Spotify goes public this AM.How much the shares will open & close at is anybody’s guess at this point? I personally think it could be a turbulent day for our big, green friends.It’s a complicated and extremely savvy method of getting the stock on the public exchange and ultimately allowing their investors to start to cash out by trading their shares with other interested investors as they start to get in.We’ve all seen and heard a lot of speculation but ultimately Spotify has played their hand pretty perfectly from this point. I remember when Spotify was just an urban myth. More than a handful of years back at Social Media Week, I was emceeing the Art and Culture Hub at the Red Bull Space and asked the panel their thoughts on Spotify coming to the US. The prominent DJ and indie label head Nick Catchdubs answered something along the lines of “Spotify is kind of like country music in that I keep hearing that it exists but haven’t seen any proof of it around these parts yet”.Well they made good! What’s most exciting is that a music tech company is the talk of Wall Street. Finally, tech investors can feel safe putting money back into music again. And this rising tides has raised a lot of the ships.I’m still a little surprised by this stat though, according to Verto Analytics’ Index of streaming-music usage, Apple Music has far fewer total users than Spotify, but Apple’s premium service boasted more active users for the month of February, with a 49.5m to Spotifys 47.7m with Pandora coming in at #3 with 36.8m monthly users. This is far the end of the streaming wars. Just a big milestone in the saga.Anyway, it certainly will be an exciting week for Spotify as all eyes will be on the platform and the music tech industry overall should catch some halo effects.P.S.: I'm now serving on the judge committee for The Telly Awards – and would like to remind you all that the deadline for submissions for the 49th Annual Awards is this Friday! Enter your work across across our expanded categories in Branded Content, Social Video and a slew of Animation categories, and Craft categories that reflect the unique constraints and opportunities of producing video for social platforms. Click here to enter!
BEATS
Founded in 2016, Sodatone’s tech combines streaming, social and touring data with machine learning to identify the unsigned talent that it believes has the best chance of future success. (Tim Ingham – Music Business Worldwide)
A Hip-Hop Signing Frenzy Sends New Record Deal Prices SoaringAccording to WBR chairman Tom Corson, "anything that shows promise is being snatched up. We're definitely in the middle of a very competitive and expensive moment here with hip-hop acts." (Steve Knopper – Billboard)
From Mood Playlists to Metadata: How Smart Speakers Are the Next Frontier -- And Challenge -- For the Music BusinessAs you read this, the mass adoption of voice-enabled devices and experiences around the world is accelerating -- with music taking center stage as a growth driver and guinea pig. (Cherie Hu – Billboard)
Op-Ed: Aggressive Soundcloud Ads Inspired Me to Re-write Their Business ModelAs of this week, on NEST’s SoundCloud Pro account (which historically has been ad-free), I’m getting ads even before my first play and on average between every five songs. There was no warning or opportunity to upgrade our account — when I tried to figure out what was going on, it was extremely confusing, but eventually I figured out we’re supposed to now pay for SoundCloud Pro AND SoundCloud Go. Could there be a less intuitive business model? (Molly Hankins – Nest HQ)
Transforming Artists And Entrepreneurs Into ArtrepreneursIn 2016, Forbes contributor David K. Williams wrote a piece titled “Music And Entrepreneurship: The Ultimate Creative Outlet For Business Success.” In it, he drew connections between music and the success of entrepreneurs such as Paul Allen and Steve Wozniak, as well as discussing how music has played a role in his own success. (John Hall – Forbes)
A Super Oversimplification on Music Rights, Ownership and Why it MattersOnce upon a time, musicians owned the songs they wrote and/or performed. They still do, but in many cases, determining how much of the song, and which portion (lyrics, melody, copyright, etc), and how much that bit is worth, is a big ol’ ball of mess.We all know more people are streaming music than purchasing whole albums these days. We all kind of understand that even streaming pays musicians, albeit just some tiny fraction of a cent. (Amber Healy – Geeks & Beats)
Why T-Pain's 'Wiscansin University' Will Make Him A Lot Of MoneyT-Pain founded his own institution of higher education, Wiscansin University. The university’s name is derived from lyrics from “I Can’t Believe It,” a 2008 single featuring Lil Wayne. In it, T-Pain raps, “I can put you in a mansion, somewhere in Wiscansin.” (Ogden Payne – Forbes)
Here’s What Fashion Insiders Think of Virgil Abloh at Louis VuittonAfter months of speculation, Louis Vuitton confirmed that Virgil Abloh is the fashion house’s new artistic director of menswear, filling the spot left by Kim Jones‘ departure earlier this year. The news is groundbreaking, as Abloh becomes the first African American artistic director in Louis Vuitton’s history and one of only three black designers to ever take a senior design role with a French heritage house. (Jack Stanley – Hypebeast)
BYTES
Chancelor Bennett, aka Chance the Rapper, is one of the most exciting artists making music right now. A cultural influencer, thought leader, and global star, he has won three Grammys, hosted “Saturday Night Live,” and collaborated with everyone from Kanye West to Justin Bieber. And he’s only 24 years old. In this interview at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art Chance sat down with Pitchfork contributor Adrienne Samuels Gibbs to be interviewed.
When Grammy nominee Brent Faiyaz and his manager, Ty Baisden, were offered a record deal with a quarter million dollar advance, they walked away. Instead, they opted to go independent.After scooping up a Grammy nomination for his performance on GoldLink’s “Crew,” Faiyaz and Baisden chose the indie route. They set up their own company, Lost Kids LLC, and invested $30,000 out of their own pockets for a debut album. Now, they use data from streaming platforms like Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Music to build their fan base. Knowing who plays Faiyaz’s music — and where — helped the duo sell out a tour across the United States and Europe.
Featured as best new app in over 100 countries, Vero makes sharing online more like real life. That means naturally choosing which posts get seen by who – whether it’s a photo, a song, a book or movie recommendation, a cool restaurant or a great article.
Listen to Tierra Whack latest song, "Upside Down" the track features the Philadelphia native rapping over Ty Dolla $ign's "Message in a Bottle" record from his 2017 album Beach House 3.
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!