April saw the rise of Instagram’s new @music, the company’s first content vertical and dedicated resource for specific artist-focal explorations and expressions. Their impact in music culture resonates loudly, with upwards of 25% of Instagram users self-described as musicians.
@Music was billed as a first-of-a-kind dedicated content channel, run by Instagram to highlight an up-and-coming artists and offer a behind-the-scenes look at more established musicians. With Beyonce bringing nearly 31 million followers on the platform’s No. 1 most-followed account, followed by Ariana Grande (30.1 million), Taylor Swift (28.3 million) and so on, the opportunity for content-sharing, exclusive features and more is rather large for the service that processes 70 million photo uploads daily.
So what has it accomplished? In short, nothing at all. It’s just another account, without any motivating purpose beyond that which any Instagram accounts serves – to feature interesting visuals.
“For the past four years, we have become the home for artists big and small — a place where people across the musical spectrum come to share stories, reveal their creativity and connect directly with fans,” Instagram founder and CEO Kevin Systrom wrote in a post on the company’s blog on April 29. The new account will be “dedicated to exploring music around the globe, from those who create it to the community around it,” he said.
The talk was large, and the media coverage was breathless. But in the end, there is very little to offer by way of worthwhile content.
Unfortunately, there is nothing revolutionary or great about @music. It’s just another account focusing on artist photos.
