Now that the Super Bowl is over, industry focus shifts from Atlanta to the Grammys this weekend in L.A. Although the awards themselves don’t feel particularly relevant, “Grammy week” is always a big moment for the music business as the stars and their camps align in one place.It’s fun when a client is nominated (and it can be transformative in terms of sales and credibility) but, overall, it’s antiquated. It would be much more interesting if the Grammys were an inclusive, year-round platform that sought to broaden the academy’s narrow purview and lift up the landscape. The music business has always been entertainment’s trojan horse, moving at the speed of culture, and now bands and brands break faster than ever with even less red tape. Top Grammy brass doesn’t seem to grasp this. What’s worse, everyone knows the show is a bore IRL.Maybe I’m biased, but I do think the Grammy hangs would benefit from being NYC-based more often. Last year was lit! L.A. can be a pain for party-hopping, though of course it’s got its perks. Ultimately, as with the Super Bowl, watching with friends while simultaneously scrolling through social media, interacting with the outside world, and eating up the commentary, shade, and celebration is the new normal. A cool Grammy viewing party beats the actual awards ten times out of ten, so I guess the host city is secondary. Our bars still close later, though ;)On the ground, I’ll be working with some amazing tech companies showcasing throughout the weekend and a bit beyond (sorry, it’s hush-hush). I’m excited to see what other innovations appear. There are few better forums for accessing industry insiders and making a big impact. See you in the mix!
BEATS
DJ Marshmello performs legendary concert set, leads epic dance party in Fortnite EDM star DJ Marshmello performed at a different sort of concert today: one held live in-game in Fortnite. Fortnite players have been excitedly anticipating the event all week, with Epic dropping hints that something big was coming. (Digital Trends)
Goldman Sachs CEO Just Dropped a New SingleThe successor to Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, David Solomon, is also enjoying big success as a dance music DJ — under the name D-Sol. (Page Six)
The Rise of Audio Branding Audio and streaming in particular has increased massively in popularity with the emergence of Alexa and Google Home. And it’s super clear to me that this is just the beginning. (Gary Vaynerchuk)
Spotify Will Roll Out Enhanced Targeted Advertising Tools to More Advertisers Users on the platform’s free, ad-supported tier could completely skip ads while streaming their favorite music. The company had long hypothesized users would only listen to the ads they cared about. (Digital Music News)
How Bandsintown Built A Music Community Of 50,000,000 User If you are a touring musician, word of mouth is your best friend. If you're playing Tuesday night in Topeka, Kansas; the following night in Kansas City; three nights later in Denver and the weekend after in Sacramento, California and you are trying to reach fans in all of those cities nothing is more important than getting the word out that you are coming to town. Your livelihood depends on it. (Forbes)
Stop Wasting Your Money On Instagram Influencers. They Suck. At its core, the idea of an influencer isn’t terrible. Find someone who has influence, and ask them to influence their following, audience and the general public to invest in your products. But the good ideas really stop there. (Medium)
Is It Possible That Radio Dodged The Digital Bullet? With conventional broadcast radio now beset from all sides by streaming services, podcasts, and satellite, the future of this form of legacy entertainment is often brought into question, however some key signs suggest it may be weathering the digital storm better than expected. (Hypebot)
Four Ways The Business Of Music Videos Will Transform In 2019 “The music business used to be an audio business, and then it became an audiovisual business. Now, I think it’s going to become a visual audiobusiness.” (Forbes)
What can Blockchain do in the Music Industry? Blockchain has been attributed with the ability to bring such a significant amount of progress in many enterprises. Anything that handles digital information, contracts, cash, and transactions could discover applications for this technology. (Cryponewsz)
It’s time to pay serious attention to TikTokIf you haven’t been paying attention to TikTok, you haven’t been paying attention. The short-form video app hailing from Beijing’s ByteDancejust had its biggest month ever with the addition of 75 million new users in December — a 275 percent increase from the 20 million it added in December 2017, according a recent report from Sensor Tower. (Tech Crunch)
Youtube Aims to Bring Suspense Back to Music Videos With Premiere Feature Music videos seem to become more important every year: On-demand video streams increased by 24.3 percent to 274.9 billion in 2018, accelerating further after a 21.9 percent jump in 2017, according to data from the analytics company BuzzAngle. (Rollingstone)
BYTES
Invest in the right music startup, and you're a billionaire. Make the wrong bet, and you're out of $5 million (or in court for five years). But that's true for any investment risk involving new ideas and sectors. So why are investors still gun-shy around music startups and concepts? DMN assembled three experts in Hamburg, Germany to help answer this very topic.
Kelsy Karter made headlines around the world when she shared the photo of her new face ink on Instagram. The singer, who's from New Zealand, had tweeted to say that she was planning something special for Harry's birthday on February 1st.
TriviaMob, a new live game show app, allows players to face off in two separate “mobs,” where they answer questions about art, science, entertainment, and more to win prizes.
Wyclef Jean and Madeline Nelson's new protegèe, Jazzy Amra, is ready to burst onto the scene under the tutelage of the legendary hyphenate. The vivacious songstress premiered her six-track debut album AMRA.
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!