Who is Ari Elkins?

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Ari Elkins: Curating Viral Playlists and Championing New Sounds for the Streaming Generation

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Ari Elkins is a New York-based music curator known for building niche playlists that go viral on TikTok and Instagram. His videos often feature hyper-specific themes like “songs that feel like a movie ending” or “road trip soundtracks from 2012,” creating instantly shareable formats. With over 2.2 million TikTok followers, he’s helped indie and up-and-coming artists reach new audiences through organic discovery. Elkins has turned playlisting into a performance, merging curation with personality-driven content.

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He is the Co-Founder of Blue Suede Records, a platform focused on launching and promoting rising musical talent. Through his label, he collaborates directly with artists to amplify songs across short-form content, increasing their streaming exposure. Elkins combines his label strategy with influencer-level storytelling to support tracks before they chart. This hybrid creator-label model has positioned him as a new kind of gatekeeper in the digital music space.

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As an Audio Ambassador for Sony Electronics, Ari has led campaigns centered on premium sound experiences, tying product narratives to playlist aesthetics. He’s also partnered multiple times with Coca-Cola, building thematic playlists that align with seasonal branding and emotion-based marketing. Unlike typical brand deals, his collaborations integrate naturally into his storytelling, often framed as “songs to sip Coke with” or “tracks for summer nights.” These posts blur the line between content and campaign.

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Beyond his creator work, Ari supports causes like MusiCares, contributing to conversations around mental health in music. His casual, non-political tone resonates with Gen Z audiences looking for relatable content without performative activism. He maintains a consistent publishing rhythm—2 PM EST drops across platforms—cultivating a loyal audience that tunes in habitually. With humor, timing, and sharp audience intuition, Ari Elkins has transformed music discovery into an engaging social experience.

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An Influencer Active on Social Media

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Ari Elkins connects over 2.5M music fans through TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube by curating highly specific playlists and showcasing rising artists with casual, authentic storytelling.

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Ari’s Social Media Strategy Analysis

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TikTok: Where Curation Meets Viral Potential

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Ari Elkins uses TikTok as his primary platform, posting daily at 2 PM EST to maximize morning visibility. His content format consistently introduces overly specific playlist themes that spark emotional responses or nostalgia. The playlists are built around ultra-targeted moods like “songs for late-night Uber rides” or “breakup songs with no words.” This formula turns his content into a recurring habit for followers.

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Rather than showcasing himself or relying on trends, Ari keeps the focus on music—he often appears in the frame but lets the tracklist drive engagement. He overlays captions with track names and matches background clips to the playlist’s vibe, adding an immersive storytelling element. His face-to-camera delivery is brief, acting more as a host than the centerpiece. This lean production style allows for consistent, fast content turnaround.

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While his engagement rate is modest at 0.35%, he maintains 119.2K average views, indicating high replay or passive listening behavior. TikTok serves not only as entertainment but as a discovery engine for niche sounds, where comments often include fan debates or personal associations. Artists occasionally reshare his videos, reinforcing Ari’s role in boosting music visibility organically. His impact comes more from breadth than comment volume.

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The absence of viral dance trends or filters keeps his page tightly branded. He avoids jumping on non-music trends, maintaining a sharp niche that appeals to listeners rather than passive scrollers. His use of “overly specific” captions is his trademark hook, giving viewers a reason to stop and listen. Ari’s TikTok isn’t about him—it’s about how music makes people feel, delivered like a daily dose of sonic mood-boarding.

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• ‍Username: @arijelkins‍
• Influence Score: 85.7/100‍
• Followers: 2.2M‍
• Activity: 4.6 videos/week‍
• Engagement Rate: 0.35%‍
• Growth: 0%‍
• Average Engagement: 7.7K‍
• Posting Habits: Daily at 2 PM EST

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Instagram: A Visual Companion to His Playlists

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Ari’s Instagram (@arijelkins) complements his TikTok strategy by translating playlist content into more polished and branded visuals. His feed focuses on aesthetic alignment—Reels featuring the same playlist themes but edited with more structure and color grading. The covers, thumbnails, and captions follow a uniform tone, centered around emotional keywords like “nostalgic,” “chaotic,” or “summer vibe.” This reinforces his curator-first, creator-second brand.

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He posts 14 times a month, mainly through Reels, repurposing TikTok ideas with small twists to fit the platform. Instead of going face-to-camera as much, he leans on stylized footage, cinematic B-roll, or stills that visually match each playlist. His audience here is slightly older, more likely to save or share the playlist screenshots than comment. Instagram becomes the home for archiving and amplifying past playlist hits.

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Ari’s engagement rate is 0.8%, higher than his TikTok, with 2.6K average engagements per post. His captions remain short and purpose-driven, often listing 3–5 songs or inviting users to comment their favorite from the playlist. He avoids Instagram trends or viral memes, sticking tightly to his sound-first approach. This makes his grid feel like a curated gallery of soundtracks rather than a typical influencer feed.

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Instagram also plays a major role in his brand collaborations. His Coca-Cola and Sony content tends to live here, integrated as naturally themed Reels or IG Stories. He rarely over-explains the partnerships—products are contextualized through playlist mood (“songs that hit different with a Coke in hand”). This subtle integration strengthens trust while offering real creative value to sponsors.

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• ‍Username: @arijelkins‍
• Influence Score: 86.1/100‍
• Followers: 323.4K‍
• Activity: 14 posts/month‍
• Engagement Rate: 0.8%‍
• Growth: +2.29%‍
• Average Engagement: 2.6K‍
• Posting Habits: 3 times/week at 2 PM EST

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YouTube: A Dormant Archive with Brand Potential

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Ari’s YouTube presence is minimal, with only 0.7 videos per month, but serves as an archival space for longer-form content. He uses the platform for playlist breakdowns, deep dives into artist stories, or collaborations that require more context. Unlike his fast-paced TikToks, these videos move slowly and dive deeper into the backstory of the tracks featured. They act more like mini music documentaries than viral snippets.

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His audience here is smaller—31.6K subscribers—but engagement is relatively high at 2.7%, with 854 average engagements per upload. Despite low posting frequency, his videos average 12.8K views, suggesting a loyal, returning viewer base. YouTube content often links directly from TikTok or Instagram, where fans seek fuller versions of the stories he teases in short-form clips. He uses cards and pinned comments to guide traffic between platforms.

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The channel reflects a different tone—more reflective and focused on industry insights, which helps support his record label presence. In interviews or listicles, he references emerging artists under his label or offers commentary on music culture. Though his face is on-screen more here, the production values remain low-key—raw cuts, voiceovers, and limited effects. This maintains the casual, playlist-first feel across formats.

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Despite being less active, YouTube gives Ari a place to build brand authority with deeper context, especially when working with partners like Sony. For example, a playlist built around “best songs for noise-canceling headphones” can naturally extend into a 5-minute branded piece. While not his growth engine, the channel serves as a flexible tool for long-tail content and evergreen campaigns.

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• ‍Username: @AriElkins‍
• Influence Score: 57.9/100‍
• Followers: 31.6K‍
• Activity: 0.7 videos/month‍
• Engagement Rate: 2.7%‍
• Growth: +2.2%‍
• Average Engagement: 854‍
• Posting Habits: Twice/month at 7 PM EST

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Ari Elkins’ Social Media Influence Summary

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Ari Elkins has an Favikon Influence Score of 8,704 points, ranking him in the Top 3% on Instagram U.S. and Top 2% worldwide. He stands out in his niche, placing #6 in Music Critics & Journalists U.S. and #17 worldwide—clear indicators of his authority within music commentary and discovery. He consistently outperforms peers in branded content alignment and follower engagement in the playlist curation space.

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Learn more about the Favikon Methodology here

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Content Strategy: Ari Elkins’ Niche Playlist Formula for Music Discovery

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Ari’s content strategy centers around playlist storytelling, where each post introduces a specific emotion, memory, or cultural reference point. He uses a casual tone, favoring minimal political content, cheerful delivery, and high brand safety—making him ideal for sponsor-friendly campaigns. Elkins builds familiarity through repetition (posting at 2 PM EST), and uses interactive cues to prompt comments and shares. His consistent visual language—music covers, nostalgic fonts, upbeat captions—builds cohesion across platforms. His strength lies in his ability to introduce unfamiliar artists in ways that feel personal and memorable, while also staying trend-aware and highly scrollable.

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Reachability and Partnerships

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Ari Elkins is highly reachable for music-centric partnerships, especially those involving playlist integration or product tie-ins with sonic themes. He has worked with Sony Electronics as an Audio Ambassador, positioning their hardware around curated listening experiences. His branded content avoids hard-sell tactics—instead, he weaves products into playlists like “songs that sound better on noise-canceling headphones.” This approach makes brands feel embedded in the culture of discovery rather than simply featured.

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He has also partnered with Coca-Cola in at least five distinct posts, blending nostalgic soundtracks with emotion-driven storytelling aligned with the brand’s seasonal campaigns. Elkins posts at consistent time slots (2 PM EST on TikTok and Instagram), making campaign scheduling and visibility more predictable for collaborators. His content maintains very high brand safety, with minimal political or controversial commentary. Brands that prioritize mood association, emotional targeting, or music-led branding will find his format especially effective.

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Conclusion: Ari Elkins Is Redefining Music Discovery for the Social Era

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Ari Elkins has carved out a distinct lane as a playlist curator with viral reach and genuine music insight. His casual yet smart approach to content, combined with a deep commitment to emerging artists, makes him a go-to partner for brands looking to authentically tap into Gen Z music culture. With consistent growth and strong engagement across platforms, Ari is helping redefine how digital audiences discover and fall in love with music.

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