BBC Proms and Anna Lapwood partner with TikTok

Video sharing platform TikTok has announced a new partnership with classical music festival BBC Proms as part of the return of #ClassicalMusic. Organist, broadcaster and social media star Anna Lapwood will become the official featured artist of the platform’s classical music hashtag.

Lapwood is set to make her BBC Proms debut this evening, while TikTok will ‘place BBC Proms centre stage’ on the platform on TikTok. With #ClassicalMusic having already received 4.3 billion views, TikTok is revamping the hashtag to include exclusive content and a curated playlist, aiming to attract new audiences to classical music.

Sam Jackson, controller of BBC Radio 3, the station which hosts the Proms, said: ‘I want the BBC Proms to be accessible to absolutely everyone, whether that’s listening on Radio 3, watching on TV or on social media. This collaboration with TikTok is so exciting because it allows us to reach new audiences in creative ways, while showcasing the magic of the live music we perform in the Royal Albert Hall and at venues across the UK.’

With over 550 thousand followers on TikTok and videos racking up over 16.7 million likes, Lapwood is an online ambassador for the classical music sector. Earlier this year she was awarded the RPS Gamechanger Award and is now set to release her debut album Luna on 29 September on Sony Classical.

Lapwood said: ‘One of my favourite things about TikTok is how it helps smash down perceived barriers between different genres – since I started using TikTok I've worked with so many people from all sorts of musical backgrounds and realised what a glorious tool collaboration can be to bring classical music to a new audience. TikTok has really blown open my whole musical world and I can't wait to see what collaboration the world throws at me next!’