How music marketing will change in 2025 – with Liam James Ward of Something Something

Music Ally Focus

Ep. 164: Music marketing is always changing - and yet the fundamentals stay the same. So what's going to change in 2025 – and how can you change your strategy to make sure you keep cutting through? Liam James Ward is CEO/co-founder of social/digital music marketing agency Something Something, and he joins Music Ally's Joe Sparrow to look ahead.

And it's not just a bunch of hand-waving predictions – Liam digs into shifts he sees coming around some fundamental concepts:

• What does and doesn't work today and how to think about marketing ROI
• How the "vibe marketing" we saw in 2024 was perhaps an attempt to get feeling and curatorship back to the core of the fan experience
• How truly-useful online fan communities are actually about medium-term nurturing instead of trying to leap all the way down the funnel from virality to superfandom
• How niche tastemakers are back and more powerful than before (and why you should partner with them)
• How fans are seeking the feeling of being genuinely connected to friends and fellow fans on social media
• ... and there's a lot more in this Music Ally Focus episode, made in collaboration with Something Something

Liam also talks about the tech and platforms he sees increasing – and decreasing – in influence, and the kind of "big artist" strategies that anyone, regardless of size or fanbase, can use.

Something Something: somethingsomething.social

Guns N' Roses – Appetite For Destruction: youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n13hmdsIozcCRyaY4cRDuuviphpfbzPrw&si=rbiGgZpb71x-8Rcs

Music Ally Co-Labs: musically.com/music-ally-co-labs