Next week, Spotify plans to (finally) list publicly on the New York Stock Exchange.It’s a huge moment for Spotify’s founding team, and perhaps an even bigger moment for all of us in the music industry. Spotify’s transformative success has helped usher in a new era for music—and this era will be marked by growth.Per a recent report, the music industry is in its second year of double-digit growth and has hit its highest revenue mark in a decade, thanks to the streaming space.Of course, these changes have not come without presenting real challenges to artists, labels, and everyone else who does business in the music space, Spotify included. As Spotify enters this new chapter, they’ll face tremendous pressures from Apple and YouTube, who have scooped up industry vets like Lyor Cohen, the former CEO of Warner Music, to better navigate the music vertical.I’m a big believer in Spotify’s potential, and not just because they are a former NUE client. Spotify, like us, is agnostic and not as beholden to agendas outside of its own. It’s the clear innovator in the digital music space and the company has always operated with its users’ best interests in mind. They represent hope and growth, much like Netflix does for TV.I built my career in music while the industry was in a downward spiral. Having a digital music innovator listed as a publicly-traded company is a win for me and everyone else who appreciates the intersection of tech, music, and culture.Congrats to the team at Spotify on the next episode.
BEATS
News and Notes on 2017 RIAA Revenue StatisticsIn 2017 revenues from recorded music in the United States increased 16.5% at estimated retail value to $8.7 billion, continuing the growth from the previous year. At wholesale, revenues grew 12.6% to $5.9 billion. Similar to 2016, these increases came primarily from growth in paid music subscriptions to services like Spotify, Amazon, Tidal, AppleMusic, Pandora and others, which grew by more than 50% This is the first time since 1999 that U.S. music revenues grew materially for two years in a row. (Joshua P. Friedlander – RIAA)
Why Jeff Sessions May Control The Fate Of Wu-Tang's Secret AlbumFJeff Sessions isn't exactly what you'd call a fan of hip-hop. While rappers from Jay-Z to Common speak out against mass incarceration, the U.S. Attorney General has reversed Obama-era initiatives phasing out federal use of private prisons; even as Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg advocate for full legalization of marijuana, Sessions has crusaded against cannabis. So it may come as a surprise that he might end up determining the fate of Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon A Time In Shaolin. (Zack O'Malley Greenburg – Forbes)
Beatport Creative Services AnnouncedDJ music platform Beatport has announced the launched Beatport Creative Services, which it touts as “one of several significant developments planned for the company” in 2018. BCS is expected to deepn the platform’s relationship with artist and brands, opening up opportinities foir brands to connect with both the DJs that use Beatport and their audiences. (Joe Reinartz – Celebrity Access Encore)
STORM = STRATEGIC TRACKING OF RELEVANT MEDIA. The STORM Report is a compilation of up-and-coming bands and artists who are worth watching. Only those showing the most promising potential for future commercial success make it onto our monthly list. (membrain)
SoundCloud Launches 'First on SoundCloud' Emerging Artist Campaign With Kehlani, Lorine Chia & MoreSoundCloud announced on Wednesday (March 21) its first-ever multi-platform advertising campaign with what it's calling "First On SoundCloud," which aims to celebrate the stories of creators who got their start on the streaming site. It will showcase rising acts on the platform through music, video and photography, while encouraging all creators to participate by uploading tracks to SoundCloud using the hashtag #SCFIRST. (Billboard)
Smart Speakers Will Drive Music Consumption, Industry Growth says New ReportThe new report, “Everybody’s Talkin’ – Smart Speakers and their impact on music consumption” looks at how this new technology is driving the next wave of music consumption, fuelling further growth in streaming and subscriptions while also establishing a new e-commerce platform for sales of physical product. (Hypebot)
Lawyers and Venture Capitalists do Yoga and Meditate in A New Type of New York City Coworking Space that Was Created After its Founder Took a Psychedelic Drug in PeruBefore Rodrigo Niño founded the New York City coworking space The Assemblage, he was first a real-estate developer and economist who launched the Prodigy Network in 2003, which uses crowdfunding to purchase commercial real estate. (Sarah Jacobs – Business Insider )
New Venue Sony Hall Adds Wale, Mura Masa & More to Opening Slate of ShowsSony Hall, the forthcoming new venue set to open this month in Manhattan’s Theater District, revealed its first slate of shows today (March 21). The new space at 235 West 46th Street at the Paramount Hotel will feature performances by the likes of Wale, Mura Masa, Gregory Porter, Toad the Wet Sprocket and The Revolution in a number of dates that extend until October. (Dan Rys – Billboard)
1 Millions Views And Counting:How Obscure Rap Records Are Finding A Second Life On YouTubeYouTube is a fascinating corner of the internet. Although it’s doubtful uploading obscure records and tapes was part of the original business model, the video sharing site has somehow become a premier destination for hard-to-find bootlegs, cassette only releases, limited edition vinyl, and all manner of other rare and addictive content for music junkies despite the often questionable audio quality. (Gino Sorcinelli – Medium)
BYTES
Welcome to “Equity,” TechCrunch’s venture capital and tech business podcast. For this week, we talked about the wave of enterprise IPOs. And we were joined by Dharmesh Thakker, general partner at Battery Ventures. He was the perfect guest because he specializes in enterprise and Battery is pretty good at it. We also talked about Facebook’s privacy debacle.
The world's first ensemble performance using only turntables and mixers. The Philharmonic Turntable Orchestra creates a whole new music experience, reconstructing classical music by playing vinyl records with a variety of musical techniques.
Vertigo connects people to experience music and life together in real time - because life is better with music!
After releasing one song a month for an entire year, NoMBe's debut album has finally arrived. NoMBe says the album is dedicated to all the women in his life that have impacted him. Ranging from his first love to his godmother (Chaka Khan), these electro-soul nugget pushed his feelings to the forefront, but also afforded him space to experiment.
This week's newsletter was carefully curated by the Nue Agency staff and our editor Maria Tejada If you think we missed something this week or have any suggestions/comments for next week's newsletter, let us know!