We have the pleasure of working with The Impractical Jokers and their team. The Jokers are a special troupe. These friends from high school grew up in Staten Island and are living life in such a fun way. They write, produce, and star in their show, and constantly crack up everyone around them. The new season kicked off last week on truTV (now CBS) and is a ratings darling. The second episode airs tonight while they’re out on their arena tour selling out venues all around the world.Comedy has long been an overlooked element of culture marketing, which baffles me. I understand that a space known for pushing boundaries and skirting political correctness seems a little risky from a business standpoint, but is aligning with a rebellious musician that much safer? The ROI on a rockstar relationship always seems to soothe the nerves of brand managers and legal departments, so why shouldn’t the same be true of comedians?With bad news dominating every screen, everywhere, 24 hours a day, viewers are seeking out feel-good moments on TikTok and quick laughs from memes. Brands are beginning to understand our inherent need to LOL together and are slowly dipping their toes into this vertical.For marketers leaning into humorous creators, we recommend applying the same lens you would if music was your focus: find talented entertainers with a loyal fanbase who can make engaging content clean enough for network TV, and then collaboratively find credible ways to integrate them into your product. The Jokers are the archetype in my opinion, so if you’re interested in any of their properties and events, you know who to call.This week’s episode, airing at 10PM on truTV and TBS, features Post Malone hotboxing a stranger’s car. Let’s laugh together tonight!
BEATS
Why Pharrell Makes Sense For Louis VuittonIn case you missed it: LVMH just announced this afternoon that Pharrell Williams will be Louis Vuitton’s new Men’s Designer. (Sprezza)
McDonald’s Readies First-Ever Duo Meal with Cardi B and OffsetMcDonald’s has teamed with married rap superstars Cardi B and Offset for its first-ever celebrity duo meal, per a press release. Beginning on Valentine’s Day, the pair’s meal will be available to order from the chain. (Marketing Dive)
Doritos Triangle StudiosDoritos has launched a new experience in Decentraland to celebrate release of their new commercial featuring Jack Harlow and now the legendary triangle music instrument enjoying their new BBQ flavor - Sweet and Tangy. (Polygonal Mind)
This Rihanna NFT Sale Raises Pertinent QuestionsFans may have been excited when Rihanna opened the Super Bowl halftime show with her 2015 hit Bitch Better Have My Money. But perhaps no one was more ecstatic than the Swedish executives behind anotherblock, an NFT platform that sells stakes in future royalties of specific songs. (Music Business Worldwide)
Meet The Power Couple Redefining The Entertainment Landscape Within The Middle EastUnless you have been living under a rock for the past few weeks, you would have heard about the lavish spectacle that occurred at the Grand Reveal of Atlantis The Royal’s ultra-luxury resort in Dubai on January 21. (Forbes)
Why Super Bowl Halftime Performers Aren't PaidThis year’s Super Bowl will be watched by more than 200 million people globally, and the NFL will make hundreds of millions of dollars in one weekend. (Huddle Up)
Deezer CEO Jeronimo Folgueira: Five Big Ideas For The Future Of StreamingIn the latest edition of Music Week, the Spanish music executive gives an outspoken interview about the music industry and the streaming market, including some spiky comments on his rivals ("Spotify want to be all things audio... we have music at our heart"). (Music Week)
OOPS! 100,000 tracks a day are NOT uploaded to Spotify, Apple & Amazon MusicLate last year, the heads of UMG and Sony Music told the world that 100,000 tracks a day were being uploaded to music streaming services and that this glut of music was crowding out the good stuff (aka their releases) and diluting the royalty pool. (Hypebot)
Sonos CEO Says Amazon, Google Aren’t ‘Doing Anything Interesting’ In AudioDuring Sonos’ Q1 2023 earnings call, CEO Patrick Spence expressed the usual optimism about his company’s financial performance, sales momentum, and upcoming product roadmap. (The Verge)
David Guetta Replicated Eminem with an AI (But Won’t Release The Track)News that David Guetta’s latest track features Eminem may not raise an eyebrow: the latest in a long line of big-name collaborations, right? Erm… (Musically)
AI Music Startup WaveAI Launches A Tool For Human SongwritersWe wrote about WaveAI’s launch of a musical AI app called Alysia back in 2019, although more recently its focus has been on LyricStudio, software to help songwriters when they are coming up with lyrics. (Musically)
'Investing in the Artist Makes Me Feel More Involved In The Song'You might not have heard of an electronic music artist called Alan Walker, but he has a significant fanbase. On YouTube the video of one of his songs, Faded, has been played 3.5 billon times, and he has 42.9 million subscribers on the platform. (BBC)
A Visual Breakdown of Global Music ConsumptionTo maximize any chance of success in the music business, aspiring artists must gain an understanding of how music is consumed and how that is changing alongside technology. (Visual Capitalist)
A Night in the Club, Then Early to BedThe Before Midnight parties promise all the thrills of a hedonistic night out, but with a respectable finish time for older dance music fans. (NY TImes)
BYTES
As a seasoned marketer, Erika’s career prior to Adidas includes Playstation, Google, Uber and Paypal where she was at the forefront of launching brands and initiatives that have had a large impact in culture. Her current role at Adidas was one that she championed herself to create by showcasing the value of Adidas having a Web3 strategy.
There are a million ways to write a love song; how best can you ensure it connects with an audience? Correspondent David Pogue talks with 14-time Oscar-nominated songwriter Diane Warren and musicologist Nate Sloan to find out the key factors that go into creating a timeless song about a timeless emotion.
The new application will allow FWB members to connect with each other, read governance proposals and discover in-person events.
“Green Honda” is a joyously snarling shit-talk extravaganza. Riding a pounding new wave keyboard loop on the verses and some late-’90s alt-electronica action on the chorus, BENEE unloads half-rapped scathing lyrics along the lines of “All your friends are fucking fake/ They’re all too boring and too straight/ I cringe at everything they say/ And you’re just like them, boy, don’t play.” (Stereogum)
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!