The eye financial system is extra aggressive than ever, with all leisure sorts more and more competing with one another for a similar finite time. This has led to new ranges of multitasking, like listening to a podcast whereas doing the day by day Wordle, or on-line purchasing out of your iPhone whereas catching up on The Crown. 

Netflix is keenly conscious of the latter. A main focus for Netflix’s new chief product officer, Eunice Kim, can be dominating the “second display” — shoppers’ telephones. Somewhat than utilizing the Netflix cellular app to duplicate the TV or desktop display expertise, Kim desires to show it right into a companion for exhibits and movies, the place viewers can learn explanations of plot twists or store characters’ outfits whereas watching. It appears a brand new section of the eye financial system is on the horizon, the place firms throughout leisure are competing to develop immersive experiences that both require the buyer’s full consideration (e.g., gaming, TikTok) or occupy each the foreground and background (e.g., Netflix’s new “second display” technique). This can solely heighten cross-entertainment competitors — and strain the music business to cement its place.

Passive is out, immersive is in?

Throughout the interval MIDiA termed “consideration inflation”, multitasking was a double-edged sword for the music business. In fact, the aim is to have shoppers’ full consideration, however it’s higher to be relegated to the background than not consumed in any respect. Thus, the power to be “background-able” is a part of what has allowed music to thrive on this hyper-competitive panorama. 

Along with Netflix’s new technique, gaming and social media are additionally more and more immersive. Video games might be enhanced through headsets, adapt music to customers’ gameplay, and prolong to Twitch streams and Discord servers. Not like the social apps that preceded it, TikTok requires your full eyes and ears, which is a significant cause for its rise to dominance. Furthermore, if it seems that new generations really want all these immersive digital experiences, then passive listening is now not a sneaky profit. The music business wants its personal “second display” technique for harnessing consideration.

The TikTok agenda

Stay music is clearly immersive — and one of many final “scarce” leisure experiences now we have left — however the music business additionally wants one thing extra scalable and digital. Livestreaming was at one level regarded as the longer term, however it’s maybe not immersive sufficient, except fan participation is layered in. In fact, there are ample alternatives for music to be part of Netflix’s personal “second display”, by way of options like episode tracklists and extra content material tied to music documentaries.

However except for watching social video and gaming, guess what else requires shoppers’ full consideration? Creating content material, which is among the fastest-growing actions on MIDiA’s leisure time tracker. So it can come as no shock that TikTok is a robust contender for music’s extra immersive future. In a brand new Music Enterprise Worldwide interview, TikTok World Head of Music Enterprise Growth, Ole Obermann, laid out his plans (effectively, a minimum of, for those who learn between the strains) for TikTok’s music ecosystem. Whereas TikTok now hyperlinks out to Spotify and Apple Music, it can possible prioritise TikTok Music sooner or later, so, followers who uncover songs by way of TikTok clips can take heed to the total variations with out leaving the ByteDance umbrella. Obermann additionally envisions the inverse, the place a fan listening to a music on TikTok Music can click on a button to make a TikTok utilizing their favorite part of the music. 

The longer-term aim is to “construct a music ecosystem the place discovery, promotion, engagement, consumption, reside, merch, tickets, reside streaming, all these issues can occur,” Obermann stated. In fact, YouTube has an identical alternative, and comparable aspirations, with World Head of Music Lyor Cohen aiming for a “more healthy ecosystem” the place Shorts, YouTube, and YouTube Music intertwine. That phrase — ecosystem — got here up rather a lot in 2023. Anticipate it to develop into a full-on buzzword in 2024.