What will the music marketing trends of 2026 be? Post-authenticity, clipping content, fun for fans – and much more, explains Something Something's Liam James Ward

Ep. 174: What's going to give you or your artist cut-through in 2026? At the start of last year we published one of our most popular podcasts of the year: when we asked Liam James Ward, CEO/co-founder of content strategy studio Something Something to look ahead into 2025’s upcoming marketing trends. Never let it be said that Music Ally Focus likes anything more than pushing against an open door, so when we had the opportunity to get Liam back on the show, we said yes. (It was a timely recording too, as Something Something were recently named Agency of the Year in Music Ally’s 2025 Music Marketing Awards.)Thus in this special episode of Music Ally Focus we’ll look beyond the bland and get clarity on the key changes and surprising developments in digital and social music marketing that emerged last year and what you can do in 2026, whether you’re a big budget high-flyer or a scrappy and ambitious DIY-er. Liam also digs into fan accounts, the atomisation of content, and crafting fun and sticky videos that stretch the idea of authenticity into exciting new places. We’ll talk about clipping, communities and crafting constellations of content, and we’ll talk about how marketers already instinctively know what strategy they should take for their artist and that artist’s audience.Something Something: https://www.somethingsomething.social/Contact Liam: [email protected]⁠ Music Ally Campaigns of the Year: https://musically.com/best-music-marketing-campaigns-of-the-year/

Ep 173: We're refreshing Focus (or should that be re-Focusing?) for our many music marketing listeners – we'll now be publishing regular episodes that spotlights recent excellent music marketing work. We're calling it "Genius Steals", so get ready to be inspired as regular host Joe Sparrow asks the stupid questions to Music Ally's marketing expert Marlen Hüllbrock.She'll explain why a bunch of great campaigns caught her eye recently, including a Lily Allen USB stick that you might get behind, Sleep Token's colouring book, The Kinks' tea, and lots more. Also: is Marlen smug about her Spotify Wrapped Age? (Yes, she is.)It's ideal for anyone who wants to get up to speed quickly and be inspired by* good recent marketing ideas.=====Music Ally's team is constantly on the lookout for the latest and greatest music marketing campaigns. download - for free! - our huge Campaigns of the Year report for 2025 here: https://musically.com/best-music-marketing-campaigns-of-the-yearAnd dig into all our marketers' resources right here: https://musically.com/marketing-insight=======Here's a load of links to all the stuff Marlen mentioned:Lily Allen (https://www.instagram.com/p/DRzjmtIjOGF/?igsh=dGttbWc0bTdpYnRl)• Lily Allen (https://lilyallen.tmstor.es/product/west-end-girl-usb-nrd)• Fred again.. (https://www.reddit.com/r/fredagain/comments/1pdi19n/usb_necklace/)• TOMORA (https://www.instagram.com/tomora)• TOMORA (https://soundcloud.com/tomoraofficial/ring-the-alarm?si=6d087a14f2ca44bf9ef224a0fb000418&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing)• Sofi Merone (https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRzsZJYDZc1/?igsh=YTR2eGg0MW1zNmkx)• Sofi Merone (https://www.instagram.com/reel/DR78m79jdJV/?igsh=dGF4YjkwYzA1eHcy)• SAILORR (https://www.instagram.com/p/DR5k_JMASWs/?igsh=dW4waWV4eWxkc2R1)• The Kinks (https://thekinkstea.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopokPr8qjspz3-4VY96ARYCj5VpGMKLREN4_TeWaPYV2rW7k4Hg)• berlioz (https://krankbrother.seetickets.com/event/berlioz-presents-deep-in-it/finsbury-park/3560930?pre=pre&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email)• JADE (https://www.reddit.com/r/popheads/comments/1peg1x8/jade_thats_showbiz_baby_the_encore/)• Sleep Token (https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/sleep-token-coloring-book-even-in-arcadia-album-1236130093/)• Eli (https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRLC713Y/)• Eli (https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRLXJBuq/)• Eli (https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRLXNhNQ/)• Gunna (https://www.instagram.com/p/DR2nl-eEZcC/?igsh=MTU4Yzk3M2kwcWp0ag==)• Katseye (https://www.instagram.com/p/DRiQpMvDyS8/?igsh=MW00dHQ4eWE3YXJoNQ%3D%3D)*genius steals, remember

Ep 172: Taking the pulse of music-tech in 2025. We asked Music Ally’s head of insight, Stuart Dredge, to chat to our managing editor Joe Sparrow about the state of music-tech – and they talk in depth about AI doing your admin, the proliferation of tools designed to empower artists, direct-to-fan monetisation tech,  and more!This podcast connects to Music Ally's latest Insight Report on music-tech in 2025 (https://musically.com/category/reports). This year is the third “Year Of AI” in a row, by our reckoning. So how will people in the industry actually use AI – and in mundane ways? How much can be automated and when do humans need to step into the decision-making process? And if you automate away the mundane tasks, where do entrants in the industry start?

Ep. 171: We speak to Idan Dobrecki, the co-founder of Aiode, an AI music-making platform that emphasises two key features: its ethically-trained system that shares earnings with the musicians whose music is used, and its “virtual collaborator” approach. Idan compares the latter to having a talented musician “riding shotgun”, and music producers can call on the skills of the virtual (real) musicians to augment their songs.If you’re wondering how that works from a music production perspective, you can hear it working in real time in this episode. Idan also chats to Music Ally Editor Joe Sparrow – in this episode made in collaboration with Aiode – about the future integration of AI with the music industry as a whole, and to music production in particular; the ethical use of music training data, and how doing it ethically “makes better business sense”; and how sharing money with rightsholders makes for a better product. Aiode: https://aiode.comMusic Ally Co-Labs: ⁠⁠⁠musically.com/music-ally-co-labs

A quick bonus episode for you all, in case you have missed our new, other podcast, The Price of Music, your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. (You can follow it here on your platform of choice: Spotify / Apple / YouTube / other)In the most recent episode, presenters Steve Lamacq ands Stuart Dredge get stuck into...Listener Richard had a great question about music journalism – and Steve has a lot to say when answering: what’s changed about music journalism, whether music journalism is still important, where the music print media has gone, and what the future of music writing holds.(Plus - does Steve get paid when his 1991 “Nevermind” NME review is re-printed today?)Stu’s Big Number is 75 million – and they are “spam tracks” that Spotify has removed from its service in the last year alone. But what on earth is a spam song anyway?What extra information do artists need to attach to their songs when they upload music? Spotify has new rules around AI music – so what’s banned, and what’s not banned?TikTok is apparently about to be sold in the US (maybe) – but why is TikTok so important to the music industry?Why are old Billie Eilish and Rihanna songs re-emerging to huge popularity?The Great Record Shop Album Filing Debate rumbles on – where would you file Elton John – “E” or “J”? And if you like this podcast you can join Steve and Stu in the special post-show lock-in section just for our Patreon Superfans.

Ep. 170: We bring you a bumper episode of Music Ally Focus, with four true domain experts, all sharing their advice, insight and strategies for you to use. (UPDATE: we fixed a surprising number of audio glitches!)Music marketing is in a transitional era where traditional funnel marketing rubs up against wallet-draining superfan campaigns – and the desire to create deep, narrow direct-to-fan communities that will support an artist forever.So... what's the right path? It's about building a community of people who are thrilled to be part of a fanbase, and who love spending time with each other. But this kind of fanbase might not generate those giant social media or streaming numbers that labels love. So what needs to change? It's a combination of hard work, daring to look past old behaviours, and "random acts of kindness", our experts say. Our springboard was this article that guest Simon Scott wrote about music discovery and fan commitment: https://musically.com/2025/07/10/how-music-discovery-and-fan-commitment-are-inextricably-linked/Guests are, in A-Z order:Aaron Bogucki – founder of direct-to-fan services company Big Cookie Keziah Reed – Digital Marketing Manager, Artist Services, UK, at BelieveRobyn Elton – Head of Artist Strategy (Audience) at agency BlackstarSimon Scott – Founder & CEO of fan engagement technology company Push entertainment

Episode 169: This podcast is aligned with Music Ally’s newest International Focus report, which pulls together the last year’s worth of Country Profiles which we publish, plus some extra exclusive analysis. So, we’re joined by Stuart Dredge, Music Ally’s head of insight, to discuss some of the burning topics when we look at the international music market right now in summer 2025.Stu talks to Joe Sparrow about:- The new dominance of local talent and genres in markets around the globe.- What are the current export trends, especially for local music which are increasingly reaching global audiences. And what about English-language acts in this newly-polyglot paradigm?- Collaboration as a strategy - now seen as a standard strategy in gaining momentum and reaching wider audiences. But will we reach saturation point with all these feats – or is there still miles to go?Music Ally's Reports - including this newest one – are available here: https://musically.com/category/reports And if you’ve not looked at the Country Profiles for a while, we’ve recently doubled the size of them to include lots of vital, on-the-ground marketing and audience insight – so that you, our premium subscribers can get the latest info from leading industry figures in each market. https://musically.com/countries

Ep. 168: we speak to Jorge Brea, CEO of Symphonic Distribution, and Guji Lorenzana, Symphonic's Territory Manager, Asia, to talk about successful strategies for international expansion. We talk about:* What has worked well so far in their expansion into Latin America and Asia – and what didn’t go as planned?* When you're entering a new market  what are the very first steps you take? What are the absolute essentials for making it work?* What are the key local insights they've uncovered that outsiders tend to miss?* How do you evaluate and build label/distributor partnerships in new markets? What does a good partner look like?* How do you manage the tension between “global consistency” and “local relevance”?* What are mistakes companies or artists make when they try to expand internationally?* If you’re a small-to-mid-level label or manager looking to grow in another country... what is the first move they'd recommend?* What one move should artists or companies make this year if they’re serious about international growth?Symphonic: https://symphonic.com/

Ep. 167: We speak to beatBread CEO Peter Sinclair – on getting more options, insight and choices in music funding, and how independent artists, labels and songwriters are getting better deals while retaining ownership of their music using beatBread’s game changing deal comparison tool. Peter chats to Music Ally Editor Joe Sparrow in this episode of MA focus, in collaboration with Beatbread.Website: https://www.beatbread.com/Deal Comparison Tool: https://www.beatbread.com/compareMusic Ally Co-Labs: ⁠⁠musically.com/music-ally-co-labs

Ep. 166: Music Ally’s Head of Insight, Stuart Dredge joins Joe Sparrow to discuss two of the most meaningful topics relating to music streaming today: the value of music on DSPs; and the big DSPs' upcoming superfan plans.This podcast connects to Music Ally's latest Insight Report called the State of Streaming in 2025 (https://musically.com/category/reports). In this podcast we discuss:The value of music on DSPs – not just the ongoing subscription price rises, but the ad-supported tiers, and the increasingly loud grumbles around them.The big DSPs' superfan plans – superfans need to be super-served: so will the streaming platforms give fans and artists what they really, really want?