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- Radio Edit | 4.21.23
Radio Edit | 4.21.23
a music industry newsletter
Radio Edit Team
April 21, 2023
In a quiet week for the music industry, we have some music-related updates from Snap’s annual partner summit and a look at Taylor Swift’s merch item that has people sleeping under trucks overnight to get a good spot in line. Other stories include a new label home for Anitta and curtains for a couple of tech properties.
Top Stories
Snap shares music updates at their annual partner summit
Snap’s annual Partner Summit was held this week in Santa Monica, and highlighted some key music initiatives for the platform. Some of these highlights include:
As they look at the live music experience, Snap indicated a deeper focus on AR as they announced a new integration with live event visualization tech platform, Disguise. Through their multi-year partnership with Live Nation, Snap will be able to enhance the live music experience for fans by building AR visuals that interact with the traditional stage production. Already on board is Kygo who will be utilizing this technology at his upcoming summer concerts.
Initially rolling out some fan experience-focused AR features at a dozen festivals last year, Snap announced an expansion of their presence at 16 additional festivals worldwide, including Lolla Paris and Reading/Leeds.
Snap announced that they’ll be bringing their AR Mirrors to retailers, allowing customers to virtually try on outfits without having to physically put them on. With artist merch stores being a potential application of the technology, Snap pointed to a recent study where sunglasses retailer Goodr “found that customers were 81% more likely to add products to their cart after using AR Try-On. They also saw a 67% uplift in conversion for mobile device users, leading to a 59% increase in revenue per shopper.” Billboard
The blue crew blues
As expected, the merch line on the singer’s Eras tour has been a wild scene. As fans camp overnight to secure coveted pieces from the merch truck, one item stands out above the rest: the blue crew. While the sweatshirt is a very average piece of merchandise with nothing particularly notable about it, its absence from the singer’s online store has made it the most coveted item at the merch table with resale prices over $300 (6x retail). At the singer’s Tampa tour stop last weekend, gates to the parking lot opened at 8am, a full two hours before merch lines open up for business. Less than an hour later, the blue crews were gone. NYT
Looking to help mitigate the frenzy at the singer’s next tour stop in Houston, there will be a truck selling merch a full day ahead of her first concert at the temporarily-renamed NRG Stadium (Taylor’s Version). Chron
What Else Is Going On
Signings
Following her recent departure from the Warner system, Anitta signs with Republic Records
Live / Touring
Nashville-based music agency Red 11 acquired by WME; founder and CEO Jon Folk to join WME as partner
MSG Entertainment to sell its stake (67%) in Tao Group for $300mm ($550mm valuation)
Live Nation launches Vibee, a music-centric destination experience company
Publishing
Hipgnosis acquires share of David Foster catalog
Tech / Social Media
A year after being named the most innovative music company in the world by Fast Company, concert livestream platform Mandolin shuts down
Spotify says goodbye to song-guessing game, Heardle, which it acquired last year
How Bytedance’s CapCut is driving success on Bytedance’s TikTok
Other
A look at the business behind Coachella
Appointments / Departures
Appointments
Claire McAuley promoted to newly-created VP, Global Rights Management position at Warner Chappell
Sony Music U.S. Latin promotes Esteban Geller to GM
UMG Nashville ups Lori Christian (EVP, Marketing) and Rob Femia (EVP, Business & Legal Affairs); deeper restructuring to follow
SoundExchange has appointed Doug Cohn as VP of artist and label relations, Kathleen Strouse SVP of operations, and Amanda Carmichael as VP of international.
Departures
Warner Music Nashville Chair Emeritus John Esposito steps down
Nir Zicherman, head of audiobooks at Spotify, will depart the company in October
Featured Releases
Bad Nerves / Alive In London (A) / Suburban
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Florence + The Machine / Mermaids (S) / Polydor
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Grandson / Something To Hide (S) / Elektra
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