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Leave a message. Apple’s at it again, FutureParty people. And this time, they’re going a bit old school with a soon-to-be-released iOS feature. Dubbed “Live Voicemail,” the new call-screening tool lets you read a real-time text transcript of a voicemail as callers leave them (and even pick up mid-message). Cool, huh? While the revamped answering machine is currently in beta, it’s set to drop as part of iOS 17 this fall — giving you plenty of time to think of the ultimate greeting.
In other news… Tay Tay does it again, Apple TV+ quietly dominates in quality, and moviegoers lack etiquette.
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MUSIC
TMoney // Illustration by Kate Walker
Taylor Swift tuned up a cultural moment
The Future. Although we live in an era of fragmented culture, Taylor Swift’s tour has managed to bind it back together, ruling headlines week after week. While Swift has cemented herself as not only a generation-defining artist but also one of the savviest women in entertainment, the true takeaway of the tour may be people are itching again for culture-defining, in-person events that breed connection as we leave the COVID era behind us.
Star of the summer
Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been felt across culture like an earthquake (including a real one during a Seattle concert).
The tour is on track to finish with $1.4 billion in sales — blowing Elton John’s $939 million-grossing Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour out of the water.
That’s thanks to $14 million in ticket sales every show, with demand so high that it rocked Ticketmaster, led to insane markups on resale platforms, kicked off a “Taylor-gating” trend, and even sparked a Congressional hearing.
It also led to hospitality shortages in every city she played (with local governments bending over backwards to show their love), and so much economic activity generated that the Fed suggested her tour helped the country avoid a recession.
Then there are the fits: fans not only dressed up each night based on various Taylor “eras” but also started a friendship-bracelet trading phenomenon.
And in the midst of the career-spanning tour, ten of her albums have charted this year, with four of them hitting the top 10 simultaneously — the first living artist to do so since trumpeter and bandleader Herb Alpert in 1966.
According to Billy Joel (who knows a thing or two about successful live performances), “The only thing I can compare it to is the phenomenon of Beatlemania.” And to think the international leg of her tour hasn’t even started yet…
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ENTERTAINMENT
Courtesy of AppleTV+
Apple TV+ tries to program an audience for its great titles
The Future. Apple is making some of the best TV out there (Severance! Servant! Shrinking!), racking up awards (54 Emmy nominations since 2019), and even making an impact in movies (a Best Picture Oscar for CODA), but are people watching? That’s the question rippling around Hollywood. While many analysts believe Apple will eventually buy a studio to shed its quality-over-quantity approach, it may be more likely that the company’s penchant for control will make AppleTV+ content the highest form of brand marketing… whether or not it makes a profit.
Biggest company, smallest streamer
Is Apple TV+ successful?
Apple doesn’t share audience data, but third-party platforms peg the service’s subscriber count at just over 29 million (14.8 million in the US) — far smaller than its competitors.
Viewership is so small that AppleTV+ is the only major streamer not to chart on Nielsen’s overall TV viewership monthly breakdown; other than Ted Lasso, none of its shows have appeared on Nielsen’s weekly Top 10 chart.
But the company’s focus on premium scripted content (it has the highest batting average of good reviews) has also made it one of the most in-demand services, putting it on the path to growth.
And grow it has — per Parrot Analytics, it was the third most in-demand streamer last quarter. That’s good news for attracting new subscribers (and hopefully reducing churn).
Because Apple doesn’t license older shows and movies, the company lives or dies on its originals, which is why they need to be great. And because Apple has positioned itself as the AAA player of Hollywood (the biggest stars, the biggest payouts), Apple likely wants to see a return on that investment (hence why it just started canceling under-performing shows).
Or does it? Apple just so happens to be the most prominent company in the world, and the cultural caché it gets from its streamer may be paying in ways that aren’t strictly financial. So far, Tim Cook seems pleased enough.
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ENTERTAINMENT
Big screens only // Illustration by Kate Walker
Movie theater etiquette needs a reboot
The Future. Barbie may have broken some brains when it comes to movie manners, with audiences complaining that more and more people are using their phones during screenings. But with theaters not wanting to alienate anybody, the future may be in scheduling two simultaneous showtimes for popular releases: one phone-free and one not, letting moviegoers choose.
Too many screens
While some audience members using their phones has been a problem for years, there seems to have been a major uptick with Barbie.
That’s to take selfies, snap photos of the movie in progress, and even film “antics” (WSJ’s word) to post on social media.
Why the disruption? It’s the new trend of not just enjoying entertainment but also participating in it — sometimes, to an unhealthy degree.
It’s part and parcel of the growing phenomenon of people singing loudly during Broadway shows or throwing things at artists during concerts.
Theater chains are trying to combat the interruptions in a number of ways, whether that’s Regal crafting photo ops before and after screenings in the lobby, or the Alamo Drafthouse giving patrons warnings mid-show before giving them the boot.
The fear is, if nothing is done about the phone-wielding disruptors, more and more customers may get fed up and simply wait for films to show up on streaming… where the only person they have to worry about whipping out a phone is themself.
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Speed researching
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Highlights
The best curated daily stories from around the web
Media, Music, & Entertainment
Barbie blew past a billion dollars at the box office in just 17 days — making director/co-writer Greta Gerwig the first solo female director to have a movie reach that milestone. Read more → variety
After antitrust regulators shut down Paramount Global’s plan to sell Simon & Schuster to HarperCollins, the company has sold the storied publisher to private investment firm KKR for $1.62 billion. Read more → thr
Imagine Entertainment’s professional networking platform Impact is partnering with Ava DuVernay’s DEI-focused ARRAY Crew to build the largest hiring database in Hollywood. Read more → deadline
Fashion & E-Commerce
According to a new report from Statista, Nike is the most popular sneaker brand in the world, followed by Nike’s own Air Jordan label. Read more → hypebeast
Sponsored sports fashion may be all the rage, but its evanescence makes it a headache for sustainability efforts… so a team of startups is trying to give the pieces a second life. Read more → bof
TikTok Shop’s US operations want to enter the pre-owned luxury and sneakers market. Read more → insider
Tech, Web3, & AI
Even Zoom is asking employees to return to the office. Read more → insider
An internal Meta report found less than 10% of people who purchased a pair of the company’s Ray-Ban Stories AR glasses are even using them monthly, citing several connectivity and usage issues. Read more → wsj
Dungeons & Dragons (the company) is barring its illustrators from using AI to generate artwork. Read more → insider
Creator Economy
TikTok competitor Triller has filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “ILLR.” Read more → tubefilter
Whenever that Musk-Zuckerberg cage match goes down, it’ll apparently be livestreamed on X, with proceeds going to veterans. Read more → thr
Hot off the grill: after MrBeast sued Virtual Dining Concepts over the alleged lack of quality of MrBeast Burgers, VDC has counter-sued the influencer for $100 million. 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.