A new University of California, Davis study found that TikTok and Spotify’s algorithms don’t just reflect music tastes — they actively shape them.

TikTok’s Top 100 skews toward dance and indie artists, fueled by user-generated content and viral dance challenges. Spotify’s charts favor love songs and major-label pop and hip-hop. Of the 2,000+ combined hit songs analyzed from 2020–22, only 68 appeared on both platforms.

Beyond genre differences, the platforms play distinct roles: Spotify functions primarily as a distribution channel for full-length music, while TikTok is a space for creative reinvention through remixes and short clips. On both, algorithms amplify certain songs — and by publishing hit charts, the platforms also declare which music is visible and dominant.