Artists have always used the internet to market themselves. It’s a relationship that, for better or worse, has revolutionised the way the music industry operates, with traditional gatekeepers trailing further behind with every PinkPantheress, Lil Nas X and Addison Rae to emerge from our screens. But now that Keir Starmer has left teens staring at walls in a bid to save their mental health, the landscape is set to change dramatically for young artists and fans alike. 

New regulations will ban under-16s from using major social media platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, X, Facebook and YouTube, as part of the government’s efforts to protect children online. Whether the move is the right one is up for debate, but there’s no doubt it will leave a mark on Britain’s music industry. Despite having the lowest spending power of any demographic, teens have long been the engine behind our nation’s biggest hits. Historically, if the teens are on board, you’re almost guaranteed success – and social media has only accelerated their promo power. 

For many new artists, tapping into these audiences is vital in building a career. “The benefits of access to social media platforms are that a clever, talented artist will start to build a fanbase and then use other means – such as Bandcamp, email lists or Discord – to nurture that relationship,” says Ian Johnson, Head of Industry Partnerships at Access Creative College – a training provider for young people looking to establish careers in creative industries. It’s a pattern that has been repeated since the dawn of the internet: TikTok turned Doja Cat into a megastar, YouTube catapulted Justin Bieber to stratospheric levels of stardom, and, before that, Arctic Monkeys became household names thanks to MySpace.

“If it wasn’t for social media, we wouldn’t even be a band,” says Janelle Borg, guitarist of Anglo-Maltese post-punk band GENN. “We found our drummer, Sofia, on Facebook, so social media has played a crucial part in our story.” Borg points out that, for artists not based in “industry hotspots” like London, New York or LA, social media helps to level the playing field. Not to mention for acts that make music in languages other than English: thanks to the “globalisation of local music genres”, as Borg puts it, the number of languages featuring in the global top 50 has more than doubled in five years.

Opportunities to reach global markets, even while making less traditionally chart-friendly music, are transformative for artists now. “I’ve had artists ‘blow up’ in an extremely quick time frame, and it’s changed their lives entirely just from one video,” says managar Amber Chen. “Reaching that level of virality has definitely been a major tool in artist campaigns because it can make an artist an instant success.”

The industry’s relationship with social media became even more entwined during COVID, thanks to a slew of overnight successes and viral hits on TikTok. Paired with the inability to do any in-person promo or touring, this meant the music industry began to throw everything behind social strategy – and it’s a tactic that has stuck even to this day, years after lockdowns lifted. For some artists, forging a strong social media presence is a breeze, but many have spent the past five years lamenting being forced to market themselves online. “It’s a long game for most artists and the online world can be very fickle and transient,” Johnson says.

It’s why the ban, coincidentally, comes at a time where our collective patience with social media, and its foreboding presence in our relationship with music, is fraying. While pandemic-era TikTok seemed a bright opportunity for artists without industry connections to access global audiences, the app has steadily been infiltrated by labels and flooded with sneaky, organic-seeming viral campaigns (take a look at the recent uproar over Geese). Young people are wising up to the ways they’re being marketed to, and many don’t like it. 

It’s why music publicist Dan McCormick thinks the ban is a “good thing”, as it may prompt the industry to have a much-needed rethink on how they engage with young audiences. “It should be viewed as an opportunity to capture the attention of young music fans, who still have the same passion for music discovery as ever – but now, for the first time in a minute, might actually have a little more time on their hands to look beyond the algorithm.”

Music publicist and talent consultant Jimi Scott concurs. “Regardless of the ban, there’s huge importance in having more of an offline presence,” he says. “Real-life moments are key and should be considered just as much as our world in the digital space,” Scott adds, noting that the ban is “something to look forward to, one hundred per cent.”

Some artists are beginning to set new boundaries, anyway. Phoebe Bridgers just last month announced that fans would be forbidden from using their phones during her upcoming arena tour. GENN are also among the acts already seeking to break free from the constraints of social media – its “AI-generated content, ads and unpredictable algorithms” – and reach their fans in more direct, creative ways. They recently began burning their own bootleg CDs that, as opposed to the endless churn of social media, recall “a one-of-a-kind moment captured in time”.

As well as CDs – which have increased in demand by up to 75 per cent among Gen Z – there is faint optimism that the ban might usher teens towards traditional forms of entertainment. “I hope it might also rekindle a long-forgotten love affair between teenagers and print media,” McCormick says, while Chen dreams of a return to channels like MTV, which she says were a huge part of the “fan journey” that resulted in her working in the industry.  “It’s a huge opportunity to engage with young people in a way that acknowledges them in a way that doesn’t feel patronising,” Chen says. “We all can remember the first band or artist that we fell in love with, and it’s a strong emotion. Social media can evoke some level of emotion, but ultimately if we want to build dedicated fan bases we need to get them to connect with the music in more creative ways.”

Perhaps it could also mean a slower pace for our accelerated pop culture cycle, where few albums or artists manage to make a significant dent in a saturated digital atmosphere. However, it’s hard to tell how much of an impact the ban will have given that, in Australia, where similar regulations came into force last year, approximately 85 per cent of teens reportedly still use social media. There’s also the issue of the actual teenage artists who will no longer be allowed to post (though if under-16s are now considered too young to scroll TikTok, maybe they shouldn’t be celebrities, anyway). 

Beyond the obvious safety measures, it’s also undoubtedly a positive that tech giants will no longer be able to inflict harm on children. But music is an integral part of British youth culture, and ignoring that would significantly alter the fabric of our nation. It’s why Chen says the industry should look to ensuring physical forms of music and gig tickets are affordable to keep young people engaged in new music. “People tend to turn their noses up at young fans, but they are the foundation of our entire industry,” she points out. “That’s where we all came from at the end of the day.”