TikTok Shop, an e-commerce platform within the popular video app, is driving significant sales for vinyl records, especially for niche genres like instrumental soul. Creators are leveraging the platform's viral potential by showcasing unboxings and discussions about music, linking directly to sales. This trend presents both opportunities and challenges for artists and labels, as they navigate the fast-paced demands of TikTok and combat the threat of counterfeit merchandise.
Instrumental soul music is not in high demand in 2025. But last summer, Fat Beats Records quietly moved hundreds of copies of El Michels Affair’s ‘The Spins’ 7″ single as part of a push into the lucrative world of e-commerce. The majority of direct-to-consumer sales came through TikTok Shop, an e-commerce platform inside the short-form video app that allows users to easily buy items without having to leave for another site.
“We found some cool creators, sent them the vinyl, and they did an unboxing video, or talked about some of the tracks while playing the music in the background, and then linked directly to TikTok Shop,” explains, vp of commercial partnerships at the marketing platform Genni, which helps match creators with music promotion campaigns. The fact that TikTok’s fate in the U.S.probably hasn’t helped; the Supreme Court will hear arguments on Friday (Jan. 10) about whether the app should be sold or shut down in the U.S. Still, Winter estimates that “probably about a fifth of the For You page are TikTok Shop-related posts” now. And harnessing that attention can pay off handsomely, at least when it comes to driving vinyl purchases: “We’re doing $15,000 to $20,000 in sales every month” through the platform, Bouchon says. And she hopes there might be room to do more: “How do we make TikTok Shop a $40,000 or $50,000 a month revenue builder for us?” TikTok Shop has the potential to turbocharge sales, many merchandise companies are not yet equipped to pivot rapidly to meet unexpected geysers of demand. They tend to work on months-long time horizons leading up to a release date. But release dates don’t matter as much on TikTok, which has consistently rejuvenated older songs. “TikTok requires you to ship within two business days, and that’s tough for larger merchandise companies.”One record that Winter was promoting went out of stock five times over the course of three months. In a way, this is a good problem to have. Still, “It can be frustrating,” he says. “You wake up to a viral video, and you’re selling 10 units an hour. Call the distribution center, and they’re like, ‘Don’t worry about it, we’ll send you another batch in two weeks.’ I’m like, ‘I need that yesterday.'” Those delays mean that acts are leaving money on the table. On top of that, other TikTok Shop users may be siphoning off money that should go into artists’ pockets. Although TikTok Shop policy “expressly prohibits the unauthorized use of any third-party intellectual property rights,” Redford says, “There is so much bootleg merch .” on e-commerce sites. “That happens on Etsy, on Pinterest, on Facebook Marketplace, wherever,” Cloherty says. However, “None of those platforms drive even close to the degree of consumption and discovery that TikTok does,” he continues, which could make bootlegs on TikTok Shop more detrimental. , published in October, the platform “implements proactive measures to identify and prevent potential infringements, significantly reducing their occurrence. Between July 2023 and June 2024, more than 5,254,000 products were prevented from going live.” In addition, “497,026 products were taken down after going live for IPR violations.” Copyright owners can report infringement notices to TikTok Shop. In Redford’s experience, though, the most effective way for artists to combat bootlegs is to sell their own official products. , a digital marketer and co-founder of prairy, a new indie label. “We’re actively talking about it and figuring that side of things out.” As with all things TikTok, it’s nearly impossible to determine in advance what products — and what videos — are going to cause users to smash the “buy” button. “TikTok Shop is tricky,” acknowledges, who posts vinyl-focused videos of his own as tyler.fortherecord. “It will either not care about your video at all, or maybe the way you do your title or your intro will hook people.” Winter’s biggest wins so far have come with vinyl. “We tried selling sweatshirts a couple of times, with only limited success,” he notes. He believes the merchandise needs pizzazz — users may be unmoved by a simple T-shirt with an artist’s logo. (The El Michels Affair LP was described in one TikTok video as “a sick black-and-yellow” pressing, while a recentfeatured eye-catching “retro video game inspired artwork.”) “You can’t look at TikTok Shop like you’re uploading everything in your merch store,” Cloherty says. “It’s more like, what merch items can spark a TikTok-worthy moment?” “This is all pretty new,” Bouchon adds. “Now I think we’re all realizing, ‘Oh shit, we need to prioritize this.’
Tiktok Shop Vinyl Records Music Sales E-Commerce Viral Videos Bootleg Merchandise Instrumental Soul
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