When the Music Stops Being About the Music

Have you ever been on TikTok, or another app like it, and found yourself becoming part of a community?

Maybe you’ve followed a streamer for a while. Maybe you’ve found people whose lives, stories, personalities or talents have somehow found their way into your own everyday life. And maybe you’ve watched those livestreams where everyone comes together for events and competitions.

Right now, one of those events is Music on Stage.

For many musicians on TikTok, this is probably the thing they are hoping to climb as high as possible in. Something to achieve. Something to fight for. Something that brings pride and honour when they reach those top positions.

And when you don't?

Well...

It can leave you feeling like you lost.

And sometimes, I think it leaves people feeling like they are a loser.

Like a nobody.

Like they weren't good enough.

I have witnessed this so many times that, honestly, these events can give me a horrible feeling in my stomach.

The stress.

The anxiety.

The pressure.

The constant watching of numbers and rankings.

Some streamers make promises they don't keep. Others go into it hoping for the best, expecting nothing. Some seem to convince themselves that they're going to lose before they've even had the chance to try.

And somewhere along the way, I have seen people lose something much more important than a competition.

They lose themselves.

They forget why they started singing in the first place. They lose their focus. They become so caught up in winning, rankings, gifts, points and numbers that the person behind the screen almost disappears.

And I have to admit something.

I have sometimes ended up feeling guilty for supporting someone.

Not because I didn't want to support them.

Quite the opposite.

I supported them because I wanted to.

Because I love what they do.

Because their livestreams speak to me. Because their music makes me feel something. Because their talent, personality and presence bring something into my life that I value.

Never, not once, have I supported someone because I felt obligated to.

But when an event ends and someone I care about finishes in a position they see as humiliating, I have sometimes found myself regretting that I supported them at all.

Not because I regret supporting them.

But because I hate seeing what the competition can do to them.

I don't want to feel that stress.

I don't want to feel guilty.

I don't want supporting someone I genuinely care about to become something that feels like a responsibility or a debt.

And yet...

I still want them to win.

Of course I do.

Because I want my guy to shine.

I want millions of people to see what I see.

I want people to hear that voice and realize just how incredibly talented he is.

And honestly?

If these competitions were based on talent alone, he would have won them all.

Easily.

But that's not how TikTok works.

And maybe that's the uncomfortable truth about these events.

They aren't necessarily a measurement of who is the most talented.

They measure something else.

Engagement. Community. Reach. Support. Money. Timing. Algorithms. And, ultimately, how much people are willing and able to put into the game.

And who benefits from that?

Well... probably TikTok itself.

The machine keeps turning.

The gifts keep coming.

The rankings keep moving.

The competition keeps people watching, participating and spending.

The circus continues.

And maybe that's why I have such mixed feelings about it.

Because I understand why musicians participate. I understand the excitement. The adrenaline. The feeling of being part of something. The dream of reaching that top spot and having your name seen by thousands or even millions.

And I don't want to take that away from anyone.

I just wish we could remember something along the way.

A ranking doesn't determine your worth.

A number on a screen doesn't determine your talent.

A position in an event doesn't decide whether people should listen to you.

And losing a competition doesn't make you a loser.

Because there are people watching who don't care what number you finished at.

People who weren't counting your points.

People who weren't comparing you to anyone else.

People who simply sat there, listened to you sing, and felt something.

I'm one of those people.

And perhaps that's what I want my guy to understand more than anything.

When he says negative things about himself, when he doubts his talent, when he lets a ranking make him feel like he isn't good enough...

It hurts me.

Because I wish he could see himself through my eyes for just one moment.

I wish he could hear his own voice the way I hear it.

I wish he could understand that the reason I support him was never because of a leaderboard.

It was never about winning.

It was never about being number one.

It was because he gives me something worth supporting.

And no TikTok event can take that away.

So yes, I want him to win.

I want him to shine.

I want the world to discover him.

But more than that, I want him to remember who he is when the competition is over.

Because the music was there before the rankings.

The talent was there before the gifts.

And the person worth cheering for was there before the scoreboard ever appeared.

Don't lose yourself trying to prove that you're worth seeing.

The right people are already watching.

And... Well... Big kudos to anyone who read all the way down here 😂

- Merry -