I love Wrap Season. It’s a reminder of who we actually are. The data is astounding, as YouTube and Amazon jumped in this year to join Apple and Spotify. Although there are lingering questions about the transparency and legitimacy of the algorithms that got us here, there are always interesting insights. I was expecting more wraps from the likes of Oura Ring, Uber, and DoorDash. Even credit card companies could do amazing wraps, IMO.
I looked back at what I thought would thrive in 2025 and I feel pretty good about where my head was at this time last year. Predicting and forecasting keeps the mind sharp. The trends really are your friend, and if you’re willing to dive deep in understanding them, it pays off.
I try to keep people on the pulse with Beats + Bytes and our consistent hits of monthly trend reports with Campaign US, a Half Time Report, Summer Festival Preview, as well as Culture reports on Coffee, US Open Preview, and deep dives on sports, conferences, and music festivals.
You read this newsletter, so there’s no need to rehash any of that. Here’s a rundown of the key 2025 themes that we’re seeing outside of the box in our Beats + Bytes Wrap Up:
Genre Isn’t Dead; It’s Mutating: There’s no single music industry anymore. There are hundreds of parallel ones, each with its own rules and rhythms. It’s all fragmenting so fast, and it’s not just music. Netflix now has 36,000 microgenres. It can feel noisy, tired, overwhelming, and blurred together, but if you really dig in, you see that it’s all highly nuanced and specialized, paving the way for new rules of engagement.
Storms Are Bigger Than Hits: Hit-making in 2025 is less “lightning in a bottle” and more a “weather system you model” in real time. Instead of one undeniable “Song of the Summer,” we’re in a world where blockbuster records are forged at the intersection of predictive data science, short-form video, and AI that versions every hook for every micro-tribe. The new formula blends familiarity (samples or IP audiences already trust) with surprise (a left-field meme, unexpected feature, perfectly timed trend, or sonic glitch that triggers share-impulse). Hits today are built for the remix economy, and their lifespan depends less on radio and more on how fast a track can be re-skinned, reinterpreted, and re-owned by the communities that sent it viral in the first place.
Artist-building Dimensions: Artists are showing up in new ways to create new touch points with their art, establishing critical outlets for fan connection and the new playbook for artist development and sustainability. Some of my favorite examples are the Diplo Run Club, Charli XCX’s Substack, FERG’s art creations, and Dua Lipa’s Service95 media platform and podcast. The flattening of music in general is leading to the need for more experiences. People aren’t listening to just songs anymore. Instead, they’re either scanning them or experiencing them with every one of their senses. Headphone culture is isolating us and creating an inferior collective music experience. The algorithm is failing us and flattening the feel of each artist and song. Fans need the entire experience in order for it to connect. It’s happening in movies, too. What’s emotionally resonant and physical can’t be as easily forgotten. That’s why you see Netflix opening physical stores and A24 operating a theatre in NYC.
Artist- and Creator-led Agencies: In order to properly service brands, artists and managers need to be thinking like agencies. Better yet, they should have their own in-house creative arm that understands how to service these brands, like Kendrick is doing with pgLang. In the era of the niche, creator-led agencies are flourishing.
Dynamic Pricing: This is a key theme that is happening across all of commerce, following the lead of Ubers, airlines, and concert tickets. With Gen AI, “Personalized Pricing” is taking off, which I believe will help artists not only when it comes to ticketing prices and streaming revenue, but to combat AI music flooding the streaming services.
Podcasts Eat Books’, TV’s, and Film’s Lunch: Counterculture became mainstream. Podcasts will be awarded at the Golden Globes. Podcasts are launching on Netflix. These are huge cultural shifts. Podcasts are in everyone’s ears, releasing frequently cutting-edge information with low-lift production, and have become the most powerful medium of the moment.
Fan Clips: We’ve addressed this and will continue to. New formats and stars are on the rise across the cultural scroll. The bottom line: YouTube is King. Twitch may be Prince and TikTok Shop is the wild card. X is where you want to spread a rumor and Meta is where you show off your swag. The key to staying on top of it all—as a consumer or creator—is ….clips. In this game, an idea is only valuable if it’s worth sharing. The clips are the key and you want to empower your ideas to be shared and let the power of social media move it for you. If you can empower an army of fans to share your clips, your message is exponential. Those who control the memes, control the universe.
Music x Movies: The year will be defined by music-infused blockbusters—such as “KPop Demon Hunters,” Wicked, and Sinners—each with unique storytelling and deep musical tie-ins. Then there’s the Bruce Springsteen biopic, Deliver Me from Nowhere, which shows that a short segment of an artist’s career can come to life in a big way. This is gold for publishing companies that can turn out multiple stories for fans around a single artist. The buzziest story, though, is 50 Cent’s documentary about Diddy, Sean Combs: The Reckoning. The footage and storytelling are outrageous and make this a must-see. The ability to pull up dirt and unreleased footage is getting more and more unbelievable. This documentary opened my eyes to what’s possible in terms of revealing a scandal. With AI and biopic dramatizations, the lines can get blurred and nothing is off the table. Everyone better remember to take care of their videographers.
No Phones: Is terminally online giving way to unplugged? Not exactly. According to a study published in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, more than half of Gen Z is now spending 9+ hours a day on screens, which equals 4.5 months of the year. Enter phone bans. Restaurants, nightclubs, and concerts are banning phones, which I find freaking awesome. To be fully present with the people around you creates a whole new (old?) dynamic for experiential buzz, where serendipity is bliss. Talkability is the new viral.
In 2026, I’m expecting the unexpected and betting on more cultural shifts, but more on that next month when we return to the office. I love our niche, I’m grateful for the Beats + Bytes community of collaborators, and I love to watch our industries grow. Wishing you all a truly happy holiday.
Beats + Bytes goes out each week to a capacity larger than the Jingle Ball at MSG. Packing out arenas is one thing, but even more so, I hope this information can inform your job, feed your passion for music, and inspire you in one way or another. It’s a music industry love letter each week. Sharing is caring. If you feel inclined, please send it to some friends and colleagues by clicking here.
