#2 - Good vibes only 🌞

LA: 🌅 6:24 AM PST | ⛅ High of 80° | 🌇 7:24 PM PST

NYC: 🌅 6:19 AM EST | ⛅ High of 82° | 🌇 7:35 PM EST

Welcome to our weekly roundup of happenings in the music industry. Here's what we have queued up this week:

1. 🎹 Song recs for a good vibe.

2. 🎙️ NEIL FRANCES is our featured artist of the week.

3. 📈 Data on how superfans on SoundCloud are getting artists paid.

4. 💿 Industry news on a music tech birthday, expansions, and contractions.

5. 🎡 Festivals coming up next week.

Songs for good vibes only 🎹

From the Vault 🔙

Donya's Pick

Chris's Pick

Artist of the Week: NEIL FRANCES 🎙️

Our artist of the week is NEIL FRANCES. No, not Neal Francis, NEIL FRANCES. It’s a funny story, so sit back, enjoy a Snickers with red wine (the lead vocalist's favorite snack), and we’ll start from the beginning.

From Sydney to SoCal

Ten years ago, Jordan Feller and Marc Gilfry spontaneously met through mutual friends in Los Angeles. Before meeting, they were both working on different projects: Jordan was visiting Los Angeles from his hometown of Sydney, Australia, hoping to break into the DJ scene. Marc was a SoCal native, playing in an experimental rock band called American Royalty. The two first connected when Jordan remixed one of American Royalty's songs during a studio session, but the initial collaboration was short-lived as both artists continued to work on separate projects, ultimately pursuing their crafts in different cities (Jordan went to London, Marc went to NY). After a few years, both Jordan and Marc serendipitously moved back to Los Angeles around the same time. Upon reconnecting, they were quick to collaborate again, and both realized that their eclectic music backgrounds helped form a unique sound together as a duo.

Since then, they’ve released a series of singles, including the wildly popular, “Music Sounds Better with You.” In January of 2022, they dropped their debut album, “There Is No Neil Frances,” which technically, is correct.

Will the real NEIL FRANCES please stand up?

The stage name, "NEIL FRANCES," came to life when Jordan combined his dad’s name “Neil” with his mom’s name “Frances,” which is fitting since they're the duo’s #1 fans. This was not so fitting, though, for Chicago-based rock musician Neal Francis – tensions were high in October 2021 when both artists were on the lineup for Outside Lands. Subtle jokes aside, both artists ended up taking the high-road, keeping their respective names while supporting each other's music.

A good vibe

We know Los Angeles loves a good vibe, and this new album from NEIL FRANCES is a funky, synth-syncopated masterpiece. The 40-minute album is packed to the brim with unique tracks featuring Marc's buoyant vocals and Jordan’s multi-layered production. The duo previously toured with Poolside and Jungle (fellow good vibes only artists) and is now playing shows across the US. Their most notable upcoming shows includes Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver, CO with Louis the Child and six upcoming music festival appearances, including Sunlighter's hometown festival, Austin City Limits–you can catch them on Weekend Two.

Let the good vibes carry you through the rest of your Sunday. Here are some of our favorite songs:

Data 📈

Superfandom Forever: In April of last year, SoundCloud introduced Fan-Powered Royalties (FPRs), pivoting away from the traditional pooled royalty model (used by major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, etc.) by giving superfans more power to influence how artists are paid. FPRs can allow artists to earn more income by incentivizing their most devoted listeners rather than appeal to wider audiences. According to the MIDiA case study below, 56% of surveyed artists are earning more under the FPR model compared to a traditional pooled royalty model. 78% of this increased income actually comes from a relatively small subset of superfans. SoundCloud has made their stance on more equitable pay towards smaller, independent artists loud and clear, and we're big fans (some might say, superfans) of this effort.

Industry Updates 💿 

Quick Hits:

• Shazam Turns 20: Shazam has surpassed 70 billion song recognitions and has more than 225 million global monthly users. The most Shazam-ed artist of all time is Drake, with over 350 million Shazams. Fun fact: Apple and Shazam are integrated, so you can also ask Siri "what song is this?" anywhere you go.

• The ticket booth is getting hot!: Spotify has started selling live event tickets directly to fans through their app in an effort to diversify revenue and compete against legacy ticketing companies. This comes shortly after revamping their live events feed.

• Rainy Day Fund: SoundCloud announced earlier this month that they will be laying off ~20% of their workforce, adding to the growing number of tech companies announcing job cuts due to the declining macroeconomic environment.

• Francisco has its eyes on a prize: Music publisher Kobalt Music Group, who sold their rights to AWAL last year to Sony Music Group, is now potentially being scooped up by private equity firm Francisco Partners for close to ~$1 billion. Earlier this year, Francisco Partners also acquired a majority stake in a music-creation platform called Native Instruments.

• Ones To Watch is Expanding: Ones To Watch, an artist discovery platform known for kickstarting careers of Dua Lipa, Halsey, and LANY, has recently launched in Hong Kong. The Live Nation subsidiary continues to see value from fanbases across APAC.

Festival Announcements 🎡

A few festivals happening next weekend:

Live on the Green - September 1-5th in Nashville, TN

Supported by local radio station (and community outreach and special events organization), Lightning 100, Live on the Green Music Festival is back this year for the first time in two years, spanning 5 nights of free music. Live on the Green has been around since 2009 and was initially organized to support local Nashville artists and to increase environmental, health, and community awareness within Nashville. You can thank Alabama Shakes for popularizing this yearly tradition.

Electric Zoo - September 3-4th in New York, NY

Similar to Live on the Green, Electric Zoo has been held during Labor Day weekend since 2009, becoming the perennial EDM festival of New York City. Held at Randall's Island Park, and organized by Made Event, the festival has actually expanded outside of New York to Mexico, Brazil, and Shanghai.

Made in America - September 3-4th in Philadelphia, PA

Made in America, best known as the Watch the Throne banger and the rap festival (there's a Ron Howard documentary on this), amazingly both manufactured by Jay-Z, is back this year for its 10th year. Here are some quick highlights:

1. Lil Uzi Vert is playing for his hometown crowd this year after recently dropping his EP, "RED & WHITE"

2. Cause Village promotes social action and spotlights local artists and organizations supporting various social causes.

3. Don't forget the eats.

Big ones coming up:

• Life is Beautiful | September 16-18

• Austin City Limits | October 7-16

Wrap Up 👏

We're closing the newsletter this week with a line that makes even Italian grandmothers want to hustle harder.

Lyrical Genius ✍️

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See ya next Sunday 😎

Donya and Chris