A popular TikToker says that, through his job at Best Buy, he discovered a strange trend about songs that play on radio stations at retail stores.
In a viral clip with over 2.8 million views, TikTok user Dallas Ponzo (@dallas_ponzo) explains his findings.
He also says he wants answers.
“I came into work today, and [Best Buy] radio was playing,” the TikToker says in the clip.
For those who have never worked retail, he explains that most stores have an online radio station “dedicated” to them. On these stations, music is played 24/7 without ads.
“Towards the end of the night, a song came on that was super catchy,” he explains. “And I was listening to it and I thought, ‘Damn, this is kinda good.’”
So he says he decided to use the song-finding app Shazam to figure out its title.
He says he was shocked to discover the song, “Superstars” by Jackie Scott, only had 546 plays.
“That was like the lowest song I’ve ever shazammed,” he says, referring to the number of plays.
So he says he decided to search for the song on other platforms, like Spotify and Apple Music, to see if “Superstar” was more popular on those. He couldn’t find it on either platform.
Ponzo, who has 294,000 TikTok followers, says he then turned to YouTube to find out more information about Scott.
That’s when he stumbled on a strange discovery. He says he found the song on YouTube, but it only had 1,400 views, and it’s from over a decade ago. There were also comments on the video that all said they heard the tune at a mall or retailer.
@dallas_ponzo The underground radio
♬ original sound – Dallas
How do retailers decide what to play in stores?
A CNN article explained stores take ambiance very seriously, and each store has its own method for figuring out what music to play.
Retailers like Lululemon reportedly allow their managers to select music for the sores. Walmart has its own station, Walmart radio. Ponzo implied in his TikTok that Best Buy also has a Best Buy radio.
Others hire third parties to create playlists. While some simply opt out of playing music at all.
Ultimately, the very important decision of what song to play at stores is very dependent on the stores themselves.
Viewers celebrate Jackie Scott getting her flowers
In the comments section, there were few takes on why the song did not show up on the platforms.
“I think it makes prefect sense that the radio station fills all the hours with songs that might have low license costs,” one user wrote.
Others applauded the attention the song received as a result of the viral TikTok video questioning its obscurity.
“The fact that superstars by Jackie Scott now has 10,000 views and 300+ comments,” one viewer wrote in a comment that received over 19,000 likes.
“Superstars by Jackie Scott now has over 65K plays,” another user updated.
The upload on YouTube now has 160,000 views, and many commenters there are referencing Ponzo’s TikTok.
The Daily Dot reached out to Best Buy via email and Dallas Ponzo by TikTok and instagram comment for more information.
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