It’s exciting to see our generation’s greatest living entrepreneurs racing into space. This past weekend, Virgin CEO, Richard Brandon, became the first billionaire founder of a space company to go to space on his own spacecraft when he launched the VSS Unity at three times the speed of sound. Elon Musk, whose Space X program holds the NASA contract and is working feverishly on their launch plans, was on hand, too. Jeff Bezos, who plans on heading up the 20th of July as part of his Blue Origin brand, wished Branson the best of luck.The camaraderie and competition between these three is helping to form a movement. They’re making the impossible seem possible and there will be a lot of opportunities for culture to be infused into these monumental moments.I loved that Virgin, true to its roots, took the opportunity to premiere some new music. Khalid debuted his single, “New Normal,” at the Virgin Galactic Space Flight launch site for a small crowd during the Unity 22’s landing in the New Mexico desert (Spaceport America). Khalid was introduced by Stephen Colbert, who served as the MC for the Unity 22 livestream. You can watch the performance here.I’m thrilled to see brand marketers getting excited about this...er...space. Two weeks ago, Dr. Pepper teamed up with the social video app, Triller, to bring 20 influencers on a zero-gravity flight. The effort is in support of Dr. Pepper's Zero Sugar soda, which launched in April. Ideas like this are just the beginning. Nobody launches a brand with stunt marketing better than Branson, but Bezos and Musk will certainly have some tricks up their intergalactic sleeves.There are a lot of reasons to be in space right now. And more opportunities are going to come as the commercial space travel industry starts to heat up. But there is also a lot happening these days that deserves our attention. It reminds me of a pivotal moment in the new QuestLove-produced documentary, Summer Of Soul, that takes place in 1969. During the legendary Harlem Cultural Festival known as “The Black Woodstock,” things came to a halt when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. But it wasn’t to celebrate, it was to boo. There were so many pressing issues in Harlem at the time and the crowd wasn’t pleased with all of the money and resources spent on landing U.S. astronauts in space. They wanted the focus to be here at home and in our communities.I have seen the same argument being made now and I am deeply sympathetic to it. No one was booing on-site in New Mexico this weekend, but the criticism and concerns are not going unheard. This country has a history of spending resources in questionable ways when our planet and people have so many immediate needs. Let’s hope that we can strike an intelligent, inclusive balance between technological innovation and socio-economic growth.
BEATS
China To Order Tencent Music To Give Up Music Label ExclusivityChina's antitrust regulator is set to order the music streaming arm of Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK) to give up exclusive rights to music labels which it has used to compete with smaller rivals, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Monday. (Reuters)
Lil Nas X Is Gen Z's Defining IconIn January 2019, Lil Nas X was a college dropout sleeping on his sister’s couch, with -$5.62 in his Wells Fargo account. Five months later, he’d broken Mariah Carey’s record for the most consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. (Digital Native)
American Express Offers Cardholders Exclusive SZA NFTsSZA’s first-ever NFT collection features behind-the-scenes moments from her Amex UNSTAGED appearance, and each digital collectible is a one-of-a-kind piece that can be purchased exclusively with an American Express credit card. (Benzinga)
Jay Z Breaks Down How Blockchain Could Be The Key To Artist EmpowermentThe same artist who once said "fuck hastags and retweets" because of how he's respected in real life is now looking to upend the entire music industry with the very man who changed the world with those same hashtags and retweets. (Mic)
Has Social Media Killed the “Superstar”?In the age of streaming and instant gratification, traditional superstars have rapidly been replaced by business-savvy content creators. But is this necessarily a bad thing? (Amplify)
‘Managers Should Be Well Compensated And Own Equity In What We’re Developing.’Last week, two music management titans – Ty Stiklorius and Lily Crockford — joined the UK’s Music Managers Forum 2021 AGM for a joint interview that touched upon some key topics that impact the music industry at large. They discussed their newly agreed partnership, which offers clients of both companies staff in the UK and US, why the UK’s traditional artist/manager deal is no longer fit for purpose and their issue with ‘hustle culture’ in the US. (Music Business Worldwide)
How Hip-Hop Reached Peak GuitarIf there’s one recurring aesthetic principle of mainstream rap in 2021, aside from Lil Baby features, it’s the presence of the guitar. (Vice)
Rolling Loud Music Festival and WWE Announce Groundbreaking PartnershipThe newly announced partnership between Rolling Loud and WWE will see hip-hop’s biggest names performing alongside WWE SmackDown wrestling. This partnership is the first of its kind. No other time in history has seen a collaboration between wrestling and a large-scale music festival. (Ivy Awino)
JAJA Tequila Is Building Their Brand Upon Social Media Savvy And Connecting To The Millennial GenerationThe key to success for any alcohol brand is getting eyeballs turned your way, something that seems to get exponentially harder each year as new products fill an already crowded marketplace. But one upstart tequila brand has done just that, and they seemed primed to explode over the next few years. (Forbes)
For The Music Industry, Cryptocurrency Will Be as Disruptive as MTVWe are just starting to see artists of all levels experiment with their own cryptocurrencies to tap into new revenue streams and deeper fan engagement. Performers are embracing it as an alternative to the big tech-owned social media platforms that have been profiting from their labor over the past decade. (Fast Company)
The Understated Brilliance of Peloton’s ‘All For One’ Music Festival“I can’t sit down,” says Gwen Bethel Riley, senior vice president of music at Peloton, the game-changing fitness company founded in 2012. “I think that’s a sign of a really successful festival.” (Variety)
UFC 4 Update Brings Action Bronson and MoreThe newest fighter update released for UFC 4, and it appears to be the biggest one yet. In addition to gameplay adjustments based on community feedback, rapper Action Bronson has been added to the stacked heavyweight division. Players can check out gameplay via Bronson’s own Twitter. (Sports Gamers Online)
Tyler, the Creator’s Most Stylish Converse Designs and Where to Buy ThemTyler, the Creator knows footwear. And with over 15 shoe collaborations under his belt (on top of nine chart-topping albums), some might say the multi-hyphenate artist traverses the fashion industry as natively as the music scene at this point. (Variety)
PacSun Names A$AP Rocky Guest Artistic DirectorRemember those Vans that A$AP Rocky was, well, rocking a few days ago, in between dates with Rihanna? Turns out they were a teaser of much more than mere footwear collabs. Fast fashion juggernaut Pacsun has named Rocky its new guest artistic director, signaling another step toward the future of mass market fashion. (High Snobiety)
BYTES
Black Thought has shared 7 Years, a new Audible Original memoir in which the Roots co-founder tells stories from his life and career in music in seven year increments. The audio memoir begins with his childhood in Philadelphia and leads up to the present day, with an original soundtrack that features Roots music, as well as archival audio, such as Black Thought’s first-ever freestyle.
The Kid LAROI & Justin Beiber have come together for an energetic, synth-controlled single, titled “Stay,” along with an accompanying music video.
TikTok announced that, starting this week, it will invite users to submit video resumes to participating companies, including Target, Chipotle, Shopify, Meredith, NASCAR and the WWE. The company encourages applicants to show off their skills in a creative way while tagging the content with the hashtag #TikTokResumes. (Tech Crunch)
The soundtrack was officially released on 9th July 2021, a few days before the film dropped and is under the label of ‘Republic’ and ‘WaterTower Music’, with some big named artists having worked on it.
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!