I’ve Spent 15 Years in Media. Here Are the 7 Trends That Actually Matter in 2024.

Let's be brutally honest. Most articles about media trends are useless. They’re filled with buzzwords written by people who have never actually built an audience, run a campaign, or stared at a flatlining analytics report at 2 AM, wondering where it all went wrong.

I have. For over a decade, I’ve been in the trenches—building content strategies for scrappy startups and Fortune 500 companies, growing websites from zero to millions of monthly visitors, and navigating the ever-shifting maze of Google and social media algorithms. And I can tell you, the ground beneath our feet hasn't just shifted; it's a completely new planet. The strategies that built media empires just five years ago are now recipes for failure.

The core of this earthquake? The way we discover, consume, and value media has been fundamentally rewired. It’s faster, more personal, and brutally authentic. If you’re a creator, a brand, or anyone trying to capture attention, you can't just make good content anymore. You have to understand the new physics of this world.

So, forget the high-level fluff. Here are the seven trends that are actually dictating success and failure right now, based on what I’m seeing work (and fail spectacularly) with my own projects and for my clients every single day.

1. The Vertical Video Ecosystem Isn't a Trend; It's the New Internet

For years, I had clients who treated vertical videos as a cute little add-on. "Let's have the intern make some TikToks," they'd say. I’d try to explain that it wasn’t just a format; it was the most powerful discovery engine ever built. Most didn't get it.

Then came the project that changed everything.

We were working with a legacy brand in the home goods space. Their plan was the usual: glossy magazine spreads and polished YouTube pre-roll ads. The budget was huge. The early results? Crickets. I finally convinced them to carve out a tiny 5% of their budget for an "experimental" TikTok and Reels campaign. We hired a few creators and gave them one rule: make content you would actually want to watch. No corporate scripts.

One creator posted a 30-second video using their product to solve a common, annoying household problem. It was shot on an iPhone, the lighting wasn't perfect, and the creator stumbled over a word. It felt real. That single video exploded, hitting 15 million organic views in three days. It drove more website traffic and sales than their entire six-figure traditional media spend.

That’s not an anomaly anymore. It’s the rule. Vertical video is the new front door to the internet for a massive portion of the population. It’s how we find new music, decide which movie to see, learn a new skill, and discover products. This "TikTokification" has forced everyone else to play catch-up:

YouTube Shorts is now a primary growth lever for channels.
Instagram is unapologetically a video-first platform.
Amazon has its "Inspire" feed, a shoppable, vertical video stream.

If your media strategy in 2024 doesn't begin with a plan for short-form, authentic videos, you're already obsolete.

2. AI is the Creative Co-Pilot You Can't Afford to Ignore

I’ll admit it: when generative AI first started making waves, a part of me was terrified. Is a machine going to take my job? It was a thought that kept a lot of us in the creative fields up at night. But after months of hands-on experimentation, my perspective has done a complete 180.

I used to believe AI was a replacement. Now I know it’s the ultimate form of leverage.

AI isn't the artist; it's the world's most powerful and tireless assistant. For creators and media companies, this is revolutionary. Instead of spending 80% of our time on tedious, technical tasks, we can focus on the 20% that actually matters: the core idea, the story, the emotional hook.

Here’s how I’m seeing it change the game in real-time:

Instant Visualization: I was recently brainstorming a concept for a new video series. In the past, this would mean days of writing treatments and hiring a designer for storyboards. Instead, I spent 30 minutes with Midjourney, turning simple text prompts into a dozen distinct visual styles and keyframes. The client immediately "got it" in a way a document never could have conveyed.
Smarter Editing: Tools like Adobe Sensei and Descript are godsends. They can automatically transcribe hours of footage, let you edit video by simply editing the text, and even remove filler words ("um," "ah") with a single click. This doesn't replace a skilled editor's sense of pacing and story, but it frees them from soul-crushing grunt work.
Personalized Curation: On the consumption side, AI is the engine behind the hyper-personalized feeds on Netflix, YouTube, and Spotify. It’s not just recommending content; it's creating a unique, one-of-a-kind channel for every single user, maximizing engagement and retention.

The creative who fears AI will be replaced by it. The creative who masters AI will become untouchable.

3. The Streaming Wars Are Over (and Chaos Won)

Remember the simple days? You had Netflix, maybe Hulu. It was easy. That era is dead and gone. We’ve rocketed past "peak subscription" and into a phase I call "The Great Unbundling."

Subscription fatigue is real. Consumers are looking at their credit card statements and asking, "Do I really need seven different services to watch four shows?" The result is a chaotic, fragmented, but ultimately more flexible media landscape.

The major players are reacting by turning back the clock. Netflix and Disney+ launching cheaper, ad-supported tiers wasn't a sign of weakness; it was a brilliant strategic pivot. They realized there was a massive, untapped market of people who would happily watch ads to save $10 a month.

At the same time, Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television (FAST) channels like Pluto TV, Tubi, and The Roku Channel are absolutely exploding. They offer the lean-back, channel-surfing experience of old-school cable, but for free. It’s a low-friction model that’s capturing millions of viewers who have churned from paid services.

But here’s the part that really excites me: the rise of niche streaming. While the giants fight over the mainstream, smaller services are winning by super-serving passionate communities. Platforms like Shudder (for horror), Crunchyroll (for anime), and MUBI (for cinephiles) are thriving because they offer a curated, expert-led experience that a behemoth like Netflix can't replicate. They prove that in a world of infinite choice, sometimes the best strategy is to be the absolute best at just one thing.

4. The Wall Between Media and Gaming Has Crumbled

For the longest time, Hollywood treated video games like a dirty secret—a source of IP to be strip-mined for terrible movie adaptations. That condescension has thankfully vanished.

Shows like HBO's The Last of Us and Netflix's Arcane weren't just "good for a video game show"; they were masterful pieces of television, period. They succeeded because they treated the source content and its audience with deep respect. This convergence is a two-way street.

Travis Scott's concert inside Fortnite wasn't a marketing gimmick; it was a legitimate cultural event attended by over 12 million people simultaneously. It redefined what a "venue" could be. These in-game experiences are becoming a core part of the entertainment ecosystem.

The next step in this evolution is true interactivity. We saw a glimpse of it with Netflix's Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. While it was a fascinating experiment, its production complexity has kept it from becoming a mainstream format. (Let's be honest, the sheer number of branching paths makes it a nightmare to produce). But as the technology improves, expect to see more media that gives the audience real agency, blurring the line between watching a story and participating in it.

5. The Creator Economy Has Matured into the CEO Economy

Please, let's retire the word "influencer." It feels flimsy and outdated for what's actually happening. The most successful creators today aren't just personalities; they are the founders and CEOs of their own diversified media empires.

The blueprint is MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson). He didn't just accumulate subscribers; he built a direct, trust-based relationship with a massive audience and then leveraged that relationship to launch vertically integrated businesses.

Feastables: His snack brand isn't just merch; it's a legitimate CPG company competing for shelf space at Walmart.
MrBeast Burger: A virtual restaurant brand that became a global phenomenon overnight.

This is the new model. Creators like Emma Chamberlain (Chamberlain Coffee) and Logan Paul & KSI (Prime Hydration) are bypassing traditional industry gatekeepers entirely. They own the production, the distribution, and the marketing. Their personal brand is the engine for a much larger business enterprise.

This is fueled by a shift to direct-to-fan monetization. Relying on fluctuating ad revenue from a single platform is a recipe for anxiety. Smart creators are building resilient businesses through platforms like Patreon, Substack, and Memberful, where their most loyal fans can support them directly. This creates a stable, predictable income stream and a much deeper, more meaningful connection with their community.

6. Authenticity Isn't a Buzzword; It's the Most Important Metric

I have a folder on my desktop filled with screenshots of corporate social media fails. They're all the same: slick, overproduced, focus-grouped videos that reek of a boardroom. They get dunked on, ratioed, and ignored.

Then, you'll see a competitor's post—a shaky iPhone video of an employee genuinely geeking out about a new product—and it will have thousands of heartfelt, positive comments.

Why? Because in a world saturated with advertising, our brains have developed a powerful filter for anything that feels fake. Authenticity is the signal that bypasses that filter. The "lo-fi" aesthetic isn't about being lazy; it's a deliberate choice to signal trustworthiness. It tells the viewer, "We're not trying to trick you. This is real."

I learned this lesson the hard way. Early in my career, I helped produce a campaign for a tech client that cost well over $250,000. It was beautiful. Cinematic. And it completely flopped. A few months later, we ran a simple Q&A on Instagram Stories with one of their lead engineers, shot on her laptop webcam. The engagement was 10x higher. It was a painful, expensive, but invaluable lesson: polished perfection creates distance. Raw authenticity creates connection.

7. The Audio Renaissance is Now a Visual Medium

While video has been grabbing the headlines, a quiet but powerful renaissance has been happening in audio. Podcasting has matured from a niche hobby into a mainstream media powerhouse. But the biggest evolution within the space right now is its collision with video.

I tell every creator I work with now: if you're launching a podcast in 2024 and you're not filming it, you're committing strategic malpractice.

Platforms like YouTube and Spotify are heavily prioritizing video podcasts. Why? Because it makes the content infinitely more discoverable. A one-hour audio file is a closed box. A one-hour video podcast can be chopped into:

Ten 60-second vertical videos for TikTok, Reels, and Shorts.
Five 5-minute clips for YouTube.
Dozens of quote graphics for Instagram and Twitter.

It transforms a single piece of content into a full-fledged marketing campaign. It gives audiences the choice to watch actively or listen passively. This multi-format approach is no longer a nice-to-have; it's essential for growth in a crowded landscape.

Key Takeaways

Vertical Video is the New Front Door: Treat short-form video as your primary tool for discovery, not an afterthought.
Embrace AI as Your Assistant: Use AI to automate grunt work so you can focus on high-level creativity and strategy.
The Streaming Model is a Hybrid: A mix of subscription, ad-supported, and free models is the new normal. Flexibility is key.
Gaming Isn't a Niche, It's Culture: The convergence of gaming and entertainment is creating massive new opportunities for interactive storytelling.
Think Like a CEO, Not an Influencer: Build a diversified business around your brand, not just an audience on a single platform.
Authenticity Builds Trust; Polish Builds Walls: Prioritize real, relatable content over slick perfection.
If It's Audio, It Must Also Be Video: To maximize reach, every podcast and audio project should have a visual component for discoverability.

What's Next

The most important thing to understand is that these trends aren't happening in a vacuum. They feed each other. A creator uses AI to edit a video podcast, which is then clipped into vertical videos to promote their direct-to-fan subscription service. That’s the new flywheel of modern media.

The pace of change is dizzying, I get it. But it's also filled with more opportunity than ever before for those who are willing to adapt. The gatekeepers are gone. The tools are more accessible than ever. The only thing standing between you and an audience is your ability to understand and execute within this new reality.

FAQ Section

What is the difference between media and content? Technically, media refers to the channels or platforms of distribution (e.g., the internet, television, social media platforms), while content is the actual stuff you consume through those channels (e.g., a video, an article, a podcast). In everyday conversation, however, they're often used interchangeably. When I talk about the "media industry," I'm referring to the entire ecosystem, and when I talk about creating "content," I'm talking about making the individual pieces that live within it.

Will AI replace creative jobs in entertainment? I firmly believe it will transform them, not replace them. AI will automate the repetitive, technical parts of creative work, which will elevate the importance of human skills like strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, original ideation, and taste. The graphic designer who just knows how to use the software might be in trouble. The art director who knows how to use AI to generate and refine a dozen concepts in an hour will be invaluable.

Are traditional media outlets like newspapers and cable TV dead? They're not dead, but their role as the central gatekeepers of information is over. The ones that survive and thrive are those that have successfully adapted to the new digital landscape. This means launching compelling podcasts, building strong digital subscription models, and creating unique video journalism that works on social platforms. They have to exist within the new ecosystem, not pretend they are above it.

How can a small creator compete in this crowded media landscape? By not trying to compete with the giants on their terms. Your advantage as a small creator is your agility and your authenticity. Go deep on a niche you genuinely love. Serve a specific, passionate audience that the big players ignore. Interact with every comment. Be unapologetically yourself. In a world of massive, faceless media corporations, being a real, accessible human is a superpower. Consistency and genuine value will always win in the long run.

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