On Monday (June 15), British prime minister Keir Starmer set out the Labour government’s plans to roll out strict age verification rules across social media, in response to his party’s concerns about young people’s online safety and overall well-being.

If passed in parliament, the proposed ban is expected to come into force across the U.K. by spring 2027, and will restrict under-16s from accessing platforms where users can post material and interact with algorithms, including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Discord, Facebook, X and streaming platform Twitch. Messaging services such as WhatsApp and Signal will be made exempt. 

Apple and Google will be required to carry out age checks on children using smartphones, which typically work by either using AI to estimate a user’s age from a selfie, or by having users submit their bank details or physical ID. This is an extension of existing technology that came into use through the Online Safety Act 2023, which requires websites hosting adult content to check and verify its users’ age.

“Today is a big moment for our country. This is a big step, a real change for our children and our future,” Starmer said in a Downing Street press briefing. “Social media is making children unhappy. It’s making it easier for bullies to harass and abuse them, and it could even be harming their mental health, exposing them to content that is dangerous because that’s what grabs the attention.”

The move follows a world-first ban in Australia, enacted in January, which prevents under-16s from setting up new social media accounts and deactivated existing profiles. According to a report from the BBC, Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, began closing teen accounts last December, and the company said it blocked approximately 550,000 accounts within the first few days of the ban.

The British government says a consultation that garnered 116,000 responses informed the decision, and claims that 9 in 10 parents back a ban. Starmer also consulted with the bereaved parents of children who say social media played a role in their deaths.

Although full details of the ban are yet to be confirmed, music marketing for artists, managers, and labels across the U.K. may be on the brink of a fundamental shift. With platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels driving much of the industry’s engagement growth this decade, the sector is now preparing to rethink how it reaches younger audiences, who have lately discovered new releases through short-form video.

That uncertainty is echoed by industry insiders working directly in Gen Z marketing. Jacob Rickard is the founder and director of Lemontank, a digital agency that works with a global pool of over 200 creatives aged 18-25 and whose recent clients include the three major record labels: Sony, Universal and Warner. “The addictive, endless scroll and weak content moderation is unquestionably harmful to young people, and I hope that this policy puts pressure on the platforms to do better,” Rickard tells Billboard U.K. 

“But I’m sad to see kids lose out on such a huge chunk of modern culture, communication and creativity in the process. I also worry it’ll put them at greater risk in their attempts to get around the ban.” 

Tech firms such as YouTube, Snapchat, X and Meta have also warned that young people will seek out unregulated or fringe alternatives. In a statement provided to Billboard U.K., YouTube said that “blanket bans push kids out of such curated, supervised, beneficial experiences and towards anonymous, less safe services.”

Other figures across the industry are questioning how enforceable such restrictions would be in practice, given how deeply embedded social media platforms are in everyday music consumption and fandom. While the intent behind tighter controls has generally been welcomed, there is also a suggestion that the policy could further fragment audiences.

Annabella Coldrick, CEO of the Music Managers Forum, said that a meeting on Monday (June 15) with some of the organization’s members provided a wide range of viewpoints. According to Coldrick, one manager believed that “the industry has become over-reliant on chasing short-term virality” and that “’likes’ and ‘views’ have become metrics of validation” for their artists who prefer to focus on creating music. Another raised the wrinkle that one of their clients — aged under 16 — would no longer be able to run their own social profiles.

For artists, all of this raises an important challenge: how to create the sense of belonging and curiosity that social media platforms have historically provided, while losing one of the primary environments in which modern superfans are created. 

Welsh songwriter CATTY, whose widescreen pop-rock recently caught the attention of SZA on Instagram, grew up in Caernarfon where she felt like “the only gay in my village.” Seeking both community and creative inspiration, she turned to social media as a teenager and connected with other LGBTQ+ people — an experience she credits with helping her shape her musical identity. “I had very different views to the people I grew up with,” she says. “I dread to think how long I would have stayed in the closet had I not had access to the community I found online.”

While acknowledging that “the internet can be a dark place for all of us, regardless of age,” CATTY is mindful of the role online spaces continue to play for queer youth, pointing to the DMs she receives from “kids who haven’t come out yet that listen to my music” and see her songs as a source of support. “I don’t want to rid them of that safe space,” she says.

Social media is where “young fans find their people,” says one major label executive, who spoke to Billboard U.K. under the condition of anonymity. They explain that via active Discord servers or Instagram broadcast channels, listeners are able to move beyond passive consumption of an artist’s music and become active participants in their world. These more intimate spaces allow for a sense of proximity to deepen, where superfans can coordinate streaming parties to support releases, share theories about lyrics or visuals, and collectively interpret an album’s material.

“What people are missing in the debate is what it means for the scale of fandom itself,” the executive adds. “If that space disappears, artists not only lose reach in a promotional sense, but they also lose the actual conditions that create superfans. This places emphasis on the ever-growing importance of off-social community building, in owned direct-to-fan channels and in rooms.”

Offline participation has been a core part of an increasing number of pop stars’ album pushes in recent years. In January, Harry Styles teased the launch of his chart-topping single “Aperture” with a series of pre-release listening events, which encouraged fans to gather in-person; Charli xcx’s Brat campaign extended into invite-only club nights, while Billie Eilish supported the London leg of her Hit Me Hard and Soft tour with an immersive merch pop-up.

In the U.K., an entire cohort of newer, digitally native acts such as 23-year-old songwriter Alessi Rose and pop-punk band South Arcade have leaned heavily into this style of ‘real-world’ fan engagement from day dot, in order to cut through the noise of social feeds. Prior to signing with Capitol Records in late 2024, the former built a fiercely loyal audience through treasure hunts and relaxed studio hangouts; the latter complemented their virality with meet-ups at grassroots venues across the country.

Lemontank’s research “shows a consistent appetite for connection and offline escapism” among young people, Rickard says. In an age where, following years of austerity-driven cuts to local government funding, youth clubs are few and far between — by 2023, approximately 1,200 publicly run centers had closed, as per research from trade union Unison — and third space activity is increasingly unaffordable, these events are helping to fill a social void for teenagers.

“I’d love to see artists focus on accessible and inclusive events and merch, giving fans more opportunities to be part of something meaningful together,” Rickard continues. “Fans love being part of niches and ‘if you know you know’ experiences, so there’s a huge opportunity for artists to responsibly use smaller platforms, build their direct-to-fan contacts, and use group chats to tell their story in less publicly visible ways.”

With access limited for young fans, the industry is now considering who will benefit from the changes. Streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music have expanded their offerings to consolidate many functions — recent updates include access to music videos, as well as in-app direct messaging systems and concert listings — meaning it can now serve as a hybrid discovery hub. 

Arguably, there is also potential for there to be greater emphasis on an artist’s live output as a route to build relationships with audiences and influence taste. Taken together, the possibilities for how music will be shared and experienced between young people remain wide open.

Rickard concurs, noting that the U.K. music business has historically been quick to respond to social media platform shifts. “I have no doubt that the industry will find innovative ways to adapt,” he says. “The music marketing landscape has been evolving forever, and this is no different.”

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