Australian Idol’s Matt Corby slams musicians for launching a career from TikTok

Matt Corby has slammed musicians who launch their careers on TikTok, despite getting his start in the industry by starring on Australian Idol in 2007. 

The social media app has propelled the careers of many singers, including Olivia Roderigo, who was previously well-known for her roles on The Disney Channel but had multiple hit singles from her debut album after they went viral on TikTok. 

Along with many new artists getting their start on the video-sharing app, Miley Cyrus also topped the charts for her new single Flowers after it was a mega-hit on the social media platform. 

Despite the proven success musicians have had due to the popular app, Matt said he doesn’t believe it’s a sustainable way for artists to launch their careers. 

The ARIA award-winning singer told the NCA NewsWire that being viral is ‘fleeting’ and that a successful music career needs to be backed up with ‘hard work and craftsmanship’. 

He added that a small viral snippet from a song can’t give listeners a good overview of the track. 

‘Do you want to go and see a show of that? You don’t know yet, there’s not a lot of trust between the punter and the musician,’ he said.

‘You get no real experience of an artist with them editing a video of themselves singing a song. 

‘It’s a great way if you’re a record label to maybe find a one-in-1000 talent, that’s kind of cool.

The social media app has propelled the careers of many singers, including Olivia Roderigo (pictured), who was previously well-known for her roles on The Disney Channel but had multiple hit singles from her debut album after they went viral on TikTok

Despite the proven success musicians have had due to the popular app, Matt said he doesn’t believe it’s a sustainable way for artists to launch their careers

‘But then there’s still so much hard work that needs to be done developing that artist and connecting them with the right people and putting out the right records and getting them lined up and getting them playing shows.’

However, the indie-rocker, who was just 16-years-old when he was runner up on Australian Idol, admitted that he would find it very difficult to launch a music career now. 

He told the Daily Telegraph that there is ‘so much oversaturation’ with music in 2023 that it’s very difficult to break through all that noise. 

‘No one can listen to all that music,’ he said. ‘It’s a completely different landscape to what it was even 15 years ago when I started.’

Matt Colby is pictured with winner of Australian Idol in 2007 Natalie Gauci at the grand final at  Sydney Opera House