The ‘Group 7’ Creator Still Doesn’t Know How She Hacked TikTok’s Algorithm

If you’ve been on TikTok in the past couple of weeks, you’ve probably noticed people posting about belonging to “Group 7.”

The trend is actually an experiment by indie singer Sophia James, who released a series of videos set to her song “So Unfair” in an effort to manipulate TikTok’s algorithm and get more people listening to her music. After trying a few different tactics, following typical TikTok formats, James started placing people into exclusive groups. And it has worked—Group 7, the final video in James’ TikTok “science experiment,” has garnered over 76 million views and spawned legions of comments and reaction videos, with even Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai repping her elite status as a member.

James kicked off the videos on October 17, posting a video that followed the same TikTok formula we’ve seen since the dawn of the platform: herself mouthing and dancing along to a song—her song—and holding a parking ticket. In her second video, she says “it has always been and will always be me versus the algorithm. And today I have decided that I’m winning” while “So Unfair” plays softly in the background.

It’s not until the fourth video that she introduces the categories, telling TikTokers: “If you’re seeing this you are in Group 4.”

“I am posting a bunch of videos and seeing which ones reach the most viewers,” the text reads as her song blares. “This is the fourth post of the batch, so you are Group 4.“

This declaration didn’t do much to shake the algorithm, and neither did her Group 5 and 6 videos. But sometimes the best is left for last. After her Group 7 video went massively viral, James says, “‘So Unfair’ has definitely seen an uptick in listeners all across the board, and it’s kind of spread through a lot of my other music, too, which is really fantastic.”

Still, even James seems confused that she managed to hack the algorithm. WIRED asked James about why she decided on this experiment and the double-edged sword of using social media as an indie artist.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

WIRED: How did you get started in the industry?

Sophia James: I have been making music ever since I had the ability to. My late mother was a professional singer. And my father is a touring drummer, and so it was kind of, I mean, audibly passed down to me and also, I guess, encoded in my DNA in a way. I kind of won the lottery by being their daughter and just sort of being able to absorb the world of live music and the musician hustle. From the get-go.

I had a quick sort of experience with [a] boutique record label who provided me with a few producers … but [with] my third EP, the label experience didn’t end up being very fruitful for me. Somewhere down the line, they lost funding, and I was left in the dark about a lot of it. It made me start to really question the mechanics of the music industry and the whole corporate side of things and the business side of things, and it was a real wake-up call to start putting my head down and learning about the industry and kind of arming myself with knowledge about how the business works. Somewhere along that line, I met producer and platinum hit songwriter Alex Bilowitz. And he reached out to me because he had found a video on social media of me playing one of my original songs.

A lot of artists, whether they’re smaller artists or superstars, have this conflicting understanding of what the music industry is right now in the face of social media. Which brings us to the Group 7 of it all. What pushed you to do it?

I mean, the primary reason that I’m on TikTok, and on social media in general, is to promote my music and get it heard and get it out to the people that resonate with it and want to listen to it. I care too much about this batch of music specifically, and I’m too excited about it to not put my best foot forward, just swallow my pride and start playing the social media game and taking it very seriously in order to try and cut through the noise.

And yeah, along with that, I’ve been putting every effort into chasing whatever trends or trying different methods of hacking this algorithm, this mysterious algorithm, to just try and like, get the word out about my music so that I can continue to make a living off of what I love to do.

I don’t really have many other skills. So it wasn’t really an option for me. So I’m like, you know, for better or for worse, social media right now is the tool that gives you that chance to do what you love.

I really wanted to also just dive into the types of “Group” videos you made, because they were all different. The first video wasn’t even labeled as a Group 1. It was just you saying that you got a parking ticket. The Group 3 video was you opening the ticket, and then the Group 6 video had you sitting completely still in a corner, just letting your song play in the background. Why do you think the Group 7 video popped off in the way that it did?

I have not really had a moment to sit and think about it all. But I mean, I put my song “So Unfair” in the background of each of these videos or at the forefront, and so there was no difference with sound or no sound, or “So Unfair” or no “So Unfair.” It’s a puzzle to me. What I’ve observed is that in the seventh video, I’m talking to the camera. I’m audibly using my voice. I don’t know if it’s anything to do with the aesthetics, with the sound or whatever. I don’t know if it has anything to do with the fact that, like, numerically, the seventh video in a batch has a higher chance of hitting the algorithm?

I simply don’t know. What I do know is that when I started seeing comments flooding on the Group 7 video, there were a lot of … silly camaraderie-based things and like putting really funny reaction memes in it and stuff.

Like, this is very silly, and I think it was definitely driven by the people commenting on the video. I don’t know how, or how the video got to the For You pages of those commenters, but I’m really glad [it] did.

It’s over 50 million views right now. This is a worldwide meme at this point. Who was the most unexpected person for you to hop on this trend?

Sorry, I’m just having a little bit of an out-of-body experience. Like seeing how silly this is. It’s so funny. It’s delightful.

Anyway, I woke up to a text from a friend. I think it was two days ago or yesterday, just saying Malala is in Group 7. Like the women’s education activist Malala. That was incredibly unexpected. And she was using it to promote her new book, which, you know, is fantastic. And I hope it’s fruitful for her, and I hope that it drives people to read her new book.

Yeah, that was the one that really was like, wow.

In your Group 2 video, you said, “It has always been and will always be me versus the algorithm. And today I have decided that I’m winning.” How have social media algorithms affected artists in the age of music discovery?

The algorithm really does not favor artists, especially independent artists, because there is no machine behind them pushing their content out. I come from a large network of truly DIY independent artists, and across the board, I’m hearing all the time just that TikTok hates musicians; TikTok hates independent artists and songwriters and stuff.

If you really scroll or take the time to search for independent artists promoting their songs, there are millions on millions on millions of videos of independent artists trying their hardest and their best to do what I’m trying to do to get their music out there and find find their audience, and it just is really disheartening that it hardly ever seems to work.

There was this kind of, I guess, “golden age” of music discovery on TikTok in the Covid era because everyone was in their homes, and there was this like mass signing of “TikTok artists” to major labels. But five years later, that trend or that movement or whatever you call it has completely flipped, and it’s really, really frustrating.

Has your music had more reach since the video popped off?

Yeah! I’m so eternally grateful and still bamboozled. But “So Unfair” has definitely seen an uptick in listeners, all across the board, and it’s kind of spread through a lot of my other music, too, which is really fantastic.

My catalog is very diverse. So, you know, it’s exciting to see people kind of discover little corners of the discography and find themselves connected to this song as opposed to this song, or this EP as opposed to this EP. It’s really thrilling to witness people be surprised as they begin to explore my largely undiscovered and underground music.

After the explosion of the Group 7 video, do you think what you said in your Group 2 video happened? Do you feel like you “won?”

I meant what I said in that video. It always has been and always will be me versus the algorithm. And it’s going to continue to be. But I guess this Group 7 video has, at least in this moment, proved that the algorithm can be broken through. Musicians can break through it.

So long answer short, I’m taking it as a win for the time being. And I’m taking it as a win for the independent artist.