With 88% of TikTokers saying audio is essential to their overall experience on the app, knowing how to find trending sounds on TikTok offers massive potential for brands to grow on the platform.
Trending TikTok sounds, songs, and other original audio are used every day, with trends evolving quickly. How can you stay ahead of what’s trending in order to leverage these sounds in your TikTok marketing strategy?
Ahead, learn how to find trending TikTok sounds using the tools right inside the app. And discover eight places to find sounds and songs to use in your TikTok content.
TikTok users are eight times more likely to remember a brand for the unique sounds and songs it uses in its videos than other elements such as visual style, color, slogan, and logo. That’s why finding the right sounds is critical to brand recognition and building an audience.
Here’s how to find trending sounds on TikTok, right inside the app:
Here are the steps to find TikTok sounds using the search bar:
There are other ways to find TikTok sounds right inside the app. Let’s explore a few of those options.
Whether you’re new to TikTok or a frequent user, there’s no doubt you spend the bulk of your TikTok time on the For You page, as it’s one of the app’s core features. When browsing the page, look at what sorts of videos others are posting and the sounds they’re using.
One of the best parts of finding trending sounds on TikTok through the For You page is that it requires almost no additional effort or time, as you can easily do it during your regular use of TikTok. Trending sounds or songs will definitely be repeated over and over as you scroll—after a few minutes, you’ll start to recognize what’s trending.
It’s worth noting here that the content on the For You page differs from user to user. This is because it caters to users’ personal interests and the TikTok communities they belong to. If you want to create brand content that appeals to your target audience, find out what sort of content they see on their For You page by doing market analysis.
Another resource is TikTok’s very own sound library. Here’s how to access it and use it to find trending sounds:
TikTok’s Creative Center allows users to view the most popular songs on the app and even filter them by region. The latter comes in particularly handy when your target market is located in an area different from yours.
Clicking on any song on the list will also show you a graph charting its general performance over the past week.
? Note: You need to log in to the Creative Center to gain full access to the data. You can get access by signing up for a TikTok Business Account, which is free.
Other than in the app itself, there are external tools and resources to help you source viral audio and songs that you can use in your brand’s TikTok content.
Another great place to find trending songs on TikTok is none other than the leading music streaming provider, Spotify.
Simply enter “TikTok” in the search bar and select “Playlists.” There, you’ll find playlist after playlist of the top trending sounds on TikTok curated by users.
But if you pay attention to only one user, let that be TikTok’s very own Spotify account. It currently has 10 public playlists with the latest TikTok hits, sorted by region.
Popular video-sharing platform YouTube is also a wonderful resource for trending songs on TikTok.
In the search bar, enter keywords such as “trending tiktok sounds” or “trending tiktok songs” and you’ll have a plethora of options. In fact, simply typing in “trending tiktok” prompts YouTube’s autocomplete predictions, and you’ll get a list of search suggestions.
YUMMY is one account you want to follow to stay up-to-date with trending sounds on TikTok, as it publishes a new video with the latest TikTok hits every single day.
Redlist also has a playlist of trending TikTok songs that it updates pretty frequently. What’s more, Redlist also compiles music videos of the most popular TikTok songs every few months and even lists the names of these songs for easy identification.
Last but certainly not least, the Billboard Hot 100 chart is a resource you want to check out when looking for trending sounds on TikTok.
TokChart is a website that tracks trending music on TikTok within the past 24 hours and breaks out trends by location.
When you’ve chosen a trending sound for your TikTok content, look at how it’s being used, especially in the videos that are going viral. This gives you a better idea of how to participate in the TikTok trend.
Also, consider reading through the comments section of these videos for feedback from other users to understand what you can improve on or avoid doing.
If you want to go the extra mile, don’t simply imitate what others are doing. This is your chance to be creative and put your own spin on it. A little out-of-the-box thinking can be the key to getting your videos to go viral on TikTok!
Once you come across sounds or songs in trending videos, don’t forget to save them as favorites. This saves you the effort of having to locate them again when you’re ready to use them in your TikTok posts.
Plus, TikTok trends tend to last around five to seven days. Depending on how often and when you post on TikTok, this can give you plenty of opportunities to use the current sounds that are trending.
But how long a TikTok sound can trend is anyone’s guess. Some can potentially go on for months on end or even resurface in the future. To that end, saving them as favorites allows you to come back to them easily at a later date. It’s much like having your own personalized library of trending TikTok sounds at your fingertips.
Aside from looking for songs and sounds that are trending across TikTok, pay close attention to those that are specific and relevant to your target audience. While the top sounds and songs may be getting a ton of attention, they may not all resonate with your specific audience.
Tap into what your followers are following and liking. Even though some of these sounds may not be as hot widely, there’s a chance they’ll resonate just as well—if not better—with your target audience.
Remember, TikTok isn’t just about music. Users can also create unique sounds that are fun to make videos with. So catchy and trendy songs aside, knowing how to find trending sounds on TikTok is also important.
To do that, your best bet would be to browse on the TikTok app itself (i.e., via the For You page and TikTok’s search bar).
As 73% of users say they “stop and look” at TikTok ads that have audio, sounds are an incredibly important part of your TikTok marketing strategy, not only for organic posts, but for paid ads too.
Given the popularity of audio on TikTok, including the hottest hits in your TikTok content can really help to increase your reach and, ultimately, sell on TikTok.
There are a number of ways to find trending sounds on TikTok, including features within the app and external resources. These include:
Remember that trending audio changes all the time. Use these ways to find trending sounds on a regular basis and stay on top of viral trends.
Business accounts on TikTok are not able to use popular songs unless they have the required license for use, due to the risk of running into copyright issues. Music that’s available for commercial use can be found in the Commercial Music Library. Personal accounts may still use popular songs.
The most used sound on TikTok changes depending on trends in music and popular culture. “Love You So” by The King Kahn & BBQ Show was the most played song on TikTok between January and June 2022, with TikTok videos using this sound reaching a play count of over 38.6 billion.
