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Gap is becoming one of the most interesting brand case studies in America right now.

After taking a very public hit from the fallout of their Kanye partnership, the 57-year-old apparel company could have played it safe. Instead, it leaned harder into culture. There’s a lot marketers can learn from this moment.

Under Richard Dickson, Gap isn’t just selling hoodies again, it’s rebuilding relevance. The strategy is clear: stop acting like a traditional retailer and start behaving more like an entertainment company.

You can see it everywhere: Zac Posen is dressing Kendall Jenner in Gap at the Met Gala and music-driven campaigns with Jungle, Troye Sivan, Young Miko, and Katseye are all creating buzz. Plus, they had a standout out activation at Coachella that is replicable and scalable.

Now, Old Navy is tapping mother-daughter duo, Paris and Kathy Hilton, in a new campaign that’s already cutting through.

This isn’t doing random celebrity marketing, it’s a coordinated effort to rebuild emotional connection through storytelling, music, entertainment, and an always-on news cycle.

This week, Gap doubled down again by hiring former Paramount executive, Lourdes Arocho, as SVP & Head of Licensing to help connect the company more deeply to entertainment, sports, and the cultural moments shaping the conversation. The company is clearly working hard to build more culture capabilities in-house.

Dickson said it best this weekend in the The New York Times business section:

“Being aware of pop culture, content, art, theater, music, entertainment… you become more relevant.”

That line says it all. And, importantly, these campaigns don’t feel like traditional ads. For instance, nobody is talking about fleece pricing or denim discounts. They’re talking about the feeling, the visuals, and the soundtrack to the moment we’re in.

That’s central to Gap’s shift. The best culture marketing today doesn’t interrupt entertainment, it becomes entertainment.

Even though entertainment marketing remains harder to measure than straight performance marketing or influencer campaigns, Gap appears to be putting real frameworks in place around it. Dickson noted that the company tracks everything in real-time; from brand love to search behavior and consumer sentiment.

Ultimately, when you shift culture, business results follow. The biggest KPI is, of course, that sales are climbing. But the brand heat is climbing in kind, as are consumer conversations.

That’s not luck, that’s what happens when a company understands the modern consumer’s passion points and wants to participate in that feeling, not just advertise around it. In this environment, brands have a unique opportunity to make art rather than simply borrowing from artists. These types of orchestrations are replicable on both larger and smaller scales.

We’ve been beating this drum for a while now. Back in 2021, I told AdAge that more companies would eventually need a Chief Entertainment Officer. A few short years later, Gap is becoming one of the clearest examples of that thesis.

So don’t be surprised when more brands follow suit and begin putting their own creative spin on this. If you’re launching a new product, trying to create attention with your campaign, or trying to transform your business, leveraging entertainment marketing needs to be a big part of your marketing stack.

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My mother always told me, “With one behind, you can’t sit on the whole world,” and I really took it to heart. She was memorialized this weekend in The New York Times (skip to 9:10 for my tribute to her and my grandmother).

But since I’ve been back in New York, I’m feeling a global energy. It truly is the capital of the world across all disciplines.

Living in Florida for the past four years, I often heard that “New York is dead” or that it “isn’t the same.” That’s true: one thing you can always count on, is that New York – like culture in general – is always changing. What may look like the same old thing is, on the highest level, always picking up new tricks of the trade. Personally, I’m here for it.

Monday night was The Webbys, the internet’s biggest night. It’s always a fun, quirky celebration honoring the best and brightest in culture. From Oura Ring to Druski, The Webbys know how to highlight relevance.

Slick Rick’s visual masterpiece, Victory, won two awards, and I couldn’t have been more excited to see him accept with a legendary five-word speech. I’m so proud of Rick, Mandy, and their dream team, and honored to have played a small part.

Later that night was the Brooklyn Museum’s Artists Ball where Swizz Beatz DJ’d. The crowd was a ‘who’s who’ of New York culture supporters. Thank you board of trustee member, Mike Carrasquillo, for inviting me. It’s New York though and there is always another level and a bigger stage down the block and last night was no different either via The Robinhood Foundation’s annual gala, The Amazon Upfronts at the Public Library or Bruce at The Garden.

Tonight brings The Clios. It’s always a great room, but tonight the host is Keegan-Michael Key and the guest of honor is Mark Ronson, so I’m expecting a spectacle. Ronson’s book felt like a portal into the good old days of New York. I’m hoping he spins some classics for us after the show.

I’m excited to see The Clios evolving, too. Their On Culture event in September could take the brand to new heights and honor a whole new category of luminaries and rainmakers in marketing.

Wednesday morning, I’m headed to the top of the World Trade for a breakfast produced by OnDiscourse with marketing all-stars, Michael Ventura and Matty Britton. Chatham house rules as always with this great organization and their free-flowing discussions on innovation.

That afternoon, Frieze and Fridge kick off. There are so many incredible art exhibits on my hit list right now, from the Radiohead Exhibit to Cooper Hewitt’s Art of Noise; from reSOUND at Hero to Pioneer Works’ Listening Gym; from the Museum of New York’s “Songs of New York”. Will any of this be as cool as Björk DJing a viral surprise set at the Venice Biennale this week? Only one way to find out.

Frieze, owned by Ari Emanuel’s MARI, brings a different energy than typical gallery openings and museum exhibits. It’s a proper art fair. Next year, we need to bring the music back into the mix and make it feel more like a festival.

The good news is my friend and music brand aficionado, Jennifer Frommer, hosts her underground rave, Disquoteque, on Wednesday nights. I’m excited to finally check it out. Who doesn’t love a geriatric 7–930pm dance party paying homage to the glory days? Pass the champagne, it’s hump day and we deserve it.

Thursday is Artist vs Machine, a 2nd year conference bringing together conversations around where the future is going and why. This is right up my alley and the lineup is awesome. Thank you to my fellow globe-trotting futurist, Natalie Monbiot, for the press pass. I’ll be front row taking notes.

It’s also the upfronts this week, so every media company and brand is showcasing their plans for the second half of the year and 2027.

Last (but certainly not least) there’s Global Citizen NOW, the best music nonprofit in the world, pulling out all the stops for this one-day affair. John, I appreciate you always looking out.

Do we still say “all in a New York minute” ? ‘Cause that’s not even including everything happening around these events, from Action Bronson at Katz’s Deli to Mike D. from the Beastie Boys back playing a roller skating rink. The vibes in the streets are immaculate as the Knicks continue to roll at the Garden and the city keeps shedding its scaffolding, block by block.

I’m not sure how much more can fit on the hit list, but let me know if I’m missing anything!

I’m glad to be back where it all began. If we can make it here, they’ll feel it everywhere. I’m gearing up for a whole new era.

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Karaoke has come a long way.

It started in 1970s Japan, where musician Daisuke Inoue was widely credited with creating the first karaoke machine so guests could sing along to instrumental versions of popular songs at parties and bars. The concept quickly spread across Asia and then to the United States, where the first dedicated karaoke bar opened in Los Angeles in 1982 and helped ignite a nationwide fascination with stepping up to the mic, no matter your vocal skill. 

By the late 1980s and early 1990s, karaoke bars and lounges were popping up in cities across America, turning what began as a novelty into a social ritual that blends music, performance, and community. That is precisely the culture that the new L.A. spot, Mic Drop, is tapping into.

Today, karaoke in America is a multibillion-dollar ecosystem of bars, private lounges, apps, home machines, and streaming libraries, all fueled by the enduring appeal of belting out anthems like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “My Way,” “Forgot About Dre,” and “Californication.” 

These songs aren’t just classics, they’re participation formats built for crowds, emotional release, and connection. That’s the real unlock: Karaoke isn’t about performance, it’s about permission. 

In a world where everything is increasingly digital and passive, karaoke remains a bastion of truly active, IRL cultural experience. This is why the opportunity right now isn’t to reinvent karaoke, but to elevate it.

How, you ask? With better sound, better design, better service, and better curation. A high energy experience with amazing food, private rooms, and even a main stage is what Mic Drop is delivering. They’re turning karaoke from something you do into somewhere you go.

On April 23rd, Mic Drop’s first location opened in West Hollywood, the birthplace of karaoke in America. It’s built for both the diehards and the “one song and I’m done” crowd.

I remember when the ping pong club SPiN opened in NYC. It was legendary and we threw killer Halloween parties there for years. The aesthetic was done so right and, in many ways, led to Marty Supreme. 

The founders of Mic Drop, two brilliant brothers who I’m fortunate to call close friends, have that same magic. One actually got his start in Third Eye Blind, so it’s not their first time on the big stage. The vision is simple: build the best karaoke experience in America.

I’m proud to be a Mic Drop advisor, and you know when I’m in L.A. next you’ll hear me hitting a heartfelt, off-key version of “Don’t Stop Believin’.” 

If you want a feel for it, check out the early energy here:

Instagram: @micdropla

TikTok: @micdropla

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Record Store Day is approaching this weekend as the vinyl explosion continues.

We now have vinyl everything: listening clubs treating albums like literature; vinyl bars; all-vinyl DJ sets; even vinyl as art. The kicker is, a substantial number of people collecting vinyl don’t even own record players!

At the same time, CD sales are up. iPods are quietly having a moment again. Even cassettes keep making an impact. 

None of this is a new trend. We’ve seen this trajectory working in parallel alongside streaming for the past few years. But now it’s becoming clearer why.

The 2020s have been nothing if not unpredictable, and nostalgia is grounding. What you can hold in your hand matters most. Spotify is trying – with their new premium liner notes program – but if it’s on your phone, it doesn’t evoke the same feeling. You can’t feel the worn imperfections in an app.

Streaming gave us access to every thing, but physical formats give us a reason to care about some things. 

I’ve felt it personally. Since spending more time in Miami, I’ve gotten into collecting vinyl, pop culture artifacts, and even old MetroCards. It just feels good to be able to touch something, put it on the mantle and see it when you walk into your house. The thrill of hunting for new additions to your collection refreshes those joyful feelings of youth.

But even with vinyl’s growth, it’s hard not to feel like we’re in an in-between moment. Physical is back, but not fully evolved. Digital is dominant, but not fully satisfying. That means there’s a real opportunity to bridge the gap between the two. More on that soon…

In the meantime, thank goodness for record stores and thank goodness for Chris Brown (no, not that Chris Brown). I’m excited to go diggin’ in the crates this weekend to see what kind of treasure I can find. Happy hunting!

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Festival season has returned, and with it comes one of the most important cultural checkpoints of the year.

This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. For the next three weeks, the industry migrates to Indio.

Three weekends. Three completely different plays…

Weekend 1: Industry, tastemakers, press, creators

Weekend 2: Fans, scale, repeatable moments

Weekend 3: Stagecoach, a different audience, different culture, same intensity

Each weekend carries a different energy and, for brands, a different strategy.

Why Coachella Still Sets the Tone

There’s nothing quite like Coachella. Comparisons to Burning Man might get made, but the reality is very different.

Burning Man is anti-brand. Coachella is where brands go to become ingrained in culture. It sets the tone for the summer and can dictate what people wear, listen to, post, and talk about.

The speed at which it sold out says everything about where we are right now. Live is alive.

The lineup hits across genres and generations, making it a magnet for both fans and marketers. Some say Bieber alone is carrying the weight of this year’s announcement as his comeback continues to make waves. If you want a sense of how the talent came together, this breakdown is worth a look. 

In my opinion, Weekend 1 is where it all happens. The surrounding brand ecosystem is at its peak, whereas Weekend 2 is for the fans, industry hangs, and catching what you missed.

Stagecoach, for its part, has become its own cultural moment entirely. With country music’s explosion into the mainstream, weekend 3 is no longer to be trifled with.

The biggest misconception? Brands show up on the main stage. They don’t. Although there are numerous sponsor activations on site, the real action happens around it.

Owned + Partnered Environments are Exclusive Now:

• Heineken House
• Aperol Spritz Piazza 
• Soho House Desert Hideout 
• Red Bull Mirage (including Nobu experiences) 
• Coachella’s Food Festival
• Euphoria premiere moments

You need a ticket to get into these experiences. These are not pop-ups. They are controlled ecosystems inside of the festival.

Artist-Led Activations are the New Billboards

The smartest brands don’t interrupt culture, they embed inside of it and help accelerate it.

• Sabrina Carpenter’s Route 111 roadside takeover (Airbnb integration meets real-world discovery) 
• SKYLARK drops timed for desert moments

Artists are no longer just talent, they are media channels running talent-led capsules and micro-experiences built for social distribution.

The Brand Layer

You’ll see the usual suspects:

• e.l.f. Cosmetics leaning into creator-first beauty moments 
• Starbucks building IRL touchpoints tied to routine + recharge Starbucks Coachella 
• Heineken’s new app combining musical tastes  
• Gap’s Entertainment team strikes again with their new House of Hoodies concept 

But what matters isn’t presence, it’s how intentional the integration feels. The bar is higher now.

The Platform Shift

As YouTube continues to dominate music consumption, Coachella has evolved alongside it. It’s no longer just about being there. It’s about:

• How it streams
• How it clips
• How it travels

“Couchella” has turned the festival into a global broadcast moment bringing physical experience and digital scale at the same time.

The Real Power: The Surrounding Circuit

If you know, you know. The desert is full of parallel economies of attention:

• Revolve Festival (influencer distribution engine) 
• Billboard’s “The Arrival” (industry signaling)
• 818 Tequila outpost with Cash App (Kaytranada DJ set and more)
• NYLON House
• Neon Carnival (Brent Bolthouse’s long-running cultural anchor)
• Martel’s Afrobeats Sunday brunch to celebrate Davido’s set 

This is where deals get made, where narratives are shaped, and where the cool kids make moves before they hit the feed. Behind all of it is a massive consortium of brands competing for attention and adding to the brand bonanza getting in on the surrounding action. 

What Brands Should Take Away

This tentpole event is still one of the most powerful environments to connect with consumers. Why? Because it hits at a core passion point – music – and sets the trend of the season. 

When you combine that with…

• “liquid to lips” product moments
• high-impact visual environments
• talent integration
• and a cross pollination of these cultural interactions across distribution platforms 

…you get something most campaigns can’t replicate: relevance at scale.

Final Thought: Coachella is crowded. 

Unlike with artists – where just being on the fest can change the trajectory of a career – there is a lot of noise in the brand space and very few actually break through from being present in Indio. That’s why timing matters, taste matters, relationships matter, and strategy matters. The real unlock is knowing how to move between digital and physical without friction. The brands that win here don’t just show up, they understand how to connect these touchpoints and use this cultural tentpole to amplify their storytelling. 

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Jay-Z is in the news again, but don’t call it a comeback. This is a perfectly timed cultural setup.

From a music and shows perspective, Hov has been relatively quiet the past decade. Or, maybe “quiet” is the wrong word. He’s been making big business moves behind the scenes.

In the past decade he:

• Became a multi-billionaire
• Built Roc Nation into a cultural institution
• Made an impact in the social justice arena
• Rewrote the Super Bowl playbook
• Turned The Gold Party into a staple
• Built a serious investment engine

He didn’t disappear, he scaled.

I remember being in the Roc Nation office early on, in the same suite as Rocawear. TyTy was throwing paper planes across the room. I couldn’t believe the mischievous joy and the raw play. As intense and competitive as The Roc was, I was thinking, “what kind of business environment is this?”

I didn’t realize at the time that Jay was stress-testing one of the most iconic mascots and logos of the century so far, and that I was watching culture being built in real-time.

Now, following a slew of fun announcements over the past few weeks, Jay-Z’s message in the GQ interview was clear: “It’s a time for all offense and no defense.”

I’m a 90’s hip-hop lover, but I can admit that, at first, I wasn’t Jay-Z’s biggest fan. Then, he earned my respect summer after summer.

“Dear Summer” wasn’t just a song, it was a feeling. I started counting on him to set the tone every year. Over time, he became one of my top five artists of all time.

What’s happening right now feels familiar, but elevated.

The rollout is subtle, but precise. An old moniker returns with new digital surface area; strategic headline moments start piling up; limited, high-demand live shows sell out so fast you don’t even have time to get FOMO; and The Roots Picnic drops one of the best lineups of the year. Jay’s back in his promo bag, people.

Now, he’s added a third Yankee stadium show as rumors of Barclays dates swell. We know Jay-Z loves an encore. This isn’t nostalgia, it’s controlled scarcity. It’s not about being everywhere, it’s about being exactly where the moment is. You used to go on tour to support an album, but now you build the moment first and the music follows.

And then you zoom out and realize the real story might not even be Jay. It could be The Queen Bey.

April 23 marks 10 years of Lemonade, which was a generational album, a cultural reset, and a moment that went far beyond music. That anniversary isn’t happening in isolation, so this is where it clicks. Jay-Z is positioning his narrative around a moment that’s going to dominate the conversation. In this case context, not content, is king.

Sometimes, offense isn’t about moving first, it’s about moving right before the moment hits. Jay has always had next-level timing, but what makes this even more powerful is the human side of it. Do you remember how Hov navigated the Lemonade era? He stepped back, showed up, did the work, and was there on the Lemonade tour, night after night, not as the star, but as a partner and a parent. He was the supporting act.

That presence mattered, too, because what’s happening now feels like a continuation of it. Jay-Z is an icon, but the Beyhive is a force, and together they’ve built something bigger than either of them could have individually. When both of them move, the world stops. My guess is that this summer, they’ll both be in motion.

Live is the headline again. The biggest moments aren’t streams, they’re stages. Scarcity is back, timing beats volume, and you don’t need to be constant, you need to be right.

Culture, at the highest level, is always coordinated. It feels inevitable once you see it. Jay hasn’t simply done a series of shows, he’s built a platform for 2026. A platform for partnerships, for content, for distribution, and for relevance on a global scale (again!).

History tells us what happens next. With one line, Jay-Z made two-way pagers iconic. He turned albums into movements, and moments into markets. We know there’s no ceiling for what this can become.

As for Beyoncé, she might be the only person on the planet who can outdo Hov in this regard. If they’re both in cycle at the same time, the impact compounds.

For brand marketers, there are going to be a lot of opportunities this summer. The question is simple: are you watching it happen, or are you involved?

We’ve all known that live is where the money’s at. And now, after the last couple weeks, we know who’s setting the stage for summer.

The post Jay-Z Is Back, But Why Now? appeared first on Nue Agency.

A lot of people are quietly mourning who they used to be. They’re not failing or falling behind, they’re just uncertain of who they are now or how to move in this new era. I’ve felt it, too.

I’ve always thought of myself as an agent; someone who sees “it” early, spots trends, connects dots, and makes things move. That identity shaped my entire life. In college, Napster bowled me over. I was already making mixtapes, but peer-to-peer sharing and streaming changed everything overnight. My taste exploded along with newfound access. Music’s power became exponential.

After school, I jumped into the music industry. At 23, I signed The Clipse and toured the world. Their album went #2 on the charts and my life changed overnight again.

But the time again came to pivot. I joined a mobile gaming company from Europe that was entering the U.S. I brokered deals and learned a new business. Then, it imploded, so I moved back to New York in 2007 to start Nue, where my brother and business partner, Alex joined soon after.

You see the pattern. You evolve only to evolve again. Nearly 20 years later, we’re right back in that exciting, uncomfortable place, as the ground moves from under us.

AI hasn’t simply arrived, it has accelerated. A lot of what we do here can now be done as well and in a fraction of the time (well, maybe only 70% as well). Strategy isn’t as scarce and every time we use AI tools, we’re collectively training them. Our thinking, our briefs, and our frameworks are all feeding the machine.

Some businesses have taken a hit, and as a result a lot of people have been let go. I started seeing the writing on the wall. It wasn’t panic, but something harder to explain: that mourning I mentioned earlier. The version of me that always worked might not work the same anymore.

I don’t think I’m alone in that. Right now, people are stuck between, “I was really good at what I was” and “I’m not sure what I’m becoming.” That space is uncomfortable, but it’s real.

But something has clicked. That something is Open Claw – the Claw Code – and the idea of becoming agentic.

It sounds like an empty buzzword, but it’s not. Being agentic is about not just advising, but building.

Not just having ideas, but having intelligence.

Not replacing taste, but scaling it.

Not forgetting about relationships, but compounding them.

So now, we’re evolving again!

Our current mission? To build a music intelligence system that couldn’t exist before. If we succeed, it will be a strong way for brands and event organizers to move with confidence, to validate decision making, know who to book and partner with, why they matter, and how they connect to culture (including comparative analysis, sentiment evaluation and more), but with the human side still executing to deliver results.

Think of it as an index for smarter talent decisions, or an agency powered by AI. A service as a software grounded in taste, nuance and real-world experience.

Taste + Data!

Will it work? We’ll see. What I do know is this: technology has made me stronger in the past, and it will make me stronger again.

I couldn’t be more proud or prepared to host ClawCon in Miami tonight, because the people who win this era aren’t going to be the ones pretending they have it figured out. They’re going to be the ones in the trenches rebuilding, relearning, and rewiring who they are. Those are the people I want to be around.

So if you feel the tension right now, you’re not behind. You’re early. You’re just a new version of yourself.

The post Agent vs Agentic appeared first on Nue Agency.

We can throw Q1 in the bag.

From CES to Sundance; the Super Bowl to the WBC; the Grammys to the Oscars; and now SXSW to Winter Music Conference, the calendar has been packed with cultural checkpoints.

Awards were handed out, deals were signed, and a lot of handshakes happened in hotel lobbies and members’ clubs.

But beneath the ceremonies, deeper shifts have been taking shape across music, media, tech and brands.

Culture is reorganizing itself around three forces: live experiences, intelligent machines, and brands behaving more like entertainment companies.

Once you see it, you see it everywhere.

Live Is Where the Money Is

Few people understand the current landscape as clearly as Ari Emanuel.

While much of Silicon Valley is racing toward fully digital futures, Ari has been quietly assembling the opposite. TKO continues to grow around sports and spectacle. WME remains the connective tissue of entertainment and talent. Now, his new venture MARI is positioning itself around IP and experiences.

It’s a fascinating counterbalance to the AI boom.

When the world becomes more digital, scarcity moves to the physical world and being in the room becomes more valuable than watching the feed.

From festivals to conferences to awards shows, the live ecosystem is expanding rapidly. Venues, production companies, ticketing platforms, hospitality groups, and brand sponsors are becoming some of the most strategic businesses in entertainment.

Several investors I spoke with during Q1 repeated the same idea: If the internet becomes infinite, attention concentrates around real-world moments.

The brands that understand this are no longer simply sponsoring events, they’re building their own. That’s what Taco Bell & Snapchat did this quarter.

Agents vs Agentics

The word of the year so far might be “agentic.”

Creators are starting to treat AI agents like collaborators. Some manage workflows while others generate content. A few are operating like personalities that live alongside their human counterparts.

This is where the Clawbot movement begins to get interesting.

If an artist can deploy a network of AI agents to help create music, manage community, negotiate opportunities, and generate content, it raises a very uncomfortable question for traditional middlemen: What happens when the machine does part of their job?

Talent agents remain some of the most powerful operators in culture, but even they are beginning to confront a shift in identity. Can the most valuable, most trusted consultant on the team actually be digital?

The next era of the internet may not be platform driven or creator driven, it may be agent driven. Ironically, someone like Ari Emanuel seems prepared for that future because he is focused on controlling experiences and IP rather than sticking to digital distribution.

Specialists Are Needed To Run These Plays

One of the most interesting hires of the quarter came from Gap when they appointed a Chief Entertainment Officer.

Ten years ago that title would have sounded strange inside a retail organization, but today it feels inevitable.

Gap has once again begun lighting up the market with commercials, partnerships, and culture-driven storytelling. The brand suddenly feels alive in a way it has not for years. Their new video with Young Miko is something every brand marketer needs to see. Even the behind-the-scenes videos are gaining brand traction.

The lesson is simple: If a company wants to participate in culture, it needs someone inside the organization who understands talent, deal making, measurement, and data-driven decisions.

Taste still matters, but taste combined with data is even more powerful.

Most companies are still treating culture like a campaign, while the winners are treating it like a capability.

Big Is Bigger

The consolidation story continues.

Live Nation’s relationship with Ticketmaster survived intense scrutiny, although the state AG’s may still have something to say about the less-than-savory DoJ settlement. Universal Music Group continues to quietly acquire assets and capabilities across the music ecosystem. The majors now have meaningful stakes in large portions of the emerging AI music landscape. And the Paramount-Warner merger represents another major reshuffling moment.

As the current administration cozies up to consolidation, every company in entertainment faces the same strategic question: Do you scale up or do you specialize? Go big or go boutique?

The middle of the barbell is becoming harder to maintain.

Is Indie Dead?

The independent spirit in music is alive creatively, but the infrastructure around it is changing. Distribution platforms are being absorbed by larger companies, services are being bundled into bigger ecosystems, and the economies of scale are becoming harder to ignore.

Solo entrepreneurship has never been more culturally celebrated, but operating a small shop without leverage or partnerships is becoming more difficult.

The next wave of independence may not look like lone wolves, it may look more like networks.

Jingles Are Singles

Brand collaborations in music have become more sophisticated this year.

One of my favorite examples is JID’s collaboration with Frosted Flakes. What could have easily been a novelty campaign turned into a full-on cultural moment. The partnership produced a track on Spotify, a merch drop for hypebeasts, and a custom cereal box for the day ones.

T-Pain partnering with Buffalo Wild Wings is another good example of a collaboration leading to an album release of product-related tracks.

And Coke launching its World Cup anthem shows how global brands are beginning to treat music as core storytelling infrastructure rather than background marketing.

These collaborations are no longer just advertisements, they’re cultural artifacts.

The Medium Is The Message

New short-form genres are emerging faster than ever.

Phonk has exploded across TikTok and YouTube, and music creators on TikTok are effectively writing the new generation of jingles for brands as big as Dr Pepper. Even PetSmart is getting in on the action.

Film and television are reshaping music discovery with Netflix projects creating breakout musical moments and A24 redefining how musicians appear inside films.

Protest songs might even be back, if Jesse Welles is any indication. Every platform now has its own ecosystem, its own stars, and its own way of breaking them.

New Breakout Content Formats

New formats are producing entirely new personalities.

Jack from Trackstars is becoming a breakout voice in music commentary while Twitter livestream shows and formats like Rushmore are gaining traction.

Lil Dicky and Benny Blanco’s new reality-style interview show is another fascinating example. The Ed Sheeran episode highlights the concept perfectly. It feels like an intimate conversation, a casual hang, and an amazing music creation moment all at once. Even the commercials are true to their voice and vibe.

Now, the hit Insta page Agents vs Assistants is turning into a hot brand with an award show and daily livestreaming show.

Microdrama’s Chinese streaming platforms are fully interactive. Brands & creators are taking notice here, too.

In the era of short-form video, newsletters and podcasts, audiences seem to be gravitating toward content that feels more authentic and less polished. Artists used to release songs, but now they launch universes.

Prediction Markets Write History

This may be the most controversial cultural trend of the year.

Prediction markets are beginning to shape how audiences watch major cultural events.

Just as sports betting injected enormous energy and attention into sports viewership, prediction markets are beginning to influence how people engage with the Super Bowl, the Grammys, and the Oscars.

In this moment, where the space remains relatively unregulated, the opportunity is enormous.

There’s a reason many young financial quants are choosing to build companies in this sector rather than heading to Wall Street. Culture is becoming a tradable asset class.

Nostalgia

Nostalgia continues to be one of the most powerful creative engines in culture.

The new Sprite tagline feels like a modern reinterpretation of the original. Ray-Ban released a beautiful commercial paying homage to the film, Belly. Even opera is beginning to influence fashion and music aesthetics again.

Although never-been-done-before is always exciting, there’s comfort in what we already know and prudence is often doing what works.

New Tech Stunts

Everywhere you look, companies are searching for the next cultural spectacle.

Holographic drone shows are appearing to promote album releases. Build-a-thons like ClawCon are becoming new creative gathering spaces. Livestream spectacles are blending entertainment and commerce. Live shopping continues gaining traction. Music hype houses are experimenting with collaborative formats. Music quiz shows are finding new life across digital platforms.

It’s still too early to know which of these formats will stick, but experimentation is clearly accelerating.

2025 was the biggest year in the history of recorded music. 2026 is looking bigger on all fronts, and it’s only Q1.

Coachella, Cannes, The Upfronts and the World Cup build up are still ahead in Q2.

If the first three months of the year are any indication, the pace of culture is only accelerating as the tools get more exponential.

Here is a list of the biggest songs from Q1.

And here is a list of some of the major deals that have happened so far in music this past year.

I’ve been unpacking some of these ideas in a few recent conversations—on The Music Biz Weekly Podcast and FYI AI—digging into AI’s role in music, what responsibility looks like in this next phase, and why consistent dialogue is becoming a creative advantage.

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