This was first published on WhistleOut.com
The Most Valuable 2021 TikTok Songs, Ranked by Payou
By Angelo Ilumba
WhistleOut
We all know TikTok as the social media phenomenon offering up endless hours of short user-generated video clips, but is it also a legitimate medium for musicians to get their music out there? Whether as background soundtracks or integral parts of memes, music is heavily featured in TikTok videos. Certainly, a viral TikTok played a huge role in getting the classic Fleetwood Mac song “Dreams” to a new and younger audience. The Backyardigans, a TV show that hasn’t aired new episodes since 2013, has gained attention with two songs regularly played on TikTok.
We set out to find out if bands and artists benefit monetarily from being heavily featured in TikTok.
The Most Played Songs on TikTok
- “Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” by Kevin MacLeod—31,612,975,915 plays
- “Oh No” by Kreepa— 30,406,767266 plays
- “Steven Universe” by L.Dre—10,681,174,626 plays
“Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” and “Steven Universe” are both popular songs to use as background music for TikTok videos. “Oh No” is part of a popular funny TikTok meme that captures the moments right before unfortunate events happen.
Unfortunately, for the artists behind these songs, there doesn’t seem to be a correlation between TikTok plays and revenue. “Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” has earned a relatively small $14,577 from Spotify, while “Oh No” actually beats it out with $114,933 (still pretty small) in Spotify earnings.
The Highest Earning Songs from TikTok
- “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” by Lil Nas X—$2,992,743
- “Astronaut in the Ocean” by Masked Wolf—$2,693,099
- “Good 4 U” by Olivia Rodrigo—$2,275,954
Again, we can’t find a strong correlation between earnings and TikTok plays. “Good 4 U,” for instance, only has 965,217,397 plays on TikTok yet earns significantly more than “Oh No” by Kreepa. Olivia Rodigro’s meteoric rise in pop culture likely has more to do with her overall earnings than TikTok plays.
The complete list of most valuable TikTok songs
| Track | Artist | Payout Rank | Spotify avg. payout ($.0045 per play) | Spotify plays | Tik Tok plays |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) | Lil Nas X | 1 | $2,992,743 | 665,054,005 | 1,694,857,032 |
| Astronaut In The Ocean | Masked Wolf | 2 | $2,693,099 | 598,466,338 | 3,395,396,227 |
| good 4 u | Olivia Rodrigo | 3 | $2,275,954 | 505,767,531 | 965,217,397 |
| Kiss Me More (feat. SZA) | Doja Cat | 4 | $1,976,048 | 439,121,761 | 1,418,308,783 |
| Day ‘n’ Nite | Kid Cudi | 5 | $1,856,185 | 412,485,494 | 3,270,587,639 |
| telepatía | Kali Uchis | 6 | $1,765,858 | 392,412,807 | 1,202,594,351 |
| deja vu | Olivia Rodrigo | 7 | $1,742,185 | 387,152,327 | 768,229,907 |
| Up | Cardi B | 8 | $1,374,870 | 305,526,586 | 2,502,055,026 |
| Levitating | Dua Lipa | 9 | $1,103,350 | 245,188,889 | 768,229,907 |
| SugarCrash! | ElyOtto | 10 | $710,540 | 157,897,740 | 8,881,363,407 |
| Rasputin (7″ Version) | Boney M. | 11 | $566,568 | 125,904,095 | 4,775,873,193 |
| Body (Remix) [feat. ArrDee, E1 (3×3), ZT (3×3), Bugzy Malone, Buni, Fivio] | Tion Wayne & Russ Millions | 12 | $550,248 | 122,277,402 | 925,810,530 |
| Cry Baby (feat. DaBaby) | Megan Thee Stallion | 13 | $486,538 | 108,119,472 | 2,302,265,163 |
| Buss It | Erica Banks | 14 | $378,173 | 84,038,510 | 6,264,706,275 |
| Two® | Lil Uzi Vert | 15 | $318,808 | 70,846,143 | 798,036,109 |
| Моя голова винтом | kostromin | 16 | $216,178 | 48,039,491 | 1,506,892,080 |
| Jalebi Baby | Tesher | 17 | $199,825 | 44,405,566 | 1,600,475,838 |
| Oh No | Kreepa | 18 | $114,933 | 25,540,579 | 30,406,767,266 |
| Castaways | The Backyardigans | 19 | $97,868 | 21,748,469 | 1,137,190,199 |
| Steven Universe | L.Dre | 20 | $96,531 | 21,451,349 | 10,681,174,626 |
| Plastic | Unghetto Mathieu | 21 | $92,581 | 20,573,469 | 1,768,567,021 |
| Renai Circulation (English Cover) [TV Size] | Lizz Robinett | 22 | $59,157 | 13,146,031 | 1,190,823,818 |
| Aesthetic | Xilo | 23 | $54,151 | 12,033,476 | 2,597,636,685 |
| Punk Monk | Playboi Carti | 24 | $41,820 | 9,293,274 | 277,408,385 |
| Clap For ‘Em (feat. Flo Milli & Sada Baby) | YungManny | 25 | $34,913 | 7,758,473 | 924,950,148 |
| Into The Thick Of It! | The Backyardigans | 26 | $26,277 | 5,839,408 | 705,316,447 |
| Monkeys Spinning Monkeys | Kevin MacLeod | 27 | $14,577 | 3,239,303 | 31,612,975,815 |
| VANO 3000 | VANO 3000 | 28 | $13,373 | 2,971,757 | 270,286,219 |
| Hai phút hơn | marlene | 29 | $10,095 | 2,243,244 | 4,754,857,749 |
| Spongebob | Dante9k | 30 | $709 | 157,580 | 6,101,731,002 |
Sources:
