The Dopamine Scroll is Over: Platforms Now Want "Shows" from Music Artists...
The dopamine doom scroll is coming to an end.
The platforms are moving toward something new. As a music artist as you ready?
There’s a major change that’s happening right now that is going to effect how you think about music content and music marketing going forward.
Since the beginning of the 2020s “Get better social media, get more engagement, get more followers.” “ This is how music promo is done now.” “This is how you’ll make it.” That was the advice given to most music artists.
And for a while, that advice made sense. It was annoying, but it made sense.
Social media was built around feeds. A viewer would stumble across one of your videos, watch for a few seconds, and then swipe to the next thing. Your job was to have a killer hook, interrupt the pattern, grab their attention, and somehow convince them not to keep scrolling. And if your post was good enough you’d go “viral” and that was the goal.
But this is shifting. Social media platforms are no longer just feeds and are much less “social” than ever before. Now, they are TV streaming platforms. YouTube is rolling out more traditional shows. TikTok now has a series app. Meta now has an Instagram TV app and also just started rolling out new series features.
Instead of a viewer stumbling across your reels at random then doom scrolling to the next thing.
They can now seamlessly binge your content in order, episode after episode.
With Instagrams new series feature there’s a ‘watch next’ button just like you’d see on any major streaming platform which is basically giving your instagram a mini TV format. This creates a dedicated hub on your profile for your series and shows.
These aren’t just new organizational tools. They signal a much larger shift in how creative people can build relationships with an audience. Instead of posting random pieces of content into a feed, creators can now build recurring shows, develop loyal audiences, and create communities in the same way television series have for decades.
And this is happening across every major social platform. They are all moving toward episodic, repeatable content, and history tells us they will heavily prioritize the creators who adopt these new features early. The people who create shows audiences genuinely enjoy will have a major advantage.
Soon, it won’t only be about who has the best hook or the strongest pattern interrupt. The platforms will increasingly reward the best shows and the best series.
Influencers, “creators,” product brands, and major corporations are already preparing for this shift, but many music artists, however, are still building their strategies around an outdated model.
So while it may not happen tomorrow the water is shifting this way and the opportunity now is not simply to make better posts. It is to create something people can return to.
A recurring world. A recognizable package. A story they can follow. A show they can binge.
We are going to look at some examples in the coming slides of these kinds of shows and we are also going to explain why music artists actually have the advantage with this shift, but before we do let’s first define what a short form series looks like.
What is considered short form series content or a social show?
A social show works much like a traditional television show. It has a recurring premise, structure, or format that remains consistent from episode to episode. It might be released daily, weekly, or on another regular schedule. The basic idea is the same as television, the episodes are simply shorter and built for platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
Almost every category of traditional television is already being adapted for social media.
On the storytelling side, you have reality shows built around real people and situations, along with soap operas and scripted dramas featuring recurring characters, evolving storylines, twists, and cliffhangers. Animated shows and cartoons are growing as well, with many leaning toward adult comedy because adults make up such a large part of the audience on these platforms.
Then there are personality- and information-driven formats. Interview shows bring in a new guest each episode while repeating the same basic structure. Livestream shows cover everything from daily culture and current events to business, money, and advice. Travel shows follow creators as they explore new places and chronicle the experience along the way.
You also have competition and transformation formats. Some feel like shortened versions of Fear Factor, Survivor, or a MrBeast challenge, with contestants attempting to overcome an obstacle or complete a task to win. Dating shows are being built for nearly every type of audience and community. House-hunting series, home tours, and modern versions of MTV Cribs are becoming their own category too.
And even with all those examples, I’m barely scratching the surface of what is already being made, let alone what is currently in development and pre-production.
There is an ocean of new programming coming. Some of it will be good, a lot of it will be bad, and only a small percentage of it will be great. And none of these examples even account for AI, which is likely to take up a significant part of the entertainment landscape across nearly every type of media.
And while in terms of format this makes sense but,
Why do the platforms want these shows?
There are two simple reasons, and both tie back to the platforms’ primary job: keeping people on the platform.
First, shows and series tend to create higher retention, which is one of the platforms’ most important metrics. Instead of someone stumbling across a single valuable piece of content, watching for a minute or two, and then scrolling to the next thing, they can fall into an entire series. One episode leads to another, keeping the viewer on the platform much longer.
Second, a series builds habits. If someone enjoys a weekly show, they’re more likely to come back each week when a new episode launches. And even if they miss a couple of weeks, they may binge the previous episodes to catch up.
A show also solves a problem the platforms helped create. Endless choice eventually becomes exhausting. When every swipe brings a new random thing, a topic, joke, product, an ad, or controversy, the experience can feel disposable. Shows create familiarity within all the noise.
The brain subconsciously thinks “There’s something I know and I like this. Let’s watch.”
The viewer begins to know who these people are, what kind of world they are entering, what generally happens, what emotional experience they can expect, and what unresolved question might be answered next.
That familiarity lowers the mental load of choosing what to watch. How often are you scrolling on a platforms looking for something to watch and you realize 30 mins has gone by and you haven’t picked anything?
This is why audiences return to television characters, podcasts, YouTube channels, Twitch streams, radio personalities, and recurring social formats. Familiarity is everything. The audience is not making a completely new decision every time. They already understand the promise.
A series also gives the platform more useful signals than a one-off post. It can see whether people return, continue into another episode, follow the account, revisit older installments, or begin watching from the beginning. The platform does not merely know that a video was interesting. It learns that the property may be interesting. It’s traditional TV it’s just smaller now and on your phone. And just like traditional TV, more time on platform means more ads and more ads means more money.
So why is the happening now?
Like any other competitive business models these platforms are learning from each other. And currently YouTube’s model is winning. YouTube is currently the most-watched individual platform or media distributor on American television screens.YouTube accounted for 13.4% of all TV watch time, ranking ahead of every traditional television company and every other streaming service. And it’s only growing. So the writing is on the wall. People like the ability to discover new things, but more familiarity and less randomize is what the people want. And they want it in both long form and short form doses, but consumers are going to be looking for variety and memorable concepts.
Let’s look at few examples of Series Style Content
Example 1 - Reality Show - Friends Keep Secrets
Lil Dicky (Dave Burd) and Benny Blanco
It’s friends meets the real world reality TV meets big brother meets podcasting
Guests come on each week and they hang and tell stories
Example 2 - Short Form Scripted Drama - The Sins of Dorian Gray
Sins of Dorian Gray is a dark, music-driven scripted microdrama about a struggling singer who trades his soul for beauty, fame, and success. As Dorian remains untouched by age or consequence, a mysterious portrait reveals the corruption caused by his increasingly destructive choices.
Example 3 - Animated Short Form Show
My Toy Store Sells Mechs and Shocked the World” is a viral short-form animated drama, popular on platforms like TikTok and Vigloo. It follows an ordinary-looking toy store that secretly sells real combat mechs powerful enough to disrupt governments, corporations, and the balance of power.
Example 4 -
Rhythm Roulette — Mass Appeal
A producer is blindfolded, chooses three random records, then must create a beat using what they picked. This may be the strongest example because it has a clear premise, rules, stakes, and repeatable episode engine
Example 5 - Tiny Desk - Unique Style of Performance
Tiny Desk is a live performance series where artists perform stripped-down versions of their songs in an intimate office setting. Its recognizable environment, close-up production, and raw performances make each episode feel personal and distinct from a traditional concert.
Example 6 - Livestream Show - plaqueboymax
PlaqueBoyMax’s livestreams blend music creation, artist discovery, comedy, and audience interaction into an unpredictable live show. His recurring “In the Booth” format invites artists to make music in real time while viewers watch the creative process, react through the chat, and help turn individual streams into larger cultural moments.
Example 7 Brooklyn Coffee shop - Comedy
Brooklyn Coffee Shop is a short-form comedy series built around the eccentric customers, employees, and everyday chaos inside a neighborhood café. Each episode turns familiar coffee-shop interactions into quick, character-driven sketches with a distinctly Brooklyn personality
Example 8 - Travel Show - Day Trip @kevindroniak
Day Trip is a short-form travel series in which Kevin Droniak flies from New York to destinations around the world, experiences them for only a few hours, and returns home without booking a hotel. Each episode follows the same recognizable challenge: proving that even places as far away as Paris, Egypt, or Japan can become a one-day adventure.
Example 9 - GRWM Interview Show - Get Real With Me - Alix Earle
Get Real With Me is a YouTube interview series in which Alix Earle and her guests do their makeup while having candid conversations about their lives and experiences. The format expands her viral “Get Ready With Me” videos into a recurring talk show that feels intimate, casual, and unfiltered.
Example 10 - Game Show / Interview - Picture this with
Picture This, hosted by Jonica Booth, is an interview-style game show where guests draw and pitch an original television series inspired by their own lives. Surprise prompts and genre changes force them to rethink their ideas in real time, turning the creative process into the entertainment. They also draw at the same time.
The dopamine doom scroll era is coming to end and the rise of the social show series is upon us.
How should music artists be thinking about this?
Now seeing the examples you can see how traditional television is getting slimmed down for short form series concepts, but where does this leave you? Music artists should see this shift as a true opportunity… because with your taste and experience you already have an unfair advantage: you are naturally more creative than most non-creators. You already understand how to build worlds, create emotion, develop unique ideas and turn abstract concepts into something people can feel. Those are the exact skills needed to create compelling shows and recurring content series. While most brands and businesses are actively learning how to become entertainers and mini-media companies, artists and creatives are already wired for it.
Where can you mine ideas for your shows?
You can study current show formats and what’s working online, but often the ideas that stand out and cut through the noise will come from blending the past with the present. Look to older references for inspiration, then combine them in ways that feel new.The Benny Blanco and Dave Burd show is a good example of this: it takes three formats from the past, blends them with a current one, and turns them into something original. And once you have your original idea ask yourself how the show fits into the larger universe you’re building. How can it live under the same umbrella as your overarching music brand?
We’ve learned alot over the last 24 months specifically around creating and producing these kinds of shorter form shows with our artists. We are currently producing shows for a number of our clients, In all different styles. Should you want to collaborate with on a show concept of your own or with any other branding a storytelling foundational elements reach to us at The cultcreatives.com.
I am curious if this is something you’re into because there’s more potential for creation as a format and new creative ideas or if this just feels like another social media thing, a platform play to get us all locked in and glued to these platforms. Let me know your thoughts on this in the comments.
Personally, I’m stoked about this shift because now it's moving toward characters and storytelling, creativity, and entertainment not hacks, viral trends, and manipulation.
But either way good luck in all your current building and If this is for you I hope to see your social show out there soon.
-Chris Alba
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