Good morning. Hope you had a nice Juneteenth holiday.Amazon Music and Kendrick Lamar (& Friends) pulled off a beautiful event to commemorate the holiday yesterday. The Pop Out was a remarkable show of the strength of the Los Angeles community.This past weekend was The Tonys. There is really nothing better than dinner and a show. And while in NYC last weekend, I was reminded how much I love Broadway.Personally, I find theater performances captivating. They are a three dimensional content experience and, as the saying goes, “you can smell the grease paint and feel the roaring crowd.” Like seeing a movie in the cinema or a concert live at a venue, there is a communal experience to being in the theater experiencing the same show.With Broadway, producers are forced to be creative as the story is confined to a single stage. Actors are required to be more expressive and dynamic, since they can’t rely on stunts or special effects. There is no CGI or AI to transform the performances. There is no rewind or fast forward. The theater calls for true talent and professionalism that you won’t find anywhere else. You are live; listening; hearing; experiencing; so you need to be present.Broadway had a rough Covid experience and it still hasn’t recovered fully. Folks aren’t rushing to come back to crammed theaters. Costs have skyrocketed, pricing many people out. As the dynamics changed on Broadway, so did the content. Pop stars have emerged as a solution. It’s similar to the appeal of film and book adaptations: familiarity sells tickets.On top of that, more and more artists and celebrities are gravitating toward Broadway. “You can’t make a living from releasing records alone,” Sara Bareilles recently told the NY Times. The singer-songwriter who wrote the score for Waitress is now writing songs for her second musical, a stage adaptation of The Interestings. “Artists in general understand how diversification of creative output is not just helpful,” she said, “but kind of essential.”In the streaming era, where more and more content is being pumped out, there are more awards going to artists, actors, and celebrities who want to get their EGOT. An EGOT without a Tony is just an EGO. That’s not how the world’s greatest, mulit-faceted talent wants to be remembered (lol).Currently, there is an adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet” featuring music by Jack Antonoff, while John Legend, Elvis Costello, and Nas are all working on musicals. Neko Case and Mitski are, too.Elton John, a Broadway veteran, has two more musicals coming this year alone: “The Devil Wears Prada” in England and “Tammy Faye” on Broadway.As for this weekend’s Tony Awards, the show always shines a great spotlight on Broadway’s up-and-coming shows. I predict the two hottest tickets will be “Stereophonic,” a “behind-the-music” drama with bespoke song fragments by Arcade Fire’s former frontman, Will Butler. I had the pleasure of seeing this show on Saturday afternoon and understand why it won play of the year. It's an awesome story about how art is made; a fictional tale of the inner dialogue of a band in the studio making a “soon to be” classic album. It chronicles the interpersonal relationships of the bandmates, the plight of an engineer turned producer, and all of the tension that goes into creating this masterpiece album full of awesome records that can potentially lead to a whole new world for the bandmates. One that can lead to stadium shows and fans singing this music all over the world. When you watch those dynamics through the lens of this show, it’s clear that making an album is a very intense creation process.The other hottest ticket will be Alicia Keys’ show, “Hell's Kitchen,” which is loosely based on her life and uses her catalog for the soundtrack. This is definitely on my must-see list.I’m thrilled to see musicians – who are trained at creating an entire world in three minute bursts – now creating pieces that are two and a half hours long. Dare we call it the reversification of TikTok? I love when theater creates cultural dialogue. Lin-Manuel Miranda, the EGOT & the GOAT plus the creator of one of my favorite all time shows, Hamilton, said it best: “I find it exciting, I always think musical theater is more interesting when it’s in conversation with the world.”
BYTES
New Brands Turn Up the Volume at the 2024 Governors Ball Music FestivalThe Governors Ball Music Festival took New York City by storm last week, as this year's lineup of more than 15 new sponsors turned up the volume for the 120K attendees who beelined to Queens to see Post Malone, the Killers, and Chappell Roan, among others (Sponsor United).
From Mix To Mainstage: Toolroom Academy Research ReportToday we are delighted to announce our comprehensive research report - in conjunction with Audience Strategies - designed to understand the barriers new artists face when breaking through (Toolroom Academy).
Spotify Flexes Knowledge Of Your Music Taste With In-App SuggestionsSpotify’s personalization features are about to pop up in more areas of the app. The service will soon start showcasing banners and in-app messages tailored to your listening habits, such as telling you how many times you listened to artists like Doja Cat last month (The Verge).
Sony, Universal, Warner And Merlin Strike Music Licensing Deals With Twitch For DJ LivestreamsTwitch has struck deals with all three major music companies, including Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony Music, and a large number of independent labels via Merlin (Music Business Worldwide).
Pusha T And No Malice Are Making A New Clipse Album That’s Entirely Produced By PharrellThe Neptunes (Pharrell and Chad Hugo) are a major part of the Clipse (Pusha T and No Malice) story: The production duo has been at the helm of all four Clipse albums, including their latest, 2009’s Til The Casket Drops. Now, Clipse is readying their first album in 15 years, and the whole thing is produced by Pharrell (Uproxx).
GOAT Debates Are A Hip-Hop Tradition. Spotify Is Here To Spoil The Fun.If you listen to rap music, or if you watch professional basketball, you know that one of the core experiences associated with both is hating. Not in a malicious sense, of course — more a petty one. Sometimes a player irks you just because (NPR).
Metallica Partner With Epic Games To Join Fortnite As Season 4 Festival ‘Icons’Fans of both Fortnite and Metallica can expect new playable Jam Tracks with “lots of Metallica songs,” hinted Epic Games. They can also dive into the Season 4 Festival Pass for exclusive rewards, potentially featuring outfits and cosmetics inspired by Metallica band members – James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo (Music Business Worldwide).
‘It Was All a Dream’ Shows The Work Of A Nascent Rap FeministHistory is never really linear, no matter how nicely it’s packaged. It Was All A Dream, a new documentary by dream hampton, is a collection of archival footage from the famed filmmaker’s early days covering hip-hop (NPR).
TikTok’s Latest Feature For Musicians Is A Glossy Video SeriesThe series, called “Off the Record,” is produced by TikTok and features musical artists like Shakira, Charli XCX, and Meghan Trainor. The short clips are similar to series like Song Exploder or The New York Times’ “Diary of a Song,” where artists talk about their inspiration behind songs, the writing and recording process, and more (The Verge).
Breakr, A Nas-Backed Startup With $9m Raised To Date, Wants To ‘Democratize’ Music Marketing With Its AI-Driven Tech Platform 47 SharesThe Influencer Marketing Hub report also shows that 59.4% of marketers surveyed for its study plan to increase their influencer marketing budget over the next 12 months. Tony Brown, CEO of music marketing platform Breakr, argues that the shift from traditional paid media to influencer marketing will only accelerate “as organic content continues to outperform paid ads,” (Music Business Worldwide).
Wu-Tang Clan’s Rare Album ‘Once Upon a Time in Shaolin’ Now Available as Five-Minute, $1 SamplerAfter the much-storied, one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” has been the subject of ownership issues as recently as this week, current rights holder PleasrDAO is finally making it available to the public — at least, five minutes of it (Variety).
Dunkin’ Readies Celeb-Heavy ‘Intern’ Class For Summer Of Culture PlaysDunkin’ on Monday (June 17) launched a summer campaign that features actor Will Arnett and content creator Corporate Natalie as the leaders of a class of “Dunkin’Tern” creators, per details shared with Marketing Dive (Marketing Dive).
Bad Bunny And Reggaeton Have Sparked A Puerto Rican Spanish RenaissanceAs Bad Bunny and other Puerto Rican musical artists explode in popularity, language instructors say more people want to learn how to speak the islandʼ s slick, swaggering version of Spanish (The New York Times).
Beat Street on Broadway? Nas Joins Creative Team of Musical RemakeNas announced his involvement with the musical on June 14 at the 40th anniversary screening of ‘Beat Street’ at the Tribeca Film Festival. “‘Beat Street’ wasn’t just a film—it spread the revolution of hip-hop culture throughout the country and the world,” Nas told the audience (Digital Music News).
Verzuz Heads to Twitter/X Under Exclusive Distribution Deal — Timbaland and Swizz Beatz Retain Full Ownership and Creative ControlThe Elon Musk-owned social platform and the Verzuz founders formally announced their tie-up at Cannes Lions today. Additionally, X shed light on the specifics behind the pact via a long-form News post (Music Business Worldwide).
Queen Catalog to Be Acquired by Sony Music for £1 BillionThe Queen music catalog, along with a number of other rights, is in the process of being acquired by Sony Music for £1 billion (around $1.27 billion), two sources confirm to Variety. The news was first reported by Hits; according to their report, the only revenue not covered in the deal is for live performances, which founding members Brian May and Roger Taylor, who still actively tour with singer Adam Lambert, will retain (Variety).
Dior Names Rihanna As the New Face of J’AdoreThe star will front a campaign launching in September in a bid to reinvigorate the flagship fragrance range (Business of Fashion).
50 Cent, Reebok Teaming up to Bring Back G-Unit StylesReebok and 50 Cent are teaming up once more. The Queens rapper and the sportswear company teased that it is bringing back the G-Unit line. G-Unit x Reebok did more than $300 million in revenue, according to Reebok CEO Todd Krinsky (Boardroom).
Blackpink’s Rosé, Rihanna, and A$AP Rocky: Puma’s cultural cloutEarlier this week, Blackpink band member Rosé was named Puma’s newest global brand ambassador. The hashtag #PUMAxROSÉ# already has 2.29 million reads on Weibo, with the announcement racking up over a million likes on Instagram (Jing Daily).
Pharrell Williams Celebrates ‘Human Athletic Prowess’ At Paris Fashion WeekPharrell Williams’ fourth show as creative director of menswear at Louis Vuitton took place in the gardens of the Unesco building in Paris. A video shared on Instagram before the show emphasised the international nature of the location, and the importance of diversity. Once the show began, however, a theme emerged that is perhaps more front of mind for those in Paris – the Olympics and the Euros (The Guardian).
Julie Greenwald is a prominent music industry executive. She got her start at Def Jam Recordings in 1992, became president of Atlantic Records in 2004, and was elevated to chairperson and CEO of the Atlantic Music Group in 2022.
The appearance of the rapper in support of Keys’ musical “Hell’s Kitchen” led to a boost of excitement inside the arena but it now appears it was a piece of Hollywood trickery, undercutting the Broadway communities’ full-throated embrace of live singing and dancing (AP News).
Nina provides a more context-driven approach than most platforms. The relationships between artists, labels, listeners, writers, and supporters serve as pathways for discovering new music and scenes (Nina).
Featuring the cast recordings of nominated shows Stereophonic, Days Of Wine And Roses, Here Lies Love, The Outsiders, and Suffs, this playlist is sure to put you in the mood before the ceremony with more than an hour of highlights from the season (Playbill).
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!