YouTube Artist Breakthrough Moments

XX Artists / Monks

YouTube Artists Breakthrough Moments

According to a March 2025 study ran by Connect by Live Nation, nearly 90% of Gen Z survey respondents stated that music molds their personal identity and helps them navigate the uncertainties of life. Additionally, with trust for artists at an all-time high, they genuinely feel close to their favorite artists, with 67% classifying themselves as “superfans.” Unlike previous generations who solely focus on the music itself, Gen Z also views music as a connection point between the artist, their story, and their fan-based community.

YouTube’s Artist Breakthrough series celebrates the role music plays in Gen Z’s lives, connecting fans and providing avenues for expression through a collective celebration of new and highly-anticipated releases from today’s top artists.

Olivia Rodrigo: Vampire

Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album, Sour, was a breakout success (sitting as the longest-running debut album in the Billboard 200 chart's top 10 during the 21st century), and there was incredible buzz for the first single off her follow-up album, Vampire. To optimize the energy surrounding Vampire’s release, we partnered with Olivia, her Livies HQ fan club, and a handful of YouTube creators (ex. rug tufters and makeup artists) to develop a collection of social content, driving viewership and community engagement over a multi-week journey.

Results

On average, each post within the campaign outperformed YouTube Q2 2023 engagement benchmarks by 550%. The campaign also surpassed Youtube Artist Breakthrough benchmarks by 95%, driving nearly 640,000 positive engagements— making it the most successful Artist Breakthrough Moment in YouTube history.

Transition challenge launched by Olivia to spark YouTube shorts creation from community

Elevating the “Livies” fanbase by sharing their reactions to the new music video in a bespoke edit

Tapping into the rug tufting trend via a creator commissioned piece of fandom art

Makeup tutorials are an extremely popular YouTube genre. We tapped into this theme via a creator

The “Which Olivia are you?” post drove some of the campaign’s highest engagement, (93.1k likes / 309 comments) by providing fans with the ability to find an artist vibe that best reflects them

Karol G: Contigo

With eight previous music videos earning over 1 billion YouTube views (each), there was high anticipation for Karol G’s 2024 single, Contigo. Pairing with the musician and YouTube creators, we drove energy and engagement around the launch moment. Standout pieces included a smoothie maker and cake decorator that developed visually mesmerizing homages to Karol and her eclectic (hair)styles

Group trend/challenge inspired the notion of “Contigo” (together) and Valentine’s Day launch

Celebrating Karol’s accomplishments while introducing/contextualizing her to a larger audience

Leaning into February’s theme of love, we tapped into the Gen Z-centered conversations around “love languages”

This creator’s visually mesmerizing smoothie stopped people’s scrolls while nodding to Karol’s aesthetic

Cake decoration videos have long been a YouTube Shorts fan favorite. Here a creator adds a Karol G twist

Karol is famous for the varied vibes and aesthetics throughout her career. This “which color would you pick” post invited viewers to select and share which style best reflected them

Tyla: Art

In 2023 Tyla took the music world by storm with her single “Water” and the viral social dance associated with the song; becoming the first and youngest-ever South African soloist in 55 years to enter the US Billboard Hot 100. Between her trendsetting music, style, and dance moves, Tyla was the ideal artists to pair with for another YouTube Artist Breakthrough Moment, furthering YouTube brand love & community engagement.

Viral dance trend kicked of by Tyla herself