The Art of the Live Release
What if we live-released a trailer like Fred again & Skepta just released their new song?
In Entertainment marketing, we often think about activating involved talent who have large social followings by equipping them with assets and/or partnering with them to boost the release of core campaign assets. This past week, electronic music artist Fred again, along with grime talent Skepta and artist and streamer Plaqueboymax, debuted Fred’s first song of 2025 live on Twitch – without any campaign build up or overly polished production. The social stunt and song release didn’t just break the mold for music marketing, it’s a major source of inspiration for how Entertainment campaigns across Series and Theatrical campaigns can re-imagine releasing trailers, and other marketing assets, in partnership with socially relevant talent.
Followers were initially pushed to a “Release Party Stream” that at first glance began with Fred again tinkering with his equipment and experimenting with sounds in a brutalist-style NYC high rise, alone. A whiteboard behind him read, “Release party, but our friend is late.” Updates followed – “ETA 20-30 minutes,” then “He’s nearly here.” An hour and a half in, giving global audiences ample time to gather, the board finally revealed the new track title, Victory Lap, just as Skepta strode on-screen and performed the track live. As they finished the low-fi performance, the sign flipped again to read “Leaving to the venue in a sec,” and viewers followed the duo to anunannounced pop-up rave in Brooklyn.
This “campaign” is a reminder to constantly question and push on the Entertainment marketing playbook. There’s no platform support here, no traditional media assets or media buys – simply one massive release phase where the lines between the marketing, the content, and the social experience, are completely blurred. If Fred again and Skepta can release their biggest song of the year without traditional tactics and purely through a live Twitch experience, it’s worth asking ourselves across TV & Film campaigns how we can be more innovative in partnering with talent to release campaign assets in equally exciting and socially creative ways.