How these two marketers manipulate your music taste

2026-07-27

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In a fairly inconspicuous SXSW podcast, two marketers shook the music industry. Jesse Coren and Andrew Spelman, two co-founders at Chaotic Good, explained how they make bands go viral. Their methods shocked people. Today on Nudge, I reveal how these two marketers use psychological hacks to manipulate the masses and make 'indie' bands mainstream. --- Become an FSB member: https://get.fsb.org.uk/nudge/ Listen to the Billboard podcast: htt...

In a fairly inconspicuous SXSW podcast, two marketers shook the music industry.

Jesse Coren and Andrew Spelman, two co-founders at Chaotic Good, explained how they make bands go viral.

Their methods shocked people.

Today on Nudge, I reveal how these two marketers use psychological hacks to manipulate the masses and make 'indie' bands mainstream.

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Listen to the Billboard podcast: https://youtu.be/v1rP3cpilkM?si=iF2B9zzMQEZ5tSVb

Listen to the Guardian podcast: https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2026/may/05/fake-fans-fake-buzz-how-your-favourite-band-got-big-podcast

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Today’s sources:

Mallinson, D. J., & Hatemi, P. K. (2018). The effects of information and social conformity on opinion change. PLOS ONE, 13(5), e0196600.

Muchnik, L., Aral, S., & Taylor, S. J. (2013). Social influence bias: A randomized experiment. Science, 341(6146), 647–651.

Salganik, M.Salganik, M. J., Dodds, P. S., & Watts, D. J. (2006). Experimental study of inequality and unpredictability in an artificial cultural market. Science, 311(5762), 854–856.

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