The most exciting thing in music right this minute is none other than Kanye West.Love him or hate him (as his methods are quite polarizing) Kanye triumphantly returned to Twitter a few weeks ago and ever since has been lighting the industry on fire with consistent commentary, ideas, and news about upcoming releases.Kanye has even trolled our president getting both his praise and retweets. It seems he is borrowing a page from the playbook of his “dragon brother” to control the media cycle and effectively utilize social media to directly communicate his messages without any middle men. His tweets are the news; they aren’t promoting the news. And all of this right in time for his new album and the release schedule - Pusha T (May 25th), Kanye West Album (June 1), Kanye and Kid Cudi Joint Project (June 8) and Nas’ & Teyana Taylor’s albums, executive produced by Kanye on June 15.His first two songs are quite provocative and politically charged. I applaud him for bringing the conversations happening in America to light using hip hop as the medium. It is a very tense, politically charged climate right now and on his first single Kanye and TI debate the current state of affairs. This is a bold move for a pop star to do, but as Jay-Z says, to reveal is to heal and this is a fresh spin on that strategy.Although this approach is definitely rocking the boat, with publishers like Fast Company reporting that his brand endorsements like Adidas are in jeopardy, in my opinion, it’s also the type of risks the game needs right now.The influence of Kanye and other musicians is bigger than they get credit for. I always think about the fact that Kanye West by himself, with no opener, no costumes, no guests, no band and just a dj, one mic plus a small moving stage, can sell out basketball arenas night after night all over the globe. He, by himself, is bigger than the entire NBA league and yet, the amount of sponsorships that go toward the NBA and other sports leagues is uncanny compared to the music industry. Although the music world is getting deeper and deeper into the brand space, I feel like this is a big arbitrage opportunity for companies with vision. Musicians and their music have a much bigger reach with equally committed fans. (Side note, the big win for sports and brands is the scalability of purchasing media across the leagues and teams especially on cable TV. It’s a smart business model. I wish someone could create that same funnel for musicians and brands). But long and short… Adidas would be crazier than Kanye to drop him right now. He’s brought their brand to a whole new level; making it hotter than ever thanks primarily to Kanye being Kanye and a savvy culture marketing strategy.Anyway, the saga is continuing with Kanye and it’s so interesting to watch.He’s posting real-world text convos with his friends such as John Legend and Ebro, then turning them into promo opportunities driving the price up for interviews with him and everyone around him. In a world built on grabbing attention share, Kanye is king.I know he can’t do it by himself. In recent weeks he cleared his bench (managers, lawyers etc. fired) and is aggressively building a new team with a goal to recruit 160 people by the end of the year. I’m a big believer in his creativity and talent and I know we can help. Kanye, you know who you can call to help you make your big ideas come to life, that’s runs in our blood at Nue.He announced this weekend that the album cover will be a picture of the doctor who performed a fatal surgery his mother Donda West as a means to promote forgiveness, and love, breaking down barriers both inside himself and in the culture.It’s about to be Yeezy season boys and girls. I hope he keeps both hands on the wheel, one foot on the gas and both eyes on the prize as the stakes are only going up.
BEATS
Troy Carter Explains How Spotify's Free Tier Upgrade Can Fuel Company's Growth(On April 24), Spotify unveiled an upgrade to the layout, functionality and user experience of its ad-supported free tier, the first such update since the company made its free option available to mobile users in 2014. The redesign -- which gives users the ability to listen to up to 15 algorithmic and editorial playlists on-demand for the first time and provides more options for personalization in playlists, among other updates -- was an idea that had seen resistance for some time from Spotify's record label investors and rights holders, who feared that upgrading the service's free tier could cut into the incentive for users to convert to much more lucrative paid subscribers. (Dan Rys – Billboard)
Bandsintown Integrates Apple Music for in-app StreamingIf you're like me, looking at your local concert listings is usually accompanied by blasting the music of the bands you encounter along the way. That task typically requires multiple apps, but live music discovery company Bandsintown now offers Apple Music subscribers the ability to stream tunes directly inside of its mobile software. When you visit an artist's tour dates page, you'll see a play button up top. Tap it and a selection of songs will begin. You can also tap an EQ icon in the bottom right corner of the app to browse other tracks. (Billy Steele – Bandsintown)
With Sphere, which breaks ground later this year near the Sands' Venetian and Palazzo complex, the company is aiming to transform the way audiences experience concerts and events with features that include Internet at each seat, bass pumped through the floorboards and screens that stretch across the ceiling. Sphere is, in part, a result of the formation of MSG Ventures, a division of MSG created following the $17.7 billion sale of cable operator Cablevision. (Eli Blumenthal – USA Today)
Bob Dylan’s Latest Gig: Making WhiskeyIn late 2015, an unexpected name popped up in the liquor industry press: Bob Dylan. A trademark application for the term “bootleg whiskey” had been filed under Mr. Dylan’s name. Among those who noticed the news was Marc Bushala, 52, a lifelong fan and a liquor entrepreneur whose bourbon brand, Angel’s Envy, had just been sold for $150 million. Mr. Bushala said he immediately spent weeks “obsessing over this concept of what a Dylan whiskey could be.” (Ben Sisario – The New York Times)
J. Cole to Launch music festival in North Carolina in Sept.Platinum-selling rapper J. Cole is honoring his home state by launching a music festival in North Carolina this September. Dreamville Records and ScoreMore Shows announced Friday that the inaugural Dreamville Festival will debut Sept. 15 in Raleigh at Dorothea Dix Park. (Mesfin Fekadu – The Washington Post)
Digital Killed the CD. Will Anyone Mourn It?Think of all the associations we have with vinyl: independent record shops, High Fidelity, rare releases, history and authenticity. Even cassette tapes have their own mythology: the romance of receiving a mixtape, and the songs fading in places where you have rewound and listened to them over and over again. These are objects imbued with nostalgia – even love. But CDs? No one loves CDs. They are not as cool as vinyl, not as personal as tapes. They are unlovely plastic, shiny discs that scratch easily, and their covers crack. All CD covers look as if at some point someone has stepped on them. (Brigid Delaney – The Guardian)
UNINTERRUPTED: Becoming Bobby Feeno Becoming Bobby Feeno is a docu-series executive produced by LeBron James, Maverick Carter, Arian Foster and Humble Lukanga, and directed by Jojo Pennebaker and Torre Catalano, members of the Tongal global creative community who UNINTERRUPTED collaborated with on this project. The series chronicles Arian’s journey into himself from star football player to musician. Music was Arian’s first place of refuge, escape and sanity. Throughout “Becoming Bobby Feeno”, Arian explores his relationship with who he is and who he needs himself to be while creating his debut album “Flamingo & Koval.” (TIDAL)
Amazon Launches Country Playlist Aimed At Foreign Fans: ExclusiveAmazon is answering the country music industry’s prayers: it’s launching a country playlist targeted at the rest of the world. Country Heat, its first global country playlist, launches today (Apr. 27) in 35 countries, showcasing new and established country acts with what Amazon’s curators see as potential worldwide appeal. (Isaac Weeks – Billboard)
Maverick, a Social Network for Young Women, Launches With $2.7M in FundingWhile Bumble BFF and Hey! Vina help adult women find new friends, there isn’t a social network dedicated to young women.But Brooke Chaffin and Catherine Connors are looking to change that with the introduction of Maverick, a social network that connects young girls with female mentors to express their creativity in a safe space. (Jordan Crook – TechCrunch)
Meet The Childhood Friends Looking to Gamify The Music Industry With 'World Famous' Mobile App"I want the youth to understand that the world is ours for the taking. They don't need to get into entertainment or tech, but they also don't need to follow the same path as everybody else," says David Bullock. (Megan Armstrong – Billboard)
A Brief History of the Absurdly Catchy Nuts.com Rap CommercialAh, the summer of 2015—a simpler time. For some, it brings back memories of major events in the news: the legalization of same-sex marriage, the Iran Deal, the Pope’s visit to the United States. On the pop culture side of things, Jurassic World and Inside Out were dominating the box office, and on the radio, Omi’s “Cheerleader” was inescapable. But for a select few, summer 2015 is synonymous with a totally different kind of song, one that wasn’t heard by nearly as many people but still managed to make quite an impression: the Nuts.com rap jingle. (Marissa Martinelli – Slate)
J. Cole Is Still Making Millions From a $1 ConcertIn 2013, Jay Brown, CEO and co-founder of Roc Nation, suggested that J. Cole—the label’s first signed artist— host a concert series where he only charged fans $1 to attend. Back in 2007, Cole sold his first mixtape The Come Up for $1 at colleges. The mixtape’s song “Dollar & A Dream” spoke to the realities of seeing his dreams come true. The $1 tour was an opportunity to tie those themes together and give back to his fans. (Trapital)
In A&R, 'Gut VS. Data' Isn't a Binary Choice The idea of Artificial Intelligence-supported A&R has become big news in the music business lately, with UK-based scouting tool Instrumental raising $4m for aggressive growth, and Warner Music Group acquiring Sodatone for an undisclosed fee. Here, Instrumental Founder & CEO (and ex-President of Warner Music Entertainment), Conrad Withey (pictured), argues that machine learning isn’t hurting the tradition of signing and developing artists – it’s improving it… (Music Business Worldwide)
BYTES
Our CEO, Jesse Kirshbaum sat down with Nick Ruffini to speak on all things entertainment marketing, brand partnerships, and the state of the industry.
Janelle Monáe's performance in the 2016 film "Hidden Figures" earned rave reviews. But it was her music that first put her on the path to stardom ... a path that started with family, as she explains to our Tony Dokoupil, For The Record: It's been a while since Janelle Monáe was just a singer in a living room choir. "This is where I had all my earliest memories of just being a performer, and wanting to sing, and wanting to entertain," she said.
Howdy Folks! This release has a lot of work in various areas as it will likely be the last build before Version 2.0, henceforth known as V2 (no need to reinvent the wheel). We hope you enjoy it!
Yeezy season is approaching, check out the latest drops: the fun troll-esque song, "Lift Yourself" and politically charged track, "Ye Vs The People ft. TI"
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!