Wandering around New York this weekend, I realized how much the city continues to change. I’m typically a champion of change, but I catch myself worrying about the Big Apple losing its character and, more precisely, its ability to move at the speed of culture.I stopped by opening weekend at Hudson Yards, the new playground for tourists and the uber-rich. On the surface, it’s exciting to get (even more) hot-button restaurants. And yes, the honeycomb vessel installation is pretty iconic. But is a world-class megamall really going to be the first page of the city’s next chapter?I had a similar feeling bopping around Williamsburg, where it’s no secret that soaring rents have pushed out residents and businesses alike. Boutiques and local bars are constantly closing while more and more chains fill up the storefronts. Companies with massive funding, ones that can even afford to *take a loss* to score cool points, are the only real candidates for the neighborhood’s next phase.In my lifetime, no city has displaced New York as the greatest city in the world as the cultural capitol. I mean, we gave birth to rap music, which now accounts for one-third of all music consumption. Throw in Broadway, Madison Ave, the museums, and things like the unmatched diversity of Queens, and you’ve got yourself the clear-cut standard-bearer.But greed is a real threat. Critiques of housing and fiscal policies that undermine the livelihood of the city’s lifeblood should be taken seriously. The aforementioned storefronts tell the tale: more and more spaces sit empty as landlords try to keep property values high by refusing to make rents affordable.One smart music business ex-pat wants to seize this arbitrage opportunity and create billboards out of the windows around these empty storefronts. It’s a savvy stopgap for both renter and owner, but it also highlights the acceleration of the class divide in New York.Enter No Longer Empty, an organization I came across a decade or so ago. What makes NLE such a special outfit is their work focusing on reinvigorating urban spaces through art and education. They offer a touchpoint to the art world at all levels of interest while delivering energizing, site-specific installations in unlikely locations. These range from a shuttered landmark courthouse to a former hospital emergency waiting room to the middle of Times Square itself.The NLE project that originally drew me in was their takeover of the old Tower Records in Soho. I knocked on the door while walking by and told them I needed to do an event there. I brought Social Media Week in as a partner, Pepsi as a sponsor, and had Questlove as the guest of honor. It was a special evening of music, tech, and art, all under a righteous roof.No Longer Empty continues to do this important work in other parts of the city, so when I was asked by the NYC power couple Jon and Lexie Kurland to host an NLE event with a mix of friends, colleagues, and associates, I jumped at the chance.As a member of the host committee, I would love for you to join me for a night filled with art, inspiration, and new connections. The soirée will be held April 3rd at the historic Prince George Ballroom (15 East 27th St.) from 9 pm to 11 pm. A large portion of the ticket price goes directly towards No Longer Empty's 2019 programming. The evening will honor artist Derek Fordjour, gallerist David Castillo, and Sara Reisman, Executive Director of the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation.Tickets are currently available at the early bird rate of $75, though the cost goes up Friday, March 22nd.I hope you’ll consider supporting this great organization by having a great time!
BEATS
How Slang Worldwide is Building a CPG Company For Cannabis Slang Worldwide went public in January with a valuation of $480 million by building a CPG company focused on cannabis products ranging from edibles to hardware. Now, Slang plans to expand into CBD. (Digiday)
SXSW 2019: The Legal Cannabis Industry Greets Live Music Promoters, With Mixed Success Marijuana, legal or not, has wafted through the concert and music festival circuit for decades. Now, after marijuana legalization initiatives swept the U.S. last year, and fests like Outside Lands began introducing cannabis experiences, the integration of legally-sanctioned cannabis in live music may seem inevitable. (Billboard)
Apple and Spotify Are Dueling Over How Much to Pay Songwriters Music streaming has always been a cutthroat market, with the leading companies not having many positive things to say about one another. But things became particularly heated this week when a small tweak to U.S. copyright rules. (Rolling Stone)
Why I Just Turned Down One Million Dollars Many forget that just as fast as hip-hop is growing in the streaming era, R&B is also on the rise. In 2017, top 25 Billboard Chart toppers included, “That’s What I Like” by Bruno Mars, “Wild Thoughts” by DJ Khaled, Rihanna, and Bryson Tiller, “Location” by Khalid, and Childish Gambino’s “Redbone.” (Medium)
YouTube Music Introduces Its First ‘Artist on the Rise’ for 2019Last year, YouTube Music introduced its ‘Artist on the Rise’ series. The plan was to create an exclusive behind the scenes look at the journey each ‘YouTube artist’ takes as they first get started. (Digital Music News)
Rappers Don’t Need To Make Overlong, Streaming-Friendly Albums To Be Successful We all know you can have too much of a good thing. A second helping can turn a delicious meal into a painful lesson in gluttony. A player on a hot streak can hold the ball too long, costing their team the game. As the saying goes: Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. (Uproxx)
SXSW 2019: 30 Best Artists We Saw in Austin The annual South by Southwest Music Festival continues to be an overwhelming experience for both attendees and bands, as each hustle from venue to venue either in in search of the next buzzy thing or their own big break. (Rolling Stone)
All About De La Soul: Inside The Negotiations Paving The Way For A Streaming DebutHip hop’s legacy trio De La Soul recently saw its back catalog almost arrive on streaming platforms after collecting digital dust for nearly two decades. (Forbes)
The Spotify Apple IssueMany people who follow tech know that Spotify has filed a complaint with the European Commission regarding the challenges that Spotify has doing business in the iOS app store. (AVC)
What Happens if Google Buys the World’s Biggest Music Company? Three years ago, the world found out that Google had made a play to buy 50% of Sony/ATV Music Publishing from the Jackson Estate. The stake, which eventually went to Sony Corporation in a $750 million deal, would have seen Google – now Alphabet, the world’s fourth largest company – acquire ownership of over two million copyrights, including a deluge of hits going back decades. (Rolling Stone)
Moby’s New Album is Exclusive To the Calm Meditation AppAlbum exclusives are nothing new in the age of Tidal, of course. But Moby’s latest is taking a kind of circuitous route to the world’s mobile devices. The electronic artist has released his latest, Long Ambients 2, as an exclusive through the Calm meditation app. (TechCrunch)
What Podcasting with Rick Rubin Has Taught Malcolm GladwellWith Season 2 of their series, Broken Record, on the way, the journalist discusses what he’s learned from his famous partner and guests, including a very contrarian take on creativity. (Vanity Fair)
Inside Garageband, the Little App Ruling the Sound of Modern Music A secret recording studio on Apple’s Cupertino campus has made the beats of some of your favorite hits for the last 15 years (Rolling Stone)
Spike Jonze Is Directing a Stage Show Called Beastie Boys Story Starring Mike D and Ad-Rock The Beastie Boys’ Michael Diamond (Mike D) and Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock) will be debuting a stage show called Beastie Boys Story in early April. The show is directed by one of Beasties’ most famous collaborators, Spike Jonze, and the three shows will take place in New York City (two at Brooklyn’s Kings Theater) and Philadelphia. (Spin)
BYTES
At 20 years old, Logic certainly was young and broke, and while crashing on a friend's couch, he poured himself into his music. Logic's career could have fizzled if it wasn't for Chris Zarou, a young college athlete-turned-manager who had no more experience in the music business than Logic.
Just before she heads out on tour, Leikeli47 hit up NPR to perform for their “Tiny Desk Concert” series, showing off just how talented she really is. Performing songs from her projects Wash & Set and Acrylic, the Brooklyn rapper wowed the crowd with bars and vocals.
Sathorn is an Apple Music client for iOS. You can search the Apple Music catalog for songs, playlists, and albums, and add them to your library. It works seamlessly with your local library as well.
As promised, Jonah Hill made his return behind-the-scenes to direct the music video for Vampire Weekend and Steve Lacy's collaborative "Sunflower" track, a song that first arrived as part of two single pack along with "Big Blue," ahead of Vampire Weekend's forthcoming Father Of The Bride album.
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!