Category Archive

Sometimes it’s healthy to take a break from the news, the hype cycle, Elon buying Twitter, the daily influx of texts, alerts, and Kanye f-up’s. What does it all mean? A lot! However, sometimes it’s nice to do something different; something that challenges you culturally; something artsy and outside your comfort zone. That’s what I did last night in Miami. No, I’m not talking about III Points Music Festival, which I admittedly got turnt at over the weekend. I’m talking …

It’s an exciting time at the intersection of brands and music. Before the pandemic, brand partnerships were an under-utilized tool in the music industry. In early 2020, before the paradigm shift, the music business was seeing double-digit growth in all areas except brand partnerships. Sure, brand partnerships were on the rise, but not at the pace that the rest of the industry was setting. Nue has been highlighting this growth opportunity for nearly a decade and the pandemic finally brought …

I’m a huge believer in the power of music, and I learned at an early age that music makes everything better. When I was throwing weekly parties in high school, I realized what made the event really memorable was a great soundtrack. And when I became high school president, I added music to the daily announcements on Fridays. That still happens during the announcements at my school! Music is the great connector, a fact I’ve seen borne out time and …

Marketing as a medium has changed. The marketing tactics of the past, won’t get the job done in a world with 60K new songs dropping a day on the major streaming services (even more on Youtube), and more competition than ever competing for your mind in the attention economy in every direction, both in physical form and digitally. Brand building is more important than ever and when it comes to storytelling, content without context is a king without a queen. …

We’re right in the heart of Hispanic Heritage Month, which traditionally runs from September 15th to October 15th. But being engaged to a Latina and living in Miami, every month is Hispanic Heritage month in my house. On a national scale, Hispanic culture and its many miracles have clearly entered the American mainstream. The Latino community is unquestionably a prime demographic for music and brands. We see this with the biggest superstar in the world, Bad Bunny, continuing to soar …

In the latest edition of our Beats, Bytes and Brands column for Adweek, Clay Durant and I address the art of playlists and how they pertain to brand marketing. In a world where there is more content being released than ever, curation is regaining its standing as the arbiter of cool. We realize playlists are no replacement for a marketing plan, but they are becoming increasingly important in the audio ecosystem. We see playlists being used in five key capacities: …

Back to work vibes are in the air this week nationwide. I love this time of year. For the next few months, everyone is off the beach, out of their shell, and looking to finish the year as strong as possible. The bell for the 4th quarter is about to ring true. My nomadic Summer has been filled with wonder, but I’m glad to be back in Miami for the Fall. This is a city that feels like it’s already …

Every year, I give up The Playa for the Vineyard. I’m glad to be back out on Martha’s, surrounded by loved ones and playing a helluva lot of tennis. I’m trying to take a week away from trends, so today’s newsletter is about tennis and tennis only. I love tennis, which is ironic considering love means nothing to a tennis player (bad joke?). But I’m serious: I grew up playing the sport and I truly believe tennis is a microcosm …

Every time I turn around, I see another story about “robots” taking over the music business. I usually look to Asia to see where trends are going. So it’s wild seeing Japan, Korea, and China all very focused on creating virtual stars. This week, Sony Japan announced the launch of the largest virtual talent development and management project in history. And, of course, the talk of the town is Capitol Records’ signing of AI-guided, virtual rapper, FN Meka. His single “Florida …

FWB FEST was the event of the season! It wasn’t simply a conference or a music festival, it was a moment in history that won’t soon be forgotten. I don’t believe this would have worked quite the same 12 months ago. The vibe would have been too nuevo rich and attracted a crowd that would have been obnoxiously opportunistic and transactional. The fast money in upcycles can bring out some of the worst types of people. That’s a major red flag …

In the latest edition of “Beats, Bytes & Brands,” my monthly Adweek column with Clayton Durant, we break down the four music trends that defined the second quarter and the brands that lead the charge: 1. Curation of Sonic Identities to Own Ear Share: As audio content continues to grow in relevance, more and more brands are competing to “own” their share of the ear. There’s steep competition with so many awesome podcasts and playlists floating around, but Q2 saw Alka-Seltzer & …

The Next Great Companies are coming! Nue Agency has worked at the intersection of entertainment, tech, and brand marketing since its inception. We think about entertainment as key to storytelling, and music and entertainers as the driving force in the creator economy. More than other influencers, musicians bring art that spans genres and communities, and have the most meaningful impact. When it comes to the intersection of technology and brands, Web3 is in many ways a culmination of all of …

Yesterday at Hamptons Tech Week, I had the pleasure of having a fireside chat with Matt Medved, CEO and Co-Founder of NFT Now. Alex and I are investors and advisers to NFT Now. We are big fans and dear friends of Matt and his two co-founders, Sam Hysell and Alejandro Navia. Matt is living this NFT world; chronicling it; galvanizing it; building it…and clearly loving it! But it’s a major grind and it’s moving so fast. As he said on stage, “In the NFT world, days …

I had the pleasure of speaking at the inaugural National Independent Venue Association Conference this week in Cleveland. NIVA, which was born out of the pandemic, is a nationwide group of true indies that have banded together to help each other not only survive, but thrive. Covid-19 was rough on the indie music venue owner. When the live business stopped dead, these owners and operators found themselves in an incredibly difficult spot. Their answer? The Save Our Stages campaign, which …

Happy LimeWire launch week! But don’t get it twisted: this is not the LimeWire from the turn of the century. Since the early aughts, LimeWire has evolved with new ownership, a new team, and a new brand vision built as a digital collectible marketplace (NFTs). The fresh faces of the platform are brothers Julian & Paul Zehetmayr, two incredibly smart guys with exciting ideas. Together, they realized that LimeWire’s brand equity – built on the promise of peer-to-peer sharing back …