinary undiscovered artists to earn a spot in the innovative group. In re-writing the rules of music discovery, Fuller and TikTok will bring fresh excitement and joy to the global stage and place the TikTok audience at the heart of the group’s development.
TikTok has proven to be a platform unlike any other where artists can quickly and easily share their creativity and immediately rocket to global fame.
“TikTok has empowered self-expression and creativity and captured the hearts and minds of hundreds of millions of passionate users. The next generation of Pop Stars have eagerly embraced the platform,” said Fuller. “With the help of the TikTok audience, I will bring together a line-up of incredible artists to shape the next level of Pop Fandom. This will be the most connected Pop Group ever, thriving on every platform and sharing their talent and positive energy with the world.”
TikTok has been transformational for the music industry. The beloved video platform has helped catapult new artists to fame, given new life and new audiences to throwback hits, and fundamentally changed the way music is developed and consumed around the world. Music is among the many ways TikTok is a driving force of our culture today.
“It’s been nothing short of awe-inspiring to see the extraordinary musical talent – from up-and-coming artists to superstars like Lizzo, JLo and Justin Beiber – that shows up on TikTok every day and inspires even more creativity around the world,” said Kevin Mayer, TikTok CEO. “Together with Simon Fuller, we have the opportunity to find the next stars, many of whom are on TikTok today, and empower them to become a cultural phenomenon.”
“TikTok is shaping culture, supercharging music discovery, and fast-tracking artists onto the charts,” said Ole Obermann, TikTok’s Global Head of Music. “We’re delighted to partner with Simon Fuller as we continue to support emerging talent and build TikTok as the premiere artist development and discovery platform. Simon’s unrivalled track record of identifying and nurturing musical talent is a perfect fit with our mission at TikTok.”
TikTok has become the go-to staging ground that has helped previously little known or undiscovered artists like Lil Nas X, Curtis Waters, Ambjaay, Breland, Mxmtoon, Y2K, and bbno$ find mainstream fame and dominate the charts. Combining TikTok’s enhanced social virality for musicians on the app with Fuller’s unique ability to spot and develop talent, this partnership has all the right makings of creating the world’s next chart-topping pop group.
Talent should keep an eye on the TikTok app for forthcoming audition details.
