Google launched the Gen Z Music lineup tool this week aimed at helping advertisers and marketers connect with 11- to-26-year-olds on YouTube, where this generation of music fans discover and consume all types of music across multiple formats.

The paid-for feature is now available globally to assist advertisers who want to increase the brand’s appeal to this generation. The ad tool uses frequently refreshed data across audio, long-form, and YouTube Shorts to identify the songs trending with Gen Z viewers and listeners.

Google AI then packages relevant music videos into the Gen Z Music lineup. Buying this lineup gives advertisers piece of mind that the brand’s content that serves up near media uses the music to trigger the ads. It aims to help the brand be seen at the forefront of culture, according to Google, through the Gen Z Music lineup available globally through Google Ads.

Brian Anderson, Google’s global head of music and audio, believes Gen Z plays a huge role in shaping the cultural zeitgeist, which largely happens on YouTube, where Gen Z music fans discover, consume, and participate in music across multiple formats.

Preferred genres for Gen Z are changing. Turns out country music’s consumption trends are being shaped by the listening habits of Gen Z and millennials, according to Variety, citing data by Luminate.

The country’s genre’s surge has been steadily increasing during the past several years, but 2023 should prove to be the most impressive when it comes to country music, according to the report.

All 36 songs from Morgan Wallen’s new album, “One Thing at a Time” released on March 3, scored the biggest opening week in 2023 for any album by units earned, about 500,000, per Luminate. He also had the fifth-largest streaming week ever with approximately 76% of “One Thing at a Time’s” half-million opening units.

The complete album racked up a little more than 483 streams during the week ending March 9, pushing the weekly genre total to 2.22 billion streams, per Luminate.

Variety reported that the country genre regularly thrives in live music spaces where fans can discover new artists in halls, bars and tours. But before 2020, the genre had little significance on streaming. Listeners instead opted for more traditional sources like album sales, which make up a much larger share of country music’s consumption compared to chart-topping genres. Artists like Taylor Swift have led to the shift.

Music audio streaming is the third most popular listening option, after radio and video, although it is the leading format for Gen Z and millennials who make up 50% of the average listenership for Wallen, along with artists like Combs and Zach Bryan, according to Variety.

Google launched the Gen Z Music lineup tool this week aimed at helping advertisers and marketers connect with 11- to-26-year-olds on YouTube, where this generation of music fans discover and consume all types of music across multiple formats.