Brands Should Pay Attention to the Music Culture

With Nue Agency and its accompanying weekly newsletter Beats + Bytes, music marketer and talent agent Jesse Kirshbaum explores the intersection of music, technology, and brand marketing.

Kirshbaum released the agency’s first Beats + Bytes 2024 Trend Recap on Tuesday Dec. 17, comprising the newsletter’s archives and top cultural trends at the center of those sectors.

“Understanding trends and what’s happening in music is valuable for all marketers,” he said.

Founded in 2007 by Kirshbaum, Nue Agency is a creative music agency that forges brand partnerships in the music and entertainment industries. It also executive produces CRWN, a live interview series hosted by hip-hop journalist Elliott Wilson.

Kirshbaum shared with ADWEEK his findings from the past year and what brands can take away as we look ahead.

“It’s a different era”

In his report, Kirshbaum pointed to the creator economy as a primary driver of cultural trends this past year.

He identified macro trends like the election and inflation as well as micro trends like Charli XCX’s Brat and “very demure, very mindful” that saw brands like Hellman’s, Duolingo, H&M, and Verizon tailoring marketing campaigns around each cultural moment.

“There’s so much opportunity in this creator economy,” he said. “That’s where the new brands are spawning.

When it comes to marketing, content, and commerce, Kirshbaum believes that creator-driven platforms like newsletters, podcasts, and TikTok are where brands have the most traction. 

Chaos marketing was also popular, he said, as “every brand is unique [and] personalized” with new AI and tech tools facilitating brand messaging.

“It’s a different era,” he said. “In the gig economy era, it was earned media [and] blogs. It was [a] digital news era, but it was still traditionally earned whereas now it’s all about owned media [and] disintermediated content creators.”

In the music industry specifically, Kirshbaum says this shift may lead to more direct-to-consumer or direct-to-consumer-to-consumer strategies, especially as music fandom evolves and becomes more communal.

“These fans are creating user-generated content to carry the message,” he said.

According to Luminate’s 2024 midyear music report released in July, 76% of music listeners have watched short-form videos in the U.S., while 22% have participated in and posted to short-form video platforms.

Brand marketer takeaways

While it’s hard to predict the next viral moment, Kirshbaum wants brands to know that music is a “huge passion point for consumers.”

As AI and technology become more advanced, excitement around live events may also grow, creating opportunities for brands to activate around concerts and festivals as well as tentpole events like SXSW, the Met Gala, and the Grammy Awards — allowing brands to stay in the know and be a part of culture.

Per Luminate, live music events made up 64% of Americans’ monthly music-related spending in the year’s first half.

Digital trends like algorithmic changes on social media apps are also important to pay attention to, he said, as it presents opportunities for brands to expand marketing strategies. 

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