When TikTok is included in your release's selected stores (it is by default), you can set a preview start time during the release scheduling step. This is the exact moment in your track, measured in seconds from the start, that plays automatically when someone browses your sound in TikTok's sound library or taps to use it in a video.
Why this matters
Most users deciding whether to use a sound will hear only this default preview clip before making that decision — they rarely scrub through the full track first. This makes your preview start time one of the highest-leverage decisions you make for a track's viral potential on the platform, arguably more impactful than the cover art or title for TikTok specifically.
Choosing a good start time
- Pick your strongest 15–30 second hook — usually a chorus, a distinctive vocal line, or a beat drop, not an intro or verse.
- Think about what a creator would actually want to lip-sync, dance to, or use as background for a specific type of video (comedy timing, a transition moment, an emotional beat).
- If you're not sure, look at what other artists in your genre use as their most-used clip — TikTok's own trending sounds are a good reference point for what "grabby" actually sounds like in the first two seconds.
Setting it
Enter the start time in seconds (e.g. entering 45 means the preview clip starts 45 seconds into the track and plays for the platform's standard preview duration from that point). This is set once per release and applies to how the track appears in TikTok's sound library — it does not affect the track as it streams on other platforms.