I’m excited to leave last year in the past. 2020 is truly just hindsight now.Although there aren’t any surefire signs of rapid change, all roads point to the return of events, parties, conferences, and live music by the end of the year. At worst we will be back on by 2022.Will we ever return to the normal we once knew? I don’t believe we will. The future will be about adopting a new normal. We are now in a decade of transformation.In music, that change is evident in my trends and predictions for 2021. The music industry is in a really interesting spot and, in many ways, is the center of pandemic culture.But the world has shifted across the board -- from tech and crypto, to politics, business, travel, and beyond. How are you capitalizing and building strategies around these trends and others you see taking shape?My focus for 2021 is building community. Beats and Bytes, the newsletter, is an iteration of our award show, FlashFWD, which aimed to honor the best and brightest in music and tech. It shined a spotlight on the creators helping save the music industry and rewrite the rules.Over the course of the pandemic, our readership has grown. It’s exciting to see so many people passionate about the intersection of music, technology, and brands.Today, we want to learn more about you and how we can better serve you and your industry. I hope you don’t mind answering this quick, five-question survey which will help us understand what you would like to see and receive in 2021.We really appreciate the feedback and the continued support as we take Beats & Bytes further than ever in 2021.
BEATS
Grammy Awards Postponed as Covid-19 Rages in Los AngelesThe 63rd annual Grammy Awards, set to be presented this month, have been delayed over concerns about Covid-19, which has been spreading rapidly in the Los Angeles area. (NY Times)
How Alyx Ander and Barry Sternlicht Launched 'Day Life' With SiriusXM and 1 HotelsSiriusXM has just announced two full days of programming for New Year's Eve and Day 1 presented by Day Life, the weekly radio show hosted by 1 Hotels entertainment director Alex Butler (aka Alyx Ander) on SiriusXM Chill. The broadcasts will run from 8 pm to 2 am EST on December 31st and 8 pm to 1 am EST on January 1st, boasting artist lineups pegged to various 1 Hotels properties. (Ocean Drive)
Peloton Is Now Making Its Own Music For Its ClassesFirst it was Beyoncé. Now it's ... Elvis? Peloton is unveiling its second music partnership, which includes custom-made tunes from the rock and roll icon. The fitness company is releasing remixes of three Elvis hits from DJ Dillon Francis, Outkast's Big Boi and electro-funk group Chromeo to be used exclusively across a variety of its classes. (CNN)
The Worst Rapper CommercialsOver the years, we’ve seen ads that incorporate corny raps, promote racial stereotypes, and at times, even make light of the very real fight for social and racial justice. There are few things more cringey in the ad world than a commercial that tries to be so trendy and current that it ends up exposing a company’s lack of creativity and overall tone deaf thinking. (Complex)
Roblox: “The Concert Market Is Going To Get A Lot Bigger”Virtual concerts aren't a passing fad – we're at the dawn of a massive shift in entertainment consumption, and it's time to get on board, says Roblox’s Jon Vlassopulos. (IQ Magazine)
MelodyVR Officially Completes Its Napster AcquisitionNapster parent company RealNetworks revealed the completion of the multimillion-dollar transaction – which was initially announced back in August – today, in a general release. London-based MelodyVR paid $70.6 million for the formerly infamous music-sharing platform. (Digital Music News)
Justin Bieber Takes Over Iconic Beverly Hilton Hotel for New Year’s Eve Concert: How the Livestream Came TogetherJustin Bieber’s New Year’s Eve concert was appointment viewing for his millions of fans, not just because it was available to all for a reasonable fee of $25 (free to T-Mobile customers) on a night when much of the world remains locked down due to the unrelenting coronavirus pandemic, but also because the engagement represented his first show in three years. (Variety)
How 2020 (and Harry Styles) Saved the GuitarA year ago, the guitar was in dire straits. With songs like Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode,” Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings,” Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” and Panic! At the Disco’s “High Hopes” among the most consumed of 2019, programmed beats and horns were the sonic flavors of popular music. (Variety)
Pollstar’s Top 100 LivestreamersPollstar’s Top 100 Livestreamers chart reflects artists with viewership from two or more live streamed musical performances. (Pollstar)
The Metaverse is comingWe will see a shift in the way people play, work, learn or simply hang out in 2021. Some of this connection will move into the Metaverse, a digital place where people seamlessly get together and interact in millions of 3D virtual experiences. (Wired)
Not Saved By Save Our Stages: Majority of Live Business Will Not Benefit From New Relief BillFinally, after months of what seemed unconscionable political jockeying amidst a global pandemic and economic crisis, this week Congress and the White House approved a long-awaited COVID-19 Relief Package. (Pollstar)
A Lil Ranking Of “Lil” Rappers From Worst To BestThe hip-hop world is rife with bizarre rap names, with the prefix “lil” being one of the better known staples of the genre. Perhaps no trend in rap has been as pervasive as the miniscule moniker. A constant in the game, Lil has permeated the culture and beyond, holding a longer shelf life than many of its bearers. (High Snobiety)
How “Ratatouille” Went From TikTok To An (Almost) Broadway MusicalToward the end of the Disney/Pixar 2007 movie Ratatouille, the notorious food critic Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole) publishes a review of Remy the rat’s (Patton Oswalt) cooking that sums up the film’s main message: “Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.” (BuzzFeed News)
Illegal Raves, Socially Distanced Events and VR Gigs: 2020 Changed How We PartyThe act of partying isn’t just limited to blinding disco lights, a drunken haze and a debilitating hangover the next day. Parties have always been the purest form of escapism, an alternate reality where dancing till dawn is the only task on our to-do list. (Vice)
Did 2020 Kill the Long, Fancy Pop-Album Rollout for Good?After releasing her genre-traversing fourth album, Sweetener, in August 2018, Ariana Grande told Billboard she wanted “to put out music in the way that a rapper does.” By the time the interview came out in December, she’d already dropped a follow-up single, “thank u, next,” without warning. (Vulture)
BYTES
After Funk Volume ended Hopsin and Dame didn't talk for 4 years. What made Hopsin reach out to him last year? What really happened to Funk Volume. They talk about all the drama, and the origins of the label.
Gwyneth Paltrow catches up with her friend Pharrell Williams and, no surprise, the multihyphenate artist has a lot of ground to cover. They talk about his parenting philosophy and how its shifted during the pandemic. They talk about his creative process and being a pluralist in a world that wants everyone to pick a lane.
The yearly Spotify Wrapped is a rather upbeat affair, which doesn’t doesn’t quite match everyone’s mood this year. For the more sullen among us, there’s another option: a bot from The Pudding that will judge us for our crimes of listening to terrible music. (The Verge)
This is an annual compilation of music that I’ve been putting together for the past 17 years. I am a passionate music fan and over the years, I have especially enjoyed featuring artists in the early stages of their careers. The goal of this compilation is to share some of my favorite contemporary songs that I come across over the course of the year with my friends and family. This year’s playlist features over 10 hours of music and I am certain there is a little something for everyone. Dig in, kick back, go to your happy place and enjoy some tunes that I hope will inspire some fun memories this 2021!
This week's newsletter was carefully curated by the Nue Agency staff and our editor Rachel Meisner. If you think we missed something this week or have any suggestions/comments for next week's newsletter, let us know!