Together with
Say hello to stress tech. While we're more stressed out than ever these days, a growing number of companies are leveraging wearables to help us chill out. WHOOP just launched its stress-tracking feature, while Apollo Neuro’s AI-driven tech delivers anti-stress vibrations. Will they pass the stress test?
In other news… Swift vs. Beyoncé, AI takes on Hollywood VFX, and America wants its own single malt whiskey.
Top Trends
YouTube → Barbie
Twitter → Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Google → Blue Beetle
Reddit → Shrek 5
TikTok → “Fast Car” - Luke Combs
Spotify → “Fighting Myself” - Linkin Park
Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe
MUSIC
May the biggest act win // Illustration by Kate Walker
Swift and Beyoncé vie for the first billion-dollar tour
The Future. Thanks to pent-up demand, sky-high ticket prices, and an almost-insatiable desire for live experiences, Taylor Swift or Beyoncé may put on the first-ever tour to gross a billion dollars. And it’s a tide that lifts all boats, with concertgoing all around bringing in record sales. After COVID, communal events may be undergoing a renaissance.
Concert queenIt’s a toss-up for which superstar will bring live music into the ten-figure club.
Beyoncé is raking in about $7.5 million per show on her Renaissance tour, and demand is so high (she hasn’t toured since 2016) that she can keep adding tours to rack up revenue.
Depending on how you look at it, Elton John currently has the highest-grossing tour with the nine-leg long Yellow Brick Road tour (over $800 million and counting) or it’s Ed Sheeran with his single-leg Divide tour ($776 million… which he accomplished by playing 255 nights and only charging $88 per ticket).
SelloutsNot even counting Swift and Beyoncé, it’s shaping up to be a great year for live music.
Several artists are selling out stadiums and arenas worldwide, including Madonna, The Weeknd, Coldplay, Depeche Mode, and Bruce Springsteen.
And like it or not, many acts are doing so by selling tickets at sky-high prices — the thinking being that charging more will ward off opportunistic scalpers.
Oh, and just to give you a sense of the scope of a stadium sellout: they can hold anywhere from 40,000 to 100,000 people. Imagine doing that for 50 nights.
AI
AI is already streamlining Hollywood VFX
The Future. While many fear that AI may eventually be used to replace screenwriters or actors, it’s likelier that it will be used to revolutionize post-production pipelines — so that projects can get done faster and cheaper. With the power and cost-savings of AI tools, lower-budget movies may realize a scope or ambition that wouldn’t have been possible even a year ago.
A sprinkle of AILike any good VFX, AI is already quietly enhancing movie magic.
Robert Zemeckis is using software from startup Metaphysic to de-age actors Tom Hanks and Robin Writing in real time on the set of his new movie, Here.
Filmmaker Joe Penna used a custom-made generative AI on the set of Anna Kendrick’s debut feature, The Dating Game, to make 5,000 photos for the 70s set film.
Evan Halleck, a VFX artist on Everything Everywhere All at Once, used generative AI from Runway to remove the pulley system used to move the rocks in this scene.
Additionally, new companies are popping up that use AI and deepfake tools as their go-to service. South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have raised $20 million for their startup Deep Voodoo, which famously put its face-swapping tech to the test in Kendrick Lamar’s music video for “The Heart Part 5.”
Just be prepared for the rules and compensation around AI augmentation to be baked into every talent contract from here on out.
TOGETHER WITH DOLLAR FLIGHT CLUB
How to save on flights for life
The first rule of flight club is that you deserve a vacation. (Let’s be honest.)
With Dollar Flight Club, you’ll discover great deals on flights leaving from your home airport for up to 90% off. (Yes, you read that correctly.) And you’ll save on roundtrip flight deals like Hawaii from $197, Paris from $310, Costa Rica from $205, Tokyo from $455, and more!
Here’s the coolest thing you’ll probably hear this week: right now, you can lock in a lifetime membership to Dollar Flight Club for only $129. That’s 93% off, and you’ll save up to $2k on all flights — for life.
Want to date before committing? Just sign up for free and get access to great flight deals for your next adventure.
FOOD & DRINK
The new American spirit // Illustration by Kate Walker
America wants its own single malt whiskey
The Future. Single malt whiskey may soon be as American as Tennessee whiskey and bourbon… at least when it comes to government protections. A final vote to determine government-protected distinctions (yes, there’s such a thing) for the alcohol is imminent and may soon set up another major spirit class in the US that could shake up the whole industry.
Malt DestinyWhiskey distillers are fighting to give American-made single malts a government-protected stamp of legitimacy.
The American Single Malt Whiskey Commission, which consists of 104 members, is awaiting a final decision from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau on a proposed set of guidelines to give single malts a “Standard of Identity.”
The Standard of Identity would give single malts the same regulatory protection and legitimacy as bourbon, Tennessee whiskey, and rye.
That approval would give American distillers a leg up in breaking into the global market for single malts, which is currently valued at $2.8 billion… and is expected to hit $4.1 billion by 2030. That’s good news for everybody from Jack Daniels to Bear Fight Whiskey, who are all developing their one single malts.
Libation immigrationSo, what will make a single malt in America similar to those created by its Scottish counterpart?
The proposal states that they would have to be made using malted barley and be produced at a single distillery (but using whiskeys from different casks).
But, there’s no age requirement, which may actually hurt its chances in the market, where single malts are deemed more valuable the longer they are aged.
Nonetheless, American distillers say that the outsized temperature changes and elevation levels in the US help the spirit to mature much quicker than in Scotland.
But single-malt enthusiasts may be the final arbiter of that.
TOGETHER WITH SUNDAYS
Poor spot
Meet Spot. Spot gets kibble for lunch and dinner. Poor Spot.
We know you intend to feed your pups healthy, yummy food. We also know that time’s limited, and sometimes you don’t even have a minute to cook for yourself.
That’s why Sundays will be your new BFF (and Spot’s too). Sunday’s air-dried dog food uses human-grade ingredients to keep your best pal licking his lips and feeling his best.
All you have to do is order your free sample. And if Spot digs it (we know he will), use code FUTUREPARTY for 35% off a full order!
Then, you and Spot can happily join the other 10,000+ pups and their hoomans who love Sundays.
Highlights
The best curated daily stories from around the web
Netflix presents Love is Blind… live
After the success of its live Chris Rock comedy special, Netflix is teeing up its first live reunion special for the season 4 cast of Love is Blind. It will air April 16 at 8 pm ET, and fans will be able to submit questions on both Twitter and Instagram. Considering that Love is Blind is watched by some 30 million subscribers, Netflix believes it has another live hit on its hands.
Read more → techcrunch
Can aging be cured?
While controversial, the concept of “old age” being a disease is gaining steam, and some clinics are already popping up to treat it. Places like Human Longevity Inc., Rosebar at Six Sense Ibiza, and Fountain Life are using everything from stem-cell and hormone therapy, gene therapies, breathing masks designed to boost energy, and hyperbaric oxygen chambers to make you, allegedly, literally, younger. But, until these treatments are covered by insurance, they’ll cost you a lot.
Read more → fastcompany
Paris puts the brakes on e-scooters
Paris has had enough of people just ditching their Lime scooters in front of the Arc de Triomphe. In a referendum, the city voted to ban all scooter rental companies from the city — the first time a city that offered paid contracts for e-scooters to reverse that decision. The measure passed with 85% of the vote, so there was no debate on how residents felt about the two-wheeled transportation (although turnout was low). Companies will have until September 1st to remove their fleets.
Read more → wsj
Spotify switches off live audio
Gone are the halcyon days of live audio, where celebrities and tech titans the world over would spend a Tuesday night waxing poetic on Clubhouse (2020, aka a lifetime ago). Since then, competitors have come and gone, with the latest casualty being Spotify’s standalone live audio app, Spotify Live (formerly Greenroom). The move comes after Spotify canceled its renaming live shows last year. Spotify Live will officially be laid to rest on April 30 in case you want to shout into the void one last, sweet time.
Read more → thr
A whole office in Amsterdam is getting its steps in
Treadmill desks are last decade’s innovation. These days, the move is to get the whole office moving. That’s what one office in Amsterdam’s EDGE Stadium is proposing with the opening of its “walking room” (developed by a company named Walking Room). The office’s standing hot desk bullpen has a grass-colored carpet that can be turned on so it feels like you’re taking a stroll while rolling calls. Participants so far report that the walking room made them feel more productive and less stressed… so Walking Room might be onto something here.
Read more → fastcompany
Like what you see? Subscribe Now or Partner With Us
Today's email was brought to you by David Vendrell.Edited by Melody Song. Publishing by Sara Kitnick.