Never before has it been such an exciting time to be a creator. With so many platforms starving for content, creators are in the driver seat. They have the ability to control who they want to work with and when. Everyone now must pander to the creator.In a world where 50K songs are being uploaded daily to Spotify (and even more to YouTube), the rules have changed. Content is less about quality and more about cadence, consistency, and audience traction. The goal is to stay on top of the social graph. There are more platforms, options, and tools available than ever; and there’s a whole ecosystem built around supporting this new economy. From financial tools like HiFi, to marketing and distribution platforms like Symphonic, it’s wonderful to see how an artist can build a massive brand from their bedroom. This puts a LOT of pressure on creators, though. Instagram is coaching its top performers to take advantage of their algorithm, encouraging 2 to 3 static posts a day (!!) and 11 to 13 stories. That’s a big ask. Spotify head, Daniel Ek, recently said something similar: “musicians need to get used to creating and releasing more music.” Unlimited output has resulted in boom times for the labels, too. UMG went public yesterday and is straight up soaring. Warner’s stock followed suit, making both companies billions of dollars in one day. Thanks, artists ;)The question used to be, “What’s more important? Distribution or content?” But it’s clear as day now: content will king you, and creators are wearing the crowns.
BEATS
Thanks Universal! Warner Music Group Just Got $1.9BM More Valuable After UMG ListingUniversal Music Group has completed its first full day of trading on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange – and it was a big one. The world’s biggest rights-holder listed on the Euronext in Amsterdam this morning, opening with a €25.25 ($29.63) share price, giving the company a valuation of €46.3 billion or $54.3 billion. (Music Business Worldwide)
Forget NFTs, Drake Invests in Dave’s Hot Chicken Chain“I tried the food and it was amazing. After meeting the founders and hearing their story, I jumped at the opportunity to invest,” Drake says in a statement. The Canadian rapper is taking a minority stake in the Dave’s Hot Chicken chain, which has 22 locations – mostly in California. (Digital Music News)
Audius Aims to Be the Web 3.0 Solution to Music StreamingAudius, a blockchain-based streaming platform, just raised $5 million in a strategic investment round from Nas, Pusha T, The Chainsmokers, Katy Perry, and more. The Web3 streaming provider. In recent years, several platforms have aimed to improve how artists are compensated in the streaming era. Audius is tailor-made for the Web 3.0 era of the internet. (Trapital)
With Over $5M Investment To Date, Visionary Media Group Wants To Create ‘Revolutionary Experiences For Top-Tier Artists’Nashville-based media and technology company Visionary Media Group launched earlier this year with, what it says, is a “mission is to illuminate innovative American stories through the power of connected music, media, and technology”. (Music Business Worldwide)
Quality Control Music, Empire, And Top Dawg Entertainment Enter Investment & Partnership With Social Platform RiffIf you have yet to tap into it, social platform Riff may need to be on your radar. Three music powerhouses, Quality Control Music, Empire and Top Dawg Entertainment have invested and former a partnership with Riff. In addition, QC’s COO, Kevin “Coack K” Lee, will join Riff’s Board of Directors. (The Source)
The Future of Music is (Still) VinylVinyl record sales are rising — and it's younger music enthusiasts who are driving the trend. The big picture: Even though streaming services dominate music consumption, vinyl hasn't gone the way of CDs. (Axios)
Swedish House Mafia and IKEA Plan to Prioritize Music Creativity at HomeEDM powerhouse Swedish House Mafia is working with IKEA to elevate music and creativity in the homes of creators and music fans. The collection is set to launch in September 2022.
Katy Perry, Nas, and Jason Derulo Are Investing Big in a Spotify RivalWhen you play a song on major streaming platforms, money doesn’t just zoom straight into an artist’s pocket. But what if it did? That’s how payments are designed to work on Audius, a platform built on a blockchain — yes, the same technological network that NFTs run on. (Rolling Stone)
Gaming’s Freemium Model is Making Billions. For the Music Industry, it Offers Valuable Lessons.We’re heading into an exciting new period for the live music industry, emerging from the challenges brought on by COVID, with an intention to discover new ways to engage and monetise global audiences with live entertainment. (Simon Hosken, CFO of PUSH Live)
Doc and Roll: Why We’re Living In The Golden Age Of Music Documentariest has to be about much more than music,” Lana Wilson, director of Taylor Swift’s Miss Americana, says on what makes a successful documentary about a musician. “As I filmed and events unfolded, I realised people watching this film are not just seeing their favourite pop star; They’re seeing a model of how you can be a woman in this world and not be silenced.” (Independent)
Jay-Z’s NFT Feud Spotlights Legal Peril in Hot Investment TrendAs a young rapper, Jay-Z once teamed up with Damon Dash to sell CDs of his music out of a car in the Brooklyn projects. Today, the co-founders of Roc-A-Fella Records are embroiled in a legal fight involving one of the most cutting-edge investments: non-fungible tokens.
Timbaland’s Music Marketplace Beatclub To Join IBM Startup Incubator ProgramTimbaland and Gary Marella-founded beat marketplace Beatclub has been invited into the fourth cohort of the IBM Hyper Protect Accelerator, a mentorship program for startups offering data protection, privacy, and security solutions. (Music Business Worldwide)
Beatsource + Mixcloud Team Up So You Can Record & Share DJ Sets Online Sans TakedownsIt’s a well-known fact in the music industry that Mixcloud offers its own streaming platform, Mixcloud Live (first announced back in April 2020), that allows artists to legally livestream music and video without dealing with copyright take-downs. (DJ Tech Tools)
True Genius: How To Go From “The Future Of Journalism” To A Fire Sale In A Few Short YearsRemember Genius? The startup that started out decoding rap lyrics (and named Rap Genius) but then wanted to create a new layer on top of the entire internet and “annotate the world”? (Nieman Lab)
Sleep Fruits Music: ‘The Craziest Thing I’ve Ever Seen On Spotify’Apparently Spotify has a ‘King of Sleep Music’, although sadly that isn’t (yet) a job title for an employee curating white-noise and wave-sounds playlists for the streaming service. No, according to Rolling Stone, the reigning monarch of Spotify slumber-songs is an account called Sleep Fruits Music. “The craziest thing I’ve ever seen on Spotify,” as one interviewee put it. (Musically)
BYTES
Nilay Patel talks to Lindsey Lee Lugrin, the co-founder and CEO of a new platform called F**k You Pay Me, which is an all-time great company name. FYPM is an app for creators to review and compare brand deals: what brands are paying, what it’s like to work with them, and whether people would work with them again. It’s kind of like Glassdoor or Yelp for influencers.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture and Smithsonian Folkways launched their collection, Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap, however, it only included official song releases and tracks available on streaming platforms.
Ever heard of a Neobank? Neobanks are digital-only banks taking on traditional financial institutions but now there’s an app made for musicians specifically called Nerve.
The FIFA 22 soundtracks are OUT! This year’s 52 new tracks feature international superstar artists such as Swedish House Mafia, Glass Animals, and the talented new artist Caser Caan. Listen to the tracklists on Spotify, Deezer, and Apple Music.
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!