In the U.S., certain cities are known for certain times of year: Chicago in August (Lollapalooza, we back!); Miami in December; and the Pacific Northwest once the rain finally stops in July. But do any of these beat Brooklyn in June?I remember growing up in Brooklyn, and in June it was the place to be. Block parties. BBQs. Fire hydrants blasting water.Before I went full pandemic nomad, living in Williamsburg was magical. It was filled with energy, culture, style, and taste. From the music venues to the coffee shops and shopping, Brooklyn stays rocking.Well, June is back and we are finally outside again. Restaurants are filling up. The parks are humming and, slowly but surely, live music is re-emerging.As I walk through town, the streets are changing. Except for key staples, New York always feels brand new to me…and I’ve lived here nearly my whole life! That’s New York for you: always evolving.But like many places, it’s in need of help, which is why I’m excited to be setting up shop back in Brooklyn for the month of June. It’s New York’s Music Month and the scene is R-E-A-D-Y. I felt like I needed to back in the action as we rebuild the city bigger and better than ever.
BEATS
Friends WithBenefits Miami: Event Guide for Bitcoin Miami 2021Heading down to Miami for the Bitcoin 2021 Conference? Here’s a guide to help you find all the hottest events.
Amplified Future: Power Plays In The Music And Digital Wellness MarketIt’s Prime Time for Wellness, and 2021 is an opportune year to join the Hearables Revolution. Wearables continue to migrate toward the ears; neuroscience, wellness and entertainment are starting to merge; and digital health products and wellness-tech platforms are adding new features to more accurately measure well-being and provide real-time responses to an individual’s needs. (Forbes)
Wow, Investors Actually Just Gave Turntable.fm $7.5 MillionTurntable.fm, the social platform that lets people collaboratively build and perform DJ sets, has raised $7.5 million in venture capital funding, according to a Medium post by CEO Billy Chasen. Turntable.fm was revived by Chasen as a response to the pandemic, after it shut down in 2013. But it’s not the only version of Turntable in the works now, which makes that funding more interesting. (The Verge)
NFTs: Are They The Future Of The Music Industry?What unites electronic producers 3LAU and Steve Aoki with Nashville rockers Kings of Leon and alternative artist Grimes? No, it's not a mind-bending collaborative single. Instead, together they've each earned millions in recent months by selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs), paid for in online crypto-currency. (BBC)
What Is Asian American Music, Really?I can feel an absence of language with which to think about Asianness in the music industry beyond the dry terms of representation politics. In 2018, NBC Asian America ran a year-end essay proclaiming that “Asian-American music shined”; tellingly, in this case “Asian American music” simply meant “music by artists who have Asian heritage”—anything from MILCK’s empowerment anthems to songs off Drake’s Scorpion, produced by Filipino-American Illmind. (Pitchfork)
Bandsintown Data Shows In-Person Concerts Returning Much Faster Than PredictedThe number of live concerts announced to happen as early as this weekend is exploding as concerns over fan and artist hesitancy as well as the time needed to launch a new tour prove unfounded. 222,170 upcoming events are now listed on Bandsintown versus 87,000 at the start of 2021. A surprising 78% of those upcoming events (174,511) are happening before the end of this year. (Hypebot)
An Introduction to MODA DAOOver the next few weeks we will share the ingredients that are going into this project; ideas, creative, code, thoughts and thinking that comes from 30+ years in the music industry, 20+ years of start-up work, 6+ years in the blockchain space and 4+ years at the intersection of blockchain and music. (MODA DAO)
The Decentralized Autonomous “1,000 True Fan” OrganisationDecentralized ownership registries helped enable digital art’s NFT boom of the past year. Next, blockchain, the distributed ledger technology, will underpin fanbases and the way artists build careers, teams, and engage with industry infrastructure. Can you put a fanbase on the blockchain? Here’s what it could look like. (Music x Tech x Future)
BYTES
This week I’m talking to Horacio Gutierrez, head of global affairs and chief legal officer of Spotify, to help me understand why Spotify and so many other app developers are so frustrated with Apple. Horacio recently testified in front of Congress about Apple’s business practices, and he just wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal calling Apple a “ruthless bully.” That’s a lot. (The Verge)
Will Page former Chief Economist at Spotify joins this week for an incredibly interesting discussion about Spotify, streaming services, podcasts, NFTs and when should the music industry let go of the vine it is holding on to right now and grab the next vine.
Olivia Rodrigo’s lyrics capture the last generation of social media: performative, curated, inauthentic. But we’re seeing the rise of a new generation of social apps—apps that emphasize spontaneity and authenticity.Rex Woodbury explores three new social companies—BeReal, Poparazzi, and Dispo—and then explore more broadly how social media is evolving.
The star-studded tracklist features names like Jay-Z, Nas—who has two features on the project—Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Swizz Beatz, Alicia Keys, Westside Gunn, Conway The Machine, Benny The Butcher, The LOX, Moneybagg Yo, Bono and others.
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!