I hope you enjoyed those last dog days of summer.
The mindset totally shifts after Labor Day. Back-to-school energy is everywhere this week.
Like our former client Asher Roth, from my former life as a booking agent, I loved college.
But the real world is so much better.
College campuses are rocking right now. Back-to-school fests. Homecoming. College football. New classes, new friends, new beginnings.
And back in the real world, it feels like the most exciting time of the year.
Four months left to finish the year strong.
When I look at the final stretch of 2026, there’s a lot coming.
For brand marketers:
Beyond Fashion Week in NYC and The Emmys this weekend in LA, there’s Brandweek in ATL. Advertising Week. Fast Company Innovation Festival. PTTOW Next. We’ll all congregate, compare notes, share learnings and case studies. Meanwhile, year-end budgets are getting spent and 2027 plans are getting made.
For music:
Big tours. Big releases. A packed fall concert calendar. Everyone jockeying for attention.
For fans and consumers:
Drops are getting weirder and weirder. Collaboration is a growth hack. And holiday shopping season will be here before we know it. Unless scarcity drives you to buy a drop immediately, it almost makes sense to wait for the ultimate holiday discounts.
For me:
I’m setting up shop in NYC for the season. We are working on some exciting projects with some of the biggest IP, creators and stages in the world, while figuring out how to make the Beats x Bytes community bigger, better and more valuable.
So let’s talk shop.
My September live music hit list is eclectic, with one key theme: outside shows.
Young Thug at Central Park SummerStage on September 13
Yeat at Central Park SummerStage on September 18
All Things Go Festival at Forest Hills Stadium on September 25
Global Citizen Festival on the Great Lawn in Central Park on September 26
So managers, agents and promoter friends… expect to hear from me soon! :)
They say summer bodies are built in the winter.
Well, 2027 is being built right now.
Let’s finish 2026 strong.
Musically yours,
| MISSED LAST WEEK? LET'S SPIN IT BACK |
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Fame Is the Starting Capital Last week, we looked at the evolution from endorsements to ownership. The biggest stars aren’t just taking checks anymore. They’re using fame, audience and cultural capital to build businesses, take equity and create long-term enterprise value.(SPIN)
Amazon Turns Prime Video Into a Storefront Amazon is making Prime Video increasingly shoppable, recommending products based on what viewers are watching. Content, commerce and advertising continue to collapse into one experience, something every brand marketer should be watching heading into 2027.(Cord Cutters News)
Carlos Alcaraz x Travis Scott x Nike Carlos Alcaraz debuted Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack take on the Nike Zoom Vapor 12 at the US Open. Tennis, music, fashion and sneaker culture all colliding on one of the biggest stages in sports. Collaboration continues to be one of the most powerful growth hacks in culture.(Yahoo)
True Religion x UnitedMasters Go On Tour True Religion and UnitedMasters are launching an “On Tour” concert series beginning around New York Fashion Week. It’s another example of brands moving beyond traditional sponsorship and creating their own live music platforms. (The Source)
Formula 1’s Next Big Bet: A Live Entertainment Event in Milan Formula 1 is expanding beyond race weekends with F1 Live Milan, a three-day fan festival in February 2027 capped by F1 The Show, featuring all 11 teams, drivers, live music and entertainment. It’s another sign that sports properties are increasingly thinking like entertainment companies, building year-round cultural moments around the core product. (Hollywood Reporter)
Festival-Goers Swap Beer and Hot Dogs for Fresh Fruit and Vitamin Juices
The Gen Z wellness boom is changing what people consume at music festivals, with fresh fruit, smoothies and vitamin-packed drinks gaining ground alongside traditional festival staples. Another sign that health and wellness are becoming part of the live music experience, creating new opportunities for brands to show up where culture happens. (Daily Mail)
Spotify Wants You to Steal Its Ads Spotify created outdoor posters specifically designed for fans to rip down and take home, including signed versions hidden in the wild. The best experiential ideas increasingly turn the audience into participants instead of spectators.(Famous Campaigns)
Baby Raves Are a Thing Lenny Pearce is taking electronic remixes of children’s music around the world with full-scale “baby raves” for kids and their parents. Weird? Absolutely. But new audiences create new categories, and sometimes the strangest white space becomes a business.(WSJ)
Catalog Is the New New A 2011 Katy Perry song became TikTok’s Global Song of the Summer, while catalog tracks took all four top spots in the U.S. Fifteen-year-old music can become culturally relevant overnight. In an algorithm-driven world, everything old can become new again (Music Business Worldwide)
Grab Your Discmans Out of Storage. CDs Are Back, Baby. CD sales are growing faster than vinyl, fueled by collectors, K-pop fandom and younger listeners craving something tangible in an increasingly digital world. Another reminder that nostalgia cycles keep accelerating, and physical media can become valuable again when ownership, identity and fandom collide.(Washington Post)
Movie Trailers Become Video Games The new Street Fighter trailer became a playable game through YouTube. In an attention economy where everyone is fighting for the same few seconds, entertainment marketing is becoming entertainment itself. (tubefilter)
🎨 VIDEO Jimmy Iovine on AI — “The Great Artists Will Show the World How to Use It” Jimmy Iovine joins TBPN for a wide-ranging conversation on AI and music, building Beats with Dr. Dre, lessons from Steve Jobs, streaming and why creative people need to understand technology. His core take on AI is optimistic: ultimately, the best artists and producers will show everyone what it can really do.
🎙 POD Media’s Life After the Pageview Complex is evolving from a digital publisher into a platform spanning video, commerce and live experiences. The lesson for media brands: content creates the attention, but the opportunity is turning that attention into businesses with better economics.
🎵 MUSIC OPEN Tennis — Court Classics A fun tennis-inspired playlist from OPEN Tennis to soundtrack the final stretch of the US Open.
🤖 TECH META released Middle Of Nowhere an immersive movie with Kacey Musgraves this week and it looks next level. But their new app Muse AI seems like it could be a game changer when it comes to agentic assistance with tasks. I’m bullish on this one and plan to download it this weekend!
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About Nue Agency
Nue is a creative music agency that leverages the power of music culture to help our clients make deeper connections with their consumers. Each week in our Beats + Bytes newsletter, we highlight the best stories, news and trends happening in the industry to keep you up on what's new. To learn more about what we do, contact us here!
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