Music has become synonymous with the social media experience. It drives trends, fuels engagement, and adds personality to short-form video content, which makes up the bulk of today’s feeds. Whether you are scrolling TikTok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts, chances are the video you are watching is paired with a song. In fact, 85% of videos on TikTok, 84% of videos on YouTube, 58% on Instagram, and 49% on Facebook contain at least 10 seconds of music.

At its Made On YouTube event, YouTube announced over $100 billion in payouts to creators, artists, and media companies, alongside 30+ updates across shopping, brand deals, AI creation tools, podcasts, live streaming, and music.

Google is updating the Discover feed in its Search app. In the coming weeks, users will see more creator-driven content, including Instagram posts, X posts, YouTube Shorts, as well as traditional articles and stories. Google says more platforms will be added, with my predictions being TikTok, LinkedIn, and Substack content as next.

The creator marketing industry is set to hit $500 billion by 2027, according to Goldman Sachs. The sheer amount of money flowing into the space reflects the impact creators are having on businesses today and their growing influence on purchase decisions across every demographic.

Back in August, Kajabi announced a major milestone – it has paid out $10 billion to creators, just months after hitting the $9 billion threshold, 100% of which has gone directly to creators.

YouTube added a feature for creators to tag brand partners during video uploads or when editing existing videos.

YouTube relaxed its Advertiser Friendly Guidelines, now allowing strong language in the first seven seconds of videos without losing monetization eligibility.

YouTube will use AI to verify whether a user is over or under 18 in the US, starting August 15th.

TikTok now supports YouTube Music with its Add to Music app feature, joining Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music as save options. The feature has generated over a billion track saves since 2024, and adding YouTube Music's 125 million subscribers could significantly expand its reach.

YouTube launched Post shelves on Channel Pages. These appear under the Shorts shelf on desktop and mobile for creators with at least two Posts.

YouTube is starting to test a new Collaboration feature. Creators can add collaborators to their video, which then allows their content to be recommended to each other's audiences. YouTube says it's currently testing it with a small group of creators.

YouTube updated Channel Analytics to include New, Casual, and Regular Viewer metrics.