The music industry is constantly changing and so is marketing in all aspects. As such, the practice of music marketing is constantly evolving, sometimes at a pace so rapid that even seasoned professionals struggle to keep up with new platforms, practices, and technologies. As a company or person gets used to the way things are done, something seems to come along and change what everyone else in the company is doing.
Knowing what's coming next is incredibly valuable for people in music marketing. They need to know what's going on around them, whether they're excited, trying to catch the next trend, or making sure their fellow musicians try something new to reach the widest possible audience.
As the new year begins, five music marketing experts ask themselves the following question:
"What's your top music marketing prediction for this year?"
Jesse Kirschbaum, Managing Director, NEA
In many ways, this is the year of TikTok. I don't think TikTok will be banned. I think a lot of people still make static posts and pictures of themselves and food and everything… and that doesn't resonate. What Tik Tok offers is a way to start and ignite viral sensations and trends, perhaps the most important way to break artists, products, communication and everything else right now.
I think more and more people will learn how to create TikToks and I think it will become more accessible. And I think it's big enough to survive Prohibition because it's kind of too big to fail. I think GenZ/GenAlpha will not just be a platform, but a place for developers and the industry to grow. I believe it will be a crucial communication tool for product launches and brand launches.
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Cassie Petrie, co-founder of Crowdsurfing
We continue to see more marketing initiatives focused on direct messages and real-world strategies. If you think about it, instead of appearing publicly in posts and comments, you spend most of your time on social media behind the scenes in DMs. I'm seeing more and more artists realizing the importance of investing time to engage fans in ways other than posting on their main streams, and I'm excited to see these marketing strategies evolving.
Tim Gerst, CEO of Thinkswell
Music marketing is getting closer. I mean we see a lot of artists looking for ways to connect with fans on a one to one level. This could be through more TikToks replying to comments, sending custom messages to apps like Community, or through fan-inspired content. When an artist finds a way to personally relate the points to consumers, they buy more.
Jennifer Frommer, senior vice president of partnerships and business development, Columbia Records
I predict that music marketing for artists will become more authentic and organic.
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Sean Tracy, CEO/Co-Founder of DOM
Music is an interesting place today. Converting album sales into streaming equivalents is something the music industry has mastered over the past decade and a half. Now there seems to be more focus on what's next, beyond Spotify and DSP streaming numbers.
I heard YouTube will launch YouTube Shorts. When you start a short message on YouTube, it essentially leads to the product you are promoting. So if it's a music video for Post Malone's new single, BTS can create video content (behind the scenes)… and end up with those numbers at the bottom of the view count. So I think YouTube will be big with DSP.
I don't know how responsible TikTok is because we've seen many examples of this type of backlash. For example: Arizona Zervas. She had a record called "Roxanne" that went viral on Tik Tok. He was independent. It had a broadcast history. All his songs have been listened to more than a million times. After "Roxana" there was no social prompt or anything to activate. And that led to a multi-day war with a buyout of over $10 million.
So I think accounts should avoid relying on TikTok data. And the same thing happened with Spotify. I've never seen record companies purge their staff of people who used to work in A&R and marketing. I think traditional methods are in trouble because they're not moving forward. I think there will definitely be more outsourcing to third parties. I think most record companies don't have a vision. Most of these companies don't try new artists at all, but they do make a single for the new Ed Sheeran. I think we need to get rid of what's on TikTok.
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