Music’s intersection with the creator economy has never been on such a wide display as it has been this past year. Although 2020 and 2021 had their share of viral hits coming from short form video platforms, the 2022 charts are completely dominated by short form catalysis. There isn’t meaningful data that suggests 2023 will be much different.

As music marketers, understanding short form video, influencer marketing, and the creator economy has never been more important.

  1. 2023 will be the beginning of the Short Form Video Platform Wars. Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts have amazing products and they are much more optimized than they were in 2020+2021. TikTok has had a massive runway since its launch in 2017 (compared to IG Reels 2020, YT Shorts 2021) but that does not mean the others won’t catch up. Meta and Google are two of the biggest companies in the world.
    Big 2023 artists are going to be the ones that can create unique and compelling content at scale for all three platforms.
  2. Dedicate team members to influencer marketing. Who on your team is evaluating creators the same way you once dedicated staff to analyzing playlists, press outlets, etc?
  3. Remixes, edits, sped-up, etc versions of popular songs are going to dominate short-form music consumption in 2023. FYI – Songfluencer is going to offer free remix services to all clients next year.
  4. Across the board, Micro Influencer strategies are proving immensely more successful than Macro Influencer strategies. We mentioned this in 2021 and it continues to be more true as these ecosystems evolve. Micro/niche creators are routinely rewarded by platforms and the ROI tends to be greater with micro creators.
  5. We are currently experiencing significant demand (and running campaigns!) from live entertainment companies, talent buyers, and touring stakeholders that want creators to promote their shows/events. Consider how you can use creators to not only catalyze trends, challenges, etc, but how they can be used to promote live shows / performances.

Thank you for your partnership in 2022. It was a pleasure to serve you and help promote your amazing artists and brands We are proud of the work we do and our efforts to stay on the cutting edge of this ever evolving industry. We look forward to working together next year!

Happy Holidays!

Sincerely,
Johnny Cloherty, Founder / CEO