TikTok has created new strategies that has impacted the music
industry through visual effects, stickers, filters, augmented reality, split screens, and
transitions in videos no longer than 60 seconds. TikTok posts presents a mode of
interdependence where users demonstrate the cultural value of music through challenge and
audio memes. This study focuses on a popular social trend on TikTok known as ‘music
challenges’. We focused on the significance and cultural meaning of music challenge memes
through five key elements – image, audio, text, story, culture – to understand what
comprises a ‘challenge’ on TikTok, how storytelling constitutes music challenges, and what
cross-cultural in-group affiliations are identified in this trend. For this purpose, we
developed a ‘TikTok music storytelling codebook’ informed by grounded theory, and selected
150 music challenge meme posts via manual scraping the ‘#MusicChallenge’ hashtag on TikTok
1–3 April 2021. Through a pilot analysis, we identified new modes of storytelling through
audio memes related to nostalgia, fandom and humour. Beyond “put a finger down” challenges
and “I know the song/I don’t know the song” lists, we found a broader significance in
telling stories grounded across cultures: sharing a childhood memory, relating to a
lifestyle type, and fanning after a musical genre. We noted a musical-peer group belonging
trend that brings out a mixture of urban tribes and experiences via creative song-mixing
that lasts seconds. To sum up, we understand that TikTok music challenges emerge as a
vehicle for interdependent groups to showcase their in-group identities through playful
audio-visual creations.