Roan went from being an opening act in Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS tour to attracting a record-breaking crowd for any solo artist at Lollapalooza. She has since been on tour and has just completed a three night stint at the O2 Academy Brixton, with some fans in the crowd paying up to £1,000 on resale tickets to see the rising star. Her debut album ‘The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess’ has been remarkably popular, with her listeners on Spotify increasing from 1 million in September 2023 to over 45 million a year later. Her queer-coded lyrics and drag themed outfits have been hidden away in a closet for many years and without the aid of TikTok it is hard to believe that she would have ever come out.
TikTok’s platform has been a key enabler in either boosting new artists or bringing fresh released songs into the charts, with Gigi Perez’s ‘Sailor Song’ and Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ duet ‘Die With a Smile’ taking centre stage at the current moment. Artists are taking full advantage of the platforms reach with audiences; Charli xcx being a prime example, having created a cult movement in summer 2024 with her hit album ‘BRAT’. The nature of TikTok’s platform is fast-paced and it has faced criticism about its emphasis on short form content. However, this style of social media is clearly benefitting music artists at all points in their careers, allowing some a brief moment in the spotlight to kickstart their career.
As we wait for our next Midwest Princess to be crowned, it is unclear which artist will be the next mother of TikTok’s music stage. For now we are still “knee deep in the passenger seat” of Roan’s ‘Femininomenon’ and cannot wait to see what this autumn has instore for her and for TikTok’s next music sensations.