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In other news… Beatles x AI, Netflix’s live sports bet, and hip-hop’s hiccup.
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MUSIC
The Beatles reunite with a little help from AI
The Future. It’s been over 50 years since The Beatles have made music together, but Paul McCartney announced that he’s finished using AI to clean up a recording of Lennon’s vocals for a brand new track. For Beatles fans, this is like Christmas. But the use case may also be a perfect demonstration to the rest of the industry of how AI can be used, not to replace artists, but as a revolutionary tool in bringing back to life lost or damaged work.
Lennon gets back
After Peter Jackson used AI to help Paul McCartney duet with John Lennon during Glastonbury last year, the legendary musician asked for his help in creating one last Fab Four song.
McCartney told the BBC that they “just finished it up and it’ll be released this year.”
AI wasn’t used to recreate Lennon’s voice, but instead took an old demo of Lennon’s, isolated his voice from the instruments being played, and made his voice “pure.”
McCartney was then able to mix the record like normal.
What song exactly? McCartney’s staying mum, but word is that it’s a 1978 composition called “Now and Then.” The song was one of four that Yoko Ono originally gave to McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr following Lennon’s murder. It was meant to be included in 1995’s Anthology project… but was deemed unreleasable at the time.
While McCarthy says he’s just as amazed and terrified of AI as anyone, in his hands, it’s just another instrument helping to create some very human magic.
ENTERTAINMENT
Netflix takes a swing at live sports
The Future. Netflix is possibly taking its live-streaming experimentation to the world of sports this fall with a Las Vegas-set golf tournament. If it isn’t a miss, the streamer may start to go headfirst into the sports-bidding fray… and have the beginnings of a new strategy to attract advertisers.
Greenlight on the green
Following every other major streaming service, Netflix is getting into live sports.
Netflix is toying with the idea of live-streaming a celebrity golf tournament that will feature names from its Formula 1 series, Drive to Survive, and its golf series, Full Swing.
It’s seen as a way for Netflix to dip its toes in the live sports space without having to commit right away to buy the broadcast rights to a major league.
That’s because Netflix, one of the few pure-play streaming companies, hasn’t really found a way to make live sports a profitable business venture.
That’s not to say that Netflix hasn’t bid on sports rights. It made a play for Formula 1 (an obvious strategy) but lost out to ESPN. It also made efforts for tennis and cycling events and some other lower-level leagues, according to WSJ.
Netflix’s hope is that the celebrity golf tournament will go over more like its Chris Rock comedy special than the Love is Blind reunion.
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MUSIC
Billboard, what’s good?
Hip-Hop hasn’t hit #1 for the first time in thirty years
The Future. A lack of big hip-hop hits this year has led to the longest stretch in thirty years that a song from the genre hasn’t topped the Billboard charts. While hip-hop is still insanely popular, mainstream tastes are expanding to include more country and Latin music… which could start to impact what we hear across popular Spotify playlists and film and TV.
Fresh out of new
Hip-hop is not in Billboard’s top rotation this year.
There hasn't been a single hip-hop album or song at the top of the Billboard 200 or Hot 100 all year.
That’s the first time that has happened for this long since 1993.
Billboard believes it’s because there haven't been any breakthrough artists this year and because the usual hitmakers (Kendrick, Drake, etc.) all released music last year.
All of that is not to say that hip-hop has been declining in popularity. Sales are actually up 6.3% from last year. But, the rise in popularity of country and Latin music is taking some overall market share.
But, back to Billboard. So, who has been crowding the top of the charts? It’s actually a small club — mostly Miley Cyrus and Morgan Wallen.
Highlights
The best curated daily stories from around the web
Media, Music, & Entertainment
The 76th Tony Awards hit a high note of 4.3 million viewers last Sunday — its biggest audience since 2019. Read more → variety
The Federal Trade Commission is suing to block Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard in federal court. Read more → nyt
Snoop Dogg is debuting a “Passport Series” NFT collection that will be the first “evolving digital tour collectible,” giving holders exclusive access to his life on the road. Read more → variety
Fashion & E-Commerce
Artist FEWOCiOUS (aka Victor Langlois) is collabing with adidas on a unique Campus 00 sneaker that will be both a physical sneaker and a digital twin that will be interoperable between FEWOCiOUS’s metaverse, FewoWorld, and adidas’, ALTS. Read more → highsnobiety
Pro and college athletes are becoming the new face of cosmetic and beauty brands, and are even launching their own collections. Read more → businessoffashion
Funko is now letting customers Funko themselves — a venture called Pop! Yourself. Read more → thr
Tech, Web3, & AI
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence declassified a report that admits that the US intelligence sector routinely buys commercially-available personal data of Americans — a practice that the government itself says “raises significant issues related to privacy and civil liberties.” Read more → techcrunch
Feelin’ the heat: California announced that its $100 billion electric bullet train will be entirely solar-powered, while Norway gave the first peek of its renewables-powered cruise ship that will have solar panels for sails. Read more → forbes
Toyota is working on a system for its EVs that mimics the feel of driving with a manual transmission (gear shifts, revving sounds, stalling out), showing that there’s nothing quite like the vibe of driving stick. Read more → wsj
Creator Economy
YouTube is updating its Partner Program to allow people with 500 subscribers to start monetizing on the platform, giving them access to paid chat, tipping, channel memberships, and shopping features. Read more → theverge
Livestream gamer Ninja has jumped over to Kick because of his criticism of Twitch’s ban on “simulcasting” — streaming to multiple platforms simultaneously. Read more → tubefilter
Heinz is hoping to make its limited run of sauce drops (Yuzu Wasabi, Black Garlic Ranch, and four others) by partnering with some internet one-hit wonders such as Bad Luck Brian and Rebecca Black. Read more → hypebeast
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