The New Mount Rushmore Of Music

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Happy Wednesday, Future Party. There are those who don’t use AI at all… and then there are those who seem to use it every second of every day. One of those people is apparently an unnamed Disney employee who, over nine days, used Anthropic’s Claude chatbot 460,600 times — that’s about 51,000 times a day. Our best guess? It’s Mickey Mouse trying to figure out how to become sentient.

Music companies BMG and Concord are merging in a $7 billion deal to form “the leading independent music company in the world.”

The Big Sound: While the BMG-Concord deal creates a firm capable of competing at the scale of the three major music companies (UMG, Sony, and Warner), both are staying true to their independent roots, betting on a more-is-more approach. The new BMG (the official name of the combined company) may not have current superstars, but it does have a superstar catalog library that can help subsidize artist development.

Behind The Deal: The year of the mega-merger continues.

Closing Thoughts: The new BMG is signaling that it wants to use its combined resources to supercharge the unsexy stuff it does best — catalog-rights management, music publishing, and distribution. Announcing the deal, Valentine said: “This is not about replicating the major label model; it’s about using scale to strengthen independence. Together, we will build a company that gives artists more reach and more flexibility — all designed to support their distinct visions.”

In other words, it’s a bet that one size definitely doesn’t fit all.

The Future: The merger shows that music assets are now among the most attractive investments in the world… so expect consolidation across the industry to continue as companies compete in catalog bidding wars.

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Canadian holding company Tiny is looking to sell Letterboxd — the film-focused platform that has become one of the rare social media triumphs of the decade.

The Big Picture: Since the pandemic, Letterboxd has become the digital hub for cinephiles around the world, skyrocketing from 1 million users to 26 million in just five years. Whoever gets the chance to snap up the platform — co-founder Matthew Buchanan has veto rights over any buyer — will hold the keys to one of the most concentrated communities of film fans under the age of 24.

Behind The Scenes: Letterboxd wants to log some suitors.

Final Credits: Letterboxd proudly goes against the grain of social platforms, with a relatively low-fi UI, no personalized algorithm, and monetization through basic ads. But that hasn’t stopped it from being a hit — Martin Scorsese and Charli XCX are power users, its “Letterboxd’s Four Favorites” videos often go viral, and it has even rolled out a digital video store to support festival favorites and cult classics.

Basically, the platform is in the perfect position to level up. Now it’s about finding an owner with the muscle and vision to make it happen.

Coming Soon: It’s possible that an ambitious indie studio like A24 or Neon could make a play for the company, giving them a powerful marketing engine to reach their core audience.

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60.8% of you voted No in yesterday’s poll: Have you ever signed up for a movie theater membership program?

“Not that many movies out that I want to see.”

“I’m a Cinemark Premium Rewards member — I go to the movies about once a week, so it ends up paying for itself.”

“I’ve been a Regal Unlimited member for the last four years, and it’s the best way to experience movies as a fan — especially in this economy. I protect my subscription at all costs!”

“Alamo Drafthouse — until they got rid of paper ordering.”

“AMC + the OG MoviePass.”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join Poll Of The Day, 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.

🎥 Indie film financier Magnetic Labs has raised a reported $50 million fund to expand its capabilities.

👀 Barry Diller’s IAC is rebranding as People Incorporated as it sharpens its focus on publishing and its stake in MGM Resorts.

📺 YouTube TV is rolling out a customizable multiview feature across all of its programming.

🤝 A day after OpenAI ended its exclusive pact with Microsoft, Amazon will make OpenAI’s products available to AWS customers.

🤖 Meta now has to unwind its $2.5 billion acquisition of AI startup Manus after Beijing blocked the deal.

🧠 Motif Neurotech has received FDA approval to test a brain implant for depression therapy on humans.

🏈 Las Vegas Raiders merch for Fernando Mendoza, the first pick in the NFL Draft, has already sold out on Fanatics.

🎮 Twitch is debuting “Game Lift,” a new feature that lets viewers try out the games streamers are playing.

👕 Amazon is introducing an AI-powered audio Q&A feature on its product pages, so you can finally ask the platform if that shirt will really fit you.