HNY everyone!

Hope you all had a fantastic break and are refreshed and ready to tackle 2026 with some dang energy!

Before the break, CNN ran an article with a headline that caught my attention:

"Why 2026 could be the year of anti-AI marketing."

They went as far as to suggest it could be the year of "100% human."

Their point was simple and, I think, correct. As synthetic content floods the world, people are craving something else. Not more output. Not more speed. But work that feels real. Work that is clearly and unapologetically authentic.

This isn't a rejection of technology. It’s an assertion of values.

Real creativity has never been about unlimited possibilities. It’s always been about restraint. About judgment. About caring enough to put blood, sweat, and sometimes literal tears into something worth putting your name behind.

But let's be honest about something else: You can make a song and call yourself a musician. You can take a photo and call yourself a photographer. But that alone doesn’t make someone great at it. Greatness lives at the intersection of talent and taste. Taste is the filter. Taste is what separates work that exists from work that leads.

The artists we represent understand this intuitively. Their work carries fingerprints. You can feel decisions being made. You can feel the artist standing behind the work.

With taste in mind, I want to share with you some amazing work from a few of the artists we represent:

Musicbed | Winyah, an indie rock band from South Carolina
https://www.musicbed.com/artists/winyah/45302

Filmsupply | Riley Blakeway, writer/director from Australia
https://www.filmsupply.com/filmmakers/riley-blakeway/1232

Stills | Kyle Niego from Bozeman, Montana
https://www.stills.com/artists/kyle-niego/59

Moving forward, you'll see this more regularly from me:

I'll share a short thought like this, then point you to a few artists from one or more of our brands whose work I think is worth your time.

If that resonates with you, I'd love for you to stay along for the journey through 2026.

Daniel McCarthy

CEO & Co-Founder | FM.CO

P.S. In case you're wondering, "Does Musicbed have AI-generated content?" The answer is no. We're 100% human.