21: A Music Industry Plant Gone Wrong, Another Cringe Trend and Tarot TikTok

The first fully vaccinated edition of Night School!

Apr 16, 2021

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Hello! This week was another hectic one. I received my second dose of the Pfizer vaccination and visited the local super volcano.

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The Tramp Stamps

The impact of TikTok on the music industry is a very interesting topic. This week there was a quick and dramatic response to one group in particular which attempted to utilize the platform to create a viral audio in a way that backfired extremely quickly.

So it started with the video below, unfortunately by the time I was able to go back and download it, the audio had been removed from the original video but I managed to find a copy of it. The audio is slightly off but you’ll get the idea:

As someone who has been around several DIY music communities and interned at Sup Pop, I wasn’t buying The Tramp Stamps’ aesthetics or attempts at edgy authenticity. They feel like a Disney version of what someone who just discovered sex & swear words would think punk music is. This in combination with the awkwardness of the members trying to fit into the frame in the above video, I wasn’t surprised to see it blow up with so much hate. Videos imitating Pink Slip from Disney’s Freaky Friday (2003) have been extremely popular on TikTok in the past year, so I could see The Tramp Stamps being directly inspired by it.

Okay onto the audience reaction. The Gen Z sleuths on TikTok took issue with many elements of the band itself and the song they were promoting:

Queer baiting with the line: “I’d rather die than date a straight white guy.” Despite the three members being white women with evidence on Social Media of being married to straight white men. Additional lines in same song are problematic as they perpetuate problematic views toward consent.

The band is a suspected industry plant from the backgrounds of the members themselves, and the organizations they are working with. I don’t see industry plants as inherently bad BUT the problem with these artists is often in the unclear methods and resources they used to gain success and the wealth that often backs them. The Tramp Stamps didn’t hide this well, as the below video points out, as the marketing, graphics and website are suspicious:

Their social media footprint:

A lack of credit toward feminist punk music’s past. This one seems like an obvious thing to do but there was zero nods given to artists who laid the ground work for the aesthetic and style the Tramp Stamps attempt and fail to emulate.

See this playlist to discover cool new artists and listen to authentic bops

Hex Girls have also been referenced in many critiques of The Tramp Stamps.

The audience response has been one of the more interesting elements of this whole situation, I have no doubt that The Tramp Stamps will be referenced on TikTok for a while.

I should also note that in addition to the “I’d Rather Die” video featured at the top of this section, they have another viral audio going around on TikTok. A cover of Weezer’s Beverly Hills. Here are a couple videos that have used the audio:

The band’s marketing is working, although maybe not in the way that was intended. The result of the intense critique has led their TikTok videos to be viewed millions of times and people are watching their music videos on YouTube.

While we’re on the topic of the music industry and TikTok…

Many of the popular tracks that end up being played on Top 40 radio in the past couple years have been connected to TikTok in some way. Doja Cat is a really good example of an artist who capitalized on this early with her song, Say So. Other songs you may have seen include Olivia Rodrigo with Driver's License and Frances Forever’s Space Girl.

The case of the Tramp Stamps and inauthentic music marketing connects to cases of young influencers who are be given record deals solely based on having large followings on social media. Not a sustainable practice on the label end but interesting to observe. Dixie D'Amelio is an example of this kind of thing happening, she became famous because she is the sister of Charlie D'Amelio, one of the biggest TikTok creators of all time. Charlie is particularly popular among teenagers and children.

While a song might blow up because of the algorithm it does not necessarily equate to an artist having a strong future in music.

Another Cringe trend

This trend showed up on my feed and I absolutely hate it:

Other people hated it too:

The original use of the viral audio blew up from this video:

The audio itself seems to have come from @thesnikle who has made several videos where he makes a realistic lion growl/roar, see the video below:

Tarot TikTok

There are SO many Tarot Card TikTok videos posted on a daily basis that start with the creator saying things like “there are no hashtags or captions on this video so if this is on you FYP then it is meant for you” or asserting a higher knowledge over the viewer’s life.

Here are some examples of similar videos:

Here’s a reaction to these types of videos:

The below video from @flexmami inspired me to cover this topic:

I will say some of the Tarot videos that have shown up on my personal FYP have been eerily accurate to my life, likely because of the algorithm. That being said, it is always important to retain a critical mind when viewing content related to spiritual practices. I often do use Tarot cards as a mediation and self-healing practice so I tend to ignore the Tarot content on my feed unless it is educational.

To end this section, here’s a cat Tarot reader: