What Gen Z wants from brands’ music partnerships and concert activations

Like many things when it comes to Gen Z, social media holds a lot of sway over how the age cohort discovers new artists or songs, and their love for their favorite artists often comprises a large chunk of their online identities. At the same time, Gen Z is more enthusiastic about offline music experiences such as concerts and music festivals than ever—and they’re doling out big bucks to attend them. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs These were just two of the takeaways from Ad Age’s Gen Z roundtable on music earlier this week, featuring panelists Joe Marino, music marketing coordinator at United Talent Agency; Kelechi Nwankwoala, research lead for NeuroLab at Mindshare; and Janki Patel, paid social manager at Billboard. Below, four takeaways from the roundtable discussion on how Gen Z is discovering and listening to music and how advertisers can approach engaging with Gen Z consumers through live music experiences or partnerships with artists. Where they’re finding new music The panelists all agreed social media plays a pivotal role in how they discover new songs or artists to add to their playlists. Patel said the “majority of [her] new music” stems from TikTok videos or Facebook Reels, and Nwankwoala said stumbling across new artists or songs in his social media feeds have made his music taste “so much more diverse and so much more global.” He isn’t the only Gen Zer expanding his music horizons—58% of Gen Z listens to music in languages other than their native one, according to Spotify data. And speaking of Spotify, Nwankwoala also cited the streaming platform’s annual “Spotify Wrapped” campaign as a resource for discovering new artists or songs. He found one of his current favorite bands, Big Thief, through the Spotify Wrapped report someone he follows on social media shared. Also read: Brands celebrate Taylor Swift’s new album Patel said she’s often exposed to new music while riding in an Uber or Lyft and listening to the playlist put together by the driver, “someone that listens to completely different music than you, most likely.” While Gen Zers are famously digital natives, Marino argued “the old ways of discovering music aren’t dead yet, and I don’t think they ever will be.” Opening acts at concerts or other live music events still impact how Gen Z finds new artists, he said. That assertion is backed by the surging popularity of Gen Z artists Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, who recently opened for Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo, respectively. Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift are fighting a proxy war through their tour openers, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter— esl (@em8lee) April 17, 2024 Live music is more important than ever The post-pandemic hunger for in-person experiences hasn’t waned among Gen Z, and they’re willing to dip into their savings accounts to attend concerts and music festivals featuring their favorite artists, Nwankwoala said. Ad Age Gen Z Contributor Column We welcome Gen Zers to submit fresh takes exploring Gen Z within the ad industry Learn more here “I would kind of venture to say that our generation is a little bit less materialistic, but also very focused on ‘how can I create a good experience for myself?’” he said. “And that’s where music festivals and concerts and all these things kind of come to play. We’re really willing to open our pockets for those kinds of things, because those are what seem worthwhile to us—rather than the fancy car or maybe the fancy house that feels almost impossible to get.” Many Gen Zers will even open new credit cards just to be able to access pre-sale tickets for concerts or other music events, Marino said. Gen Z is so “rabid” for these live music experiences that they’ll spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars to travel to concerts in other cities, he said. Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour,” for example, had measurable impacts on the local economies of the cities she performed in. Patel, who attended Coachella last weekend, said the music festival was teeming with Gen Zers, making it an essential place for brands eager to connect with the demo to show up. “If you just have an activation booth or hut there, we’ll see you, and we will remember you—especially if you have a cool experience that’s attached to that,” she said. Gen Z appreciates a meaningful brand-artist partnership Gen Z is fiercely loyal to their favorite artists, often going to bat for them on social media or running dedicated fan accounts offering updates on every minuscule detail of their lives. So, brands looking to partner with one of those artists to appeal to Gen Z consumers need to tread carefully. In the dedicated fandoms around popular artists such as Swift or Frank Ocean, “you have people who are just naturally bought in [and understand] what this artist is about,” Nwankwoala said. “I think if brands leverage that in the right way, without eroding some of the credibility that artists already have, they have this kind of crazy opportunity to … get the same kind of love.” He used Taco Bell’s collaboration with rapper Doja Cat in 2022 to promote the return of the restaurant chain’s Mexican pizza as a prime example of a brand working with an artist that aligns with them. “Her persona is not super serious. Taco Bell is also not super serious—they’re fun, they’re creative, and they created this sense of narrative where you can understand that Doja Cat’s kind of the hero for her fans [and] Taco Bell is kind of the villain for taking away the Mexican pizza,” he said. Patel agreed with Nwankwoala: “If [a partnership] doesn’t make sense, I’m going to be very discouraged by it.” She highlighted Louis Vuitton’s recent collection in collaboration with Tyler, the Creator, which she said felt natural because of the rapper’s love for designing. Brands can also include an interactive element in their artist collaborations, as “this generation, more than those past, want[s] to feel heard and they want to participate in the artist's career,” Marino said. He used The Kid Laroi’s collaboration with Fortnite to create an in-game experience and virtual concert as an example. For Gen Z, the commercial jingle is dead None of the panelists could point to a recent commercial jingle that has stuck with them. Nwankwoala was only able to bring up older jingles from his childhood, such as McDonald’s classic “ba da ba ba ba” or the O’Reilly Auto Parts’ chipper melody. Instead, all three panelists agreed they’re far more likely to encounter brands leveraging songs trending on social media for their ads. Marino brought up Amazon’s use of the viral TikTok remix of an interview response from British documentarian Louis Theroux (remember “My money don’t jiggle jiggle, it folds”?) in one of its holiday shopping ads in 2022. “I don’t hear jingles anymore, I feel like,” Patel said. “And if it is a commercial, they’re usually using a famous TikTok song … [and] that does kind of grab my attention, because I’m like, ‘Oh, wait. I know this song, I’ve heard it.’” Nwankwoala also appreciates the pop culture back-and-forth that occurs when brands tap trending songs for ads—but he cautions against brands leveraging every viral song they see, as it can erode their brand’s “distinct sonic profile” and make them blur together with all the advertisers also using TikTok-viral music in their commercials.

What Gen Z wants from brands’ music partnerships and concert activations

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