Why Copying Viral Trends Won't Build Your Music Career (and What to Do Instead)

That TikTok trend everyone's jumping on? The one where musicians point at text while a trending sound plays?

You made one. It got 50,000 views. Maybe even 200,000.

Dopamine hit. Validation. Proof that you can "do" social media.

But then what?

Three weeks later, the trend is dead. Your follower count barely moved. The people who watched your pointing video have no idea what your music sounds like, what you stand for, or why they should care about you tomorrow.

You've confused a tactic with a strategy.

The Trending Trap

Every day, there's a new format to copy:

"Musicians be like..." videos. Duets with other trending sounds. The latest dance. The newest pointing trend. That audio everyone's using this week.

Artists spend hours crafting the perfect version, optimizing for the algorithm, hoping this will be the one that changes everything.

Here's the uncomfortable truth: Even when it works, it doesn't work.

Because viral moments built on someone else's creativity don't build your career. They build the platform's engagement numbers.

The Difference Between Tactics and Strategy

A tactic is what you do. A strategy is why you do it.

Posting daily is a tactic. Posting daily to demonstrate your creative process because you want to be known as an artist who works hard—that's strategy.

Making TikToks is a tactic. Making TikToks that show your songwriting process because you want to attract other songwriters and producers to collaborate with—that's strategy.

Being funny online is a tactic. Being funny in a way that reinforces who you are and what you stand for—that's strategy.

What's Your Core Position?

Before you copy anyone's approach, ask yourself:

What position do I own? What am I actually known for? What belief am I trying to reinforce?

Are you the artist who writes songs about small-town life? Then your content should feel like small-town life—authentic, unhurried, real.

Are you the producer who makes beats that sound like the future? Then your content should feel futuristic—clean, innovative, slightly ahead of the curve.

Are you the singer who helps people feel less alone? Then your content should create connection, not distance.

The Personality Trap

When you copy someone else's personality without understanding their strategy, you end up with a brand that doesn't make sense.

I've seen folk singers trying to sound like hip-hop producers on Twitter. Jazz musicians copying pop star aesthetics on Instagram. Indie artists using corporate humor that doesn't match their music at all.

The result? Confusion. People don't know what you stand for because you don't know what you stand for.

Build From the Inside Out

Your online presence should amplify who you already are, not mask it.

Start with your music. What does it say about you? What world does it create? What feeling does it generate?

Then ask: How can everything else I do serve that same purpose?

If your music is intimate and vulnerable, your content should create intimacy and vulnerability.

If your music is energetic and rebellious, your content should feel energetic and rebellious.

If your music helps people think differently about the world, your content should challenge conventional thinking.

The Long Game

Viral moments fade. Trends change. The algorithm moves on.

But when your content consistently reinforces the same core message—when every post serves the same strategic purpose—you build something more valuable than viral fame.

You build trust. You build recognition. You build a reputation.

People start to know what you stand for. They start to expect certain things from you. They start to seek you out not because you're trendy, but because you're reliable.

What Success Actually Teaches Us

The real lesson from artists who build lasting careers online isn't about being funny or sarcastic. It's about having such a clear understanding of your position that everything you do reinforces it.

Everything else flows from that clarity.

Your Turn

So before you post that sarcastic meme or jump on the latest trend, ask yourself:

Does this serve my strategy, or am I just copying tactics?

Does this reinforce who I am, or am I trying to be someone else?

Will this make sense to someone discovering me for the first time, or will it confuse them?

The artists who build lasting careers don't chase trends. They create them by being so authentically themselves that others start copying what they do.

But by then, they're already onto something new. Because they're not following a playbook—they're writing their own

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