The wait is over: the Sanremo Festival 2025 kicks off tonight, Tuesday, February 11th, with the opening act scheduled for 8:30 PM on Rai1 and streaming on RaiPlay. From that moment, the lights will shine for five evenings of music, emotions, and spectacle, concluding on Saturday, February 15th with the grand finale, which will reveal the winner. This year, the evenings are expected to end between 1:00 and 1:20 AM, with the grand finale predicted to finish around 1:40 AM. Those who experienced the late-night marathons of past years will certainly find a more sustainable pace, without sacrificing the quality of the show.
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Who Are the Competing Singers
The musical selection for Sanremo 2025 is ready to make headlines, with an explosive mix of genres and voices that promises to satisfy all tastes. Established artists alternate with new talents, creating a program that puts music and innovation at the center. Here are the protagonists of the competition:
- Achille Lauro
- Gaia
- Coma_Cose
- Francesco Gabbani
- Willie Peyote
- Noemi
- Rkomi
- Modà
- Rose Villaine
- Brunori Sas
- Irama
- Clara
- Massimo Ranieri
- Sarah Toscano
- Fedez
- Simone Cristicchi
- Joan Thiele
- The Kolors
- Bresh
- Marcella Bella
- Tony Effe
- Elodie
- Olly
- Francesca Michielin
- Lucio Corsi
- Shablo feat. Guè, Joshua, Tormento
- Serena Brancale
- Rocco Hunt
- Giorgia
This selection of artists is destined to explode on social media, with every song potentially becoming the next viral phenomenon thanks to digital marketing strategies and social media campaigns.
Digital Marketing Strategies for Sanremo 2025: The Protagonists on Social Media
Digital marketing is a key element for the success of every artist at Sanremo, not only during the festival week but also before and after the event. Today, social media are the primary communication tool; the competing artists are leveraging platforms to amplify their presence, engage fans, and, in some cases, create real viral trends. The strategies used range from targeted social campaigns to collaborations with influencers, and the creation of emotional and engaging content. Here's how some of the protagonists of Sanremo 2025 are using digital marketing to stand out:
- Fedez: Social Media Dominance and Strategic Collaborations
Fedez continues to dominate social media with over 25 million followers across all platforms. Despite a recent 33.2% dip in his fans' sentiment, the singer remains one of the most influential in the digital music landscape. His strategy for Sanremo 2025 includes creating interactive content, collaborations with influencers, and the use of custom hashtags. The CEO of DeRev, Roberto Esposito, emphasized that even a small engagement from his followers can generate an amplified effect. Fedez leverages every single interaction to fuel the hype around his song, making his participation in the festival an event as much on social media as on stage. - Shablo, Olly, and Tony Effe: Growth and Interaction
Other artists like Shablo, Olly, and Tony Effe are also using social media to increase their visibility and interaction with fans. Shablo, with over 5 million followers and 3.2 million interactions, ranks second in DeRev's chart, showing powerful engagement that confirms his potential. Olly, with an impressive growth of 178,000 new followers, recorded 2.2 million interactions, while Tony Effe continues to grow with a high level of engagement. These numbers demonstrate the importance of digital marketing in creating a direct and immediate connection with the audience. - Irama: Growth Potential
Finally, Irama has accumulated 3.4 million followers and 2 million interactions, positioning himself as one of the artists with good digital engagement. Although not at the top of the chart, his continuous growth on social media and strong fan involvement suggest that Irama could be one of the protagonists of Sanremo 2025. His digital marketing strategies allow him to maintain constant interaction with the audience and get noticed, increasing his visibility before and during the festival.
The Interactive Audience Experience: Voting 2.0 and Social Engagement
In 2025, Sanremo takes another step into the digital world, turning the audience into the protagonist. The voting system is no longer limited to traditional televoting and the RaiPlay app: live quizzes on Telegram and minigames on Instagram Stories arrive, where you can earn "virtual tokens" to influence the rankings. Every interaction on social media, from likes to shares, adds weight to the final vote. Rai's data is clear: with this formula, engagement among under-25s increased by 40% during technical rehearsals.
Fanta-Sanremo 2025: The First Official Edition of the Game That Turns Fans into "Music Managers"
A novelty this year is Fanta-Sanremo, curated directly by Rai in collaboration with Samsung Italy and AESVI (Italian Video Game Publishers and Developers Association). Although similar games, created by fans, had circulated in the past, this version marks an important step, with a platform launched on the festival's official website (sanremo.rai.it).
Presented as "an experiment to bring young people closer to music through the language of gaming," the official game comes with real-time data, such as rehearsal progress, artists' social statistics, and access to exclusive content. Unlike amateur versions, this edition fits perfectly into the festival's digital schedule. According to the Rai press release of February 5, 2025, the project was born in response to the growing success of previous editions, with a more structured and integrated approach.
The Sanremo Algorithm: How Data is Redesigning Music
Sanremo 2025 becomes even more digital, integrating advanced technologies to analyze real-time data from streaming, Google searches, and social media trends. In collaboration with Spotify and Amazon Music, Rai has developed a system that monitors audience engagement during performances, analyzing peaks in engagement, sentiment, and the spread of musical snippets on TikTok.
This data not only guides the program's production but also drives the creation of personalized playlists on digital platforms immediately after each performance. The results are clear: according to Music Business Worldwide, 75% of competing songs saw a significant increase in streaming within 24 hours of the performance, with a 200% increase for songs linked to viral challenges.
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