Fan generators: cards, playlists and characters
A fan generator lets each fan create something personal from an artist's world, such as a greeting card, a playlist matched to their mood or a custom character, and share it. Each creation carries the campaign onto social feeds, while the single streams inside the experience.
Generators give fans something to make rather than something to watch. Each fan leaves with a creation that's theirs, styled in the artist's world, and most of them share it. That turns a single campaign site into hundreds or thousands of unique posts.
Types of generator
Card generators
Fans design a card from the single's visual language and send it to someone. Saint Blonde's "Gimme My Flowers" card generator was built in 3D, with the single streaming as fans designed. Diplo and Miguel's "Don't Forget My Love" Valentine's generator offered more than 400 design combinations. Cards fit naturally around holidays and moments of the year.
Playlist generators
Fans answer a few prompts and receive a playlist built around the new music. NIKI's Buzz generator for "Blue Moon" blended mood, astrology and the fan's own listening into a personal playlist. Slothrust's Mind Your Mood paired each sign with a horoscope written by the band. Because the playlist saves to the fan's library, the campaign's tracks stay in their rotation after they leave.
Character and identity generators
Fans build an avatar or pick a side within the artist's universe. Knock2's Dash character generator let fans create their own character. The Rose's DUAL experience split fans into team dawn and team dusk, tracked the winning side in real time as fans streamed, and produced shareable listening cards.
What makes a generator worth sharing
- Real variety. Enough combinations that two fans rarely make the same thing.
- Output sized for social. Images and video formatted for Stories, feeds and messages, with the artist and release clearly credited.
- A personal hook. Mood, star sign, listening history or a name. The more it reflects the fan, the more likely they are to post it.
- The music in the loop. The single plays while fans create, and playlists or pre-saves land in their streaming library.
When to choose a generator
Generators suit singles and focus tracks with a strong theme, holiday or seasonal moments, and artists whose fans already make and share content. They're quicker to build than a full immersive world, which makes them a good fit when the runway to release is short.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a playlist generator use a fan's own listening history?
- Yes. With the fan's permission, the generator can draw on their Spotify or Apple Music listening to shape the playlist around the new release.
- Do generated cards and playlists include the artist's music?
- Yes. The single streams in the experience while fans create, and generated playlists are built around the campaign's tracks and saved to the fan's library.
