Has TikTok Made Concerts Better Or Worse?

A typical pre-concert checklist includes a clear bag and one portable charger. Even for non-influencers, a battery pack is essential for capturing every potentially viral moment of the show. Recent tours have proven there’s plenty to get on camera: Beyoncé has the “everybody on mute” challenge, Charli XCX has the “Apple” dance, Taylor Swift has the “22” hat giveaway, and Sabrina Carpenter has the “Juno” pose.

While these types of gimmicky live show moments have predated the TikTok algorithm, the Internet has made it easy for everyone to join in... for better or worse. The TikTokification of concerts has sparked debate on social media: On one hand, viral trends create excitement for iconic moments in a show. On the other, they take away the organic nature of the live experience.

Take the Eras Tour — a production so massive that it’s nearly impossible to be both online and unaware of what goes down. On TikTok, one fan drew surprise when she posted a video explaining how she’s been avoiding spoilers: “I have no idea what the Eras Tour looks like, and my show is in less than two months (I wanted it to be a surprise).”

Fellow Swifties left comments like “HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE??” Others expressed their jealousy. “I wish I did this,” one TikToker responded. “I knew everything that was gonna happen, and that’s one thing I regret about it.”

So, should we blame apps like TikTok for how they’ve altered the live-music experience, or thank them for the heads up? Here, Elite Daily’s associate editor Dylan Kickham and staff writer Hannah Kerns weigh in on how social media has affected the concert scene.

Dylan: There are so many viral concert moments circulating right now, like Sabrina Carpenter arresting an audience member with fuzzy handcuffs or Taylor Swift mashing up two songs during her acoustic sets. How do you think social media — especially TikTok — has changed live shows?

Hannah: Both of those trends are so fun. Still, I think there is an element of doing these gimmicks for social media now, which can take away from the in-person experience. You know exactly what to expect when you go to something like the Eras Tour. It’s nice because you can prepare, but it also means that there are rarely any surprises, which is what live music used to be about.

Dylan: Right. In-person shows don’t really feel special anymore because you can just watch a whole concert on TikTok, and you already know what’s going to happen. So it’s like “Why am I going to this live show when I’ve already seen this?”

But on the other hand, it makes concerts so much more accessible because, especially with the Eras Tour, people aren’t always able to afford a ticket, and they obviously want to experience it. This this is a way they can see a show without paying hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Hannah: That’s a great point. It’s not just Taylor, either. Fans of Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, and Gracie Abrams have all had a hard time getting tickets. Do you think the actual format of the show changes to speak to the algorithm?

Dylan: That’s something I’m noticing. Pop stars are tailoring their concerts to the TikTok audience.

One of the drawbacks is it feels like every show needs a gimmick now. Taylor has surprise songs. Beyoncé has the mute challenge. Sabrina has the handcuffs and “Juno” pose. These moments don’t feel super organic. It’s fun for TikTok, but it feels like the artist is not really doing it for the live audience.

Hannah: True. Even Taylor started doing the “Bejeweled” dance as a callback to the TikTok trend.

Dylan: Right. That could be a positive thing too, though. Artists are getting ideas directly from fans.

Hannah: I think that kind of interaction with fans fosters a sense of community in a different way. You’re all in on the same thing, and that’s what concerts have always been about.

Dylan: It creates inside jokes and references that fans normally wouldn’t have. For example, everyone knows what the “22” hat is now.

Hannah: And maybe those nongimmicky live moments still exist, just in different contexts. I went to a Maggie Rogers concert recently, and there was someone in the crowd dressed like Lord Farquaad. She called him out and started talking to him midshow. It was one of those live moments that didn’t feel orchestrated — that probably won’t happen again.

Dylan: That’s a really good example because it’s such an anomaly to the bigger concerts we’re talking about, which are machines that have to run according to schedule. I feel like that Lord Farquaard moment is going to be a stronger memory for you, because it is so special and unique to that show.

Hannah: Yeah, there’s something to be said for that kind of organic surprise. Obviously, big shows have those moments too. Sabrina does a lot of crowd work, and there’s a whole viral joke about the “Errors” Tour, focusing on every time Taylor deals with a malfunction.

But I keep coming back to the idea that if you were to go into a concert with a blank slate, not knowing anything, it would turn the whole show into that kind of unexpected, thrilling experience.

Dylan: It’s such a rare thing to find in concerts now. I always look up a set list before I go to a show. I want to know when it ends and what the encores are so I know when I can leave. But then I give up the spontaneity.

Hannah: That’s interesting — I know we keep coming back to the Eras Tour — but it seems like audiences are now seeking that surprise element because it’s been stripped away by the Internet. People are like, “Is this set list going to change again? Is she going to add Tortured Poets?”

It’s funny how we’re chasing something that used to be built into the concert experience, but has died out because of social media. The only people who are really surprised for concerts, unless they’re completely offline, are those who are there for the first show. For everything that follows, artists have to find these little pockets of shock value to keep it interesting.

The con is that you already know what’s coming ... But the pro is that we all know, so we’re all in on this fun little tradition together.

Dylan: You could also say that those surprises still happen, just not in person. Instead, it’s happening online now, like when you’re watching a live stream of the show and commenting “Oh, my God, did you see that? They added this and changed this.” It’s exciting, but it robs you of the moment of shock if you later go to the live show.

Hannah: When I was going to concerts pre-TikTok, the in-between moments were so special — like when Taylor introduces “All Too Well” by saying something like “Do you have 10 minutes to spare?”

You felt really connected to the artist. But now that we know they’re part of every show, they lose some of that resonance. It’s still fun, but doesn’t feel unique in the same way.

Dylan: The con is that you already know what’s coming, so it’s not a surprise. But the pro is that we all know, so we’re all in on this fun little tradition together.

Hannah: I guess it’s impossible to say definitively if TikTok has made live shows better or worse — it’s just made them fundamentally different.

Dylan: It also depends on what you want out of a concert: if you want to be surprised and have a one-night-only experience, or if you want to go in prepared and know exactly what’s coming. Do you want to feel like we’re all in this together or we’re all just here for the ride?

Hannah: I think if you go into it blind, it feels more intimate with you and the artist, versus when you watch videos and study up, you feel more connected to the crowd.

For the Maggie Rogers show, I looked up the set list beforehand but didn’t do a ton of research. There were a couple songs I didn’t know, which I was fine with. I felt awkward dancing, but it was OK. At the same time, because I wasn’t so prepared, I felt more connected to the actual performance.

Whereas at the Eras Tour, I’m looking around and seeing everyone else experience it with me. That’s also very special — seeing a bunch of little girls and their moms sing the same songs as you. It feels poignant, but it’s different. So it’s a question of who do you want to identify with more: the artist or the audience?

Dylan: Exactly. Both are valid, and they’re both great ways to experience a concert, but it depends what you want out of it.

So maybe TikTok is ruining a certain way you can experience a concert, but it’s also introduced this new way of seeing concerts where it’s a community experience unlike it ever was before.