How Her Passion for Music Turned into a Community on TikTok
By Smaranda Botezatu | Magazine | June 14, 2023
Cover Illustration: Emma Potsklan lying on her stomach. (Emma Potsklan)
Magazine reporter Smaranda Botezatu talks to Emma Potsklan about the current musical landscape, learning to broaden choices and TikTok as a music-sharing platform.
Do you want to expand your music taste? Would you like some ideas on how to style yourself based on your favorite artist? How about going on a deep dive about your favorite artist or album? Emma Potsklan, known as @epotty on TikTok, is the perfect guide when it comes to broadening your musical horizons. She has built a community of over 10k TikTok users with whom she shares her knowledge and excitement about music.
Emma’s passion for music started when she was exposed to her dad’s music. “I think my interest in rap music specifically came from him. He listened to The Tribe, Eminem, and the Beastie Boys.’’ Sometimes, she would sneak into his bag to grab his iPod, which at that time was an infinite source of songs. She has taken a practical approach to music her whole life by playing instruments, singing in the choir and studying music theory in high school. “Music has always been an integral part of my life; it has connected me to my family and other people.’’
“Music has always been an integral part of my life; it has connected me to my family and other people.’’ — Emma Potsklan
Yet, she has not always felt safe sharing her music taste. “Growing up, I very much gravitated towards things that were of a dark nature. For that reason, everyone at school thought that I was weird. At some point, I started to suppress that. I hid that side of myself and stopped telling people what I was interested in because I felt like an outcast.’’
The moment that helped Emma embrace her true artistic preferences and her individuality could seem ordinary: watching the MTV Music Awards. Tyler, The Creator winning Best Music Video for “Yonkers’’ was a turning point for Emma. “Something just clicked. I just loved how dark and scary and weird it was. I decided that I wouldn’t pretend to like something that I don’t enjoy.’’ This set her up on a personal quest to explore artists and sounds that resonated on a deeper level. ‘’When I looked up Yonkers on Youtube, I found Anthony Fantano’s review of this album.’’ Anthony Fantano is a widely popular YouTuber known for his in-depth album reviews and music discussions on his channel “The Needle Drop’’.
Emma started posting on TikTok when the pandemic hit. Initially, she would post funny videos or makeup routines, even though there was nowhere to go. “I felt like no one could see me, but everyone could see me.’’ At one point, she found a niche for her content. “I started thinking about my life, my career and where I wanted to go. I knew my goal was to work in the music industry. It could be difficult to get in if you don’t know anyone who’s already active. I began making music-related content on TikTok and I wasn’t taking it super seriously.’’ That changed when Anthony Fantano commented on one of her TikToks and then followed her. “I was extremely excited because for me he represented an ultra-celebrity. I could not believe it.’’
Before deciding to be a content creator, she had the usual nagging thoughts. “It can be very scary, since you may be thinking ‘Oh my God, if I post this, are people from my high school going to make fun of me?’’’ But the truth is you will never get anywhere you want in life if you allow that fear to infect you.’’ Thus, she managed to completely disassociate herself from any feeling of embarrassment, admitting that some posts may be cringe, but embracing it with a simple: “I don’t care.’’
Her creative process depends on the type of videos she’s putting out. ‘’My content ranges a lot, from playlists or song recommendations, which takes about 10 minutes to make, to my deep dives on albums or artists. Those videos require about four hours to create.’’ However, her excitement remains the same, no matter the sort of content. ‘’Every single day I open my notes app and I try to write down at least three ideas. Sometimes I’ll get so excited about ideas that I can’t wait to create a video.’’
Emma succeeds in capturing a vivid moment with a playlist that transports the listeners to that specific mood. Her playlists range from “songs that feel like a dream’’ to “situationship type’’ and “sunset bike ride.’’ The audience on TikTok has come up with ideas to help her tailor playlists. “Someone would suggest making a playlist that feels like waking up and the sun is shining. So I sit and think about what song feels like sunlight on my face. Maybe Ryan Beatty sounds like that. What’s similar to Ryan Beatty? Some Brockhampton songs. Then Omar Apollo has a couple of songs that have the same vibe. That’s how it grows.’’
“You can objectively analyze a song,’’ Emma says with conviction. A common perception about music and art is that it is subjective. But Emma does not subscribe to this belief. “I think that you can measure lyric quality, instrumentation, its complexity, the depth of a song and how melodic it is.’’ She makes the difference between a favorite song and a good song. “For example, my favorite song on Tyler, The Creator’s album ‘Igor’ is ‘I don’t love you anymore.’ However, I can recognize that perhaps ‘Earthquake’ is a better song because it has an intensely catchy chorus. The verses are well crafted, the instrumentation is grand. It’s set in a certain measure that makes it very cinematic.’’
As someone who is quite reluctant in finding new songs and artists, I was curious about what Emma would recommend to broaden my music taste. “Go to a YouTube Music reviewer’s page and click on a random review that you have no idea about. You’ve never heard of the album? You have no idea who the artist is? Just listen to it. The next thing I would recommend is to check out music journalism.” Emma suggests that print media is a great source for discovering new music, magazines such as Rolling Stone, Complex and NME provide various recommendations based on previous months.
Smaranda Botezatu is a university student in Amsterdam. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Amsterdammer.
