In the latest edition of “Beats, Bytes & Brands,” my monthly Adweek column with Clayton Durant, we break down the four music trends that defined the second quarter and the brands that lead the charge:1. Curation of Sonic Identities to Own Ear Share: As audio content continues to grow in relevance, more and more brands are competing to “own” their share of the ear. There’s steep competition with so many awesome podcasts and playlists floating around, but Q2 saw Alka-Seltzer & Mastercard both launch splashy sonic identity plays.2. Brands Appealing To “Lean-Back" Streamers: How do brands cut through the noise by leveraging music? Bacardi did a great job of it this quarter with their Music Liberates Music campaign. Through partnering with brands and producers, they were able to drop clothing that turned a capsule collection embedded with QR codes into a gamified point of distribution for a record release.3. Reaching Superfans Through Exclusive Content: Superfans are like an army ready to be mobilized. Brands and artists that figure out how to tap these super fans in a worthwhile way will always be rewarded. Halsey and Coke showed that with their recent “One of a Kind” video for her new single “So Good”.4. Live Music to Connect Both Globally and Locally: Post pandemic, the pendulum has swung back to IRL connection. Live Nation is selling more tickets than ever as people are desperate to caption their posts “we outside!” But it’s still an exciting time to leverage new media to connect digitally in tandem with IRL events. One standout activation was the mashup of Doritos, Stranger Things, and Charlie XCX, which included a live streamed show in one of the more innovative ways I’ve seen since the 2020 streaming boom. It had build up, storytelling, fun delivery, merch, and even a photobooth. This is what a livestream experience should feel like!Looking Ahead to Q3…We anticipate brands will continue to lean into live music to connect with highly engaged live audiences. This will be a busy Fall with great concerts and conferences!Online, audiences remain committed to short-form video so we can count on more savvy brand and influencer campaigns utilizing platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Reels. I also believe that health and wellness awareness is on the rise in a big way, and many great brands are popping out of the space ripe for artists partnerships.We’re also seeing a trend toward big investments in music to scale Web3 strategies. So many exciting projects are coming out of these spaces.Check out the full piece here.
BEATS
Muse Is Launching the World’s First Chart-Eligible NFT AlbumIt turns out, Napster and Limewire were just the beginning. The music industry has undergone seismic shifts in the past 20 years, but it lives on today as a largely digital industry. (NFT Now)
What’s Music’s Next New Format?The last couple of years have seen an incredible amount of innovation within the music industry, both on a business and creative level. (Music Business Worldwide)
Sir Lucian Grainge On Universal’s New Deal With MetaUniversal Music Group signed a fresh licensing agreement with Meta in Q2, has concerns over the user-centric (‘Fan Powered’) streaming payout model – and thinks it “inevitable” that rising interest rates are going to drive down valuations of music catalogs. (Music Business Worldwide)
Ticketmaster, TikTok Partner To Give Users A New Way To Discover And Purchase Event TicketsTicketmaster and TikTok are partnering to launch an in-app feature that lets users discover events through the popular short-form video app. With this new partnership, TikTok users will be able to buy tickets for events directly through TikTok. (Tech Crunch)
Live Nation Has Already Sold 100M Tickets For Concerts In 2022 – More Than It Sold In The Whole Of 2019MBW’s Stat Of The Week is a series in which we highlight a single data point that deserves the attention of the global music industry. Stat Of the Week is supported by Cinq Music Group, a technology-driven record label, distribution, and rights management company. (Music Business Worldwide)
Can Universal and Weeknd Manager Wassim ‘Sal’ Slaiby Take Arabic Music Global?One of the wonders of music streaming is its borderlessness. Back in the day, a person might never hear, let alone purchase, music outside their country or comfort zone if they didn’t happen to wander into that area of a record store or radio dial. (Variety)
Gucci makes Miley Cyrus its first celebrity avatar on RobloxMiley Cyrus is the latest celebrity to join the metaverse. As the face of the Gucci’s Flora Gorgeous Jasmine fragrance, the singer is making her debut in Roblox’s Gucci Town as the platform’s first celebrity avatar persona. (Input Mag)
George Clooney’s Tequila Is Taking Over Rap Turn on any hip-hop or Top 40 radio station and you’ll hear it too: Casamigos this, Casamigos that. Everyone seems to be obsessed with Casamigos. (The Atlantic)
BYTES
Shapiro joined Variety‘s Strictly Business podcast to talk about his experiences as an entrepreneur and a dreamer, and also get into the complicated history of ticketing — from the pioneering moves of the Dead, who instituted their own mail order system (think: verified fan in its analog form), to the more controversial dynamic pricing model which has caused some consternation for Bruce Springsteen and his just announced tour.
Music NFTs: Presenting New Ways to Consume Music with Jesse Kirshbaum, Dayo Adeosun, Sidney Swift, Adrian Swish, Nfthypeman Arghtee
Billed as, “the next evolution of the world’s most popular instrument”, PianoVision is an app designed to “accelerate your piano learning using Passthrough AR and hand tracking”.
Armani White is bringing his energy from the Internet to the airwaves with his latest single "Diamond Dallas." The Philly native, who recently signed a deal with Def Jam, is best known for taking over the summer with his breakout smash hit, "Billie Eilish." (HotNewHipHop)
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!