Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge
Erica Lubman, an indie artist who goes by the moniker Boy Jr., is objectively good at TikTok. She has amassed more than 300,000 followers with her tongue-in-cheek songs and videos spoofing indie rock culture. Those followers have translated into ticket sales for live shows and millions of streams. But even when Lubman gets praise on videos that get half a million views — for her songwriting, for her humor — she is realistic about how fickle TikTok can be.
“I appreciate those comments a ton,” Lubman said. “But there’s a really good chance you won’t see another video from me for months because your TikTok algorithm is going to just show you other things and you’re gonna forget about me.”
On paper, it should be a golden age for music….
