Insights | June 24, 2025
Why Music Artists Could Be the Antidote to AI-generated Marketing
Don’t worry, this isn’t another fear-mongering think piece about AI. Let’s just agree that the revolution is here, and it’s erasing the competitive edge of big brands with their massive budgets and armies of marketing minds.
Instead, let’s talk about what happens next: With every brand soon capable of endlessly, cost-effectively creating, iterating, personalizing, targeting, re-personalizing, and retargeting their audience, how will anyone stand out?
Finding the Fandoms
It won’t be through anything your brand can create on its own, because inherently, that would mean other brands can do it, too.
The answer comes from collabs — brands joining forces with other creators who have their own voices and visions, and together creating new cultural expressions and experiences that help your brand stand apart.
And while creators stretch across the wide world of entertainment, there are none more powerful than music artists to ignite fans.
The Power of Music
Though the world is quickly transforming, the impact of music on humanity’s hearts and minds remains consistent, and it shows up in the bottom line.
Despite an outdated narrative that the music industry has been in decline since streaming entered the picture, 2024 marked the tenth consecutive year of growth in global recorded music revenues. And what’s more, streaming continues to be the major driver, having exceeded $20 billion for the first time last year.
In addition to streaming growth, 2024 achieved record-setting status for live music, too. The Top 100 Worldwide Tours alone increased to $9.5 billion in revenues.
Those numbers point to the underlying truth that music inherently spurs an emotional connection to ‘our’ artists that’s so strong, we’ll happily pay to experience it as often and as richly as possible.
We’ll also feel a compulsion to engage with our favorite artists in ways beyond simple consumption, too. Through end-of-year reports released by YouTube and TikTok, it’s clear that the biggest cultural trends boil down to a single common denominator: fandom.
In other words, the online (and offline) conversation continues to be based on, revolve around, and spiral out from our favorite content and the artists who create it. Just think about how much cultural participation was driven last year through Brat Summer, not to mention the Kendrick/Drake feud.
Joining Forces with Music Culture
It’s not enough to understand there’s a strategic advantage of partnering with music artists and decide you want in. You have to choose which artists are authentically aligned with your brand (and authenticity is critical), and you have to find the right ways to co-create with them.
That co-creation concept is key. You may find short-term success simply casting an artist in your commercial, but then you’re still fighting for eyeballs in the same space as everyone else.
Instead, you should start from the outset by looking at music opportunities and thinking critically about where it makes the most sense for your brand to invest.
If you want to build deep roots and are committed over the long term, consider the value in starting a live music program of your own, with exclusive or brand-owned performances and stages. Through White Claw Sessions, our team at G7 has helped the beloved seltzer brand continue to carve out a truly differentiated position in a wildly crowded marketplace.
If you have a product that resonates with music fandom itself (e.g., CPG, fashion, auto, gaming, etc.), it might be worth popping up an activation on the festival circuit where Gen-Z fans are spending more than ever.
Over the past decade, we’ve helped brands join artist tours directly, produce music festivals of their own, and even build totally bespoke campaigns across social, digital, experiential, and beyond in which both the brand’s and artist’s voices come together to create an expression they couldn’t have made alone.
Given our ever-evolving media landscape combined with a full-fledged experience economy, there’s no shortage of options for how you can build connections with artists and their fans.
Building Your Unique Playbook
So with countless partnership formats and even more artists to potentially partner with, how do you figure out what’s right for you?
Like any brand marketing work, it starts with strategy – thoughtful reflection on your brand and audience, and how music relates to each. Once you get your head around that, you’ll be off to the races.
If you don’t have an in-house music expert or team, and if no one in your agency mix has a track record of music partnerships, consider utilizing a trusted music marketing agency to help you efficiently explore opportunities with your unique brand in mind.
The power of a music entertainment agency is that it operates on behalf of brands from its position inside the music industry. Our team at G7, for instance, not only has full-service strategy and creative functions that deliver 360-degree marketing campaigns, but also a dedicated crew of Talent Partnerships experts who have negotiated hundreds of artist deals for our brand partners, as well as an expert production team who knows how to execute any possible music experience inside and out – they’ve toured with the best of them.
It’s always been a smart idea to invest in music brand partnerships, but it’s never been more important to your future success than now.
Are you going to keep pushing out synthetic ads with the rest of them, or are you ready to set yourself apart and put on a soulful show?