In July, popular influencer/podcast host Tinx took to TikTok to ask her followers a question: “Are labels and artists asking random people to make content about music and not say[ing] it’s an ad?” The answer in the over 700 replies to the video was a resounding and simple “yes.”

“Sound campaigns” have been an integral part of music marketing since TikTok took off in 2019, but they differ from other paid promotion campaigns on social media. Captioning a video with #ad, or another similar disclosure, is required by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) when companies “pay you or give you free or discounted products or services” in exchange for featuring their product in a video, but that has never been the standard for the paid promotion of a song. “Any essence of perceived authenticity can be stripped away when a creator tags a video as paid,” says one digital marketing agency CEO. 

As a result, one major label marketer believes “75% of popular songs on TikTok started with a creator marketing campaign,” but says that there’s no way to actually track how many of the songs that go viral on TikTok do so organically or are boosted by thousands to hundreds-of-thousands of dollars’ worth of paid promo.

When asked for clarification about whether or not promoting songs in the background of videos requires disclosure, a representative for the FTC said, “While we can’t comment on any particular example, that practice seems somewhat analogous to a product placement… When there are songs playing in the backgrounds of videos, there are no objective claims made about the songs. The video creator may be communicating implicitly that they like the song, but viewers can judge the song themselves when they listen to it playing in the video. For these reasons, it may not be necessary for a video to disclose that the content creator was compensated for using a particular song in the background in the video. We would evaluate each case individually however.”

While it is not, in most cases, an FTC violation to run undisclosed creator campaigns to promote singles on TikTok, Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts, it remains a little-understood area of music marketing that many music fans are not aware is happening. “The beauty of Tiktok, for me, has disappeared because I’m super cynical and believe everything I see there, disclosed or not, is paid to be promoted,” says the digital marketing agency CEO. (Most of the sources in this story requested anonymity in order to speak freely about how these campaigns work.)

Often, digital marketing gurus will reminisce about the days of the Hype House bros and the D’Amelio’s TikTok reign, around the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which were considered the good ol’ days for creator marketing. At the time, it was expected for successful TikTok virality to translate into boosts in streams practically every time. “Back then, it made sense to pay over $10,000 a video for those famous kids to post your song. There was a high probability of [return on investment] ROI in 2020,” says a second digital marketing agency CEO. One creator manager says they remember a top creator at the time boasting about getting “$50,000 to just play the sound” in the background of a TikTok. 

Typically, these creators would be instructed by an artist manager, a label, or a third-party digital marketing company (most times the latter) to perform a certain trend along with the song, like a dance or a certain filter, in exchange for money.

But these days, experts like George Karalexis, CEO of YouTube marketing and rights management company Ten2 Media, say it’s “more expensive and harder than ever to start a trend” online. As Billboard reported in 2022, TikTok tracks in the U.S. were streamed far less that year than they were in 2021, according to the most recent available data from Luminate.

Now, this unpredictability has led to top creators rarely fetching rates of over $10,000 for the use of a song in a video. Instead, digital marketers are spreading their budgets over many videos from smaller creators to make the illusion of a less-detectable groundswell of support. The second digital marketing agency CEO says today’s payment ranges from $25 for a micro creator (at or below about 10,000 followers) to $10,000 for a TikTok star to post the song.

Recently, a cottage industry of startups has popped up in the creator campaign space, automating the connection between smaller creators and artists looking to pay them to promote their songs. One of the leading companies, Sound.Me, for example, recently ran a creator campaign for “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” through their service. TikTok is also offering up a similar service with its “Work With Artists” feature inside the app, which allows qualifying creators (those with over 50,000 followers and living within a certain territory) to get paid to use songs, like Halsey’s cover of “Lucky,” in their videos. 

Even when an artist is willing to spend a significant budget on one particular creator, that doesn’t mean the creator will always accept. Sound promos are known to be less lucrative for creators than other brand deals, like fashion or skincare, and thus it’s common for top creators to “shoot [the artist’s team] an outrageous number, knowing a sound campaign is not necessarily worth their time otherwise,” says the creator manager. 

It is also far less common to ask for a specific type of video from a creator today. Instead, the second digital marketing CEO says “it’s not really about pushing specific creative. It’s just about finding the right creators for the artist’s target audience and kind of just letting the influencers run with creative freedom.”

All of this makes discerning the paid promotion of a song from organic enthusiasm more challenging than ever. Even more complicated, the creator manager says that it’s “best practice” for creators “who want to work with a specific brand to show for free that they are using the brand’s products anyway to attract their attention. Same goes for songs.” 

The sign of true success for these campaigns is when social media use of the song grows far beyond the initial budget, encouraging unpaid creators to jump in and use the track, too, multiple digital marketing sources say. “The value is in the people [using the song] that aren’t being paid,” says Jeremy Gruber, head of artist marketing and digital strategy at management company Friends at Work. “Success is when we have 13 types of videos going on at once to the song,” adds one indie label marketer. “We can’t even tell what’s happening.”

Typically, these sound campaigns are conducted in phases, and while they are common, they are not expected for every single release, three label marketing sources say. $5,000 is the low-end for what two digital marketing agencies believe would be a fruitful campaign, but the spending can grow to $80,000 (or even into the six figures for rare cases) if it is a big-name artist and the song is reacting positively. Typically after the first round of the campaign, the team will watch and see if the song grows. If it does, then a next wave of spending will be opened up and seeded out to creators to stoke the flame. 

Gruber believes an ethical gray area arises when artists’ teams offer money to music curation influencers to explicitly recommend a song without disclosing the transaction to viewers. Unlike a “product placement”-like promotion which simply streams in the background, these music curators use TikTok to talk to the camera, telling consumers to take action and check out new songs in exchange for undisclosed money, concert tickets or other perks. When asked about this type of promotion specifically, the FTC declined to comment on whether or not disclosure is needed. 

It’s also common for record labels to turn to social media-based blogs, typically in the rap genre, like WorldStarHipHop, Rap, Our Generation Music and more which offer pay-to-play promotion on TikTok and other social platforms to create the appearance of organic online chatter. In one message exchange, reviewed by Billboard, a representative from Rap told a music company that “solo” posts go for $1,000, but they offer discounted rates for ordering in “bulk.” Typically, these payments are not disclosed to consumers. 

While it might come as a surprise to some music lovers to learn how often these paid campaigns are used, the general consensus among the eight sources spoken to for this story is that it isn’t harming anyone to do it —at least not in the types of campaigns that resemble product placements. “Music, to me, is this beautiful art form and it is completely different from other ‘products’ in other industries [that run creator campaigns],” says the first digital marketing agency CEO. “We do feel that ethically we’re promoting content that is a net positive to society.”

It may not be as effective as it was a few years ago, but creator campaigns are largely believed to still be essential to market songs today, whether it’s on TikTok or on Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts (which is increasingly common). Says the second digital marketing agency founder: “It’s still the best thing we have.”

This story was published as part of Billboard’s new music technology newsletter ‘Machine Learnings.’ Sign up for ‘Machine Learnings,’ and Billboard’s other newsletters, here.

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Laufey has brought her mystical vibes to Catbird in her first-ever collaboration with the jewelry brand. Featuring a mix of dainty charms and elegant rings, the 25-year-old used the collection as an opportunity to give fans a more intimate look into her charming style.

Fans can officially shop the limited-edition collection starting Thursday (Oct. 17) and choose from a selection of 11 designs all inspired by the Grammy-winning artist‘s coquette aesthetic and Chinese heritage. Charm necklaces and bracelets have been at the center of jewelry trends this year and now you can bring a Laufey touch to your accessory collection.

From an adorable bunny charm to honor the year of the rabbit to an elegant bow representing her signature accessory (also dubbed as Laufey-core among fans) and a framed heart with F-holes as a nod to her classical cello training, you’ll be able to carry a piece of the “Goddess” singer with you.

All charms and rings come in silver and gold shades to pick from with prices starting at $68. You can save money when you bundle select pieces together or you can get 15% off select add-on charms when you get a chain. Plus, each purchase will include a special ribbon and a sparkly sticker to decorate your laptop or tote bag with.

Keep reading to shop the Laufey x Catbird collection below.

When helping to co-create the exclusive line, Laufey couldn’t wait to infuse pieces of her life and music into tangible objects.

“I loved working on putting together this special collection for you,” she said in a press statement. “The pieces are crafted and infused with my songs and love, and I hope you enjoy.”

For more product recommendations, check out ShopBillboard‘s roundups of the Boygenius x Catbird collection, Phoebe Bridger’s Catbird collab and Lainey Wilson’s Kendra Scott collection.

Jelly Roll is known for his lengthy list of collaborations with everyone from MGK to Lainey Wilson to Cody Johnson. On Wednesday (Oct. 16), the country star added another powerhouse vocalist to that list — Kelly Clarkson.

Jelly appeared on Wednesday’s episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show to join forces with the host on a soulful version of Jelly Roll’s “I Am Not Okay,” which currently sits at No. 2 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.

In an earlier video from the two artists’ soundcheck for the performance, they shared some light-hearted jokes as they rehearsed the song. “Kelly and Jelly, dude!” Jelly Roll said at one point. Clarkson also shared her excitement in getting to sing on the song. “This song is so good,” Clarkson said. “I’m so excited he’s allowing me sing on his song ‘I Am Not Okay.’ And it’s so, so good.”

She went on to add of Jelly Roll, “I’m just a huge fan. I love authenticity and I love real messages. I think that real s— really matters.”

The singer also sat down with Clarkson for an interview during his appearance, where he promoted his new album while opening up about lowering his defenses to write songs like “I Am Not Okay.”

“I think vulnerability is my superpower,” he said, revealing how he has changed over the years. “I was a typical, angry, alpha, always aggressive kind of guy for a long time, and I almost had a mean spirit about me and it didn’t serve me no good. I didn’t have any emotions, I was just very flat with everybody in life. My heart changed, man, I got a relationship with God, I had a child, I got married to a woman who’s just the greatest woman on Earth, and immediately it softened my heart.”

On Friday (Oct. 11), Jelly Roll released the 22-song album Beautifully Broken, including an extended version that added five more songs, including collaborations with Halsey, Keith Urban, Ernest and more.

Watch Jelly Roll and Kelly Clarkson’s performance below:

Liam Payne’s tragic death at the age of 31 on Wednesday (Oct. 16) has provided the pop world a sorrowful opportunity to reflect on his legacy as a member of One Direction and as a solo artist. Payne helped 1D conquer the world as an integral part of the five-piece pop group, then moved on recording on his own with his debut single, “Strip That Down” featuring Quavo, which became a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2017.

Less clear, however, is the status of Payne’s unreleased solo material — and whether a follow-up to his debut album, 2019’s LP1, was completed upon his passing.

Following One Direction’s final studio album, 2015’s Made In The A.M., Payne signed a solo deal with Republic Records in 2016, and “Strip That Down” streaked to a No. 10 peak on the Hot 100 upon its May 2017 release. Payne’s debut solo album, LP1, arrived through Republic in December 2019 and featured a wide array of collaborators, including Zedd, J Balvin, A Boogie wit da Hoodie and Rita Ora.

This March, Payne released “Teardrops,” a snappy rhythmic pop track with a booming chorus that allowed the singer to showcase his falsetto. “Teardrops” — which was co-written with Jamie Scott and *NSYNC star JC Chasez — marked Payne’s first single since 2021’s “Sunshine,” which he contributed to the soundtrack for the animated film Ron’s Gone Wrong.

“‘Teardrops’ is about the vulnerability of heartbreak and the challenge of overcoming those moments,” Payne said in a press statement upon the new single’s release. He added that the track was “the start of a new beginning,” with more music planned for 2024.

Prior to the release of “Teardrops,” Payne had spent extended time in the studio with Scott, the British songwriter-producer who had contributed to One Direction smashes like “Story of My Life,” “Night Changes” and “Drag Me Down,” and co-written hits like “Cold Water” by Major Lazer and “This Town” by Payne’s 1D band mate Niall Horan. In a press release, Payne had described working with longtime collaborator Scott on new music as a “year-long process of self-reflection.”

“Teardrops” has earned 3 million official U.S. streams to date, according to Luminate, but did not chart on the Hot 100. Outside of an acoustic version of “Teardrops” released later in March, no other material from Payne had been released in 2024, and an official follow-up to LP1 had yet to be announced.

Reps for Republic Records did not respond to requests for comment about the status of Payne’s unreleased music, although the label did release a statement on Thursday morning (Oct. 17) honoring the singer: “We are deeply saddened and devastated by the tragic passing of Liam Payne, an extraordinary artist whose music touched millions. His legacy will live on through the timeless work he created, and he will forever be remembered as an icon of his generation. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and fans during this difficult time.”

Meanwhile, fans have flooded the comments of Payne’s official YouTube videos with remembrances and appreciations. “Liam Payne, You have put smiles across billions of fans,” reads the highest-rated comment on the clip for the “Teardrops” acoustic version. “I hope you rest in peace.”