Its no secret that musicians have some of the largest followings on social media. This says a lot about our society for better or for worse. Musicians make up 8 of the top 10 most followed people on Twitter and over half of the top 100. They are so popular because of their connection with young adults and teens but also because of the quality of their Tweets which often make the news. These musicians are worth following because of the impact their tweets make and the entertainment they provide.

1. Miley Ray Cyrus

If for no other reason, follow her just to watch an amazing PR campaign in action. She has gotten a lot of attention this year as her PR tacticians try to move her out of the Hannah Montana image and into something more main stream for a slightly older audience. It’s a shame she had to do it appealing to the lowest common denominator instead of using her fame for something constructive, but it is still interesting to watch none the less. The content she created this year and no doubt in the future is a great thing to watch and use for your own audience, as she has millions of followers. Headlining content she started includes:

When she tweets fellow stars like Selena Gomez
Flashing Twitter in support of equal rights
Article about her break-up tweets

2. Justin Bieber

You knew this was coming. He has one of the top 10 most popular accounts on all of Twitter with over 47 million followers. Whether you like his music and want to know more about him, or you like to be ironic and have good material to share, his account is a great choice. His tweets vary from the excruciating mundane to things he probably would rather he didn’t talk about, although it is highly likely he isn’t the only tweeter on his account. Plus, the best Tweets are from “fans”. Even when he tweets to fans, his ex likes one of his photos, or he is hanging out with friends, his tweets often make the news and are a great source of information which he curates.

Some examples of tweets that made headlines:

Recognizing a huge fan that was in a violent car accident
Speculation on what a mundane tweet means
The announcement of his “retirement” although it wasn’t originally from a tweet, he has tweeted about it none the less.

3. Katy Perry

She has it all. Her videos are entertaining, she makes songs that make people feel better, she comes off as “sweet” and she has over 48 million followers. She is able to connect with many demographics highlighted in her “Plastic Bag” song and video and stays out of the controversial limelight for the most part. Her opinions are seeded all throughout the web and she has many product lines that she needs to keep popular by creating engaging content.

She creates great human interest stories from a tweet
She became the biggest tweeter in 2013
Her reasoning why she has the largest Twitter following and how it creates campaigns

4. Lady Gaga

Surprisingly, Lady Gaga is trailing Katy Perry by 8 million followers on Twitter. However, she still has 40,000,000 more than me. Her brand is something we all know and she becomes involved in many movements across the globe. She also is actually really witty and with her obsession with the spotlight, she is always generating good content. Examples include:

Her Twitter photos with her boyfriend that went viral
Getting a huge response from other celebrities for liking them
Starting a campaign where she blocks her own followers for negative content

5. Drake

It’s been said if you Drake and drive, you’ll end up at your ex’s house. Unfortunately, it is one of those sayings that really is true, but that is just because his music really is popular music that actually has substance. Check out his twitter feed to get updates on where he’s going to be and things that inspire him to do what he does. He also was the inspiration for a huge amount of memes this year because of his new album. This has been useful for marketers that understand the power of meme’s and album references in their campaigns. Some examples include:

The rise of Drake memes
Backstage scenes to announce new projects
Announcing new products and partnerships on Instagram, such as his new Nike partnership

2 Entertaining Bonus Artists

B1. Die Antwoord

If you haven’t heard of Die Antwoord yet, I won’t be rude, but I do feel sorry for you. The South African self-proclaimed “Zef Ninja Rap Rave Crew” is one of the most entertaining acts I’ve seen. Their music and videos make you feel strange at first but it’s hard not to get addicted and contemplate booking a ticket to Johannesburg. They’re pretty outlandish, and they make sure their Twitter account reflects that. They also aren’t OCD tweeters so they won’t fill up your feed, take a look at some of their posts and don’t forget to watch their short film Ushini Wam by Harmony Korine.

B2. Riff Raff

Maybe you don’t like his music, but damn his twitter feed can be entertaining. If you do like him, then all the better, he makes his posts like he makes his songs. A little bit of nonsense created from an expensive brand and something he should be great at… then a noun probably. I think it’s great and with almost 1 million followers and growing, he is keeping us all entertained.

Disagree with this list? Let’s fight about it…in the comments.