TikTok Star Cooper Alan On Sharing Music And Cookies With Fans

Your songs have been streamed over a hundred million times. That's wild to think about. Could you have ever predicted this kind of success?

No. Golly, I tell this story every show we play before I play "New Normal," which was my first viral song. I've been doing this for a long time. I'm 26, but I've been doing this since 8th grade. We would write songs and we would put them out or record them, and you would beg your family and friends to listen to it. They would, because they were nice and they were cool.

But it was a big celebration when you got over that greater than a thousand streams on Spotify. I remember the first time that happened, I was like, "Oh my God, a thousand people have listened to this song." Then you multiply that by a bunch and it's surreal. I'm very fortunate that people connect in some way with the stuff I put out there. Some of it's crazy, some of it's wild, but it's all real and it's all me. I'm fortunate that people connect with that.

What's next for you? Is your partnership with Dewey's going to lead to more professional collaborations? What's on the horizon moving forward?

The horizon is a lot more music — big fall tour that runs through Thanksgiving, and then we'll do more dates next year. [I'm] trying to continue to grow this thing and grow my business. In terms of brand partnerships, we try to be selective with who we partner with, and it's got to be a perfect fit. Dewey's was that perfect fit for us from the hometown to the great flavors, to how good they are, to how much I believe in it. It was the perfect partnership. I wouldn't plan on seeing a ton of these partnerships from me because it's got to be special, and this one's special to me.

That's a nice distinction. It's important if you're going to be working with anyone to do something that feels authentic and something that you could get behind. Ad culture on TikTok is ... Followers can take it the wrong way.

It's not pickiness because I think I'm any better than anything. It really is more of a respect for the fans ... I'm already advertising so much on there, from my music to ticket sales. I'm a walking ad, trying to constantly sell myself. I have to be careful. But this is a product that if all 10 million of my social media followers went out and bought a box of Dewey's cookies, then I guarantee you every single one would be like, "Damn, these are really good." I can actually eat eight of these and not feel bad about myself, and they're not that bad for me. This is awesome.

Follow Cooper Alan on TikTok and Instagram for more information about his partnership with Dewey's, music, and more. 

This interview was edited for clarity.