For years, marketers have nagged artists to post more on TikTok. Now, they’re turning to another group to do it instead: fans.

Over the past few years, major artists have transformed small, in-person events into billions of TikTok views by encouraging fans in attendance to get out their phones, hit record and post. Alex Warren did it with his London tube station pop-up in March; Charli xcx did it with her Brat wall and Boiler Room underplays last summer; Bon Iver did it with a basketball tournament in April; and the All-American Rejects did it with their mega-viral house party tour this spring, which has helped to propel their comeback. “This is the part of the tour that no one’s talking about,” says Jenni Call, the digital marketing guru working with the pop-punk band. “And they should. The UGC [user-generated content] put them back on the map.” 

“This trend has been bubbling up for the best part of a year and a half now,” says Jamie Skinner, a freelance digital marketer whose worked for artists like girl in red. “But in the last eight to 12 months, it’s really started to rally quite considerably.” Experts attribute the trend to the post-pandemic itch to get back outside, the shift in social media platforms toward “For You” pages (helping average users go viral much more easily) — and the lauded marketing campaign for Charli xcx’s Brat. 

In July 2024, Charli’s digital marketer, Terry O’Connor, told Billboard that “a big focus of this campaign has been on making and creating real life, in-person moments around this album… We are in a time when most labels are just focused on pushing their artists to create digital content for TikTok, Reels, Shorts, etc.” But, O’Connor added, “what people are forgetting is that what Gen Z — and our society in general — actually want is to experience things in real life.”

Steven Pardo, senior director of digital marketing at Secretly Group, says that once his roster — which includes Mitski, Bon Iver and Phoebe Bridgers — resumed touring after COVID-19 lockdowns lifted, the UGC from random showgoers sometimes fared even better than the UGC posted by paid influencers — which was the hottest digital marketing method at the time. “We quickly started to realize that touring was actually a very potent way to market music online,” Pardo says. “In a world where there’s an incessant need for content, this is a way to do it without having to make an artist do anything differently than just being an artist.” 

Later, Pardo and his team leaned into that discovery more, staging quirkier and more artist-specific activities that might travel to wider audiences on social media. Faye Webster, for example, hosted a yo-yo invitational last year, and fan-made videos from it garnered hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok. That Bon Iver basketball tournament in Los Angeles also reached fans across the world — one unpaid fan’s video of the tournament, for example, yielded over 830,000 views and nearly 100,000 likes on TikTok alone. 

Meanwhile, when Charli xcx and Sabrina Carpenter went on tour, their sets featured segments that were easily capturable and created anticipation for their extremely online crowds, whether or not it was intentionally optimized for UGC. Charli xcx’s “Apple” dance, which pans the arena’s camera to a surprise celebrity in the crowd once a night, has reached millions of viewers. So has Carpenter’s outros for her song “Nonsense” and the suggestive positions she does during the song “Juno,” both of which kept fans on their toes, cameras at the ready, night after night. 

“I think it works because of the little sense of FOMO [fear of missing out] you get when you watch these videos,” says Pardo. “When you watch someone get to have a unique experience in real life, it plays into what most of us are seeking now, which is to not be on our phone and to find other people who are like minded. When you give people online a window into a real experience, they watch.” 

This trend toward taking artist marketing back outside is true even beyond music. In the dating world, Gen Zers are expressing fatigue with algorithmic dating apps, instead preferring to meet singles at more organic gatherings like run clubs. Folks are ditching their at-home Pelotons for studio Pilates classes, and “community” seems to be the latest buzz word on the tip of every tech founder’s tongue. 

But TikTok-optimized marketing moments are just the latest iteration in a long history of artists and brands trying to host experiences that translate to social media. In the mid-to-late 2010s, for example, Instagram was the it-platform for savvy marketers. This prompted Billie Eilish’s team to host an activation with Spotify for her first album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? that was designed for photos. Fans who attended the event were guided through a series of aesthetically pleasing rooms, themed after each song on the album — and when those fans posted their photos on IG, the event’s impact spread to Billie fans everywhere. Similarly, Netflix hosted an experience where fans could capture photos of themselves in small, recreated sets for hit shows like Stranger Things. Meanwhile, experiential companies like the Ice Cream Museum popped up around the world as essentially adult Instagram playgrounds, featuring themed rooms perfect for content taking like its famous pit of fake sprinkles.

The difference between then and now is the shift towards audiovisual content and For You pages. TikTok shook up the social media landscape around the time of the pandemic, moving it from a model that served content based on who one is following to one that served content based on one’s interests. By focusing on interest-based content, TikTok — and all of the apps that followed their approach — made virality for newcomers much easier, empowering fans, regardless of their follower count, to post and to find connection with likeminded people.

Call says that new tools for marketers like her are also enabling this trend. As word spread about the Rejects’ house party tour, she began working with the popular startup Cobrand to send out text blasts direct to fans, catalog every piece of UGC made, track pre-saves on Spotify, and more — all in one dashboard. While bits and pieces of this service have been available for years, Call says “it’s never been more efficient” to connect with fans than it is now. In the end, many viral moments later, she claims the band’s agents did an analysis of the house parties and found “the number of impressions and people reached from it was the equivalent of a $4.2 million campaign,” adding, “There’s a way to be scrappy and to find your fans. I think this is the perfect case study — the fans did so much of the work for us.”  

But experts say this focus on IRL-to-UGC moments does not take away from the popularity of other digital marketing trends, like running fake fan pages for the artist or doing paid creator campaigns. As Skinner says: “Arguably, gathering this UGC is actually essential for running fan pages right now.” 

Fan pages, another relatively new digital marketing must-have, involves the artist’s team setting up multiple pages on TikTok, posing as regular fans, in another attempt to reach real fans in the increasingly saturated social media landscape. To keep up with the relentless posting schedule of about 1-5 times a day on each of these accounts, Skinner says reposting fan-made videos from live events is the perfect solution. 

“You’re really scaling how far each piece of content can go,” Skinner says. “Then on top of that, if we are doing a micro-influencer campaign [hiring influencers with a smaller followings of 5,000 to around 50,000] too, we can just ask them to go to these events to capture moments. Many of them are happy to just go down to a show, capture a specific moment that we’ve briefed them on, get them to post and then send us the high-res files. It’s great.”

For Dylan Brewer, former vp of marketing at Epic Records and founder of new creative and experiential music marketing firm Fraudulent, this trend in marketing has become a major business. “I think experiential and IRL marketing is step one. It’s the core,” he says. “But now the idea of ‘set before stage’ is more important than ever. Now I tell people, ‘let’s think about how this thing will get shot. Let’s prioritize that.’” 

Like other forms of marketing, it’s hard to quantify the success of these events. Are engaged fans enough, or should these events produce more merch sales or a surge in streaming activity? “I think the reason these events are so great for fans and artists is because they typically aren’t monetized or set up to extract value from fans,” Pardo says. “It’s really refreshing for fans in a time when every conversation turns into, ‘How do we monetize superfans?’ It’s about creating connection and excitement and letting that be the main currency.”

This story is part of Billboard’s music technology newsletter ‘Machine Learnings.’ Sign up for ‘Machine Learnings’ and other Billboard newsletters for free here.

Cam’ron is adding author to his already extensive resumé.

The rapper, acto, and host announced on social media Tuesday (June 24) that he inked a book deal worth $750,000 with Simon and Shuster to write his memoir. While there isn’t an official release date, Cam hopes to release it sometime next year. “I’m happy to have this deal done,” he said in a press release. “Hopefully the book will be released February of 2026 and that everyone can take something from my memoir when they read it.”

The Harlem legend has been keeping himself busy with his sports show It Is What It Is with his cohosts Mase and Treasure Wilson, and his talk show Talk With Flee, both of which currently live on YouTube. However, that might change, as he announced last week that he’s partnering with Revolt after signing a multimillion dollar deal with for the cable network to help produce Talk With Flee. “N—as is right this ain’t a run I’m on. It’s a f—king marathon,” he wrote in an Instagram caption. “My mom up in heaven working. Miss and love you.”

Cam has made a ton of headlines since entering the podcasting and YouTube arena. He’s interviewed sex workers involved in the Diddy trial, revealed that he originally wrote “I Really Mean It” with the intention of giving it to Lil Kim, cleared up old Mariah Carey dating rumors and told a story about the time he randomly ran into the infamous Alpo Martinez and received some critiques on how he portrayed the late street legend in Paid in Full.

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Celebrities, music artists, athletes and fans came together at Fanatics Fest in NYC June 20-22 to celebrate their collective love for sports. While there were many viral moments — such as Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski breaking the Vince Lombardi trophy, Kevin Hart wrestling Cody Rhodes and Jay-Z‘s star-studded 40/40 Club pop-up — the real MVP of Fanatics Fest was the merch.

If you were able to make it over to Merch Village, fans could score limited-edition drops from sought-after brands. From Drake‘s OVO x F1 collab, to Kai Cenat‘s AMP teaming up Mitchell & Ness, to Jeff Hamilton and Billionaire Boys Club reimagining sportswear jackets, Fanatics Fest had plenty of must-have exclusive drops. But if you couldn’t make it out the event this year, fans can now shop the many merch drops online.

Keep scrolling to shop our favorite limited-edition merch drops at Fanatics Fest below.

Miracle Academy x Fanatics

NAHMIAS presents the latest chapter of its sportswear program, Miracle Academy, teaming up with Fanatics for an exclusive NBA collaboration. This capsule merges Nahmias Fashion Language with official league energy, reimagining classic basketball apparel with a California luxury aesthetic. The collection features co-branded designs with top NBA teams and Miracle Academy’s signature motif with bold team graphics. Shop apparel for many fan-favorite teams such as the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors.

Mitchell & Ness x NBA, NFL, AMP, Lil Wayne and Spike Lee

Whether you’re a basketball fan or a football stan, Mitchell & Ness has a limited-edition merch drop for you. Celebrate the legacy of some of the NBA’s greatest teams with a viral AMP collab, or hit the gridiron in a stylish Lil Wayne “Tha Carter VI” custom football jersey. The sportswear brand also teamed up with Spike Lee for a Martin Luther King capsule collection.

Jeff Hamilton x Billionaire Boys Club

The Jeff Hamilton x Billionaire Boys Club collection blends basketball fandom with high-quality streetwear. The collaboration showcases Hamilton’s craftsmanship while paying homage to the legacy of Knicks, Lakers and Heat culture. Each jacket features high-quality materials, bold team graphics and intricate embroidery, reflecting the distinctive styles.

Joshua Vides x Nike

Artist Joshua Vides brings his signature black-and-white style to the world of baseball with an exclusive Nike collaboration collection featuring premium T-shirts and hoodies for the New York Yankees.

OVO x F1

October’s Very Own, the iconic global activewear brand created by Drake, announced in Toronto that it has collaborated with one of the world’s leading sports brands, Oracle Red Bull Racing, to develop an exclusive, limited-edition capsule collection to celebrate the Canada Grand Prix, which was held in Montreal, Quebec, from June 6 to 14. Designed by OVO’s chief product officer Michael Kerr, the capsule includes limited-edition apparel, including hoodies, T-shirts and joggers.

Anti Social Social Club x WWE

The most electrifying merch drop at Fanatics Fest goes to the AntiSocialSocialClub x WWE collab. Each stylized graphic brings a unique Attitude Era flair to multiple T-shirts, including a “You Can’t See Me” John Cena tee. Showcase your love for the WWE by shopping the collection below.

Say what?! SEVENTEEN sat down for a round of hilarity when members SEUNGKWAN, THE 8, VERNON and MINGYU did BuzzFeed Celeb’s popular “Thirst Tweets” series — and the guys couldn’t help but lovingly roast each other during the segment.

Before getting started, MINGYU admitted to his fellow bandmates, “I thought it would be fun from the moment I heard we were doing this,” with SEUNGKWAN chiming in, “You know, we’ve heard a lot of thirst comments from fans over the years, so I’m hoping some of them go a bit bold. I’m excited to see just how much they’ll make us laugh.”

While the fan messages did make the guys laugh, a lot of it was thanks to their ribbing of each other and themselves. The fun all started with the first tweet, which suggested “f–k” the puppy interview SEVENTEEN did in 2022, with the fan noting that “Thirst Tweets” is where it’s at. And they weren’t wrong.

“It might be my first time saying ‘f–k’ on camera,” admitted SEUNGKWAN, before offering a tip to viewers. “We also have a song called ‘FML,’ so please have a listen to it.”

When Vernon read a fan tweet that THE 8’s “angelic pastel mullet” and “thick, soft neck” reminded one of “a sexy My Little Pony,” MINGYU chimed in, “Like the donkey from Shrek? You know — Donkey!”

There were also a lot of tweets regarding how handsome fans think the guys of SEVENTEEN are (with several messages about SEUNGKWAN’s high cheekbones and strong jawline, which he reveled in), which led to some ribbing. Read MINGYU: “His hairline is perfect, his skin is glowing, his cheeks are plumpy, his fangs are pretty, his smile is mesmerizing, his mole nose is kissable his curved-up lips are to die for. Mingyu is just perfect.” He followed that up by asking his bandmates whether they agreed, and Vernon was quick to answer with an emphatic “No!”

SEUNGKWAN — who had delicately traced MINGYU’s lips with his fingertip while the tweet was being read — turned and asked him, “Everything is natural?” When MINGYU answered in the affirmative, SEUNGKWAN didn’t seem so sure. “Really?!” he responded in disbelief, at which point, his bandmate told him to “STFU,” causing SEUNGKWAN to cover his mouth in mock horror as he repeated the expletive.

But it didn’t end there. When one fan’s tweet suggested that THE 8 could “spit on me and push me into a wall and I’d thank him,” the guys made fun of his actual strength — or lack there of, apparently. “He probably won’t be able to push you — he’s not that strong,” VERNON joked, with MINGYU landing a final blow: “When he pushes, maybe he’d be like, ‘Whoa!’ and bounce back himself.”

By the end, SEUNGKWAN admitted that he was a little worried the tweets they’d get would “be a bit safe,” but was glad they turned out to be “really funny.”

Watch the full “Thirst Tweets” interview with SEVENTEEN above. The band is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary, releasing fifth studio album HAPPY BURSTDAY on May 26. The album peaked at No. 2 on the all-genre Billboard 200 on the chart dated June 16.