#5 - Pastorius and Baynton 🌞

LA: 🌅 6:38 AM PST | 🌧️ High of 76° | 🌇 6:55 PM PST

NYC: 🌅 6:40 AM EST | ⛅ High of 86° | 🌇 7:00 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 based on what we're listening to.

2. 🎙️ In honor of his untimely passing, our artist of the week is rapper/singer PnB Rock.

3. 📈 Data from Goldman Sachs because we love a good comeback story.

4. 💿 Industry updates, from TikTok DJs to Web3 record labels.

5. 🎡 Festival organizers are planning the weekend of your dreams.

Songs we're listening to lately 🎹

From the Vault 🔙

Donya's Pick

Chris's Pick

Artist of the Week: PnB Rock 🕊️

It's been a devastating week for the global hip-hop community as PnB Rock was tragically killed on Monday in South Los Angeles. His passing comes on the heels of other hip-hop artists who have fallen victim to gun violence in recent years: JayDaYoungan, Snootie Wild, Young Dolph, King Von, Huey, Pop Smoke, Nipsey Hussle, and Bankroll Fresh.

Here at Sunlighter, we pay tribute to PnB Rock, his contributions, and the accomplishments he achieved during his career that was sadly cut short.

Pastorius and Baynton

Rakim Allen, better known as PnB Rock, grew up on the cross streets of Pastorius and Baynton, located in the northern Philadelphia suburb of Germantown. At the age of three, his father was murdered, leaving his mother with the burdening responsibility of raising five sons. His uncle, who then became his primary father figure, was able to step in to support him and his brothers until he too was murdered years later due to gang violence. Even with his uncle's support, Rakim's early life was filled with overcoming struggles as his mother and siblings frequently moved in and out of shelters. Eventually, his mother was able to move the family to a safer suburban neighborhood, which Rakim described as "a different world." Serendipitously, Rakim met and eventually dated a girl that lived across his new street. She would ultimately become the mother of his first daughter, Milan Allen, and the subject of many of his early songs. Even so, the streets kept calling him back. At the age of 19, he was arrested for robbery and drug-related charges and forced to serve 33 months in a maximum security prison.

How Prison Changes You

As a young teenager, Rakim was strongly influenced by his mother's love for hip-hop music (his mother named him after Rakim) and a temperament of both composure and relatability. During his time in prison, Rakim embraced these aspects of his personality to quickly make friends. These friends were older, longer-term serving prisoners, who over time, became an unexpected positive influence in Rakim's life by encouraging him to pursue his passion of rapping and singing. This support became the initial spark that would eventually start a wildfire of change in Rakim's life. Rakim spent the rest of his time in jail focused on writing and performing songs, welcoming critiques by fellow inmates, and crafting a sound that was reminiscent of artists and songs that inspired him as a teenager, namely Drake on Take Care.

Paying Homage to his Block

After being released from prison, Rakim naturally gravitated to a stage name that resonated with his childhood. For Rakim, PnB wasn't just the intersection of the streets he lived on, it was a microcosm that encapsulated the culture of his community. More importantly, it was a familiar earmark on social media as Instagram became a launchpad for his early music career. Between 2016 and 2017, Rakim signed to Atlantic Records, boomed in popularity with his single, "Selfish," contributed to the soundtrack of "The Fate of the Furious," and became one of ten members selected to XXL's 2017 Freshman Class (this is one of the biggest hip-hop industry co-signs).

Even after his initial groundbreaking years, he continued to illustrate his versatility. During a time when the industry was finally shifting from SoundCloud rap to a new generation of melodic rappers, PnB Rock's voice stood out like an idiosyncratic tidal wave amongst a calm sea in hip-hop. It was Rakim and a few of his contemporaries (think Roddy Ricch, Rod Wave, A Boogie, etc.) that helped usher in a new wave of melodic hip-hop that would define the early 2020s.

Here are a few heartfelt posts: one by Atlantic labelmate and day one collaborator A Boogie, one by his younger brother, and one that reflects on his relationships with his fans.

Rest in Peace, PnB Rock.

Data 📈

Music in the Air: Goldman Sachs Research, the research arm of the well-known Wall Street investment bank, published a comprehensive forecast report in June, providing insight on the rebound and continued growth of the music industry, even as the macro economy faces headwinds. Here's a recap:

• 7-8% annual growth rate for the global music industry (this includes recorded, publishing, and live music) between 2023-2030.

• For streaming industry revenue, CAGR (Compound Average Growth Rate) between 2021-2030 is expected to be ~12%. This is massive growth when you take into account how compounding works and the size of the market.

• There is currently no clear winner in the digital streaming platform race, even with Spotify owning 34.4% market share.

• Scale is still one of the biggest drivers of maintaining your competitive advantage in the music industry. The 3 major record companies (Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group) continue to dominate market share, with Sony Music leading the way, capturing a 2.1% increase.

Industry Updates 💿 

Quick Hits

• New Web3 Music Platform: Music NFT collector and angel investor Cooper Turley recently launched Coop Records, which he describes as a hybrid between a venture fund, a record label, and an incubator.

• CMA Nominations: The nominations for the 56th Country Music Awards are up, and we're keeping an eye on New Artist of the Year. Since Sunlighter has roots in Texas, we're pulling for Cody and Parker.

• Forget Mosh Pits: TikTok DJs are on the rise, and their growth strategy is to increase streaming numbers based on viral trends and accessing niche fanbases.

• Food, Drinks, Merch: atVenu, a live event commerce platform utilized by both artists and event organizers alike, recently raised $30 million in fresh capital by private equity firm Frontier Growth.

• Virgin Music Group: Universal Music Group announced the launch of a new international division within UMG known as Virgin Music Group, comprising of three organizations: Virgin Music Label & Artist Services, Ingrooves Music Group, and Mtheory Artist Partnerships (recently acquired by UMG).

Festival Announcements 🎡

We're not sure what sort of data mining or AI modeling was done to determine that the weekend of September 23-25th was the best weekend for major music festivals, but if you happen to be attending one of the MANY, we hope you live your best festival lives.

• Firefly: September 22-25th in Dover, DE

  • The lineup is so stacked, it's stupid: Halsey, Dua Lipa, My Chemical Romance, Green Day, Weezer, Zedd, BLEACHERS, HAIM, The Head and the Heart, Porter Robinson, Charli XCX, Gryffin, The Kid LAROI

• iHeartRadio Music Festival: September 23-24th in Las Vegas, NV

  • Avril Lavigne, Black Eyed Peas, Halsey, Lionel Richie, Maren Morris, Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj, Sam Smith, Luke Combs, The Black Keys

• Rolling Loud NYC: September 23-25th in New York, NY

  • Nicki Minaj, A$AP Rocky, Future, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Baby, 21 Savage, Big Sean, Pusha T

• Lost Lands Music Festival: September 23-25th in Thornville, OH

  • Excision, Illenium, Kill the Noise, Knife Party, Rezz

• FORMAT Festival: September 23-25th in Bentonville, AR

  • Rüfüs Du Sol, Phoenix, Khruangbin, Beach House, The War on Drugs, Nile Rodgers & Chic, The Flaming Lips, Jungle

• Global Citizen Festival: September 24th in New York, NY

  • Jonas Brothers, Charlie Puth, Metallica, Mariah Carey, Måneskin, Rosalía

• Portola Music Festival: September 24-25th in Portola, CA

  • Flume, The Chemical Brothers, James Blake, Kaytranada, Jamie XX, M.I.A, Charli XCX, Lane 8, Toro y Moi

Wrap Up 👏

We're closing the newsletter this week with a line that's symbolic to PnB Rock as he sadly leaves behind two daughters. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Allen family.

Lyrical Genius ✍️

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See ya next Sunday,

Chris and Donya