On Friday, we co-hosted a stellar event in Southampton called Pot or Not. The Or Not Experience is the proprietary conference collaboration between Loeb.nyc and Bonin Ventures. Geared towards brand marketers and focused on consumer trends, the event is designed to separate the hype from the facts. Each year introduces a new theme but the result is always the same: conversation, education, information, and empowerment around elusive marketing tactics. Last year’s theme was blockchain and the inaugural conference centered chatbots and messaging technology. On Friday, it was Cannabis’ turn. We covered a wide range of topics, from cultivation to consumerism, while speakers such as Kassandra Frederique, State Director of New York Drug Policy, and hip-hop icon Fab 5 Freddy touched on social and criminal justice reform. There were panels dedicated to women in the industry, growth opportunities for brands, and taking Cannabis mainstream. Super fresh companies emerged, including 1906 and OLD PAL. It was a well-rounded event where Green Street met Wall Street. The same day, the Illinois House of Representatives voted 66-47 to allow legal possession and sales of recreational marijuana beginning in 2020, making Illinois’ the first state legislature to approve commercial sales (and the 11th state to legalize). The big news back home is a pending vote on legalizing the cultivation, distribution, taxation, sale, and consumption of marijuana in New York State. That vote, scheduled for June 19, may not come to pass if Governor Cuomo’s suspicions about insufficient votes in the State Senate are true. Who’s ready to engage on this issue and expedite passage of this crucial measure? Message me off-list if you are!From Nue's culture marketing perspective, it’s incredibly exciting to see a brand new marketplace being built in real-time with an install base of millions (arguably “Billions”) of consumers looking on as cannabis goes from a Class D substance to a legal, socially accepted one. I don’t recall another situation like this in our lifetime and there are countless areas impacted in the sector. Michael Loeb, Loeb Enterprise’s CEO, made this very case at the conference, explaining how rare an opportunity this is to habituate a base this big with brands and products this specific. Nothing creates product affinity like connecting to a consumer with music, technology, and culture. The speed and depth of our connections will be derived from our ability to leverage these social commodities.I want to thank Michael and Katie Loeb for producing this amazing summit, Bonin for being the lightning rod of inspiration that he always is, and Drake Sutton-Shearer CEO of Prohbtd for his unmatched expertise and insight. When it comes to Cannabis, they are the thought leaders.
BEATS
Jennifer Lopez Is Leaving the Major Label SystemMultiple sources are reporting that Jennifer Lopez has left Epic Records and signed with LA Reid’s indie label, Hitco. (Digital Music News)
Are the Major Record Companies Ready for These Five Threats?The recorded music industry is buoyant, then, with Universal Music Group thumping its chest over just posting what it calls “the best year for any music company ever.” But the music business would be both naive, and ignorant of recent history, to suggest that there aren’t some menacing potential hazards ahead of it. (Rolling Stone)
Bodak Green: How to Earn Eye-Popping Yields from Music, TV and MoviesStreaming services have reignited the record business, and today investors can buy small slices of their favorite songs and shows. But Buyer Beware: Those eye-popping returns can fade fast. (Forbes)
Artists are Tapping into Nostalgia Because it WorksThey say absence makes the heart grow fonder. This could be a simple explanation for the recreation and infusion of past trends and nostalgic aesthetics, sounds, concepts, and creations we see in art, fashion, entertainment, and business. (Medium)
Youtubers and Record Labels are Fighting, and Record Labels Keep WinningCopyright issues have plagued YouTube and its community for years, but creators are calling this moment in time one of the worst eras for trying to navigate the platform. Over the past six months, multiple YouTubers have run into issues with what they describe as aggressive copyright claims from record labels. (The Verge)
The Music-Making Site That Can Get You a Global Hit (Or a Lawsuit)Lil Nas X bought the beat for “Old Town Road” for $30 from a website called BeatStars. Inside the new world of cheap music marketplaces that has the music industry scrambling. (Rolling Stone)
Metadata is the Biggest Little Problem Plaguing the Music IndustryMetadata sounds like one of the smallest, most boring things in music. But as it turns out, it’s one of the most important, complex, and broken, leaving many musicians unable to get paid for their work. (The Verge)
Even in the Streaming Era, Overnight Success Remains Risky as EverNational buzz leading to a rapid rise is the dream for most aspiring artists, but it’s often not as lucrative as it seems, and there’s a reason most of our favorite artists still rise slowly and steadily. (Complex)
STEM Quits DIY Distribution, Increases its Fees and Focuses on ‘Top Performing Artists’Since being founded in 2015, Los Angeles-based Stem has been one of the most talked (and written) about startups in the digital music space. That’s partly because of the high-profile artists whose work it has distributed – including Frank Ocean (for 2016’s Blonde) and Childish Gambino. And it’s partly because of the high-profile industry execs who have joined investment rounds in the company. (Music Business Worldwide)
Do Productivity Playlists Actually Work?Listening to music is a long-used productivity hack among creatives. Millions of people turn to music to focus. Playlists that claim to offer music to help people concentrate are growing in popularity. But does listening to a highly curated playlist really help productivity? (Medium)
How 88Rising Raised the Bar for Asian Representation88Rising provides not only the cultural support, but also the strategic and technical know-how to help emerging Asian artists cross over in an efficient but meaningful way. (Paper)
Loving the Music You Didn’t Grow Up WithTime was, we radio programmers could pretty easily and effectively target music and formats to highly focused demographics. Format radio has been successful for decades, offering the ability to super-serve discreet audience demographics by age, gender, ethnicity, geography, and other variables. (Jacobs Media)
Artist, Icon, Billionaire: How Jay-Z Created His $1 Billion Fortuneit’s clear that Jay-Z has accumulated a fortune that conservatively totals $1 billion, making him one of only a handful of entertainers to become a billionaire—and the first hip-hop artist to do so. (Forbes)
BYTES
On this episode of The Premium Pete Show, Pete sits down with marketing genius Ryan Schinman credited by Forbes as the Biggest buyer of Talent and Music in the World.
Soprano Camille Zamora, a Juilliard alum, trustee, and co-founder of Sing For Hope, gives the address to the graduates of Juilliard's 114th Commencement Ceremony.
Easily create stations for all the music you love, all for free.
The ever-versatile Ty Dolla $ign, assisted by rapper extraordinaire J. Cole, delivers a short but totally intriguing new R&B single, “Purple Emoji.”
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!