I’ve been away for a while. I took some time off from the newsletter to think and reflect.The world has changed and is never going back to what it once was. We must remind ourselves that with great change comes great opportunity.In 2009, the economic crisis paved the way for the gig economy that defined the following decade, with companies like AirBnB, Uber, Spotify emerging victorious. Their successes, as well as the Web 2.0 x Social Media boom, set the stage for a D2C world of brands being able to interact with and target consumers in groundbreaking ways. The music business is now starting to organize that way, too.I’ve been thinking a lot about what’s next. How will climate change impact culture and the world? Will this watershed race relations moments yield necessary societal changes? Is the pandemic an isolated incident or merely our first brush with an uncertain new health landscape? How will 2020 look in the history books?What’s working right now is virtual connection. The 2020 “Zoom boom” has changed the face of meetings and travel forever. It’s phenomenal technology and it’s very user-friendly. It transforms conversations and events. But, in my opinion, it doesn’t resonate the same way. Communities like Clubhouse, on the other hand, have allowed people to hang out together and discuss ideas without having to be physically present. It’s currently the best place to network online, but that could all change again as it opens up to the public.As for broadcasting, IG Live reigns supreme. It’s real, raw, and has changed the face of interview shows. Now everyone can moonlight as an interviewer. As long as you stay consistent, you can gain traction.It’s also clear that the music business is going to undergo the reconfiguration it so desperately needs. The pandemic has sobered the industry up, forcing artists to think critically about their situations. With no tour money coming in, it’s scary for the live ecosystem. Artists have an opportunity to look at the bigger picture and call out unfair practices. There are ways that the industry code must be re-written. It’s imperative that we design new models.So where will the big opportunities be? Are we all going to be virtual journalists and media channels? A.I. versions of ourselves? To some extent, yes.This election will set the tone, direction, and pace of change. I’ve got hope, vision, and my finger on the pulse. Nue and the Beats & Bytes community is down to do its part!Keep it locked for a slate of virtual events around the election and rest of 2020 that will bring together the brightest minds in music, gaming, tech, and brand marketing. Beats & Bytes and CRWN will also be back in your feeds for Q4!So get involved. Stay connected. And let’s build these 2020’s into a decade of positivity, opportunity, and change.
BEATS
How Cameo Blew Up During QuarantineHere is something fascinating, and slightly addictive, about strolling the virtual aisles of Cameo, weighing your options. The platform now has about forty thousand talents on its roster, with offerings for every cultural niche. For the gossip-loving older millennial, you might book Perez Hilton, the blogger who became infamous in the early two-thousands for posting crudely scribbled-on paparazzi pictures of celebrities. (New Yorker)
Tyler, the Creator, ASAP Rocky, and Iggy Pop Star in Harmony Korine's New Gucci AdSpring Breakers auteur Harmony Korine is back in the director's chair for Gucci.For his latest collaboration with the luxury brand, Korine—whose most recent feature The Beach Bum arrived last year—assembled a trio of fashion-conscious music icons: Tyler, the Creator, ASAP Rocky, and Iggy Pop. Also featured, of course, is Iggy's parrot Biggy Pop. (Complex)
Triller Launches Crosshype, A First Of Its Kind Brand Growth Program Combining A CPM Model With Influencers And User Generated Content, Forever Changing Brand MarketingTriller, the only app to ever hit number 1 in 50 countries simultaneously and one of the fastest growing apps in the world, has developed an innovative marketing media product which it believes will forever change the way brands buy marketing, only available on Triller. (Business Insider)
Kanye Speaks: West’s Plan to 'Re-Think' the Music IndustryFor a little over a week, Kanye West has waged a one-man war against the music industry as we know it. At a time when the value of both recorded music and publishing rights are skyrocketing and the Black Lives Matter protests are shining a light on the inequities that African-American artists face in the music business. (Billboard)
Zebra IQ's 2020 State of Gen Z Report.pdf Before continuing, it is important to note that Black creators are the epicenter of culture. Throughout this report, we do out best to call out the ways in which Gen Z culture has been directly influence by Black Culuture. At Zebra, we strive to recognize and amplify the voices of Black creatives. (Zebra)
2020 State Of The Industry Survey Results: A Transformational MomentThe live business is still recovering. We strategize and re-strategize to keep our businesses afloat with sands shifting and ever-changing forecasts. There are good reasons why the word “pivot” has become this year’s most pervasive term: changing course in these challenging times can save businesses and jobs, unlock new revenue streams and create opportunities. (Pollstar)
Are Kanye West’s Ideas About the Music Industry Really That Unthinkable? Label Execs Weigh InWhile Kanye West’s recent Twitter binges, in which he calls for a drastic overhaul of recording contracts, commanded the music industry’s attention, there was a difference in tone for the missives posted Sept. 19-21 to the more volatile ones of a few days earlier. (Variety)
Soul and Energy: Timbaland and Swizz Beatz on VerzuzAs two of hip-hop’s most prolific producers, Swizz Beatz and Timbaland have helmed hits for the likes of Kanye West, Beyoncé, Aaliyah, DMX and, of course, Jay-Z, and have both more than earned their coveted “superproducer” status. They share rarefied air. “It was always friendly competition,” says Timbaland. Laughs Swizz, “Very high competition.” (Playboy)
Rihanna Gives A Sneak Peek At Her Next Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 2 On AmazonRihanna just keeps raising the bar. On Thursday, the beauty mogul took to her Instagram to announce the return of her annual Savage X Fenty show. The extraordinary fashion experience will celebrate the bold and fearless Fall 2020 collection and will feature a combination of models, actors and dancers. (Essence)
What You Can Learn From the McDonald’s Travis Scott Partnership Earlier this month, McDonald’s launched a promotion with Houston-based rapper Travis Scott by a naming a meal after him, the first deal of its kind in nearly three decades. The last time a celebrity had a meal named after them, it was NBA superstar Michael Jordan during the height of the Chicago Bulls hype in 1992. (Adweek)
Announcing SXSW Online: A Digital Experience from March 16–20, 2021 SXSW is launching SXSW Online as part of our 2021 offerings. The digital experience will feature conference keynotes and sessions, screenings, showcases, networking, and exhibitions. The dates for SXSW EDU Online are March 9 – March 11, 2021 and SXSW Online will take place March 16 – March 20, 2021. (SXSW)
SoundCloud Explains Why Fashion is Their Next FrontierFor over a decade, SoundCloud has been a proving ground for up-and-coming artists looking to make it big in the music industry. From musicians like Post Malone and Kehlani to Billie Eilish and Lil Uzi Vert, the platform has been crucial for artists and fans alike looking to discover new music. (High Snobiety)
Reebok Integrates Spotify Playlists Into Its Latest Sneaker LineupSpotify and Reebok recently unveiled the unique agreement, which encompasses three pairs of shoes designed based upon the characteristics of Houston, Atlanta, and New York City. Conceived by Reebok Senior Footwear Designer Mike Hesterberg and Product Manager Matt Hagerty, the sneakers specifically aim to highlight the “iconic elements that make each city unique,” per Reebok’s formal announcement message. (Digital Music News)
Billboard Parent Company MRC Teams With Penske Media for Publishing and Content VenturesBillboard and The Hollywood Reporter parent company MRC and Penske Media Corp. on Wednesday announced a deal to create two joint ventures in publishing and content, with both companies holding significant ownership. (Billboard)
Applied Science #4: Record Deal SimulatorLast Thursday, Kanye West shared his record deals on Twitter, individually tweeting the 113 pages that have molded and governed his recording career. This document dump came in the midst of Kanye’s two week crusade to free himself from his record deal with Universal Music Group-owned Def Jam and his publishing deal with Sony ATV. (Applied Science)
Did The $2 Million Hip-Hop Auction At Sotheby's Do The Culture Justice? Sotheby’s first-ever hip-hop auction, a curated collection of 119 iconic pieces to honor the genre’s impact on art and culture over the past 50 years, closed Tuesday with over $2 million in sales. With the intention of showcasing the power of hip-hop through artifacts over time, the collection pulled primarily from innovators who birthed the culture in the Bronx, New York, capturing key genre players from the 1970s all the way through the present day. (Forbes)
Bad Bunny's Glow-In-The-Dark Crocs Went On Sale - And Promptly Sold OutYour favorite pair of rubber clogs that you secretly love but are ashamed to rock in public got a fancy makeover thanks to a collaboration with Latin trap artist Bad Bunny.But if you want to buy them, you're out of luck. The limited edition pair of Crocs quickly sold out on Tuesday.Crocs teamed up with "lifelong fan" Bad Bunny for a white pair of Crocs with glow-in-the-dark Jibbitz charms on top. (CNN)
Barefoot’s Black Eyed Peas Partnership Brings an AR Experience to Wine Lovers Barefoot is combining music and augmented reality for its latest strategy to reach consumers, with help from the Black Eyed Peas. The wine and bubbly brand has partnered with the pop-rap group for Band Together, a campaign inviting fans to download a custom AR app to activate an animated remix of the group’s new song “Vida Loca” and spur donations to two national nonprofits. (Adweek)
BYTES
You might not know Trevor McFedries yet, but if you're on Instagram, you've probably met Miquela. She has millions of followers, hit singles and lucrative contracts with brands. But she’s not actually real. Miquela’s the creation of Trevor’s stealthy creative media studio Brud, and the delicate balance they strike between artificial and authentic is a master class for any scaling company.
After trending worldwide on Twitter at No. 1 for the past few days, Bad Bunny lived up to the hype of his first live concert in this era of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. He elevated the art of the virtual concert to new heights on top of a trailer driving around New York City.
Over the past half-decade, popular games (Pokemon GO) and social media apps (Snapchat, Instagram) have brought augmented reality to mainstream audiences through location-based gaming and filters. With TikTok gaining major traction with younger demographics over the past two years, the duet has become a staple in the social media diet of “digital natives” worldwide. 1RIC CEO and Jadu Founder Asad J. Malik explained that Jadu is meant to evolve this language of creative interaction.
After School itself leaves much in keeping with Martinez’s established sonic profile – a cornucopia of melodic, unconventional, playful tones from instruments and sources that fall well outside the current guitar and laser synthesizer driven pop-paradigm (Emphatic water drips, rolling glass, the scribbling of a pen and flipping of pages are just some of After School’s intriguing facets of sound design). (American Songwriter)
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!