Fleetwood Mac's 1977 album "Rumours" landed at #7 in this week's Billboard 200 chart, driven by increased popularity of its single "Dreams" spurred by a viral TikTok.
Why it matters: It highlights the power that the app continues to have over the charts, where one video — and its innumerable clones — can vault a 43-year-old album back to cultural relevancy.
- Artists like Doja Cat and Drake have previously relied on viral dances and remixes to try to get a chart boost from TikTok.
- Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," which dominated the charts last year, first gained notice because of the app.
The backdrop: The TikTok by Nathan Apodaca features him lip-syncing while skateboarding to "Dreams" and drinking from a bottle of Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry juice.
- It now has over 60 million views and has been copied by the band's Mick Fleetwood and Stevie Nicks.
The big picture: Billboard's decision to include streaming as part of its chart calculation has led to artists attempting to game the system by utilizing a variety of new methods.
- Gen Z artists have blazed new trails during this era with their savvy use of memes, remixes and videos to generate sustained buzz.
