What a year this has been, and it’s only the first quarter.
January felt like the slowest month ever, with the LA fires and the inauguration ushering in a dark new reality. February flew by with cultural tentpole events like The Grammys, the Super Bowl, SNL 50, and NBA All-Star weekend back-to-back-to-back. March was a manic month with massive macro trends coming into play, affecting all facets of the world.
All in all, Q1 brought some things to light and helped paint the picture of what the future of entertainment and brands is going to look like. Beyond the data – which is still trickling in over the next few weeks – here are some cultural changes that we picked up on:
Vibe Shift: This is all over the culture reports, and my fellow trend lovers are feasting on it. Is this era called a Dark Shift? The Boom Boom? The era of the villain guy? The WWE era? We’re hearing it all, but clearly 2025’s vibe is different from the year before.
IRL is the New Luxury: Meeting up in person is the new glory. We are all very busy and, thanks to social media, very distracted. Meeting up in person is the new luxury, whether it be at a retreat, an event, or even for coffee. If you look in someone’s eyes and exchange rogue saliva, that’s more flossy than a Balenciaga shirt.
Smaller, Purpose-Driven Communities: 2025 has been all about community. The desire for smaller, more intimate, specialized communities is undeniable. People are abandoning massive platforms in favor of tight-knit groups where trust and shared values flourish.
Viewership Numbers Vary But Clips are King: With award season behind us, we learned something important: even with the Super Bowl ratings up, the Grammys viewers down, the Oscars holding steady and SNL doing solid, viewership stats are skewed. What’s clear is that people don’t want to sit through a 3-hour movie, podcast, or award show. The water cooler moments all gather around the clips.
Health Is Wealth: CPG is an exciting place again. Everyone is looking at health and wellness differently. New stars are emerging; new conversations are happening; and new products are going to define this moment. I’ve never heard so many people talking about Expo West. The future of health and wellness will be commercialized and I’m seeing so many great new brands and products coming out.
The 30-second Ad is the Trailer: I really noticed this at The Super Bowl, but the 30-second ad doesn’t do justice to the real intricacies and message of the commercial. The new format is to launch a longer piece of branded content and let the TV ad be the teaser’s teaser.
Spectacle Marketing: It’s the only way to cut through the noise. The more outrageous, the more attention you can grab. That’s the game we are playing now.
Degenerate Economy: Unfortunately for the people, Crypto, gambling, and Zyn are in. We might not be drinking as much, but there are new vices that have the mainstream in a chokehold.
Restivals > Festivals: I’m enjoying being a homebody these days. I can get great insights and downloads from watching the livestream. What’s more important? The 10K people in the room, or the millions of people you can reach online?
AEO: The clearest consumer use case for AI is the enhancement it gives search. In 2025, we are all asking our AI agents to tell us the answers, which are opening the door to a new era. Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is starting to eat SEO’s lunch and is the next frontier for brand integration, offering a greater ability for users to personalize their music experience.
YouTube Takes The Crown: Maybe it was self declared, but the 20th anniversary of YouTube campaign sealed the deal that YouTube is more powerful than cable television and the biggest platform in the game for content.
Ideas That Spread, Win: The #1 metric in the attention economy is how shareable the idea is. “Influencers” aren’t paid to post, they are paid to create posts that are shared.
M&A Is Starting To Happen, IPOs are Coming Next: Dealmakers are adopting a cautious approach due to market volatility and geopolitical uncertainties. The first two months of the year saw the slowest M&A activity in over two decades, with only 1,172 deals worth $226.8bn. But with big deals like Poppi Soda, Niantic Labs, Napster, and Google buying Wiz in the past few weeks, the tides are finally starting to shift. There are big IPOs coming from Discord, StubHub, and Klarna, to name a few in the news.
Live Albums are Back In Fashion: Listening to a studio album is less exciting, less raw, and less real than the live album experience. Live concert albums are heating up again.
SXSW & CES Are No Longer Where The Trends Begin: But they are still a great place to get out of the house for a few days, if that’s what you’re looking for.
Linkedin FTW: This has quickly become my favorite platform for connection, storytelling, networking, content, and to cheer on my peers. LinkedIn is in fashion and an underutilized resource for artists, creators, and the music industry.
Sobriety: I never thought I’d see sobriety championed like it is now. This was Kendrick’s quarter with the Grammy’s sweep, the most watched Super Bowl performance of all time, and his in-house creative agency winning Fast Company’s Most Innovative Company in Music, all as he gears up for a massive tour. But what was most striking to me was the understory that he has never smoked or drank in his life. Meanwhile, massive party DJ John Summit has been chronicling his sober touring life and loving it. This is a big wave in pop culture. Cue Athletic Brew being big at festivals this year after announcing their partnerships with Live Nation. Watch out for the hashtag Soberchella this April in Indio.
This trend report is more of a gut feeling than our typical offering. We do stew deep in the data and bring a different version of our trends & insights for clients on a weekly basis. The trends aren’t always your friends, but it’s beneficial to have the lay of the landscape. Hit me up if you want to discuss that service.
What’s on the horizon for Q2? Record Store Day, festival season, Wrestlemania, F1, Possible, Frieze, Tribeca Film Festival, NY Music Month, and a whole slew of eagerly anticipated album releases and brand campaigns. Polymarket is an interesting world if you want to see probabilities and possibilities in action.
Now it’s your turn: what did I miss?
Stay connected:
🔗 Learn more about NUE
📩 Subscribe to Beats + Bytes
