If you haven’t been living under a rock for the last few months, you’ve probably heard of Olivia Rodrigo. The girl who wrote a song about getting her driver’s license, and is now a widely and wildly known pop singer.
Olivia Rodrigo was just a 17 year old girl from Disney Channel who made a song when she released Driver’s License. The song about getting the license, and trying to get over a heartbreak apparently brought familiar feelings for every age group from Gen Z to the oldest of Millenials. It went viral on TikTok, everyone started creating videos and trends to the song. The videos weren’t just from one part of the TikTok though, everyone and I mean literally every person doing anything on TikTok used the song. Why? Because it is catchy, it conveys feelings, and it is influenced by two already big pop stars of our time: Taylor Swift and Lorde.
Now an 18 year old world star, Rodrigo released her debut album “Sour”, which broke records and topped the charts. It is surprising how many generations are listening to her on repeat. There are many factors she is loved and praised by people, but the main question is, how did she gain such popularity in such a short amount of time?
The short answer is: TikTok
The short video platform is an amazing place for aspiring singers, and creators of all sorts to have an audience to share their works with. Rodrigo isn’t the only example of people who got famous thanks to the platform. But she is definitely one of the most successful ones.
@danniharveyI have no motivation to mom sometimes😳 #foryou #foryoupage #momsoftiktok #toddler #sociopath #parenting #fypシ♬ good 4 u – Tik Toker
Rodrigo first shared her song on Instagram with her followers. After getting her followers’ love on the song, she decided to make it a real one, went on to record it, and then shared it on TikTok with the story behind it. With her relatability and a small but already established audience from her acting career, the song went viral on TikTok. Now sitting with almost 2M videos on the song, Rodrigo has one of the most successful breakthroughs in the sector.
Could she be successful without TikTok? Of course. But it would probably take longer. TikTok creators are always on the hunt for some new music or sounds so they can be the trend setters. When Olivia brought out a song that allowed transitions, lip-syncing, and even makeup videos, she guaranteed a successful TikTok career. The second and third singles from her debut album, Deja Vu and Good 4 U also went viral on TikTok. Both have their own trends on the platform, and Deja Vu is even the default song for a filter that inverts faces.
@treboltonMy male response to Good 4 U by Olivia Rodrigo #good4u #oliviarodrigo #hsmtmts #fypシ #foryoupage #punk #rockstar #sour♬ good 4 u – Olivia Rodrigo
How does TikTok make someone famous?
Well, TikTok as a platform offers visibility for everyone. Do you have only 10 followers? It doesn’t matter because TikTok will show your video to a few hundred people first to see if they like it. And if those first people like your video, then your video might get viral. So your follower count, and even the view count on your other videos don’t matter. Every video is an entity on its own.
In Olivia’s case, she already had a small audience back from her acting career. She has an amazing talent, which will sooner or later blow up on TikTok. With the trends and challenges coming, her songs having influences from other famous singers, she rose to fame in such a short time. Maybe even shorter than the time it’d take her to drive to the suburbs.
The reason she is loved by so many people from different generations is because she created songs in different genres. Mainly in the pop and pop-rock categories, she became the face of Gen Z’s music taste. But she is also entertaining Millennials with her notes similar to Paramore. She is also supported by Taylor Swift, which basically means she is set to rule the Pop genre in the years to come.
What do you think about Olivia Rodrigo’s rise to fame? Do you listen to her as much as we do? Let us know in the comments below or come talk to us on our social media. We’re discussing renewing our driver’s licenses, maybe they decide to make us famous the second time.
