FEATURE:
(Brief) Moments of Pleasure
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush during a performance of Babooshka on the Dr. Hook television special
Kate Bush on TikTok
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WHEN it comes to Kate Bush’s music…
IMAGE CREDIT: TikTok
it is best enjoyed on its proper form: putting on a vinyl and letting it run from the beginning to the end. I know that vinyl sales are going up, though that doesn’t necessarily mean that people are buying Bush’s albums on vinyl more and playing them in full. I would like to think that is what is happening, though streaming services and the Internet means that people can get her songs in isolation and listen to snippets of them. I have heard of TikTok, but it is not a service that I use. In short (appropriately), TikTok is a video-sharing platform that is used to make a variety of short-form videos, from genres like dance, comedy, and education - the videos have a duration from three seconds to one minute. I am all for Bush’s music appearing as widely as possible – so that people can get hold of it and it reaches a larger audience. As you will see (from the videos I have included), there are people using Kate Bush songs in their short videos. Some would debate whether people hearing these songs leads to a discovery of her catalogue, but it is additional exposure (which is always good). NME investigates how a lot of younger listeners have found Bush’s work and are linking it to videos they have made:
“However, this is definitely not the case for every viral vintage tune. Take Kate Bush’s 1980 banger ‘Babooshka’, for example. 200,000 TikTok videos have featured the song in some form or other (including a trending cover for which actor and musician Tobee Paik adds metal guitar) and Twitter is flooded with Gen-Zers delighted at having discovered Kate’s discography. Even 18 Year-Old Tennessee-based TikTok fantatic Sydney Rose White (aka @rosebewhite on the app), whose video using the sound has accrued more than 344,000 likes, admits to NME that she had never “heard of her or listened to any of her stuff before”.
@itshannahowo i leik my makeup today >:3 ##foryou
♬ Babooshka - Kate Bush
Kate Bush has quickly settled into her rightful place on so-called ‘WitchTok’, with ‘Babooshka’ soundtracking content about tarot cards, love potion making and gothic-inspired videos with dramatic outfit changes, not too dissimilar from her original music video. This is down to the success of TikTok’s personalised ‘For You’ page, which like any algorithm-driven success story reflects your own tastes back at you. Or, as TikTok’s Communications Lead Barney Hooper puts it to us, it’s “powered by a recommendation system that delivers content that is likely to be of interest to a particular user, based on a combination of factors”.
Naturally when this happens, the song’s popularity is quickly boosted by those desperate to prove that they listened to the track before it was TikTok approved. A quick search of “Kate Bush TikTok” on Twitter and you’re met with a wall of disgruntled fans fuming at the song’s revived mainstream popularity. They then take to TikTok to attempt to assert their superiority, and in turn only make it more viral.
Beyond the science of production, songs such as ‘Babooshka’ and ‘Starman’ were made in a time when music videos were a big deal. Songs were more likely to be written with a visual element in mind, making them far easier for TikTokkers to come up with trending concepts or use them to soundtrack scroll-stopping transitions. ‘The Leanover”s opening humming lends itself to an exaggerated satisfied smile as TikTokers lip-sync along to the track, casting themselves in the lead role of their own mini music videos”.
@illumiminaj a concept: illumis natural hair is actually wavy/curly like his dads lol ##anime ##hxh ##illumi ##killua ##fyp ##hunterxhunter ##zoldyck ##foryou
♬ Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) - Kate Bush
Maybe using the same song for various videos can seem like overkill! Certainly, if you hear Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) on dozens of videos, then the impact can lessen! In an article from DAZED, we learn that sharing beloved songs can have a negative impact:
“In September, Idaho dad-of-two and skateboarder @420doggface208, aka Nathan Apodaca, drank cranberry juice while skateboarding on his morning commute to the soundtrack of “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac. The short clip became instant meme fodder, and got a nod from the band themselves. The song re-entered the charts for the first time and enjoyed an 88.7 per cent increase in streams. Fleetwood Mac’s frontwoman Stevie Nicks said she was ‘happy’ about the sudden second wind. Though they weren’t the bands original Gen X consumers, Millennial Mac lovers cling to the 00s indie archetype that this music taste once denoted and call them their own. Hypocriticial? Pot, Kettle? Who said that? Still, Millennial music fans were less than thrilled. “It was cool to like Fleetwood Mac until TikTok ruined it, like they do with every single thing they touch,” one exemplary tweet read.
Similar reactions followed with other major cultural reference points. Kate Bush – “not the kate bush reverb mixes on Tiktok. I truly cannot take it anymore.” Muse – “TikTok’s suddenly discovering muse. gen z this song is from TWO THOUSAND AND SIX”)”.
In The Telegraph, they argued how artists like Kate Bush being added to TikTok is not a bad thing. If her catalogue is there, it means that more have access to it - and it hasn’t killed her albums or made them less valuable. I, personally, think that it good that Kate Bush’s music is on a new platform. It means that people who might not have discovered her will be adding her to their playlists and seeking out her music. There is nothing to say that people will just listen to Bush on streaming services and are not buying her albums. Even through her entire catalogue is not on TikTok, hearing various songs will get people invested and seeking out more of her stuff! There are a lot of fans who are a bit annoyed that these incredible tracks are either being used in videos that are a bit silly; Bush’s Babooshka seen as witch-like and strange casts in a very distinct and unfair light. Artists like David Bowie have been made available on TikTok, so that people can dip into his catalogue and use that music in their videos. There is an argument that modern music cannot breed innovative and risk-taking artists like Bush ands Bowie, as people are watching short videos and creating playlists – how often would a modern artist who is bold and experimental be popular on these formats? I do feel like we are seeing fewer artists who are true innovators and are making music that defies convention. Maybe that is a sign of the times in which we live. However, if young listeners ands artists get to hear Kate Bush’s music on sites like TikTok, maybe that will get them invested in her albums and, in turn, compel them to make music that pushes boundaries. On a personal level, I think Bush’s music enriches so many people. It is interesting to see how her work takes off on TikTok. I think we will see more and more songs and videos. It is a shame that there is not a link on TikTok to Bush’s albums so that one can hear a snippet of a song and then check out the album it is from. That is a minor quibble. I think that it is wonderful that people are discovering Kate Bush and getting these moments of pleasure , however brief…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1989/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush
THEY may be.