Spotify For Your Eyes

PRESENTED BY MODE MOBILE

Tuesday time. If you’re a fan of Legos, nothing will blow your mind quite as much as this life-sized Lego McLaren P1 that the company recently built. The car, which sits on an actual McLaren chassis, can hit a top speed of 40mph (tested by McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris). How can we play with this thing?

Risky takes on well-known IP or existing franchises have been a success story for Hollywood this year, which offers an exciting path for bold filmmakers to play in a big-budget sandbox.

The Big Picture: As the American film and TV industry contracts after years of unbridled spending in streaming, studios have focused their development dollars on safe, “surefire” hits that audiences have a pre-awareness of. But if an original vision is what audiences are really drawn to, finding the balance between those forces may be a winning formula.

Behind the Curtain: THR reports that a top studio exec said this felt like the first year in a while when “‘franchise’ was no longer a dirty word.” The box office receipts don’t lie.

Closing Credits: What each of these franchises represent are established worlds that audiences know and love. But while many reboots and retreads failed — either critically or commercially — over the past decade, this year’s movies across the board took unexpected approaches to their storytelling, which is what ultimately helped broaden their appeal to a new generation (similar to last year’s Barbie). It’s possible that the next era of blockbuster filmmaking will be experimenting with just how far franchises can be pushed creatively. Should be fun.

Alternate Take: For all the franchise love, audiences love to be knocked out by an original story that surprises them. It just takes some great marketing to get them in the theater.

Turn your phone from a cost into a revenue stream.

Intriguing idea, isn’t it?

That’s why we have our eyes on the launch of Mode’s Pre-IPO Offering.

Mode saw 32,481% revenue growth from 2019 to 2022, ranking them the #1 overall software company on this year’s Deloitte 500 fastest-growing companies list.

“EarnPhone,” a budget smartphone, has helped consumers earn and save over $325 million.

Claim an exclusive bonus at $0.25/share*. Over 21,997 investors have acquired shares in Mode already.

^{*This is a paid advertisement for the Mode Mobile Reg A offering. Please read the offering statement at https://invest.modemobile.com/.}

Spotify is making a pitch to YouTube creators to bring their video content to the audio streamer in an effort to rebrand the platform as a streamer for both the eyes and the ears.

Why It Hits: Spotify has been dipping its toes in the video world with its podcast hosts over the past year, but the push to attract YouTube creators comes just as YouTube itself is trying to woo podcasters. At the end of the day, companies don’t want to be siloed in any one media.

Between the Lines: Spotify isn’t afraid to open its wallet when it wants to enter a new space.

The Future: Spotify is already making huge waves in video, with the company reporting that over 170 million users are watching content on the platform (mostly that of podcasters like Joe Rogan and Emma Chamberlain). No wonder the brand showed up to the NewFronts conference this year. They want to plant their flag in the space. But with creators already managing content on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, Spotify will likely need to roll out a tool that makes use of both its audio and video capabilities in a novel, integrated way to get creators posting.

Is that even possible? You bet it is.

Brightfin is an app that helps you budget with just a swipe of the finger.

Instead of a complicated budget (or ~*gasp*~ no budget at all), Brightfin’s “4S” method is simple and flexible to fit your lifestyle — not the other way around.

Choose the target that fits your priorities, like The Regular, The YOLO, or In This Economy? Then, swipe each expense as a Spend, Splurge, Save, or Share, so Brightfin can do all the math to calculate your percentages. Easy, right?

And TFP readers, this one’s for you: sign up within the next four days and get $4 off for four months (that’s $4.99 through mid-January).

Our poll metrics went down yesterday, but your comments kept us going — here are some answers to the question: Do you like hot wings?

“Why would you eat something that hurts?!”

“Chicken magic... simply served.”

“Sometimes in these I think there should be a ‘Meh’ button. I don’t hate hot wings, but I am not going out of my way to get them…”

“I love hot wings. Never heard of the show or the host.”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join our Poll Of The Day newsletter so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers’, check out cool insights, and have some fun. It’s data with personality.

📺 Disney and DirecTV have finally reached a carriage deal to bring the Mouse House’s channels back to customers.

🥩 Celebrity dining: Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan opened a steakhouse in Las Vegas, while Anderson .Paak debuted a speakeasy in LA.

🚓 Ex-MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe received a guilty ticket for the securities fraud conspiracy tied to the platform’s downfall.

🚀 The Polaris Dawn crew behind the first commercial spacewalk arrived safely back to Earth.

💸 Mark Cuban expressed interest in buying both X and Fox News, which definitely got investors’ heads spinning.

👀 Oracle CEO Larry Ellison believes that an AI Big Brother is inevitable (which Oracle would likely profit nicely from).

🏛️ TikTok goes to Washington… to fight for its status in the US.

🍫 MrBeast, Logan Paul, and KSI are launching a Lunchables competitor called Lunchly, which, yes, will include a Feastables bar and a Prime drink.

🤑 Yahoo! is debuting four original series from prominent financial influencers.