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Happy belated birthday. We don’t know about you, but we’re feeling 22. And that’s because the Apple iPod celebrated its 22nd birthday yesterday. Remember those? Even though the iconic device is no longer in production (its last model was discontinued early last year), it still holds a special place in our hearts and headphones.
In other news… haunted houses boost the economy, Power Trip rocks the desert, and Gen Z longs for the simple life.
Top Trends
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ENTERTAINMENT
Boo bank // Illustration by Kate Walker
Haunted houses scare up good business
The Future. Haunted houses — from the state-of-the-art professionals to the mom-and-pop bootstraps — are getting bigger and better. And audiences are showing up in droves. The phenomenon speaks volumes about the power of horror entertainment and the desire for people to have communal experiences. And with Universal starting Halloween Horror Nights earlier in the year and even cementing a permanent horror destination in Las Vegas, spooky season may soon be all year round.
Spooky economy
These days, one of the best real estate moves is building a haunted house.
Top haunted house production companies like Blood Manor and Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group spend over a million dollars building their attractions and employ hundreds of people.
Locations can typically recoup their costs in a season with ticket sales alone, with merch and concessions bringing in additional revenue.
Even small businesses (like Phillips Farms in North Carolina) and charities (like Scare for a Cure in Texas) are mounting haunted houses for six figures and doubling their investments.
Then there’s the granddaddy of them all: Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, which brings in as much revenue alone as a single month of Universal Studios ticket sales.
The National Retail Foundation estimates Halloween revenue will hit a sky-high $12 billion this year (Spirit Halloween must be in good shape).
What drives the love for haunted houses? Science may give us a clue — a study in the journal Emotion found “voluntary scare experiences” put people in better moods and have the same calming effect as meditation (after you leave the attraction, that is).
No wonder horror movies are such a consistent draw at the box office.
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MUSIC
Courtesy of Power Trip
Power Trip amps up a fancy Coachella
The Future. Power Trip, a heavy metal and hard rock music festival featuring bands like Metallica, AC/DC, and Guns N’ Roses, rocked Indio, California (the home of Coachella and Stagecoach) earlier this month. By many accounts, it was a hit — both musically and logistically. With recent festival disasters clogging up the headlines, no-drama weekends like Power Trip could rewrite the narrative of how big production festivals should function.
Heavy comfort
Metal fans only want chaos in songs.
Power Trip counted 80,000 guests, with tickets priced between $600 and $4,000.
According to Air Mail’s Jill Kargman, it was way more chill than the typical festival, thanks to the mostly Gen X crowd and seamless festival organization (all powered by a scannable wristband).
And the amenities were no Fyre Festival, with enclosed and air-conditioned bars (that featured whiskey tastings) and fancy food selections (poke bowls in the desert? yep).
While mainstream festivals like Coachella and Lollapalooza will always dominate the headlines, the rise of nostalgia festivals is creating more niche options for fans to enjoy and artists to headline. It’s not as much a fracturing of culture as a catering to the superfans who have stayed loyal (both in love and money) throughout the decades.
In other words, every audience needs their own music mecca.
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CULTURE
#WagonTrain // Illustration by Kate Walker
Gen Z goes rural
The Future. Gen Z is increasingly moving to the Midwest and mountainous states in search of cheaper homes, more opportunities, and a simpler life. While much of the migration of the last century was focused on filling up industry center metros and suburban sprawl, the next century may be all about building up the frontier (once again).
Modern pioneering
Gen Z is heading for the hills.
According to a new report from StorageCafe, Gen Zers are flocking to states like North and South Dakota, Idaho, and Kansas.
Why? With a lousy housing market and homeowners staying put, Gen Z needs to cast a wider net to become owners.
But, the generation is also undergoing a vibe shift, attracted to lower population density and areas focused on outdoor activities — a marked change from big city-loving millennials.
The Midwest migration hit high gear during the pandemic, with think tank Heartland Forward noting many states in the area have started to become new industry hubs. Silicon Dragon Ventures founder Rebecca A. Fannin even argues the Rust Belt is becoming the Tech Belt.
That may be a bit overstated, but with RentCafe reporting only two million Gen Zers own homes, prospective homeowners need somewhere to go — states with low costs and lots of land seem like winning options.
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Highlights
The best curated daily stories from around the web
Media, Music, & Entertainment
India’s Reliance Industries is in talks to buy a controlling stake in Disney’s business in the country (dubbed Disney Star) for somewhere between $7 billion and $10 billion. Read more → bloomberg
The bidding for All3Media, the production giant behind Fleabag and The Traitors, has come down to three suitors: France’s Banijay, Peter Chernin’s North Road, and, shockingly, Goldman Sachs. Read more → deadline
Madison and Wall, an insights firm for Wall Street, forecasts advertising in the streaming age will focus on two tenants: more premium and fewer overall. Read more → thr
Fashion & E-Commerce
A$AP Rocky has been named the creative director of PUMA’s Formula 1 partnership, with a limited edition capsule debuting next month at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Read more → highsnobiety
Chinese fast-fashion giant SHEIN is launching a Brazil-made division that’ll service Latin America. Read more → bof
Activision Blizzard is in the giving spirit this Halloween season for the release of Diablo IV, kicking off a blood drive sweepstakes that’ll end with a raffle for a custom PC that’s literally infused with real human blood. Read more → engadget
Tech, Web3, & AI
It’s the movie Her in real life: people are grieving the sudden shutdown of an AI-powered chatbot with which many had started romantic relationships. Read more → insider
Today’s teens are totally cool with their parents using tech to track their every move. Read more → wsj
Another ghost kitchen goes poof: KBOX Global has fallen from grace, gone bankrupt, and is now up for sale. Read more → insider
Creator Economy
Tinder is letting your friends swipe for you with a new feature called “Tinder Matchmaker.” Read more → techcrunch
Twitch is starting to let creators simulcast to competitors as long as they’re not under exclusive contracts. Read more → engadget
Instagram is employing AI to allow users to turn their photos into stickers… ensuring you can now put your dog on any of your posts. Read more → theverge
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Copy edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.