It’s been a weird, rough couple of weeks in the world of crypto.Reports of the NFT market cooling down seem reliable, but the industry, I believe, is here to stay.A little correction can be healthy. The space was ballooning out of control with astronomical pricing that simply didn’t make sense. Everyone is experimenting and paving the way for the future. Sure, there were a lot of bad drops and average artwork that won’t hold weight long-term, but there are also extraordinary things happening and countless new players yet to enter the arena.NFT’s (or whatever we’ll call them next) are one of the building blocks of Web 3.0, which is being realized on the blockchain. The technology is world-shattering and this community is driving culture. We are all getting smarter and better with so much room for continuous innovation. It’s a complicated world but it’s one worth navigating. The utility of Web 3.0 is limitless, so the juice is very much worth the squeeze.My position remains firm: Get involved now. We certainly are.
BEATS
Giving Amplified 2021 (Today!)Welcome to Giving Amplified 2021! Join us for our annual day of giving as we celebrate our Fellows, their mentors, and First Believers everywhere who have supported, cheered for, and lifted up those around them. Our fundraising goal for the day is $150,000 - enough to fund one-half of the 2021 Fellow class! To help us reach this goal and support the next Resolution Fellows, please donate here for a great cause that we believe in.
On Spotify, an Arranged Marriage Between Music and Podcaststhe process of licensing music from official rights holders often takes resources that many independent podcast publishers don’t have. But when Smith decided to start a new podcast last year, inspired by her work on a coming book about the history of Black women in pop music, she knew she wanted to do things differently. (NY Times)
Why NFT Sales in the Music Business Are Still the Wild West — and How It Might Be TamedWhen the music industry’s NFT craze hit its fever pitch earlier this year, it seemed nearly everyone was rushing to mint the crypto collectibles in one form or another. The non-fungible tokens, known colloquially as their acronym “NFT,” have captured the industry’s fascination in 2021 for their promise of fan engagement and a new source of income. (Variety)
Want To Play Pretend At Being A Record Company Boss? Now You Can, With A Fully Licensed Catalog.B2B music streaming technology company Tuned Global has signed an agreement with fantasy record label app FanLabel, to provide platform services including music ingestion, delivery and and rightsholder royalty reporting. FanLabel, whose stakeholders include all three majors, lets users play the role of music mogul to grow a fantasy record label by identifying the next hit songs. (Music Businesses Worldwide)
Dissecting JAY-Z's Path to a Billion-Dollar FortuneJAY-Z has never been one to shy away from taking major business risks. In the past week, the rapper and entrepreneur went from selling a majority stake in music streaming platform TIDAL to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, to entering into the NFT world and filing for a trademark for a new entertainment company. (Hypebeast)
Find The Best Music Industry JobsProgress your career with our inventory of the latest music jobs. Work remotely or from hotspots such as New York City, Los Angeles, Nashville, London or Amsterdam via full-time, part-time, freelance positions and internships. (Music Career)
The Music Industry Is Finally Scaring Spotifyhe music industry, at just about every level below the C-suite, has had enough. The recording business is still haunted by its 2000s slump, which resulted from a rapid decrease in physical and digital unit sales as well as the fallout from multiple economic recessions. (Slate)
Take Another Look at the Travis Scott x Nike Air Max 1 "Cactus Jack"Shortly after images of Travis Scott wearing his upcoming Nike Air Max 1 “Cactus Jack” release surfaced, we now have more imagery of La Flame sporting the highly-anticipated release. (Hypebeast)
Jaden Smith to open LA restaurant to feed homeless people for freeJaden Smith is turning his I Love You food truck into a restaurant. According to Variety, the multi-hyphenate’s new endeavor will distribute food to displaced people in Los Angeles, similar to his food truck. (Revolt)
Ticketed Events, Label Partnerships And Beat Battles: How Discord Wants To Conquer MusicWhen the famed rapper tweeted out a link to his new Discord server in late April, he almost brought the community platform to its knees. More than 100,000 users signed up for Scott's server within hours, and chat messages were flying by with a dizzying speed. A number of users reported seeing server error messages, and Discord's social media team even pleaded in an all-caps tweet: "PLEASE DON'T CRASH OUR APP MR. TRAVIS SCOTT!!!!!!!!!" (Protocol)
The Biggest Winner of the 2021 Brits? Progress.While the pandemic has been a serious obliterator of so much vital and vibrant entertainment culture, it’s also been a bit of a kick up the arse for awards ceremonies. In truth, many awards around the world had rested on the laurels of a half-funny presenter and uninspired performers, more attention paid to the afterparty tabloid antics than the show-spectacle itself. (The Fourty-Five)
Three Top Music Livestream Execs Offer Key InsightsThree top executives working in different corners of music live streaming offered key insights into the rapidly evolving sector during a recent Music Ally Japan Digital Summit. The Music Alley panel was chaired by MQA CEO Mike Jbara with Claire Mas, the COO of Driift; Tim Westergren, the CEO of Sessions; and Julian Mitelberg, co-founder and managing partner at Bandsintown Group. (Hypebot)
The Music Industry Just Took A Backwards Step On Streaming Pricing… In Glorious HDJust you wait, it says: streaming is $9.99-a-month today, but tomorrow, oh man, the possibilities for building on this price-point are endless. Today (May 17), those possibilities hit the floor with a thud. A thud captured in stunning HD sound. It was a noise that hurt my ears – and reiterated a troubling power balance between music rightsholders and Big Tech. (Music Business Worldwide)
BYTES
Rap Snacks founder and CEO James Lindsay came on the podcast to talk about his rise in the consumer packaged goods industry. Rap Snacks launched in 1994 and has partnered with artists like Migos, Cardi B, Trina, and Fabolous to sell snack chips.
In the first episode of SelectConversations, UnitedMasters welcomes Pharrell Williams into a fireside chat with their very own, Steve Stoute. Pharrell needs no introduction and in this episode Pharrell and Steve Stoute cover a range of topics including Pharrell’s most valuable lessons learned in the music business, principles of success, his nonprofit organization Black Ambition, balancing business & creative pursuits, and more.
Hip-hop label Death Row Records – best known for signing acts such as Tupac and Snoop Dogg – has launched a virtual museum, ‘The Death Row Experience’. The exhibition was created to commemorate 30 years since the label was founded. Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, The D.O.C. and Dick Griffey initially created the label in February of 1992, which would keep running until its 2006 bankruptcy and eventual dissolution in 2008. (NME)
J. Cole never stopped working, even when he stepped out of the constant spotlight. In his new documentary, Applying Pressure: The Off-Season, the Carolina rapper revealed that he spent some of his time away from the public eye to refine his skills behind the mic. “I put myself through drills,” he explained. “I really tried to work on my craft to reach new heights and push myself. That’s why I called it The Off-Season.”
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!