The soft fold of paper, a gentle tap on glass, the rhythmic chop of vegetables, or the clink of marbles rolling across a floor — these oddly satisfying sounds have turned into one of social media’s most addictive content trends. And, artificial intelligence has unleashed a new wave of creativity with these synthetic sights and sounds.
Such content stimulates an autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR), a light tingling sensation often accompanied by a feeling of calm, euphoria or gentle alertness.
The content is often addictive and leads to long hours of watch time.Instagram posts with the hashtag #ASMR has grown from 7.4 million in 2019 to 23.4 million currently. YouTube hosts 30 million ASMR videos and 2.6 million channels. In 2024, ASMR was among the top five global search queries on YouTube. On TikTok, #AIASMR exploded from zero to over 600 million views in just three months.
Content boom
With AI, creators are taking those sensations to new levels now.Karachi, Pakistan-based Arjun Rathore (28) went viral in June when he first started posting AI ASMR with free tools like Veo 3. His content was out of the box — a bed made with strawberry jelly, an angry guava, or cutting a lava cake. Within three months, Rathore gained 66,900 followers, he said.
“You’re seeing glass fruits being sliced, lava dripping in perfect loops, impossible textures that don’t exist in the real world,” said Anirudh Sridharan, cofounder at HashFame, an influencer community app.
“You don’t need props, studios or hours of Foley recording anymore. You just need a prompt, and the result still gives that tingling ‘brain massage’ ASMR fans crave,” he said.
Production economics have drastically come down because of AI, he said. “Earlier, good ASMR content meant investing in high-end mics, acoustics, props, and a creator who could perform the sound. Now, it’s just a text prompt away,” Sridharan said.
AI is also enabling creative expansion beyond physical possibilities. Think “jelly marble waterfalls” or “crystal bread being cracked open” — things one can’t replicate in real life.
“Tools like Veo 3 (Google Gemini), CapCut and ElevenLabs are making it insanely easy to try things that aren’t even possible in the real world,” said Siddharth Kelkar, MD- India/MENA at digital marketing firm AnyMind Group. “Anyone with an idea and curiosity can make studio-level ASMR. We’re seeing fresh voices, wild creative experiments because the entry barrier is gone.”
Making $$$s
ASMR content, however, doesn’t fetch typical brand sponsorships but rather earns on virality. For instance, ad revenues for large channels with 100 million plus views could touch $100,000 a year, mid-tier ones with 1-5 million views usually get $1,000-5,000 a month while revenue per thousand views is around $1-7 depending on region, HashFame’s Sridharan said.
“Some are building subscription communities, where fans pay monthly for exclusive content. Others are branching out into merchandise,” AnyMind’s Kelkar said.
Some creators even license their sound libraries to wellness apps or sell premium sound packs on platforms like Pond5, AudioJungle, Artlist and Gumroad. Single sounds retail at $5-50 while packs sell at $100-500.
Opportunities beyond social media could also emerge. “Imagine ambient AI-ASMR sound libraries embedded into wellness apps, sleep tools, background focus players. That’s a whole monetisation layer waiting to be built,” Sridharan added.
But distribution and standing out in the flood is a challenge. For one, Rathore, despite gaining followers, hasn’t been able to make meaningful ad revenues, he said. “My views have started dipping because many channels are copying prompts from free libraries and generating viral ASMR content. Keeping up with SEO has become hard,” he said.
Staying ahead of the curve
“AI ASMR content is at that sweet spot where novelty meets mass adoption. But novelty fades fast. What works today (glass slicing, lava drips) will saturate quickly. The real winners will be the ones who build strong creative direction on top of the tech, not just spam the trend,” Sridharan said. Another factor with synthetic content is the need for labelling and transparency, especially in light of evolving regulations in markets like India, experts said.
Such content stimulates an autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR), a light tingling sensation often accompanied by a feeling of calm, euphoria or gentle alertness.
The content is often addictive and leads to long hours of watch time.Instagram posts with the hashtag #ASMR has grown from 7.4 million in 2019 to 23.4 million currently. YouTube hosts 30 million ASMR videos and 2.6 million channels. In 2024, ASMR was among the top five global search queries on YouTube. On TikTok, #AIASMR exploded from zero to over 600 million views in just three months.
Content boom
With AI, creators are taking those sensations to new levels now.Karachi, Pakistan-based Arjun Rathore (28) went viral in June when he first started posting AI ASMR with free tools like Veo 3. His content was out of the box — a bed made with strawberry jelly, an angry guava, or cutting a lava cake. Within three months, Rathore gained 66,900 followers, he said.
“You’re seeing glass fruits being sliced, lava dripping in perfect loops, impossible textures that don’t exist in the real world,” said Anirudh Sridharan, cofounder at HashFame, an influencer community app.
“You don’t need props, studios or hours of Foley recording anymore. You just need a prompt, and the result still gives that tingling ‘brain massage’ ASMR fans crave,” he said.
Production economics have drastically come down because of AI, he said. “Earlier, good ASMR content meant investing in high-end mics, acoustics, props, and a creator who could perform the sound. Now, it’s just a text prompt away,” Sridharan said.
AI is also enabling creative expansion beyond physical possibilities. Think “jelly marble waterfalls” or “crystal bread being cracked open” — things one can’t replicate in real life.
“Tools like Veo 3 (Google Gemini), CapCut and ElevenLabs are making it insanely easy to try things that aren’t even possible in the real world,” said Siddharth Kelkar, MD- India/MENA at digital marketing firm AnyMind Group. “Anyone with an idea and curiosity can make studio-level ASMR. We’re seeing fresh voices, wild creative experiments because the entry barrier is gone.”
Making $$$s
ASMR content, however, doesn’t fetch typical brand sponsorships but rather earns on virality. For instance, ad revenues for large channels with 100 million plus views could touch $100,000 a year, mid-tier ones with 1-5 million views usually get $1,000-5,000 a month while revenue per thousand views is around $1-7 depending on region, HashFame’s Sridharan said.
“Some are building subscription communities, where fans pay monthly for exclusive content. Others are branching out into merchandise,” AnyMind’s Kelkar said.
Some creators even license their sound libraries to wellness apps or sell premium sound packs on platforms like Pond5, AudioJungle, Artlist and Gumroad. Single sounds retail at $5-50 while packs sell at $100-500.
Opportunities beyond social media could also emerge. “Imagine ambient AI-ASMR sound libraries embedded into wellness apps, sleep tools, background focus players. That’s a whole monetisation layer waiting to be built,” Sridharan added.
But distribution and standing out in the flood is a challenge. For one, Rathore, despite gaining followers, hasn’t been able to make meaningful ad revenues, he said. “My views have started dipping because many channels are copying prompts from free libraries and generating viral ASMR content. Keeping up with SEO has become hard,” he said.
Staying ahead of the curve
“AI ASMR content is at that sweet spot where novelty meets mass adoption. But novelty fades fast. What works today (glass slicing, lava drips) will saturate quickly. The real winners will be the ones who build strong creative direction on top of the tech, not just spam the trend,” Sridharan said. Another factor with synthetic content is the need for labelling and transparency, especially in light of evolving regulations in markets like India, experts said.
