I’m not sure if you read the trades this past week, but I’ve accepted a position as the CMO of music livestreaming platform, Dreamstage. Considering how passionate I am about the cross-section of live music and online experiences, it’s a great fit.My brother Alex will continue to lead Nue Agency as he always has. Nobody knows the company or the space better and I’m eager to see the new heights we can reach.Music livestreaming is a thrilling new frontier. First and foremost, I believe a livestream should be more than just…a live stream. I’m not talking about production value — we all know what a Beyonce performance on Netflix looks like. I’m talking about experience value.Just 18 months ago, the world’s biggest concert promoters suspended their tours as the pandemic swept the globe. The livestreaming industry caught momentum in the ensuing months as artists and their teams turned to “virtual concerts” to connect with fan bases and generate new kinds of revenue.Livestream offerings have slowed slightly since the world began opening back up, but Dreamstage has a bigger picture vision beyond the trends. According to MCR’s 2021 Music Report, only 5% of the general US population has attended a virtual concert in the past year. That leaves massive room for growth in this sector.As my readers know, I love a live show as much as anyone. That’s how I built my business. I was at a festival while drafting this! But the livestream space is a cultural development and needs to be treated as such. Livestreams do not compete with the live music business. They represent a newly unearthed world of fandom and music discovery. They are an enhancement to an artist's live brand strategy. It’s a new business model with tremendous upside for artist and fan alike.Here are five reasons I’m excited about the online experience space:Intimacy & Interactivity - There’s something special about watching a show from the comfort of your own home; about watching with family and friends; about ordering in and getting cozy. To boot, the artist access is unlike anything we’ve experienced before. You can be inside the green room, backstage, or in the front row. Fans now shape the way artists and promoters think about live performance.Creativity & Innovation - This is a new medium with massive world-building potential. Your dream show experience now goes beyond the traditional live music venue or festival. There are remarkable, untapped storytelling opportunities at the intersection of physical and digital.Artist Marketing & Promotion - These experiences allow scale beyond the physical event. New marketing tactics and enhanced reach mean heightened awareness. When timed right, hard ticket livestreaming not only brings in additional revenue, it helps sell in-person tickets and amplify tentpole announcements such as new releases.Community - Online communities are now synonymous with communities. Music lovers are finding new ways to find each other every day. It’s our job to make online shows the next frontier of connectivity. I predict people will begin streaming the shows they attend in order to access interactive features like chat and to build powerful new communities that blur the lines between online and IRL.Monetization - Livestreaming flows beautifully into the exploding trends of interactive shopping, Web3, crypto, and the blockchain. Merch conversions are through the roof with livestream attendees and there’s so much room for brands to get involved. At scale, these new types of sales partnerships will have a huge impact on everyone’s revenue.I joined Dreamstage because of their vision. We’re a diverse set of music lovers and tech enthusiasts with a deep history of artist marketing at labels, agencies, venues and brands. We’re finetuning our already best-in-class technology and have more announcements in the works. On top of that, we’re looking to build a kick ass sales team that understands how to bridge the gap between live music, technology, and brands.Follow Dreamstage on socials for loads of news and show announcements.Twitter: @dreamstageliveInstagram: @dreamstageliveLinkedIn: @dreamstage
BEATS
Welcome To The New Record Business: Warner Music Group Is Now Generating Over $270M From Tiktok, Peloton, Facebook And Other ‘Alternative’ Platforms AnnuallyToday (September 23), Warner Music Group boss Steve Cooper revealed a stunning stat about this second, less talked-about area of the business – a stat that, according to MBW’s calculations, suggests this is a sector already worth a billion dollars in annual revenue for the global music rights industry. (Music Business Worldwide)
CAA Leaders, ICM Partners Chief on What’s Next for the Agencies After Blockbuster DealThe talks that led to CAA acquiring ICM Partners came together in secret over a short period of time — so much so that longtime insiders at both agencies learned of the deal moments before the news was formally announced on Monday. (Variety)
Warner Music Group And Twitch Ink ‘First-Of-Its-Kind’ PartnershipThe agreement with Warner Music Group’s recorded music business will see the launch of WMG artist channels, including Warner Records stars Bella Poarch and Saweetie and Atlantic Records’ viral breakout singer/producer Sueco, featuring exclusive content and behind-the-scenes material. (Music Business Worldwide)
After ‘Verzuz’ Series Success, Timbaland Creates BeatclubWhile his uber-successful “Verzuz” series with Swizz Beatz remains popular, Timbaland steps into a new venture called Beatclub, an online beat-selling marketplace. It’s a digital platform for music makers to connect with musicians, producers, songwriters, music publishers and record labels. (AP News)
Spotify Kicks Off Campaign to Win More AdvertisersSpotify Technology SA began its first global brand campaign designed to court marketers as the audiostreaming giant tries to expand the revenue it collects from advertising. (WSJ)
Eminem Launches Mom’s SpaghettiEminem and his manager, Paul Rosenberg, partnered with Union Joints Restaurant Group—which worked on the original pop-up in 2017— to launch Mom’s Spaghetti, located in downtown Detroit. Debuting on 9/29, the eatery is in the newly opened Union Assembly on Woodward Avenue. (Hits Daily Double)
Billie Eilish Beat Saber Music Pack Launches on Oculus Quest 2, Rift PlatformsA trailer for the Beat Saber pack shows headset-wearing VR users moving to Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever.” After the choreographed dance, the users are transported through a portal with lightsabers as they crush incoming blocks coming their way. (Variety)
Livestreaming And The Horseless Carriage SyndromeLivestreaming is a concert without an audience in proximity to the musicians. Marshall McLuhan, in his seminal Understanding Media, argued that humans share an ineptitude in understanding the nature and the effects of new technologies. We cannot help but view these technologies as a new form of an old technology we’ve become accustomed to. (Music Tech Future)
Spotify Culture Next 2021 Reveals the Musical Trends in Gen Z and MillenialThere are some similarities between millennials and Generation Zs that we discovered in Spotify’s research. Both generations are advocating for a more diverse and inclusive culture. Millennials and Gen Zs agreed that as a culture, we’re more open to hearing from different perspectives than we’ve ever been: In the past year, 53% said they sought out more content from more diverse creators and podcasts. (The Groove Cartel)
Streaming and Radio Listening Habits for 2021 ReportGen Z is the generation that has embraced music streaming the most, with nearly 60% saying they stream music daily. It’s an important look at how each generation is consuming audio content and which platform they prefer. (Digital Music News)
Snoop Dogg Is Selling 1,000 NFT Passes for Private Ethereum Metaverse PartyEarlier this week, rapper and entertainer Snoop Dogg dropped a bombshell, revealing that he’s the man behind Cozomo de’ Medici, a crypto Twitter personality and serious NFT collector with an Ethereum wallet filled with collectibles valued above $17 million. Now he’s diving headfirst into the crypto metaverse. (Decrypt)
‘Middle Class’ Artists Need Niche, Not ScaleAll is not well in the creator community, as many artists and songwriters continue to be unhappy with streaming income. However, the origin of so much of their ills, even if they do not yet realise it, is the mechanics of streaming itself rather than any party. (Midia Research)
Justin Timberlake and Lizzo Among the Investors In Hydrow, a Company That Makes a $2,300 Rowing MachineCEO Bruce Smith says a portion of the funding will go to making sure the company has enough product to meet holiday demands. The machines sell for $2,300, but Hydrow offers on-demand fitness classes and rowing instruction with a monthly subscription fee. (Digital Music News)
Billie Eilish And Nike Join Forces On New Vegan Air JordansBillie Eilish is stepping back into the spotlight—this time, with a fresh pair of kicks: The singer announced Tuesday that she will be releasing Air Jordan 15 and Air Jordan 1 KO styles in collaboration with Nike. (Forbes)
Rapper Macklemore Dives Into World of Golf: Opens Store, Starts Clothing LineSeattle rapper Macklemore (aka Ben Haggerty) cut the proverbial ribbon on a new 14,000-square-foot space for his new golf apparel clothing brand, Bogey Boys—retail store, putting green and basement thrift shops (appropriate from the “Thrift Shop” emcee).
300 Entertainment’s Kevin Liles Leads $4 Million Fund for Canadian Cannabis Brand Burb’s Expansion300 Entertainment CEO/founder Kevin Liles is making a sizable investment in Vancouver-based cannabis lifestyle company Burb as it closes a $4 million Series A funding round led by Connecticut-based private equity group KarpReilly. (Variety)
Megan Thee Stallion is the Star of Nike's Latest Campaign SpotA successful tactic that Nike (NYSE:NKE -1.85%) uses to drive energy behind its brand is through collaborations and partnerships with some of the biggest cultural icons of our time, especially those who are moving the needle in the world of music. (Hypebeast)
BYTES
Dmitri Vietze gets super sci-fi with Thomas Hesse of Dreamstage and Seth Miller of Rapchat, two Star sponsors of the 2021 Music Tectonics Conference. Thomas and Seth tackle the latest music industry trends and look ahead to the future, from music licensing to live streaming. Discover how Dreamstage is creating opportunities for artists to monetize livestreams and fans to engage with their favorite artists in new and exciting ways.
The hugely influential hip-hop group – Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel – announced that they would reunite for a 2021 world tour celebrating 25 years of their classic 1996 record ‘The Score’. I was there. This night was legendary. Check out their performance.
Discord is teaming up with YouTube to integrate a new feature that allows users to play YouTube videos within the discord app. The new tool called, ‘Watch Together,’ is expected to be available for use near the end of October.
Remi Wolf has shared two new tracks from her forthcoming debut album – listen to ‘Anthony Kiedis’ and ‘Front Tooth’ below. The LA-based singer’s debut album ‘Juno’ is set to be released on October 15 via EMI/Island.
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!