Fashion Week is in full gear and it’s always an inspiring time in the city. The fashionistas serve up sartorial sensations while brands flex experiential muscle to connect with consumers. A lot of events rely heavily on musicians, artists, and the broader creative culture, which makes for some of the year’s most dynamic days and nights. In a town like New York, that’s saying a lot.I love the intersection of stylistic trends with new marketing and sales techniques, and I’m a huge fan of the click-to-buy craze that a lot of streetwear brands are testing out. They build anticipation as they always have, but as soon as the line is shown (and the influencers post about it) it’s available. The real-time, direct-to-consumer endgame creates more opportunity for hype around the launch.Kith's show, one of the most talked about this week, used this tactic. You could cop their collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger immediately after the show. Kith has quickly become one of my favorite brands in the world. They’ve grown their platform exponentially and made their retail store a real draw. It’s like the Internet IRL, complete with a cereal and ice cream bar. They’re the kings of killer, out-of-the-box concepts like this, so it’s no surprise their Hilfiger show was a veritable who’s who of celebrities and influencers.Another brand that does a phenomenal job of tapping into culture is VFILES. Their shows are always edgy, youthful, and wild, and this year they went big at Barclays with a slew of performers and designers, all culminating in an appearance by the Queen Bee, Lil’ Kim!I can’t believe it’s only day three. It’s pretty much impossible to keep track of it all, especially with London & Milan fashion weeks also happening this month. I don’t know how you do it, fashion crowd. Don’t ever change but keep evolving.
BEATS
A New Spotify Initiative Makes the Big Record Labels Nervous Spotify is offering artists two advantages: a bigger financial cut and ownership of their recordings. The deals, furthermore, are not exclusive, leaving the artists free to license their songs to other streaming companies, like Apple Music and Amazon. (Ben Sisario – The New York Times)
The Tension Is Building Between Spotify and the Music IndustryThe fight is ratcheting up tensions between Spotify and its biggest suppliers: Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group, Sony Corp. and Warner Music Group. It also fits a pattern. Spotify routinely introduces or tests new features without much warning or agreement on compensation, industry executives say. In response, they’ve hindered Spotify’s expansion into new territories and moved to bolster ties with its biggest rivals. (Lucas Shaw – Bloomberg)
The Spotify EffectThe streaming era has transformed the way music—and money from music—is made, and cemented who holds most of the power. (April Glaser and Wil Oremus – Slate)
How TV Became the New Radio for Emerging Artists Consumers who are 13 and up no longer look to radio as a music discovery tool and instead take to digital services like YouTube and Spotify to find new artists. Digital streaming platforms have allowed new artists access to a wide range of consumers, but the downside is that it can be hard to distinguish their music from the thousands of songs released every day. This is where television comes in. (Emmanuel Maduakolam – Hypebeast)
YouTube is ‘The Main Way Consumers Aged 16-44 Discover Music’The report is bullish on YouTube’s scale. “With young consumers abandoning radio in favour of streaming, YouTube is the biggest winner among Gen Z and Millennials,” explained Midia in a blog post. “Penetration for YouTube music viewing peaks at 73% among 16–19 year olds in Brazil. But its reach is even wider: YouTube is the main way that all consumers aged 16 to 44 discover music.” (Musically)
From labels to streaming services to brands, they’re all saying the same things: hip-hop is the hottest independent music genre in India in 2018, and it’s only going to get bigger. (Musically)
How Travis Scott Cannibalized His Own Success to Promote "Astroworld""Astroworld" was backed by an impressive promotional strategy, but it inadvertently stalled the impact of "Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight" (Trapital)
How Much Does It Cost To Tour In 2018?It has been commonly acknowledge that touring is now how artists are making their money in today's music business, but hitting on the road brings with it a host of expenses. Here we break down the various costs of touring into three different tiers: basic, medium, and premium. (Hypebot)
The Story of ‘Mo Bamba’: How a SoundCloud Rap Track Goes ViralToday, a rap recorded in 20 minutes can go from internet obscurity to a Drake-approved club smash. The artists Sheck Wes, 16yrold and Take A Daytrip show us how they did it. (Joe Coscarelli – The New York Times)
Music to the Millennial’s EarsIf there is one predominant aesthetic trait that defines the millennial, it is their love for a good music playlist with a vibe that fits their mood. (Bhargav Prasad – The Hindu)
A Guide to TikTok for Anyone Who Isn’t a TeenThe app where Gen Z vies for 15 seconds of fame is not as incomprehensible as it might appear. (Heather Schwedel – Slate)
BYTES
Marc talks with Paul McCartney about, well, a lot: The Beatles and Stones rivalry that wasn’t, his current relationship with Ringo, the influence of Little Richard, The Who, The Beach Boys, how he needs to have an out-of-body experience to really examine the Beatles legacy, the reception of his solo work after the Beatles, recording Band on the Run in Nigeria, what messages are in his songs, which songs still make him emotional when he performs them, and what he brought to the table for his latest album, Egypt Station.
Elliot Wilson sat with the late Mac Miller in one of our most memorable CRWN sessions. In the first part of our chat, Malcom spoke on his album, GO:OD AM, going through depression, working with Miguel, and being a white rapper. In the second part, Mac talks religion, touring, avoiding risk of relapsing, current relationship and more.
The Shazam for album art is finally here: vinyl identification app Record Player connects the Google Cloud Vision API and the Spotify API so that users can snap a photo of a physical vinyl record and immediately stream the record on Spotify, eliminating the need for vinyl enthusiasts to search for a title in Spotify’s enormous platform.
AlunaGeorge returns with new single, ‘Superior Emotion’ (ft. Cautious Clay) + announce forthcoming ‘Champagne Eyes’ EP – out October 5th.
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!