It’s wonderful to see all of the news about live events. Every time I check my email, more and more festivals are announcing 2021 lineups; tour dates are taking shape; and from what it looks like, tickets are selling well. This might not be a 'recovery recovery,' but it’s at least a slingshot-accelerated bounce back for the live and events business.The music business learned a lot during the pandemic. It was a tough year emotionally that forced us all to explore new options, think outside the box, and build new avenues to revenue. From live-streaming and creative merch deals to the boom in brand partnerships and catalogs, things are looking up for the industry as a whole.I had my first taste of a live event last week and it was fantastic. The Frieze Art Fair descended upon New York, featuring a series of events, dinners, openings, panels, and shows. While it was missing the magic of music and there weren’t any parties, per se, it was a proper prelude.A renaissance like we’ve never seen before is on the horizon but there’s still a sense of responsibility here. People are respectful. People are masked. People aren’t partying recklessly. We’re getting there...together.It’s going to be a summer like none other and you are all invited.Big shout to my buddy Jon Levy for the release of his new book out this week. Looks right on time from the transition from digital back to physical events.
P.S. Make sure you check out our latest, greatest, and favorite NFT drop this week by EDM Duo Ship Wrek. The auction ends today!
BEATS
A Beginner’s Guide To NYC Sample Drill In the 90s, during what some would consider the “golden age” of hip-hop, producers were flipping the soul records they grew up with into cutting edge rap records. But as time went on and hip-hop grew, the laws surrounding the use of other artists’ music for sampling grew increasingly restrictive, and the connections and money needed to successfully clear samples partially closed that window for smaller, independent artists. (Lyrical Lemonade)
Clubhouse is Funding 50 Audio Shows In Its Creators First Pilot ProgramClubhouse is kicking off its Creators First Program with fifty audio shows on the platform. Participants in the program will get a $5,000 a month stipend for three months to produce the series. The goal is to develop and pilot each show over the next three months. (Digital Music News)
MGM, Mark Burnett Team with Soo-Man Lee on K-Pop Competition SeriesMGM Worldwide Television Group chairman Mark Burnett (pictured right) has struck a partnership with producer Soo-Man Lee (left) and Korea’s SM Entertainment to develop a K-Pop music competition series to find the newest members of supersized K-Pop concept group NCT. (Real Screen)
YouTube is Now Generating $2BN A Month From Ads – And Grew Faster Than Netflix in Q1YouTube‘s advertising business is exploding. The platform’s latest revenue figures were revealed last week as part of the Q1 results of parent company Alphabet. They show that YouTube is now generating an average of over $2 billion every month from ads – and that it’s potentially on course to generate somewhere near to $30 billion across the course of this year. (Music Business Worldwide)
The Revolution Will Be Digitized: How RAC is Using NFTs to Empower ArtistsYes, it’s a Thursday afternoon in mid-March, though the Grammy-winning musician and producer known as RAC could be forgiven for his confusion. He’s speaking over Zoom from his home in Portland, Ore., where he's spent the past two weeks fielding constant calls from friends and a handful of music icons whose names he asks to be kept confidential. (Billboard)
Why The Weeknd Had to Use an Old Trick to Score His New No. 1Stories about how DJs have turned underdog records into smash hits are legion, but few hitmaking radio pros have as long a legacy as Gary Guthrie. In 1978, when Guthrie was the program director for Louisville pop station WAKY, he noticed something uncanny: Two ’70s superstars, Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand, had each recorded a version of “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” and issued them on their own separate LPs, six months apart. (Slate)
Twitter, Billboard Partner on Real-Time Trending Music Chart; Social Media Platform in Content Deals with NBCUniversal, Refinery29Twitter and Billboard are partnering to create The Billboard Hot Trending, a real-time Billboard Chart powered by the social media giant to showcase the songs being talked about most on the platform and tracking music trends. The chart, which will refresh every 24 hours, will measure the music conversations dominating Twitter at any given time. (Deadline)
Swizz Beatz and Timbaland Talk Verzuz’s Next Phase, Triller Partnership — and Future Concert Series?When Verzuz announced on March 9 that it had left Apple Music for a new partnership with the social video platform Triller, the relationship seemed like an incongruous one. While there is tons of music on Triller, there wasn’t anything really like Verzuz. (Variety)
Ed Sheeran Becomes Ipswich Shirt Sponsor, But Which Other Music Icons Did The Same?Ed Sheeran (who has sold more than 150 million records worldwide) has agreed a one-year deal to take over as principal sponsor for both the men's and women's teams at Ipswich. A logo made up of the mathematical symbols Sheeran uses to distinguish his albums will feature on the club's shirts from the start of the 2021-22 season. (ESPN)
Music is a Hot New Wall Street AssetPhones and streaming platforms have turned music rights into something like a digital annuity that more investors have become interested in buying. Why it matters: Investors want income independent from politics or the rest of the market and they see music as that potential source of cash flow. (Axios)
BYTES
On the latest episode of The Business of Marketing Podcast, we sat down with Gus Wenner, President and Chief Operating Officer, of Rolling Stone to talk about his early career experiences, learning the business of publishing from his dad, and how they have since driven business growth through digital transformation, including the launch of a daily streaming show that Rolling Stone hosts in partnership with Twitch. (AdWeek)
DJ Khaled, Justin Bieber, and 21 Savage flip the sport of golfing on its head in the video for their latest single, “Let it Go.” For the video that released on Monday, Khaled, Bieber, and 21 turn Adam Sandler’s Happy Gilmore into a hip-hop celebration of wealth and prosperity. Along with wrestling an alligator and making other Happy Gilmore references, this video has no shortage of branding/product placement. (Complex)
Snack, a video-first mobile dating app designed with a younger generation in mind, is opening itself up to Gen Z investors. The startup today announced the launch of its own Gen Z Syndicate on AngelList, which will allow Gen Z community members, influencers, creators and others to participate in the company’s upcoming $2 million SAFE, alongside other funds and angel investors.
Seven years of creative blocks, self-doubt, and mental-health struggles have altered Robinson’s perspective. His second album Nurture explores the difficulty of finding fulfillment and plumbs the joyful realization that the world he wanted to create was always right in front of him. The album’s tagline underscores its aims succinctly: “Everything we need is already here.” (Pitchfork)
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!