Entertainment Tech Sales in 2025: What Worked, What Broke, and What Comes Next
- Alec Trachtenberg
- Dec 15, 2025
- 3 min read
2025 was a reality check for entertainment technology sales.
Not because innovation slowed down.
Because buyers got sharper, budgets got tighter, and “AI-powered” stopped being enough on its own.
Across film, TV, music, and creator platforms, I spent this year selling into studios, record labels, agencies, distributors, and early-stage startups. Some deals moved fast. Many didn’t. And almost all of them required more education, trust-building, and internal alignment than ever before.
Here’s what 2025 taught me about selling entertainment tech and where things are headed next.
1. AI Curiosity Turned Into AI Scrutiny
At the start of the year, AI was still a buzzword that opened doors.
By Q3, buyers were asking tougher questions:
Where is the data coming from?
Who owns the outputs?
How does this fit into our existing workflow?
What breaks if we don’t use it?
Entertainment companies aren’t anti-AI. They’re anti-risk.
The tools that made progress weren’t the flashiest. They were the ones that clearly explained how AI supports human decision-making instead of replacing it.
If your pitch still sounds like “this will change everything,” you probably lost them already.
2. Workflow Beats Features Every Time
In 2025, features stopped winning deals. Workflow did.
Studios didn’t care how impressive a model was if it created extra steps.
Labels didn’t care about dashboards if no one had time to log in.
Agencies didn’t want another tool unless it reduced emails, meetings, or manual work.
The winning sales conversations focused on:
What gets removed from their day
What decisions get faster
Where alignment improves across teams
If you can’t explain where your product fits between email, spreadsheets, and internal approvals, it’s not ready for enterprise buyers.
3. Champions Matter More Than Ever
Deals stalled in 2025 not because the product wasn’t good, but because internal champions weren’t fully equipped.
Most enterprise entertainment deals involved:
Legal
IT / InfoSec
Ops
Creative
Finance
If your champion can’t confidently explain your value internally, you’re not closing.
The strongest sellers this year spent time helping champions:
Frame the problem clearly
Position the tool internally
Anticipate objections before they surfaced
Selling externally is only half the job now. Internal selling is where deals live or die.
4. Pilots Became the New Default
“Let’s test it” replaced “Let’s buy it.”
Pilots, trials, proof-of-concepts, and limited rollouts dominated 2025.
This wasn’t hesitation. It was strategy.
Buyers wanted:
Clear success criteria
Low-risk entry points
Fast validation without long contracts
Companies that embraced pilots as part of their GTM strategy moved deals forward. Companies that fought them stalled out.
The key shift: pilots are no longer concessions. They’re designed stepping stones.
Looking Ahead: What 2026 Will Demand
AI isn’t slowing down. But expectations are rising.
In 2026, the tools that win will:
Be invisible when possible
Integrate deeply into existing systems
Explain decisions clearly
Respect creative workflows
Support humans instead of overwhelming them
From a sales perspective, the bar is higher too.
Buyers want partners who understand entertainment, not just software.
Final Thoughts: Build Trust Before You Pitch
If 2025 proved anything, it’s this:
The future belongs to teams who can sell AI and technology with restraint, context, and empathy for how creative industries actually work.
If you’re building or selling entertainment technology and want to move faster, close smarter, and avoid costly GTM mistakes in 2026, let’s connect.
