Singer Emma White clocks up one million followers on Tik Tok

Derry teenager Emma White definitely didn’t let the grass grow under her feet during lockdown.
Emma White.Emma White.
Emma White.

The popular singer has spent the last few months growing her online audience and recently reached a phenomenal one million followers on video-sharing social network, Tik Tok.

The 18-year-old has won fans right across the world with her pitch perfect renditions of popular hits, with her videos hitting hundreds of thousands and even millions of views.

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One video last year, which referenced Covid 19 and lockdown, saw her achieve over 17.1m views alone.

Emma has always been popular on Tik Tok and in October 2019, she told the ‘Journal’ of her delight at reaching 50,000 followers.

But, since lockdown began, those numbers have risen and risen and speaking this week, Emma said she ‘couldn’t believe it’ when that number reached one million.

“It has been mad. Most of it happened through lockdown. It was at 50,000 and then grew to 100,000 and then 800,000. It’s amazing. It was like a wee game, wondering what number you could get to next!”

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Emma, who is in sixth form at Lumen Christi College, has always loved music, singing and acting.

As a child, she attended Sandra Biddle for her drama grades and then attended the McGinley School of Music for her singing grades.

In 2019, Emma went to Emil Dale Academy in the UK, for two years initially. However, she decided to come home when the Covid-19 pandemic began and went into sixth form.

She is kept extremely busy with her music, which is ‘like a job’ and she already has a number of brand deals and sponsorships from companies impressed with her appeal and popularity.

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Emma outlined how she finds it hard to imagine that one million people are following her and watching her singing.

“My friends keep saying to me: ‘Can you imagine that many people?’ They see it as people but at the start I found it hard to imagine. Now I do and it’s great to think you have people from around following you; I have followers in the UK, America and the Philippines.”

Emma finds musical inspiration from singers like Freddie Mercury, George Michael and Prince and is “very into pop music”.

“I also like seeing new music and those that are trending, as that’s important for Tik Tok.”

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She regularly posts music where followers can duet with her and one of her most recent songs reached seven million views.

It’s a huge number but Emma said she doesn’t get nervous when she thinks about how many people are watching her sing.

She does get nervous when posting new songs as she wants to ensure people like them .

“If the video before has done well, I’d get nervous posting a new one as you’d want the same type of views. But, I really enjoy it.”

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While Emma loves Tik Tok, she is also a huge fan of posting her music on Youtube, where the videos are longer and she can engage more with viewers.

She is delighted that her success on Tik Tok is making her other social media channels such as Youtube and Instagram grow.

Emma wants to continue pursuing her career and is happy that she has a strong platform to launch from.

“At the minute I really want to keep going with it and see where it takes me. The brand deals and collabs mean it is like a job and I want to go forward with that. I want to be a singer and an actress. A lot of singers try to build a platform after they are established but in my head I want to have that platform first.”

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She is already being recognised in the street, especially by young children.

“One wee girl came up to me with her phone and asked if I was the girl on Tik Tok. It was lovely.”

Emma is modest about her success and credits her friends and family with being “so supportive”.

“Mammy and daddy always knew this was something I wanted to do and they encouraged it. I’m forever singing around the house - I never stop. It takes up all my free time. I love it and wouldn’t change it for the world.”

You can follow Emma on TikTok at @officialemmawhite, on Instram at emmawhiteex and Emma White on Youtube.

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