As the dog days of August race to an end, I’m blown away by how much has changed. Summer 2018 was packed with personal growth, eye-opening adventures, and lots of extended hours. I get the feeling that we’re all collectively bringing the music business back to its glory days.But you don’t only see growth in the backend metrics. You can literally hear it. 20,000 new songs appear on Spotify weekly, music companies are eyeing IPOs (Sonos went public last week!), and I hear more and more about the potential for music blockchain and music-partnered branding to turn the market on its head.In my bones I feel opportunity bubbling. The live space is booming, musicians are in demand for exciting campaign launches, and I now have friends blowing up my phone asking how to transition into a career in music. Think about that. Five years ago it was a dinosaur treading water.One last, wild weekend at Billboard Hot 100 followed by the VMA’s NYC extravaganza should do it for me this summer. I’ll be taking the rest of the month off from scouring the trades and dissecting the dailies. Next stop: Martha’s Vineyard. After that, maybe Burning Man? Maybe. I always opt out right about this time of year. I’m open to more testimonials if any evangelists are in the congregation...One Love,P.S. Tonight, we bring back our hit web series, CRWN, with the Queen herself, Nicki Minaj. Peep the livestream on Tidal at 9PM EST and look for the full and edited episodes next week. This is our first livestream of the show and you never know what knowledge Nicki will drop, especially with Elliott Wilson manning the interview decks. The taping takes place in NYC, so hit me if you want to attend.P.P.S. The beautiful thing about the playlist generation is the ease of editing. I’ve updated Nue’s Songs Of The Summer with an August Deluxe Edition featuring 10 new bangers. Let me know what you think!
BEATS
memBrain: The STORM Report August 2018The 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)
Music Biz Slams Citi Report on Industry & Artist Revenue as 'Inconsistent,' 'Inaccurate': AnalysisInvestors are become increasingly interested in music, as Spotify experiences surprising stability on the New York Stock Exchange and the wider recorded-music business basks in what is expected to be its fourth consecutive year of growth in 2018. But as analysts race to meet investor demand for music-industry knowhow, direct input and perspectives from the industry itself are often left out, leading to potential data inaccuracies and misunderstandings. (Cherie Hu – Billboard)
'Urban Music' Under Fire As Senior Industry Execs Voice Unease Over Widely-Used TermLondon-based Sonia Diwan – lawyer to some of British hip-hop’s most talked-about emerging talents at Sound Advice LLP – said: “[This music is now] pop, popular, music as far as I’m concerned. Labeling it ‘urban’ is a complete misnomer. (Tim Ingham – MBW)
How Musicians Make Money — Or Don’t at All — in 2018Copyright — ownership of songs and albums as creative works — is a riotous knot of rules and processes in the music industry, with the players much more numerous and entangled than the ordinary fan might think. But between Congress mulling over the much-anticipated Music Modernization Act, plagiarism battles between major songwriters raging and Wall Street scrutinizing Spotify’s lack of profitability as a public company, it’s helpful to have at least a basic understanding of music’s U.S. financial system in order to ponder its future. (Amy X. Wang – RollingStone)
Video: How MTV Changed Advertising ForeverWhen MTV launched in the 1980s, it was perfectly poised to revolutionize the music industry. However, its impact would extend far beyond just that. MTV offered brands unprecedented access to a desirable and profitable segment of consumers: those who influence and are heavily influenced by popular culture. In the early 2000s, when MTV controversially throttled back its airing of music videos in exchange for reality shows, the opportunity for a strategic partnership between brands and artists was born. (Nick Gardner – Adweek)
Musical.ly Investor Bets on Internet Radio with $17M Deal for Korea’s Spoon RadioOne of the early backers of Musical.ly, the short video app that was acquired for $1 billion, is making a major bet that internet radio is one of the next big trends in media. (Jon Russell – TechCrunch)
SoundBetter Passes $10 Million Paid To Musicians, ProducersSoundBetter, a marketplace for music production talent, announced that it has delivered over $10 million to artists and producers on the platform. "Most of that in the past 18 months," according to Shachar Gilad, SoundBetter Founder and CEO. (Hypebot)
SoundCloud is relaunching a popular feature - comments from its mobile apps - alongside a new user experience in iOS and Android. It's a feature that every music service should have, and is missing from Spotify and Apple Music. (Hypebot)
From Museums To Cemeteries, In Praise Of Non-Traditional Music VenuesOf the components that make up a concert experience, the “where” is generally second to the “who.” For the right band, it doesn’t really matter where the concert takes place. Radiohead will probably rule in an arena or at a festival or at a water treatment facility. If Kanye West told fans to go to their town’s seediest gas station to see an intimate performance, there would be a line down the block. Depending on the level of fandom, artists can transcend the location, with the space just a footnote to the unforgettable performance witnessed. (Philip Cosores – Uproxx)
'Hipster Kryptonite': Will CDs Ever Have a Resurgence?Compact discs don’t have the romance of vinyl – but as a generation of tastemakers reconnect with their youth, that could be about to change. (Jumi Akinfenwa – The Guardian)
BYTES
On this episode of the Music Industry Blueprint, Rick interviews Michael Warner, the founder, and curator of Work Hard Playlist Hard. Michael has been in the music industry for more than 15 years and he has made his site in order to help new artists get more exposure through many popular playlists. Tune in to learn about his business, the submission process on the site, the best ways to improve yourself as an up-and-coming artist, and much more.
An immersive experience into Burning Man - the annual social experiment, post-apocalyptic desert world full of dreamers, rebels, and artists. Ignite is a cinematic journey into the temporary city fueled by self-expression, inclusion, and collaboration. Follow participants as they explore the unpredictable and magical Black Rock City, built and dismantled by over 70,000+ strangers all within a period of one week.
A free pop culture trivia gameshow you play on your phone. Real prizes, real fun and a real live Jonas brother.
Listen to the deluxe end of summer edition our summer list playlist of bangers and new heat from Summer 2018. Kick back, relax, and enjoy the rest of the season with Nue’s “Songs of the Summer.”
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!