Will more artists release full songs to social media in 2025?

It is now a standard part of most music rollouts to release a clip of the song on social video platforms before it hits streaming. This makes sense when you think of social media as a marketing tool. But as social video has ascended (and arguably become more about entertainment than connecting socially), apps like TikTok are now quasi-consumption platforms in their own right. Over time, this is trapping music culture within the walls of social media and slowly clogging the funnel that leads users on to streaming services. 

So, what are artists to do? If you’re Kendrick Lamar, it seems, the answer is to simply release full tracks on social media — not just clips. Last week, Lamar released his latest, yet-untitled single in full to Instagram Reels, where it currently has more than 3 million likes, and likely millions more views. Meanwhile, the song is not available on streaming platforms as of writing. It was the latest chapter in the rapper’s ongoing rap battle with Drake, which has centred on social media. Last month, Drake also released six songs of his own through his burner Instagram account.

Lamar’s move to release only on social media (at least, for now) would have undoubtedly made headlines five years ago. Yet his decision to leave streaming on the sidelines is barely mentioned in the many news articles about the song. It was simply treated like any other release — it still got Pitchfork review and a Genius lyrics breakdown, and would be eligible for a Grammy. 

All signs point to social

Of course, Lamar is in the rare position of being a massive superstar who can call all the shots on how his music is released (the only label he still answers to is Interscope, under a direct licensing agreement). Meanwhile, when Drake tried to release directly to social media last month, he claimed his own label, Universal Music Group, filed a copyright takedown notice. 

Yet artists’ specific licensing agreements are a temporary block to the social-first trend, not an absolute one. It also means the social-first opportunity is open to the next generation of yet-to-be-signed acts — who are already leaning more towards social media, anyways. Unable to earn meaningful income nor connect directly with fans on streaming platforms, new generations of creators are plotting their careers on social media, where they can build fanbases and cement themselves within popular culture. A quarter of music creators in MIDiA’s 2024 survey upload their music directly to user-generated content platforms like TikTok without using a distributor or label, and this segment is growing faster than those who release to streaming services*.

Platforms like Instagram Reels and TikTok have been extending their maximum video lengths, making it possible for artists to post full-length songs (and harder to tempt users to take the extra step of streaming them). Ironically, Spotify signed an agreement with UMG in March enabling artists to promote unreleased snippets on the streaming service, the latest attempt to bring TikTok’s most appealing features within Spotify’s walls. 

Streaming plays catch-up

In the coming years, most artists will continue to release music to both social and streaming platforms. This will only make it harder to perceive the underlying shift. It is only a matter of time before more artists follow in Lamar’s footsteps, and this should be worrying for pure-play streaming.

However, the social-first strategy has flaws of its own. Not only is it not monetised nearly as well as streaming, but social media success can only ever be transient. The point is to continue scrolling, not to go deeper into any one piece of content. Songs that are successful on social media will only ever have transient success there. The long-term impact adds another layer to MIDiA’s bifurcation theory. Consumers used to go to streaming platforms for today’s popular music, and radio for yesterday’s. Now, social platforms are where consumers go for the new, while streaming is perpetually playing catch-up.

*Look out for MIDiA’s upcoming report on the music creator tools market, “Music creator survey  | Recalibration.” If you are not a client but would like to learn more about this report, please reach out to enquiries@midiaresearch.com.