The Biggest Instagram Stars
tend to be major recording and touring artists
We've seen through our platform how Instagram extends the live experience. People love sharing their experiences on social, and the most followed humans on Instagram are all major touring artists. They call that synergy in business buzzwords.
It's nice to see Instagram reveal data that backs up our findings.
So who are these most followed people on the platform? Out of the top 50, 18 are current major recording and touring artists – Lady Gaga, Adele, Shakira, Drake, Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake and Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Maluma, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Nicki Minaj are all on the list.
Instagram Users Really Do Love Music
findings from the Nielsen report
- Instagram users are "42% more likely to spend money on music"
- Instagram users "spend 30% more time listening to music on a weekly basis"
- Instagram users are "twice as likely to spend money on streaming"
Read the full report for yourself here!
This will not surprise anyone who's ever surfed the #Coachella hashtag on Instagram (or actually been!), in the words of Billboard it's "the festival [...] particularly known for its Insta-worthy glamour".
It's About That Personal Connection
Between Artist & Audience
Social media has brought artists & audiences closer together, without a doubt. However, there are so many different platforms now, that managing them all is not really manageable for a single person.
This work gets outsourced to social media managers, agencies and management for bigger artists.
Outsourcing Instagram is not super easy though. How will you have a social media manager, possibly in a different city, take your selfie?
Beyoncé Posts Her Own Instagrams
Seawood who worked at Beyoncé's Parkwood Entertainment for two years, in a 2014 interview outright said that Instagram is more or less the only social media platform that Beyoncé runs herself.
It's For Connecting, Not Practical Information
Seawood explains that Facebook tends to be used for 'this is the information the audience needs to know' (ticket information, links, etc.) and Twitter gets very crowded very quickly. Meanwhile Instagram seems to be striking a great balance for interacting with an audience, even when it becomes very large.
The feed never asks anything of the audience, it's just there to be double-tapped. Instagram doesn't support links in the image captions, so it's not sales-y or too promotional.
It feels more like a public diary – great for building a personal connection with your audience.
