11.20 | Dylan Newman

This week, we’re joined by Nickelodeon’s Dylan Newman- where we chat on everything from his role at the company’s record label to their broader cultural footprint.

What’s up Dylan! Can you give us an overview of your role at Nickelodeon?

Yeah! So my role at Nickelodeon is more on the record label side, a lot of people aren't aware that Nickelodeon even has a label - we are signing talent, developing the sound and working with them throughout recording process, providing marketing and performance opportunities, etc. We are a real functioning record label! Since we're a small team, I wear many different hats, but I primarily work as an A&R and project manager for our releases, which aligns with my prior experiences working at labels like Epic Records and KidinaKorner. My team also has a hand in selecting the music for soundtracks of Nickelodeon movies that are currently releasing, including Monster High and the upcoming Good Burger 2 movie!

Having previously worked in several different areas of the industry, from promotion to A&R, how has that past experience informed how you approach your current role?

Even though I am still on a music-focused team, the company itself is a media company within the kids/family space, so there were certain mind sets I needed to tweak to be able to properly do my job, but overall, I am doing what I have always been doing - developing talent and helping the artist execute their creative vision! Working for Nickelodeon has opened my eyes to the many different channels that aren't necessarily under a record label, including consumer products and casting/talent - I speak with teams internally about our artists and how to align with their current priorities, and from there, work together to provide opportunities for my roster to better serve Nickelodeon as a whole.

Nickelodeon recently announced a partnership with CBS to bring an interactive, kids-centric alternate telecast for this coming Super Bowl. Are there any similar partnerships your team is focused on in the music space to connect your audience with artists/events?

Everyone internally is extremely excited for the upcoming Nickelodeon telecast of the Super Bowl this year, there are a lot of fun surprises! We are always looking for ways to expose our roster, including past performances at Arthur Ashe Kids' Day for the US Open and a holiday performance at the LA Citadel tree lighting, as well as internal opportunities like performing at the Nickelodeon universe at the Mall of America and the Kids Choice Awards! We are always discussing opportunities that can help create meaningful moments for our roster, and we are always thinking about creative ways to keep evolving as a record label.

Looking at the list of performers from this past year's Kids Choice Awards- I'm seeing a couple artists who I don't normally associate with a kids' audience like Lil Baby and Lil Uzi Vert. What is it about the event that draws these artists in?

You gotta go to a KCA to fully understand the specialness surrounding the event...the energy, the screaming kids looking at their favorite musician or influencer, THE SLIME!!! - its one of the most fun events I have ever attended, and the fact that I get to help work on the award show and see my name in the credits makes it even more magical. Musicians want to be a part of that magic too, we're in the age that a lot of these artists grew up as a Nick kid (like many of us do), they see the power of KCAs and want to associate with the younger audience. Uzi's song 'Just Wanna Rock' was a massive hit for the younger demographic, and with Lil Baby, he's a dad..he has kids that align with our shows and demographic as well. Most times, we have artists reaching out to our teams to be a part of and add value to the show, which makes the collaboration feel even more outstanding.

When you're serving an audience whose developmental stages and music tastes vary from age group to age group- how does that inform your strategy in music/talent curation?

We're always considering the upcoming trends and how to cater to the younger audience, but we also want to make music that reaches older demographics as well. We have an artist named Young Dylan who's currently working with Jermaine Dupri, who has a long list of credits working with younger talent and developing their sounds for a larger audience - YD went on a middle school tour and had kids going crazy with his music, because they see him on TV and are fans, but if you go and listen to 'I Just Wanna', you will bounce your head and actually enjoy the music. We are always finding ways to expose our roster for multiple demographics, I am very excited to showcase what we are working on currently.

How else is Nickelodeon looking to creatively integrate music into the network's programming, events and activations?

This is something the Music team is always thinking about. The shows in the 90s/early 2000s, they had musical acts as guest stars like Destiny's Child, or have banger theme songs by notable artists like TLC or Coolio - our team wants to find ways to connect with the audience and provide music that people will go back and listen to over and over again. We are always keeping our fingers on the pulse and discussing the creative narrative around Nickelodeon Music - I know the Good Burger 2 soundtrack tracklist hasn't been announced yet, but keep your eyes open and you'll see what I am talking about. I work with a creative team that loves music, we geek out on the things we are doing, so it's easy to chat strategy that not only brings the cool factor, but creates a moment for the project and Nickelodeon as a whole!

In an effort to come down on streaming fraud, Spotify will begin charging labels and distributors 10 euros per song when the service detects that the majority of a song’s streams are artificial. These fake stream will then be removed from the system to prevent them from impacting payouts and song charts. Any fees incurred will be charged against future royalties. 

Under these new rules, hands-off high-volume distribution companies like DistroKid and TuneCore will likely be affected the most as they operate in small margins and upload massive batches of new music daily. 

While Tunecore has embraced the change, DistroKid founder Phillip Kaplan pointed out that since distro services cannot determine if a client will engage in fraudulent activity, Spotify is penalizing services for something they cannot control or predict.  

Vault Music has unveiled their latest project, Fantasy Record Label- a game in which players can create and manage their own fantasy roster of artists for cash prizes. 

Within the game, users can “sign” five artists on Vault Music by purchasing a “vault” - a digital music collectible built using NFT technology- from the artists they predict will experience imminent streaming growth. Rosters are scored by the net change in their artists’ monthly listeners with final standings being posted at the end of each week- the top 10 of which will win cash prizes. 

To create a financial benefit for artists, players can buy, sell or trade their vaults each week- with artists receiving 70% of each sale. From there, artists will receive 7% of their vault’s resale price in future sales. 

“Think fantasy sports but for the music industry,” said Eccles, co-founder/CEO of Vault Music, in a statement. “I believe that unlike the sports and gaming industries, music has failed to energize top fans and embrace new formats. Streaming has been great for the music industry’s bottom line, but it serves passive listeners, not diehard fans. Our goal is to bring joy, pride, and competition back to collecting music, and create upside for both fans and artists in the process.”

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STREAMING | RADIO

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While Spotify is just now moving towards a penalty system, Apple quietly started making "financial adjustments" for repeat streaming fraudsters more than a year ago

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They said the album was dying, they were wrong

LABEL | PUBLISHING

Warner Records has launched underscore works recordings, a new jv label with Nashville-based country music startup underscore works

TOURING | LIVE

ASM was the country’s leading venue management company - so why did AEG sell?

TECH | Social

AI-generated vocal clones of superstars now available on YouTube Shorts

Nepal is the latest country to ban TikTok over concerns of ‘social harmony’

YouTube has launched a new ‘Top Songs on Shorts’ music chart

ELSEWHERE

As Hollywood starts back up, so too do music supervision & synch

APPOINTMENTS

UMG has hired Gary Chan for the dual role of managing director of Universal Music Hong Kong and svp, Universal Music Greater China

Kobalt Music promoted Melissa Emert-Hutner to svp, creative

Warner Chappell Music has promoted BJ Hill to svp, A&R

Doesn’t it seem like the best jobs are never posted online? That’s why each week we’re going to share an unlisted job opening from our network in an effort to connect people and opportunities.

This week’s unlisted job:

Marketing Product Manager | Los Angeles

Head of Digital | Los Angeles

If you’re interested, send us your resume here and we’ll pass it on

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