Charlie Puth's "Light Switch": Viral PR Stunt or Organic TikTok Song?

It’s no secret that TikTok is changing the music industry as we know it. From Doja Cat’s “Say So” to BENEE’s “Supalonely” in 2019, from Bella Poarch’s “Build a Bitch” to (again) Doja Cat’s “Woman” this past year, the popularity of so-called ‘TikTok songs’ are especially obvious to the musicians who create them. Everyone wants to write that iconic one-liner (take, for example, last week’s viral clip of Bruno Mars singing “THIS BITCH” in Silk Sonic’s new single) or a catchy chorus that can spread like wildfire through comedy videos or a new trendy dance routine using the audio. 

However, few musicians, especially mainstream pop artists, actually know how to use the platform for anything besides jumping on trends too late and sharing clips from their new projects because their marketing team told them to. 

Charlie Puth, who first became popular in 2015 after being featured on “See You Again” with Wiz Khalifa, has since risen to international stardom, earned several Grammy nominations, and worked with everyone from Kehlani to Elton John. His music is simple and infectious, which, as we all know, is the perfect TikTok recipe. With 14.2 million followers, he may not have the most on the platform but the popularity of all his videos and natural skill at using TikTok is completely unprecedented. 

Unlike many of his pop peers, Puth plays a role in every aspect of his music, including songwriting, instrumentation (both live and digital), and production, and that triple-threat status serves him well on the app. 

His recent, most popular videos tend to be behind-the-scenes looks and tutorials of his music-making process. These often start off with him in his studio saying “What if there was a song that went like…?” and mimicking the sound he wants to create (courtesy of his perfect pitch) or lyric he wants to begin a chorus with, followed by him producing every layer of the song (bass line, percussion, vocals, etc) on his computer using random objects and instruments. And for the last fifteen seconds or so, we all get to jam out to a snippet of a song we just watched being created step-by-step right in front of us and brag about knowing what an 808 kick drum is. 

It’s a chaotic (but at the same time, carefully edited) process that’s hard to look away from, which is why these videos work so well on the platform. The talented videos are rarely ever longer than a minute and there is always an end product for the viewer to listen to. 

How many other mainstream artists share the behind-the-scenes of their music like that? How many even have the capabilities to make music the way Puth does — by themselves and so organically? 

Even his thirst traps use the right audio to boost his appeal and get his followers talking, and he always hits the mark when choosing which videos from other creators to duet and stitch for the most comedic effect. He knows by now what works. 

This is why these past few months have been so surprising for his fans. On September 16th, Puth posted the first in a series of videos showing the process behind a song he later dubbed “Light Switch”, both for its lyric “you turn me on like a light switch” and its literal sound effect of a light switch being flipped up during the chorus, which he recorded during filming. 

Currently sitting at 66 million views with nearly 14 million likes, it’s one of his most popular videos ever, with every other comment demanding the immediate release of the song. Not only does it work for all the aforementioned reasons, but the song itself, from its concept to its sound, is incredibly catchy and well-produced. Since posting it, he’s received news coverage, support from huge brands and TikTok creators, and more followers and listeners. It’s a success story you simply can’t make up.  

But after releasing at least four subsequent videos either showing him making the song’s verses or promoting it the way other artists would capitalize on recent success, fans began to wonder whether this specific song was just a carefully designed PR stunt to get people excited for his upcoming third studio album, which he’s been hinting about since last year. Many have noted the likely possibility of “Light Switch” being an album single, and some have even suggested that the video was made beforehand and carefully timed to get the most views. 

With any other artist, it would be easy to write it off as just another part of the business side of the industry, just another day on the Internet where nothing is as real as we want it to be. 

But with Puth, organic, one-man music creation has become his signature brand, the entire basis of his appeal as a musician and on the platform itself. For me, the idea that “Light Switch”, which I was ready to call the first song made live on TikTok, was part of a larger campaign for his upcoming album lowers the experience of watching his videos. It might not take away from his obvious talent or the music he’s made previously, but in a landscape and an industry where everything is about popularity and making the most money possible, it’s disappointing to never know what is genuine and what merely pretends to be. And, in a much bigger way, it contradicts everything Puth would have us believe about his creative process and his reasons for sharing it.