TikTok summer hit
How Girl On Couch became a pop icon overnight
Megan Boni, better known as Girl on Couch: TikTok catapulted her from her sofa at home into the pop business in just four weeks
© Kat Page
Megan Boni aka Girl on Couch is the prime example of a new generation of stars: With a 19-second clip on TikTok, the 27-year-old shows how hits will be made in the future.
Once upon a time there was a young woman from New York. Megan Boni worked for a wholesale company and lived alone, as one of hundreds of thousands of young single women in the metropolis. But then she did something that would turn her life completely upside down in just a few days: On April 30, she uploaded a short film to TikTok. Less than four weeks later, she is a star – with her own single, various remixes by famous producers, a total of around 30 million streams and the prospect of “I Am Looking For A Man in Finance” becoming the summer hit of the year. How could this have happened in such a short time?
Week 1: In the beginning there was the crazy idea
“I’m single myself and wanted to make fun of it,” says Megan Boni. “So I thought of the most impossible, outrageous demands you can make of a man.” She wrote a few lines: “I Am Looking For A Man in Finance, Trust Fund. 6 ft 5. Blue Eyes.” Loosely translated: “I’m looking for a man with money. Trust fund. Six feet. Blue eyes.” She filmed herself reciting the lyrics in a fake lascivious voice and posted the snippet on TikTok under her username Girl On Couch. The whole thing only took a few minutes. Finally, she typed under her video: “Did I just write the song of the summer? Can someone make this into a real song please, just for fun?” And that’s exactly what happened.
Within a few days, Girl On Couch had garnered several million likes on TikTok alone (to date, it has more than twelve million) and DJs and producers such as David Guetta, Vandelux, Warren Williams and Malibu Baby actually started to play Megan Boni’s mini-rap. They also received millions of likes and streams and Megan Boni sensed that her big chance had come.
Week 2: the first manager, the first press conference
When “Looking For A Man…” went viral, Boni contacted a college friend who was now working as a music manager. Amanda Rovitz was not surprised: “She is the funniest person I have ever met. I was convinced that she would make it in the entertainment industry – maybe not as a singer or musician, but as a comedian.” Rovitz got to work.
Fueled by the viral success of “I Am Looking For A Man in Finance,” Megan Boni followed up with her next videos. She called one “My First Press Conference.” Like a true pop diva, she wears gigantic sunglasses, but speaks into a hairbrush instead of a microphone. She has imaginary interviewers who ask stupid questions kicked out by imaginary bodyguards. Screaming fans can be heard on a recording.
Week 3: “Looking For A Man …” appears as single
Meanwhile, manager Amanda Rovitz was working on making Megan Boni a real star. Her revolutionary idea: not to develop Girl On Couch as a singer, but to just license her voice and lyrics so that dancefloor producers could jump on the bandwagon and mix their own (hit) versions with it. The first license of this kind was released on May 17 as “Man In Finance (G6 Trust Fund)”, produced by Billen Ted – less than three weeks after Megan Boni’s first TikTok post.
The US music industry watched all of this in fascination. With her 19-second spot, Megan Boni showed how a completely new business model could work. Producers had already “dropped” short tracks on TikTok, the community reacted with likes, and the piece was released. But with “Looking For A Man…” the idea came from the community – if you can call Boni, a previously not particularly well-known TikToker, that first – and the music afterwards. “A marketing dream,” said a manager from Megan Boni’s label. Golden times could now dawn for TikTok poets…
And now?
Megan Boni quit her job in wholesale. “I’d like to take stand-up or improv classes, maybe even acting lessons. And I’ll probably do more on YouTube,” she says. How is she coping with her sudden fame? “My two brothers probably hate me because everyone asks them about me now. But my parents are blown away.” So she wasn’t surprised by all this? “Of course you always hope that your posts will get views. But I had no idea that my idea would get such a response. It’s turned into a monster. The internet is crazy!” And if the internet isn’t dead, it will be tomorrow too.
