I spent the weekend outside Bethel, home of the original Woodstock, at Silent G Farms, which got me thinking about how wild the unraveling of Woodstock 50 is.The Woodstock 50 announcement came out of nowhere. It was a great headline that got immediate traction. It cut through the noise and became one of the most talked about festivals of the summer. It appeared to have it all: a power-packed lineup, rumors of epic experiences, and the all-important nostalgia factor.It has been reported that Michael Lang, one of the original producers of Woodstock in 1969, spent over $32 million on talent for this show. He wanted it to feel both classic and modern. But upon closer inspection, the red flags were there along the way. The New York Times breaks it down well.It’s dreamers like Lang who keep artists, fans, and consumers enthralled. But in the words of Radiohead, who performed at the infamous Woodstock ‘99, “ambition makes you look pretty ugly.” The first three Woodstocks were not profitable yet he reached for a fourth.Woodstock 50 is also the story of a former player returning to a changed game. Since the Woodstock debacle in 1999 — which ended with riots and reports of sexual assault — festivals have become an intensely competitive market with little room for error or miscalculation. Agents aren’t going to take a risk in this day and age, even for a name brand like Woodstock. They only care about their artists being overpaid, or at least paid in full.If the cancellation has dashed your hopes of a music-themed upstate trip, the aforementioned Silent G Farms is well worth consideration. It’s a magical abode fully equipped with a music studio, yoga studio, stage, lights, sauna, spring water pond, hot tub, and more. It accommodates 15+ people and is still available Labor Day Weekend on Airbnb. Click for fresh air and peace of mind!
Oh and one more thing, excited to announce our next CRWN with Rick Ross in NYC going down this Monday, 8/12! We have a few select tickets, message me if you want to come or RSVP to TIDAL.com/CRWN. If you can’t make it, be sure to steam it on Tidal!
BEATS
Nas-Backed Pharmacy Start-Up Bought By Amazon For $1 Billion Last Thursday (June 28), Amazon announced a $1 billion acquisition of an online pharmacy startup named PillPack. The news makes a handful of investors in the company very rich, including none other than Nas. (XXL Mag)
Tencent In Talks To Buy 10% Of Universal From Vivendi For $3.3 BillionChinese internet giant Tencent is set to buy a 10% stake in the Universal Music Group (UMG), which is owned by French media conglomerate Vivendi.Universal is the largest music group in the world, with artists such as Taylor Swift, Queen, Rihanna, and Jay Z. Hits from the Universal's library have been available on Tencent's music streaming service following a 2017 deal between the groups. (Forbes)
Spotify Is Adding "Social Listening" to Let Friends Listen to Music SimultaneouslyAside from its massive library of music, playlists and recommendations, one of Spotify‘s other strengths is its social dimension. The music streaming app has long had the capabilities for friends to share music with each other through direct links on various messengers, and allows friends to follow each other’s playlists or even contribute to and build one together. (Hype Beast)
SoundCloud Taps NLE Choppa to Kick off Its Mobile Editing LaunchSoundCloud is now touting total mobile creativity, with iOS-based creators given the ability to update their profiles while on the go. Previously, profile changes needed to be done using a desktop (and, it should be noted, that’s still the case for Android-based creators). (Digital Music News)
’Masters Are Owned By The Artist’: Chance The Rapper Manager Pat Corconan Inks ‘Unprecedented’ Deal With Warner Records For 99 NeighborsFirst, in November last year, we had Taylor Swift inking a global deal with Republic Records / Universal Music Group – an agreement under which she appears likely to license her music rights to UMG on a relatively short-term basis. “It’s incredibly exciting to know that I’ll own all of my masters from now on,” said Swift on Instagram when announcing that agreement. “It’s really important to me to see eye to eye with a label regarding the future of our industry.” (Music Business Worldwide)
Instagram Stories Analytics: The Metrics You Need to KnowIf you’re not already investing in creating quality content for this facet of one of the world’s most popular apps, you’re missing out. Instagram stories can drive traffic to important websites, help you form stronger bonds with your fans, and provide you with metrics that give you insights into who is tuning in and what they like. (Symphonic Distribution)
Sound Off: Start-Ups Innovate The Music LandscapeAs explored in Cassandra’s Generations Report, music is important to Ys and Zs, who both rank it their #1 passion point ahead of all other forms of entertainment. Acknowledging this, startups are focusing their attention on innovating the music vertical, changing not only the way music is made, but how it’s enjoyed by both its creators and listeners. (Cassandra)
Drake Strikes Creative Partnership with SiriusXM, PandoraSatellite broadcaster SiriusXM announced that it has signed a wide-ranging creative partnership with Canadian rap legend Drake. The partnership includes a branded SiriusXM station that will feature a playlist of curated music from Drake, as well as special collaborations with other artists. (Hypebot)
Ed Sheeran’s Divide Tour Is Officially the Highest-Grossing Concert Tour of All Time, Beating Out U2’s 360 TourAccording to the concert tracking company, Ed Sheeran’s Divide Tour crossed $736.7 million in estimated gross revenues today (Friday, August 2nd) with its stop in Hannover, Germany. That beats U2’s all-time record of $735.4 million, set on July 30th, 2011. (Digital Music News)
How TikTok Became The Music Discovery Platform For The Smartphone GenerationJalee Baumann, 15, is obsessed with Mariah Carey’s, “Obsessed.”The song was released in 2009 and wasn’t a terribly big hit compared to the singer’s other works. It peaked on the Billboard 100 at No. 7. (CNBC)
SiriusXM Flying High With Pandora, New PartnershipsAs a stream of financial results shows cord cutting shaving subscribers from tradition video, audio giant SiriusXM logged a solid jump in new subs plus fresh ad revenue and star deals — from a comedy channel with Netflix to a partnership with Drake — in its first full quarter owning Pandora Media. (Forbes)
Rock Stars Form Lobbying Group to Counter Tech Giants’ PowerMusic stars Dave Matthews, Anderson .Paak and Maren Morris have teamed with some of the industry’s top power brokers to form a new lobbying group that will represent artists in Washington and state capitals across the U.S. (Bloomberg)
How Did YouTube Become The Most Popular Music Streaming Site? By Sounding Like The World Itself.Here’s when we’ll know the future came and went: Nostalgic songs about listening to the radio will be long dead, and in their place, romantics will sing about the sublime pleasures of listening to music on YouTube. (Washington Post)
BYTES
Ronson is a music producer who’s made massive hits with Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Amy Winehouse, and Miley Cyrus. How does he make music? We dig into his musical philosophies and his stories about making music.
The season finale of Euphoria aired tonight on HBO, and although it left a huge cliffhanger for fans, the gritty series shared an updated version of Labrinth‘s single “All For Us” featuring Zendaya.
SoundHound makes it simple to identify music playing around you. Whether you’re in the car or out and about — open the app, hit the big orange SoundHound button, let your phone listen for a few seconds, and they’ll tell you exactly what’s playing.
Red Hearse have shared “Everybody Wants You,” an emotional track off the group’s upcoming self-titled debut album. On the pop-tinged ballad, the band, the new trio of Bleachers frontman Jack Antonoff, singer Sam Dew and producer Sounwave, lament a hard-to-reach lover.
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!