All of a sudden, this year is flying. It was just last month I was writing my Q1 overview. We’re zooming now and a clear picture for the year has taken shape.
The formula defining this moment, which I call The Great Transformation, has been:
Great Transformation = Post Covid Era + Creator Economy + AI
But Trump’s second presidency has been the X factor pushing us into new, uncertain territory. Here are some key sentiments greatly affecting the world of culture marketing so far in 2025:
- Message in Chaos
- Vibe Coding
- Finding Signal Through the Noise
- Tariffs
- War and the Hope of Peace
- Trust, Confidence, and Living In Uncertainty
- Impact Of Climate Change
What does it all mean for marketing? Our 2025 Halftime Report is intended to help you answer that. We’ll break it into 6 key areas of the entertainment landscape, covering 3 this week and 3 next week.
Music Biz
There’s No Single Music Industry: Rather, there are hundreds of parallel industries, each with their own rules and rhythms. We now fully live in a world of niches.
Fans Want Physical Media: The vinyl revolution is real, yet ½ of the record buyers in the US don’t have a player. CDs are on the rise as are cassettes… Why? Fans want something tangible.
New Format for Music Videos: This game has changed, too. We don’t live in an MTV era. The new formula for music videos plays to the social graph with “content oversupply.” Major artists are also trying to capture attention in the age of “content oversupply” by releasing alternate versions of albums and songs, and more remixes. Ed Sheeran laid it out perfectly with his new single. Here was his blueprint.
Dance Music Is Starting To Boom: The stink from the corporatization and roll up of dance music that ruined its last boom has finally passed. Now, dance music is back on the rise. It’s exciting. It’s crossover. It’s universal. It’s fun. It’s nostalgic and new school. The producers are accessible and smart. We lost dancing during the pandemic, but now it’s back!
Rules of Management: In the first quarter of the year, a significant number of high-profile acts made changes to their management teams. Social media has altered the playing field. We’re constantly comparing and looking at how someone is doing better than us. The golden rule of management was always, it’s not if you are going to be fired but when.. But now with artists thinking like brands and everyone more accessible than ever, the game is changing again and hopefully for the better.
AI Artists: Timbaland is rolling one out and it’s catching some flack, but that’s because people don’t understand. AI performers aren’t taking your jobs. On the contrary, they’re a new genre and they will get bigger. There are some big pluses to this new evolution of the pop star and even if you don’t like it, there is a market for it.
Country Rap Reigns: This is the sound of the Summer. This is the genre. Call it a sign of the times, but this is the sound that has the biggest appeal right now.
Live Experiences
In Person Connection: For years, creators have chased virality online, but these days, influence is about access, not scale. Follower count matters less than who actually shows up. I keep wondering what happens when the novelty of IRL wears off. Gen Z, as we’ve all heard a thousand times, is hungry for in-person connection, but what happens when that craving is satisfied?
Malls Revival: Malls are coming back, driven by Gen Z’s desires to connect in real life. And brands recognize that shopping can be an experience and marketing driver for brands.
Members Clubs: In many U.S. cities like NY, LA, Miami, SF, and Austin, it’s new members club central. Every time I turn around a new one is popping up, and they’re all pretty awesome but why? People want to connect in real life and we are all in need of a second place with like minded folk, to feel safe and call home. The memberclub mania is another key example of that.
Niche Festivals: I think we’ve reached a saturation point with the same old live shows and festivals. Smaller, better, and niche feels better and more interesting in 2025.
Live Industry’s Brandapalooza: The live industry is getting better and better at activating brands. It felt like they could have renamed Governor’s Ball as Brand Ball the way the activations had such long lines and consumer excitement. This is a big opportunity for brands to connect directly with fans in a fun and memorable way.
Broadway’s Highest Grossing Year: There’s something extremely exciting about watching a show live. In a streaming universe, the pendulum was bound to swing back. On top of that, with so much great content on streaming services, more and more stars need to come to Broadway to earn the T on their EGOT, creating a perfect storm for a box office surge in theatre.
Creator Economy
Rapid Creator Growth: The number of full-time, digital creator jobs in the U.S. surged from 200,000 in 2020 to 1.5 million in 2024, making creators the fastest growing segment of the 28.4 million internet-dependent jobs. This growth is fueled by new tools, platforms, and ad spending shifts, with creator-driven businesses now accounting for 30% of new digital economy jobs and contributing to an Internet economy that makes up 18% of U.S. GDP. (Axios)
Affiliate Links, The New Influencer Deal Frontier: The new way to do creator and influencer deals is with affiliate links. This is the next frontier to brands doing savvy deals. Influencers are showing their worth and taking a bigger piece of the pie.
Deal Of The Year: Hailey Bieber and e.l.f. is the deal of the year so far, and the new gold standard of how this can work: big creators and savvy marketers that understand talent and an accessible market product boosted by creators. In 3 short years with some splashy marketing, it sells for a billion dollars. This is the model others should be looking to and replicating.
To Be Continued Next Week….
Happy Juneteenth and Cannes Week. See you soon!
