People’s attention spans are proven to be shorter than ever, which is why it’s no surprise that short-form video continues to gain traction.No, I’m not talking about Quibi. Without any “hits,” the platform feels dead in year 1. Chalk it up to Covid if you must, but nobody is choosing to watch 8-minute videos on the go (on their phones) during a pandemic. It doesn’t help that no one is on the go ;)Meanwhile, with its limitless virality, TikTok has become one of the most entertaining things on Earth. Once you start scrolling, it’s hard to look away. Between the filters, dances, and creativity, along with the platform’s algorithmic ability to launch videos into the viral stratosphere, it’s an amazing app to play with. Is it truly Chinese spyware? At this point, what platform doesn’t feel like part of Orwell’s big brother bad dream?Facebook hopped into the short-form game with their TikTok copycat, Reels. The businessman in me respects Facebook’s successful tactic of copy-and-scale, which they clearly learned from Microsoft... But the left brain is distraught by their lack of innovation and value add for the consumer. That said, Reels is starting to stick.There is another kid on the block, though. Triller is pushing the needle, shaping culture, and hoping to be the best of all worlds. A lot has to do with their savvy team. But will it work?This week with SMW+ we are shooting EIGHT episodes of Beats, Bytes & Brands, co-hosted by the brilliant Bonin Bough, Chief Growth Officer of Triller. We’ll be diving into various aspects of music including the importance of crafting a music strategy, how to approach artist partnerships, the power of playlist culture, the state of live-streaming, the importance of indie artists, gaming’s role, and more. I will interview a different expert on each episode.This Friday at 3PM EST, I’m also speaking with the inspiring, Chief Brand Officer of Triller, Justine Watkins, as part of the Digital Media Wire lunch series. Learn about what they’re doing from a brand perspective, where they’re going, and what it means to build a brand like theirs in 2020. RSVP here.
BEATS
Independent Artist Creativity And Innovation In The Age Of Covid-19The COVID-19 pandemic has turned the music industry upside down in many ways but among the direct artists community there have also been signs of resilience and creativity in the face of adversity. For these ‘unsigned’ artists, 2020 is both the best of times and the worst of times. (Midias Research)
Why Are K-Pop Groups So Big?So, how did groups get that large? What about large groups is so appealing? And, what do the sizes of K-pop groups tell us about why K-pop is so popular? To answer those questions, we tracked trends in group sizes and member roles over modern K-pop’s 30-year history, breaking the numbers down across the industry’s three generations of artists. (The Pudding)
Is Pandemic Brain Changing Your Taste in Music? You're Not AloneAfter I informally polled my Twitter timeline asking if their listening habits have changed since March, I got hundreds of responses. Some had discovered metal and hardcore; others dove into the comforting sounds of ambient, jazz, and classical; a few said they're only listening to songs they loved as a teenager, and some claim they're barely listening to any new music at all. (Vice)
Triller Launches Crosshype, A First Of Its Kind Brand Growth Program Combining A CPM Model With Influencers And User Generated Content, Forever Changing Brand Marketing Triller, the only app to ever hit number 1 in 50 countries simultaneously and one of the fastest growing apps in the world, has developed an innovative marketing media product which it believes will forever change the way brands buy marketing, only available on Triller. (Business Insider)
Twitch, Still Unlicensed By Majors, Launches Rights-cleared Music Via Deals With Indie Distributors And LabelsTwitch announced today (September 30), that it’s been developing a new creator tool for the past year called Soundtrack by Twitch, offering rights-cleared music for livestreams via partnerships with a number of labels and distributors. (Music Business Worldwide)
Viral Skateboarding and Fleetwood Mac Singing TikToker Receives Thousands in DonationsToday it has been announced that Apodaca has received thousands of dollars worth of donations. In an interview, the TikTok star said he shall use the money to provide him with transportation means and housing, and will also be giving a large sum of it to his mother. (Hypebeast)
LPR.tvLPR.tv brings the best of the Greenwich Village underground music haven to your home. We have created a virtual venue like no other and we can’t wait to show you all the music you never knew you were missing. For $19.99 a month, LPR.tv subscribers will receive access to ALL of our live-streamed concerts plus on-demand access to our archive of past streams. (LPR.tv)
Innovator Insights: Five Key Ways Brands Can Connect to Consumers Through MusicThe music industry has been through its share of disruptions during the past decade, but none as unnerving as the pandemic when live shows and touring –a key source of revenue for artists and musicians, crews and venues– came to a complete halt with no end in sight. (Brand Innovators)
The 15 Best DIY Streetwear Designers Right NowDIY and customization is intrinsic to streetwear. Whether it was Dapper Dan making something completely new out of designer textiles or Ari Forman constructing the Menthol 10 sneakers, repurposing logos, creating bootlegs, and producing something out of nothing is a streetwear pillar that’s no longer an underground phenomenon—just go to pop star Billie Eilish’s IG page. (Complex)
The Only Music Critic Who Matters (if You’re Under 25)The influential evangelist in question is the YouTuber named Anthony Fantano, 34, who has been speaking album and song reviews directly into a camera for more than a decade on The Needle Drop, his channel with 2.26 million subscribers, making him probably the most popular music critic left standing. (NY Times)
‘Rocky’ and ‘Legally Blonde’ in Concert Series Coming in 2021Audiences around the world will be able to experience the anthems of “Rocky” and songs such as “We Could Still Belong Together” by Lisa Loeb and “Magic” by the Black Eyed Peas performed live by a full symphony orchestra and played in sync to the films. (Variety)
Heroes Act, Including the $10 Billion Save Our Stages Act to Benefit Indie Venues, Introduced in House of Representatives (Variety)It’s an early step, but it’s a step forward nonetheless: On Monday an updated Heroes Act, which includes provisions of the $10 billion bipartisan Save Our Stages Act designed to provide financial assistance to independent music and live-entertainment venues across the U.S., was introduced in the House of Representatives. (Variety)
At Work With Abou ‘Bu’ Thiam, Kanye West’s Elusive ManagerFor the last two years, Thiam has been working quietly with West through Bu Vision. The usually under-the-radar Thiam — who declined to answer questions about West’s presidential run, focusing only on the artist’s messages to the music industry about ownership and record contracts — spoke with Rolling Stone about his trajectory through the business, his musical childhood with Akon, and what it’s like to be West’s manager. (Rolling Stone)
How The Hit Music Podcast ‘song Exploder’ Became A Netflix Series“Song Exploder” is rich with incisive conversations on the creative process. Executive-produced by Hirway with documentarians Morgan Neville and Caitrin Rogers — both of whom in 2014 won Oscars in the feature-length documentary category for “20 Feet from Stardom” — the inaugural season also features installments with Alicia Keys, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ty Dolla Sign. (LA Times)
'This Is Where the Action Is': Hot Publishing Market Should Keep Pace Through 2023Low interest means there’s high demand for music publishing scores in the acquisition market. How long can this last? The market for music publishing rights is likely to maintain its breakneck pace for another three years after the Federal Reserve’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged through 2023. To counter the “considerable risks” of low employment and weak economic activity, the Fed will maintain the federal funds rate near 0% to keep the inflation rate at 2%, it announced Sept. 16. (Billboard)
Justin Bieber Teases Crocs Collaboration, Causes Company's Stock to Jump As Much As 11 PercentJustin Bieber recently took to his Instagram to tease a Crocs collaboration — and in the process caused the company’s stock to jump as much as 11 percent. Following in the footsteps of Bad Bunny’s glow-in-the-dark Crocs and Post Malone’s rugged Duet Max Clog from 2019, Bieber is the latest A-list celebrity to lend his twist to the Colorado-based company’s signature foam clogs. (Hypebeast)
J Balvin Is McDonald's Next Artist Meal CollaboratorIt’s well-known that J Balvin enjoys a good partnership, considering that the reggaeton superstar has partnered with the likes of Takashi Murakami, Jordan Brand and even Deepak Chopra in recent months. The singer’s latest joint effort might be his biggest to date, however, as Balvin links with McDonald’s for the fast food chain’s latest artist menu collaboration. (Hypebeast)
Daniel Ek On a Typical DayMany people make big decisions early on in the day, I make them later in the day--at least later in the day here in Europe. Ironically, it's not actually because I'm more productive then, rather because we have so many of our staff in the US, and as a result, I've kind of primed myself to work that way. (The Observer Effect)
How Travis Scott Defied the Rules of Celebrity to Become King of the YouthIf you are over the age of 25 and want to understand the appeal of Travis Scott, there's no better place to start than Fortnite. What was once a free video game has, in recent years, evolved into its own contained universe in which hundreds of millions of players spend hours a day talking to their friends and pointing sniper rifles at strangers. Tweens and young adults are more intimately familiar with the landscape's nooks, crannies, and favorable Slurpy Swamp roof inclines than they are with their own bedrooms. (GQ)
BYTES
On this episode of The Paul Rivera Podcast, PR sits down with Global CMO of Foot Locker Inc, Jed Berger. They discuss Jed’s early days co-founding and building Dime Magazine, what PR was like as a young professional when he started his first job at Dime, Jed becoming a SVP of Marketing at Models by age 27, and the valuable life lessons and values he credits his success to so far. It’s real, insightful, and everything you’d expect from The Paul Rivera Podcast.
The Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 2 aired October 2nd on Amazon.com, and will feature musical performances from Travis Scott, Bad Bunny, Ella Mai, Miguel, Mustard, Roddy Ricch and Rosalia, as models walk a virtual runway to showcase the latest styles in the Savage X Fenty fall 2020 collection.
New app Zebr enables music submission to influencers and content creators on TikTok, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and Spotify who reach millions of people daily.
The BASE:LINE playlist – only on Apple Music, curated by Apple’s Ebro Darden, and launched in partnership with the NBA – is a collection of 50+ songs from a mix of emerging and established independent artists, many from UnitedMasters’ expansive global talent roster. All season, this playlist will surface the best emerging, independent talent bubbling up from outside the system.
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!