Some of the most popular songs are starting to be accompanied with trendy dances or sped up remixes, thanks to TikTok.

The app has changed the way musicians are making and releasing music.

Popular Philadelphia rapper Lil Uzi Vert’s latest single “Just Wanna Rock” is one of the trendiest songs in the country as the initial video of the rapper dancing has 3.64 million views on TikTok. 

The song is about two minutes long while only containing one verse.

Despite the length of the song, it has become a favorite among users on TikTok as there are currently 843,000 different videos using the song.

Canadian rapper Drake also began to release songs with accompanying dances including back in 2020 with “Toosie Slide.” While the video wasn’t initially posted on TikTok, it was one of the app’s trendiest songs as 532,000 dance videos have been posted using the song. 

This song ultimately scored Drake his seventh total No. 1 song on Billboard Hot 100.

Musicians have been creating dances to their songs since the beginning of time.

Music should speak for itself, not with the intention of scoring big numbers on some chart.

Another trend on TikTok are “sped up” versions of songs where the tempos are increased to speed up the track.

Originally, the trend started with music listeners increasing the tempo and uploading it themselves. However, record labels are starting to cash in by releasing official sped up versions.

Grammy award winners Steve Lacy and SZA both released songs with  “sped up” versions which ended up gathering millions of streams on Spotify.

The sped up version of a song matters as it ultimately contributes to the amount of streams the original gets, helping the song go higher on the charts.

Three out of the top 10 songs on the Billboard chart have an official sped up version release and it’ll only increase from there.

For supporters who have been fans since “day one,” it is frustrating to watch musicians prioritize numbers over creativity. 

Singer Miguel re-released his single “Sure Thing” with an official sped up remix which helped it re-enter the Billboard Hot 100 chart 11 years after its initial release.

Thundercat’s 2017 song “Them Changes” was re-released last year as a sped up version, reaching Billboard’s Hot R&B chart, which was his first time charting as a solo artist.

I don’t blame musicians for doing this. It’s important to capitalize on trends, especially with how musicians are often screwed over by record labels.

But all these sped up versions and short songs make it feel as though the market is being over-saturated. 

Canadian indie singer Mac DeMarco spoke about not turning to these trends in a January 20 interview with Variety magazine.

“A lot of my songs actually do quite well on TikTok, but I never had to think about, ‘Well this should sound pretty good sped up,’ ” DeMarco said in the interview. 

Artists should follow Demarco’s footsteps because he hasn’t steered away from his originality. 

He recognizes fans are producing sped up versions of his songs, but he doesn’t fall into the trap by putting them on streaming services. 

I understand musicians wanting to follow trends to make music that audiences want to hear. 

Ultimately, it feels insincere and cheap when artists do this because it’s quite clear they want their songs to be higher on charts.