The 5 next big things in media, entertainment, and social for 2024

At a time when old-school media is on the decline, innovators are using technology to create more dynamic content experiences. These companies are disrupting the media industry in ways we couldn’t have imagined a decade ago, from the way we watch football at home to the experience of attending a concert.

AmazonFor flawless blitz predictions that alter ‘Thursday Night Football’ foreverUp until now, many televised sports broadcasts have consisted of replay analysis. Thursday Night Football on Amazon is using AI to predict quarterback pressures, providing play analysis while the action is happening and even predicting blitzes. Along with changing how we view football from our couch, this advanced technology could also be be used by coaches to future scenarios for play callers.

DiscordFor gamifying game advertisingQuests on Discord is a social marketing offering that helps game developers reach players by leveraging the Discord community. Publishers and developers who have participated in Quests since March of 2024 represent some of the most recognizable gaming names, including Fortnite, Minecraft, and Call of Duty. By driving friend-to-friend recommendations, Quests lets developers meet new audiences in an authentic way.

DisguiseFor enveloping us in new experiencesDisguise is pioneering “the next dimension of entertainment” at scale with software and hardware that caters to the exploding market for visual graphics. Its immersive “4D” content has amped up the spectacle at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, the Olympics, and the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas. Single Large Canvas, a feature in its Disguise Designer software, allows content creators to scale up their visuals to span displays more than 16,000 pixels wide.

LemonlightFor cutting down on the time you spend in Final CutHero by Lemonlight is a generative AI-enabled, full-service video content creation platform that cuts production time in half by demystifying and streamlining production via AI interactions. Lemonlight lets producers skip administrative steps such as filling out creative briefs and call sheets, enabling faster project delivery without compromising storytelling.

Not Impossible LabsFor helping us feel the musicDesigned to allow the deaf and hard-of-hearing community to feel the music, Music: Not Impossible is a wearable haptic suit that enables auditory stimuli to be turned into vibrations that can be felt through the skin. This surround-body experience might alter how music is experienced and enjoyed by the world.

The companies behind these technologies are among the honorees in Fast Company’s Next Big Things in Tech awards for 2024. See a full list of all the winners across all categories and read more about the methodology behind the selection process.