Back in the day, I used to eat, live and sleep by my BlackBerry. In the early days of smartphones, my BlackBerry was my sidekick, my ride or die & my best friend. Speaking of sidekicks, remember the T-Mobile Sidekick? That was so hot for about a summer. I heard they are bringing that back, too. Anyway, with my Blackberry I used to be able to walk down the street and type out full manifestoes, while eating a slice like a true New Yorker. Every morning and night my BlackBerry was riddled with deal flow and puzzles that I loved navigating through, especially in the artist representation days. The emails and inquiries of repping a hot artist could be extremely overwhelming for a young agent on the move. BlackBerry helped me negotiate so many deals. From the BlueBerry to BlackBerry I would swear by mine. And so did so many people, particularly in the music business. Then Blackberry started letting me down. It started freezing uncontrollably. It started being unable to handle web and social. Quickly, BlackBerry started falling out of fashion and to add insult, they made some key mistakes on the way down. It didn’t evolve quickly enough with the multimedia world that was coming fast and furious. And the final nail in the coffin was the time that emails just stopped coming in for 24-48 hours. It was like I couldn’t breathe for two days while in the midst of running a marathon. That was the end for me. I copped my first iPhone and never looked back.Cut to last Friday when I was invited to take a sneak peak at the new and improved BlackBerry KEY(2), "An Icon Reborn". It felt great to have a keyboard back in the palm of my hand. It was like seeing a futuristic and better version of an old, best friend. The room was packed with cool people eager to see the new-“old”. I was walked through the features of the device which are all, of course, thoroughly upgraded. They have the latest apps. The camera is suped up. Email capabilities look great. It sports all of the latest bluetooth technology. The phone is powered by Android as BlackBerry realized “they were not a software company, but a hardware company”. And they played up the security of the phone, which in this day and age of cyber insecurity does mean a lot. A data breach can feel far away until your identity gets hacked.Is it too late for BlackBerry? A few years out of the mix is a long time for both technology and people. Can they quickly re-embed themselves and adapt to culture? Only time and marketing savvy will tell.In the meantime, I’m getting one of the new BlackBerry's next week before it drops (salute to the plug). Hopefully, my new-old friend will help me handle the influx of email while I’m on the go this Summer, traveling the world and putting together our next, best deals.PS: Also as a friendly reminder if you are in NYC this week and want to kick it. We are hosting a little party at the Vinyl Room tonight at Soho House starting at 7pm. Vavo RSVP at [email protected] for Nue Sounds.And on Wednesday June 13th, we are partnering with the good people at Betaworks and launching a new series called Beats, Bytes & Beta powered by Belaire Rose. The kick-off conversation will be discussing "innovation in Summer Festivals" with some really bright folks leading the discussion. The event is powered by Belaire Rose so come have a few glasses of bubbly too. I’m excited. RSVP and join the conversation.Finally, to our jet-setting advertising industry friends, it sounds like I'll be heading to Cannes Lions this year. Working on some big announcements out there. Hope to connect with you then.
BEATS
Spotify Market Cap Soars Above $30BN In Wake of News It's Directly Licensing ArtistsWall Street has long speculated that Spotify may try to improve its gross margins by somehow ‘cutting out’ the record labels where possible, therefore reducing the overall percentage of revenues the platform pays out in licensing fees. Some analysts have suggested Spotify could do this by ‘signing’ acts – effectively acting like a label itself. (Tim Ingham – MBW )
4 Ways Music Will Drive Marketing in the Years to ComeWhether it's an exciting new artist, a decade-specific recognizable tune, an original composition or just a perfect song by underground artist "X," the beauty of music is it gets right to the point—sometimes better than a voiceover ever could—and can bring a creative idea to new heights, or even be the creative idea with the right piece. (Nick Keenan – Clios)
Facebook has finally made its move in music. The social media giant, which boasts more than 2bn monthly active users, has today (June 5) announced that its users can now legally upload and share UGC videos which feature licensed music in selected markets. (MBW)
Music Streaming Beyond the Phone: A Futuristic, Real-World PrimerVoice interfaces, smart speakers, geolocation and other cutting-edge, screen-less technologies are transforming music consumption as we know it. (Cherie Hu – Medium)
Q's With John Reid, President Live Nation Europe-Concerts: 'Business Has Never Been Better'There may be no better person on the planet to comment on the state of the European live market than John Reid. As president of Live Nation Europe-Concerts since 2012 (and the former president of Warner Music Europe) Reid’s seen the market’s continued rise (including the last several banner years), the launching of many festivals and knows exactly why in Europe “one size doesn’t fit all.” (Gideon Gottfried – Pollstar)
How an Entertainment Manager at Lyft Finds and Manages Partnerships With Creators Like Cardi BWhen hip-hop artist Cardi B climbed to the top of the Billboard charts in September of last year, Lyft let users turn the cars in the app into her face and nails. The stunt was the company’s first in-app takeover with an artist and “the perfect moment” for Lyft to execute it, said Jessica Zhang, manager of culture and entertainment at the ride-hailing company. (Ann-Marie Alcántara – Adweek)
Spotify vs. Pandora: Which Radio Competitor Is Winning at the Ad-Supported Game?In April 2018, Spotify revamped its mobile ad-supported experience, allowing its free users to listen to any track in their top fifteen Spotify-curated playlists completely on-demand on their mobile devices. (Cherie Hu – Billboard)
Kobalt's AWAL Acquires Radio Promo Company IN2UNEEarlier this year, Kobalt revealed that it was investing $150m into its newly-relaunched recorded music division AWAL. It’s already putting that money to good use. AWAL is a distribution and services company which allows independent artists to keep hold of their copyrights, while benefitting from sync, streaming, marketing and other support. (MBW)
Snapchat Wants To Help Popular Music Artists Make AR Lenses Snapchat Lenses are gaining traction among musical artists, which is encouraging Snapchat to come up with more ways to integrate its product into the music industry. ( Jessica Klein – TubeFilter)
Presenting the 2018 Midemlab Winners: Lyrica, Laylo, Seated & EnhanciaThis year, a record 234 Midemlab submissions were received from 42 countries, up 68% on last year, underlining the dynamism of entrepreneurship in the music sector. Almost half the submissions came from startups founded in 2017 or 2018. The 20 finalists were selected by Midemlab’s partners Kima Ventures, Music Ally, and bluenove, and between them, cover the full spectrum of music innovation. One winner is chosen by the jury in each of four categories. (James Martin – midem)
memBrain: The Storm ReportThe STORM Report is a compilation of up-and-coming bands and artists who are worth watching. Only those showing the most promising potential for future commercial success make it onto our monthly list. (memBrain)
NYC Office of Nightlife Shares First Report Finding Robust, Growing IndustryThe Queens native stars in two high-profile movies this summer: “Ocean’s 8” and “Crazy Rich Asians.” (Grant Rindner – Billboard )
Art of a Manager: Tour Budgeting Getting an artist’s touring business off the ground is an extremely expensive endeavor. Touring is thought of as lucrative business, and it can be, but at the beginning, most acts operate in the red for at least one tour, if not several, before they turn a profit on the road. (Jake Udell – Art of a Manager)
Anthony Bourdain Wasn't Just a Food Lover — He Was a Music Freak, Too Anthony Bourdain’s love of music will forever be eclipsed by his passion for food culture. But the late chef, writer and TV star’s life was propelled by music, and he never wasted an opportunity to serve as rock ’n’ roll ambassador. (Randall Roberts – LA Times)
BYTES
Deejay turned record label head Daniel Glass reveals his path connecting with artists before the competition. Glassnote Records' founder & president shares insight into how he rose to the top of the music business building upon the success of Sinead O'Conner, Wilson Phillips, Blur, Phoenix, Mumford & Sons, Childish Gambino, and CHVRCHES.
Kanye West sits down with BigBoy TV to discuss his album, listening party, and importance of mental health.
Discover incredible new music and find tickets to the best clubs, gigs, and festivals. Can't make the gig? No worries. DICE Does Refunds.
Staying true to his schedule, Kanye West has released his new album with Kid Cudi. Kids See Ghosts is out now via G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam. Find it on Apple Music, Tidal, Google Play, and Deezer.
This week's newsletter was carefully curated by the Nue Agency staff and our editor Maria Tejada If you think we missed something this week or have any suggestions/comments for next week's newsletter, let us know!