19 Comments
Feb 8Liked by Rachel Karten

THANK YOU for saying that maybe we should be moving away from using trending audios. I am so tired of seeing/hearing social media “gurus” emphasise using trending audios to get results.

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Feb 8Liked by Rachel Karten

lol I'm also SO TIRED of chill lofi beats. As someone who has been fatigued from scrolling through endless royalty free libraries without finding anything that sounds pleasant, I appreciate the call for better commercial sounds!

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Feb 8Liked by Rachel Karten

Better yet, work music costs into your advertising budget, and hire a music supervisor to clear it for you. That way you can get great music, legally, which saves $$ and headaches in the long-run.

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Feb 8Liked by Rachel Karten

THANK YOU! All the advice for succeeding in video is to use the trending audio, without any discussion of the repercussions for doing so. I'm in nonprofit comms and well acquainted with the chill beats. I would *love* better commercial options.

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Feb 8Liked by Rachel Karten

All. Of. This.

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“... move in the direction of figuring out how to rely less on trends as your core strategy.”

Found this super helpful!

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Feb 9Liked by Rachel Karten

Is there a difference between using a trending sound/song, unedited, versus something that's been mashed up? I also work for a nonprofit in comms and made sure we had a business account so we only have access to commercial sounds (which yes are very boring, especially on IG) and thought we could use what's in that library, as long as it's not a blatantly uploaded by a brand to use the latest Miley Cyrus song.

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Feb 8Liked by Rachel Karten

I also wonder if there'll ever be a point where influencers are held to the same standards that brands are. Technically they're their own brand - they make money from the content they create and profit from trending audio. Is there a difference?

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Feb 8Liked by Rachel Karten

Appreciate this perspective very much and think more brands and creators should adopt this approach when considering how to be relevant on social.

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Feb 8Liked by Rachel Karten

Can I frame this and hang it on my newsrooms walls?

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Any info about Instagram reels’ music library? There isn’t a differentiation between what is commercial audio and what is not, compared to TikTok. I don’t know what’s brand-safe.

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