How an Artist Used TikTok to Blow Up His Music; Mons Vi, a Social Media Marketing Success

With over 1 billion monthly active users and 2.6 billion downloads, TikTok is among the fastest-growing social media platforms doubling as a marketing space. These statistics should be no surprise; we all know how popular TikTok has become with all crowds. Videos on TikTok have changed from typical dance trends to educational and entertaining videos. A new purpose has been found in TikTok in its ability to promote brands and people to an extensive and active viewer base. One artist named Mons Vi (@Mons.Vi) has used TikTok expertly to grow his popularity and bring attention to his music, which by my standards, sounds pretty damn good.

Who is Mons Vi?

Matthew Hershoff is a New York-based artist who goes by the alias Mons Vi, creating bedroom pop hits for an active 137,500 monthly listeners on Spotify. Hershoff began songwriting as a coping mechanism and has been actively writing and recording music since 2013 as an indie rock artist. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, he began performing at local gigs, gaining more attention. With a troubled past, Herschoff has directed his feelings and attention towards music, using music to express himself and work through feelings of grief. He now wishes to expand his horizons, collaborate with others, and work in professional setups as the next step in his music career.

@mons.vi

from a pack a day to quit! v proud of myself today 🙂 #monsvi

♬ call me what u want – Mons Vi

How to Promote Your Music on TikTok

When I first saw Mons Vi on my for you page, the “explore” page of TikTok, he was beginning a series where he committed to quitting cigarettes. Instead, he would show off the sweets he purchased with the saved money. A wholesome series that gained him a lot of interactions, not only for his positive and healthy message but also for people’s attraction to his character and even his physical likeness to the artist Joji. At the peak of this series, his videos would gain upwards of 5 million views. This allowed him to create an online following of people loyal to his journey and character, amassing almost 500,000 followers and 30 million total likes. 

However, the highlight of his account and videos was their use in promoting his songs. For one, in a majority of videos part of this series and other unrelated videos of his, he used his own songs, as TikTok allows videos to use custom songs.

This allowed him to expose his music to millions of people who had his videos pushed to them due to the TikTok algorithm and to followers interested in his videos. 

It seemed like, at times, Mons Vi almost spammed videos with his sound at an annoying rate; however, with catchy lyrics and a nice tune, his songs became an instantly recognizable part of his brand. Hershoff decision to use his artist alias was also an important factor in promoting his music, as the following he created was directly related to his music. 

Mons Vi would use his song “call me what u want” which would capture viewers’ attention within seconds. He would eventually explicitly direct viewers to his music through videos promoting new releases and existing songs.

Mons Vi Music

However, I don’t think this could work with just anyone’s music. Mons Vi’s videos brought me to his music because it was annoyingly catchy but also genuinely good, with production quality not far from big-name record label-signed artists. When searching through his discography, I found variations of the rock style he emulates that I instantly liked. His songs boast a strong beat, distorted overdrive sound of an electric guitar, and a catchy chorus. 

I can’t speak to his presence in the indie rock scene before his social media fame; however, he has certainly gained many new listeners like myself after this fame.

My favourite Listens are “Highway2Japan” and “Wandering No More.” 

Why You Should Use TikTok to Promote Indie Artists

TikTok is the best method to bring natural attention to artists at an affordable cost. For many indie artists without the financial backing of record labels for marketing and production, promoting their music might be an area of weakness despite how good their music may be. Without the necessary knowledge and resources, artists’ music can be lost among the other 100,000 songs uploaded daily. TikTok is easy to use, free, uses an intelligent algorithm and has one of the most extensive active viewer bases, making it arguably the best way for indie artists to promote their music and brand.

For more info on Mons Vi and his history, visit Also Cool Magazines and Level Musics interviews with Mons Vi.