As people’s experiences with pop culture continue to get more and more splintered, it may feel like it’s harder for a moment to really break through on a broad level. But, mass attention moments still happen, most notably with the recent Stranger Things series finale.
The show has become known for highlighting classic hits and the pattern after the fact is typically the same from the music world’s perspective: Artists and songs featured on the soundtrack surge overnight, discovery among Gen Z listeners spikes, and there’s sustained engagement across social media and streaming (YouTube, in particular). In a matter of hours, big artists get even bigger, skew younger, and grow more valuable.
In the finale, Prince had two big moments with “Purple Rain” and “When Doves Cry” both getting needle drops. The result? His YouTube views were up 76 percent. He wasn’t the only artist to benefit from this bump. David Bowie’s “Heroes” plays during the closing credits and his YouTube views rose by 40 million. Fleetwood Mac was part of the moment, too: After “Landslide” scored a major moment, their YouTube subscribers were lifted by 31.5 percent.
For brands, it can feel like these moments happen with little notice, but UPROXX has an always-on, trending sponsorship suite crafted to be ready for cultural inflection points as they happen. Brands can get in on viral moments like these and stay at the forefront of culture with brand-safe adjacency. UPROXX has exclusive access to media opportunities for the YouTube inventories of Prince, Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, and other artists, contemporary and classic, who continue to be key players in the modern media landscape.