Trapital - music and memes

memo 002: music and memes

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We're back for week two! Thanks for all the feedback from last week, glad you enjoyed it. This is your weekly breakdown on what matters in the business of hip-hop.

This week, you have a brand new Trapital essay to read on Tyler, The Creator. We also dive into TikTok and United Masters new deal, Drake's Nike commercial, and Warner Music's acquisition of IMGN.

new essay:
How Tyler the Creator Built a Cult-Life Following

photo via Beat Grade

Tyler, the Creator’s Grammy victory still feels ironic. The self-proclaimed outcast earned the most mainstream award possible. He did it in rap—a genre he’s repeatedly distanced himself from. He did it with a history of problematic lyrics and a “fuck you, try me” attitude to cancel culture. But his Best Rap Album award was met with widespread praise from both day-ones and new fans.

The 29-year-old’s greatest creation isn’t his award-winning albums, eclectic fashion show, or one-of-a-kind music festival. It’s his cult-like following that makes it all possible. Since he started his career as a teenager, he’s been a symbol for those who were ignored by hip-hop. Those fans have rewarded him with the utmost support.

Read the full essay here or listen to the audio version on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

TikTok and UnitedMasters Team Up

TikTok and UnitedMasters announced a new deal to allow artists to distribute music directly from the video social network to all digital streaming providers (Spotify, Apple Music, etc).

Capture that value. The video streaming company is on a quest to capture more of the value created on its popular app. This past month, the company has announced a $200M Creator Fund, a new American Idol-style contest, and now this new partnership with UnitedMasters. If another Hype House gets formed, TikTok wants in.

Music is the backbone. This integration It's a smart move for UM too. “If you are a musical artist, TikTok is the best place for your music to go viral," said founder and CEO Steve Stoute. TikTok already had short-term licensing deals with the major labels. But a lot of viral TikTok artists are nowhere close to signing a label deal (or have no desire to do so). That's the perfect fit for a music distribution service like UM that promotes both independence and flexibility.

Future with Microsoft? We can't ignore the geopolitical woes of TikTok has been under. Microsoft reportedly wants both Tiktok US and UK. Since CEO Satya Nadella took Microsoft over, the company has scaled back its consumer businesses. But Microsoft is still active in both gaming and the NBA— two areas that UnitedMasters has invested in by partnering with both NBA 2K and the NBA itself.

Is there a future where UM-TikTok artists get featured in an NBA or Xbox experience? Wouldn't be surprised.

Read more about the partnership in this New York Times article.

Just Do It, Drake

Drake's new music video "Laugh Now, Cry Later" is a shameless, 5-minute long Nike commercial filmed at the company's HQ.

The worst-kept secret. Drake's renewed partnership with Nike seems like an inevitable announcement. In 2018, the Toronto rapper was deep in negotiations with adidas. The announcement of Drake's son was rumored to be involved with the pending Drake-adidas rollout. But the deal fell through soon after Pusha T (signed to adidas) told us that Drake was hiding a child.

A few months later, Drake was "checks over stripes."

There's a pattern! Drake's recent music has been intentionally heavy-handed. When "Toosie Slide" dropped, tons of people (myself included) called it a clear attempt to go viral on TikTok. And guess what? It worked. Similarly, "Laugh Now, Cry Later" is an extravagant showcase for his brand partner. This means we're about one week from seeing headlines that say, "Nike got $200M in earned media brand awareness from "Laugh Now, Cry Later."

New album and new Nike deal? Drake's new album, Certified Lover Boy, is supposed to drop this summer. Will he drop the album and announce the new Nike deal in the same week? Drake cares about numbers, so don't be surprised if he combines both.

Certified Lover Boy will be one of the biggest album releases of 2020. He won't outsell Taylor Swift folklore, but it will still be up there.

Why Warner acquired the @daquan Instagram account

Warner Music acquired IMGN, a social media content company that runs the popular @daquan Instagram account and others, for $85 million.

All about the data. IMGN has 40 million social media followers across all platforms. It has valuable insights on how Gen Z and Millennials interact with content.

Valuable insights. Daquan is one of the largest meme accounts that reflects hip-hop and Black culture. If @daquan posts a meme, gets 300K likes, references an up-and-coming unsigned artist, and all the commenters quote the artist, then that helps A&Rs measure popularity. These social media posts can also validate the reception of artists already signed on Warner's labels.

Cause for concern? Warner Music said it does not plan to use IMGN to market Warner artists. But will Daquan be less likely to make fun of artists signed to Atlantic Records (owned by Warner)? As Amazon just showed us, content-platform relationships can get testy if content creators hate on the platform it sits on.

Let's hope Daquan maintains its "anybody can get it" content style. Read more about this acquisition on Music Business Worldwide.

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Trapital Player of the Week: The Weeknd

This past week, TikTok announced that The Weeknd's live virtual concert brought in 2 million unique viewers (275,000 concurrent). It's no Travis Scott-Fortnite, but still impressive. His song with the late Juice WRLD "Smile," is #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. Later this week, he donated $300,000 to the Beirut explosion relief effort.

Give credit where credit is due. If you haven't already, read my March essay on how the Weekend mastered his brand.

Panel on Thursday: Face the Music.

This Thursday 4-6pm PDT, I'm a guest on TheFutureParty's virtual panel: Face The Music. We're having a conversation about changes in the music industry, the pandemic's impact, and more. Learn more here.

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