After breaking down some of the core musical elements that appear in these six TikTok sounds, a handful of trends have become evident. Simplicity is king. "Lottery (Renegade)", by K CAMP, is the most popular song in this list, yet is the only song that doesn't have a chord progression (it only plays one chord the entire song). "Lottery (Renegade)" and "Mood (feat. iann dior)" were the only two hip-hop songs that were analyzed in this project, but both feature a half-time beat that is accomplished by a hi-hat playing a straight rhythm, which contrasts lots of popular hip-hop songs (they tend to feature more complex hi-hat patterns).
Another trend that seems self-evident, considering most songs that become popular on TikTok have dances associated with them, is danceability. "Say So", "Supalonely", and "Roses (Imanbek Remix)" all feature a common drum beat in dance and disco music that only plays on the beat. "Savage Love (Laxed - Siren Beat)" doesn't feature this drum beat, but it does have a common reggaeton beat, which is a genre known for being danceable. In fact, reggaeton is an evolution from the dancehall genre. Generally coupled with rhythm is the idea of feeling, which the Cyanite analyses gave an interesting insight to.
When overlaying the mood analyses produced by Cyanite, it becomes noticeable that one important feature, which is the most common between these six songs, is a happy and uplifting feeling. A sad song will not make listeners want to dance, and will hold a song back from gaining traction on a platform that where dances tend to generate popularity. One surprising thing revealed by these mood analyses is that an energetic mood is not nearly as important as one might think; running the specific time stamps of the TikTok audios might produce a different result that showcases the importance of energy in the song. More likely than that, the energy trait would most likely decrease, as the sections used on TikTok tended to not be the most energetic sections of the song.
The final common thread among all of these TikTok sounds is that they don't feature the most active, or filled out, section of their respective song. "Mood" is one of the clearest examples of this, as the TikTok audio is the first chorus in the song. The second chorus, which plays immediately afterward, features multiple new elements, like an 808, background vocals, and off beat snares. The featured selections generally use the catchy elements of their song, but are of a section where the music is less populated. In fact, four of the six TikTok audios featured in this project have four or less unique instruments playing for the majority of their time, while the other two only have five (an added synthesizer in both cases). In the audio for "Savage Love", the chorus that plays only has snaps, bass, guitar, and vocals, while the following drop adds in horns, saxophone, and piano (for a total of seven instruments).
While all of the above patterns do seem to line up and make sense, it is important to note that a sample size of six can prove to be inaccurate. It is possible that these trends are unique to these songs alone, though considering the popularity of these songs, and their spread of genre, they do cover quite a bit of ground.