Spotify goes public this AM. How much the shares will open & close at is anybody’s guess at this point? I personally think it could be a turbulent day for our big, green friends. It’s a complicated and extremely savvy method of getting the stock on the public exchange and ultimately allowing their investors to start to cash out by trading their shares with other interested investors as they start to get in. We’ve all seen and heard a lot …
Why Spotify’s IPO is A Bright Spot for The Music Industry ☀
Next week, Spotify plans to (finally) list publicly on the New York Stock Exchange. It’s a huge moment for Spotify’s founding team, and perhaps an even bigger moment for all of us in the music industry. Spotify’s transformative success has helped usher in a new era for music—and this era will be marked by growth. Per a recent report, the music industry is in its second year of double-digit growth and has hit its highest revenue mark in a decade, …
🌼🌸Get sprung🌸🌼
Spring is a time for fresh starts. At NUE, we recently refreshed our office space, relocating from the legendary EMI/Capitol Records building to a progressive coworking space called The Assemblage. Moving to The Assemblage took us away from our familiar tech, marketing, and music hub and transported us to an entirely new terrain. Most of the companies in our new building work in the health and wellness space. Since the move, we’ve been reinvigorated with new ideas and inspiration from …
SXSW is Dead.
That’s what Nas’ manager, Anthony Saleh, told me late last week as I packing my bag for a weekend in Austin. Even though this sentiment was coming from the team behind the hit song, “Hip Hop Is Dead,” his comment rocked me a bit. Was SXSW “over” as so many people have recently declared? Nah. Here’s the truth: SXSW isn’t what it used to be, but it still matters. I write this to you from the plane home to NYC, …
Tacos & Tastemakers 🌮
This week marks the start of SXSW, with Interactive kicking off this Thursday and Music beginning March 12. This festival is always one of my favorites, as it celebrates the convergence of music and technology in culture. And as we’ve been preaching at Nue for awhile now, music is a core thread in the cultural fabric, which is why tech companies and brands alike want a piece of the action. I’ll be there with my team keeping an eye out …
The One-Billion Dollar (and then some) Question
Can one tweet really do that much damage? That’s what everyone was asking last week when Kylie Jenner took to Twitter to question the viability of Snapchat, the very platform that was core to her rise to celebrity status. Following her comments, Snap Inc.’s stock dipped, shedding more than $1.3 billion in valuation in a matter of hours. While there are larger trends at play with regard to Snapchat’s financials—we don’t give Kylie all the credit this time—the incident did …
Not Just Another Superhero Movie 🐾
This week, “Black Panther” shattered box office records for February, bringing in $218 million over Presidents’ Day weekend. In fact, according to The Hollywood Reporter, it was one of the biggest North American openings of all-time. While the film is, of course, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, its cultural significance was what made for such a poignant and powerful debut. And like many things that break through culture, music was right there in the mix. …
Your Post-Grammy Rundown 🏆
It was wonderful having the Grammys is NYC this year. NUE kept busy bouncing around a slew of events and even putting on a few of our own. Here are some of our favorite highlights: 🚆 We hosted an activation for one of our partners at Grand Central Station on the morning of the show. 👑 We once again teamed up with Tidal & Elliott Wilson to host CRWN, this time featuring Migos, whose album “Culture II” is No. 1 …
Beats & Bytes – Doin’ it for the Gram-my 🏆
It’s Grammy Week! And for the first time in a long time (15 years, to be exact), it’s going down in my hometown: New York City. The 60th annual Grammy Awards return to New York this Sunday and it’s already hectic. Everyone in the music industry has descended on the city for a packed week of showcases, concerts, meetings, panels, and general networking. No sleep till Brooklyn. Hosting a major event in New York is never easy. Remember the last …
Beats & Bytes – It’s 2018 and The Music Business Is Better Than Ever
Happy New Year! New Year, new us … right? Eh, sort of. Perhaps a better way to look at the first month of the year is to take advantage of the opportunity to develop a better version of ourselves, rather than starting over altogether. The key is progress. Forward momentum. And that’s definitely something we’re seeing a lot of already here in 2018. Perhaps you’ve been easing back into your groove by catching up with the recent music biz news …
Beats & Bytes: A Giant Year For The Music Business
As we round out the year, it’s time to reflect on 2016 and plot about what’s coming next. We know 2017 is going to be a big year of change and as the streaming wars intensify it’s only going to drive the industry to another year of growth and more great musical experiences. In this past year I saw some articles on a few interesting music activations that worked this year. This piece in AdAge has a decent round up …
Beats + Bytes Holiday Gear Guide
Holiday season is here! That means a lot of new music is dropping in the next few weeks. I’m loving so many of these new tracks and albums that were released this first week in December already. It’s like Christmas came early. But alongside the great music there are also a lot of new products and gadgets dropping. It’s also buying season for your kids, colleagues, family and self. So this week we are dedicating Beats + Bytes to all …
Beats & Bytes: SXSW in NYC
The holiday rush is here! I can’t believe it’s December already, and we know what this season means. A mad rush to the stores both virtually and in person. As more and more consumer excitement is building, one of this year’s top MVBs (most valuable brands) is becoming clear. This brand smartly integrated with music by partnering with artists like Pharrell, A$AP Rocky and Kanye. Even with no artists attached their product is selling out, flying off the shelves, creating …
Beats & Bytes – Thanksgiving Music Industry
Although 2016 has been a tough year there are definitely some bright spots to be thankful for. Mainly, after almost two decades of relentless decline caused by piracy and falling prices, the music business is enjoying a fragile recovery thanks to the growth of paid streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. More tickets are selling. More shows are happening. More shows are selling out. Social media and the forward thinking brands have lead to the demand for the experiential …
Beats & Bytes – The Patch 2 Year Anniversary
What a week. Election upsets, the passing of legends such as Cohen, Russell and Ifill. There was much to mourn but in the sour and sweet of it all, the Nue Agency celebrated an important birthday. The Patch, a project with Sour Patch Kids, turned two years old and threw a party where the vibe was upbeat and hopeful as the Mogwli’s gave us music to help us keep going. Just like The Patch. A project close to our hearts …