Isaac Josephson

The stage was set at the NAB Show 2024. Hundreds of products battled for supremacy in the ever-evolving streaming video arena. Tensions were high as the industry's elite judging panel meticulously evaluated each offering. Then, a true champion emerged from the fray. Vimond's VIA App Builder captivated the experts with a perfect fusion of power and elegance. Features that dazzled: - Lightning-fast development capabilities that make deploying streaming services across devices a mere formality. - An interface so intuitive even a novice could wield its might. - Unparalleled content management that monetises like never before. In an epic clash of innovation, the VIA App Builder reigned supreme – conquering the "Next TV" category to seize the coveted Best of Show honour. A thousand competitors stood in awe. This was more than just an award. It was a statement of Vimond's unwavering commitment to streamlining video streaming for the modern era. An undisputed mark of quality that will shatter industry conventions. The victory horn has sounded. All others have been put on notice. Brace yourselves for the VIA App Builder's continued dominance, as it leads content creators to a new era of broadcast supremacy. https://lnkd.in/gssvefKG

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“We need to rediscover the origins of journalism which was based on news, to find out something that was not supposed to be found out. Every real journalist is driven by that, not wanting to aggregate information that is out there anyway. Reporting, coming up with something new, unknown, is the essence of the business.” Yeah, ok great. But then, what happens once you've succeeded at that mission and published something new? Thanks to your open funnel sending that info to OpenAI, they can now regurgitate it on their own platform(s). I would love to know if these deals include mandates for a link back to the actual source and limitations around how the content can be reshaped, retold and reshared. Are there any protection preventing your data from third parties who use OpenAI technology to create junk AI sites that create pink slime copies of a copy of a copy. I get publishers may look at the "pact with the devil" as a better alternative to the devil just taking what he wants with no pact. But, we need to be smart here. Our future depends on it. #ai #media #journalism #artificialintelligence #openai #genai

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ICYMI - The Week In Review looks at why most of The Trade Desk's "Top 100 Publishers on the Open Internet" list consists of streaming TV services and networks with URLs and why the list resembles a big consumer brands' media plan circa 1987. We also look at Nielsen's plans to measure Lionsgate's FAST channel and wonder why we're the only ones asking "Okay, but how?" https://lnkd.in/e8kpPVBE

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“Warner Music CEO Robert Kyncl says metadata issues make the industry more susceptible to AI in his NMPA meeting keynote: “It takes the teeth out of things.” Metadata problems have been a continual thorn in the side of music rights holders for the last two decades. When performing rights organizations (PROs) can’t accurately match a track’s metadata to its use, artists and their contributors miss out on hard-earned revenue. Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl wants to bring those issues to light for the industry to solve, and he’s got some suggestions for going about it. At the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA)’s Annual Meeting in New York on Wednesday (June 12), Kyncl was interviewed by NMPA President and CEO David Israelite, during which the Warner exec was asked for his views on positive reform in collection societies. “One of the things that troubles me personally is that we’re basically collecting digital revenue the way we’ve collected analog revenue for decades. The speed of it; everything is the same,” said Kyncl. “That’s something we all collectively can do better and I think that will help songwriters tremendously.” “There’s a wealth of repertoire ownership information that sits with the collection societies, PROs, the [Mechanical Licensing Collective] and not everything matches perfectly,” he explained, calling for the industry to enable collection societies worldwide to collaborate in order to solve the continued issue of unmatched data. Kyncl stressed that reducing the amount of mismatched data is “incredibly important, not only for a faster flow of money today,” but for the music industry down the road as AI technology continues to grow. “If we set the rules of the road correctly with the platforms, it will have to depend on ownership information,” he added. “It’s one of the things that we really need to focus on.” Read the full article for more: #Metadata #PROs #CMOs #MLC #WarnerMusicGroup #WMG #NMPA #MusicRights #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Music #MusicBusiness #Musica #MusicIndustry #Musique #Musik #MusicBiz

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“Warner Music Group (WMG) CEO Robert Kyncl has come out in favor of a US Senate bill that would crack down on unauthorized deepfakes, arguing that the technology could ruin lives, reputations and businesses if left unchecked. Although many in the music business are embracing AI, it’s also the case that “generative AI is appropriating artists’ identities and producing deepfakes that depict people doing, saying, or singing things that never happened,” Kyncl will tell a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Commitee on Tuesday (April 30). “Through AI, it is very easy for someone to impersonate me and cause all manner of havoc,” Kyncl said, according to his pre-prepared remarks shared with MBW. “They could speak to an artist in a way that could destroy our relationship. They could say untrue things about our publicly traded company to the media that would damage our business.” #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Legal #GenerativeAi #GeAi #Music #MusicBusiness #Musicians #Musica #MusicIndustry #Musique #Musik #MusicLicensing #WMG #MusicVideos #Artists #MusicBiz #Streaming #StreamingServices #StreamingMedia #WarnerMusicGroup #USCongress #USA

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Deepna Devkar, Ph.D. what a treat having you on the podcast! If you’ve ever wondered what goes into building your personalised experience on Max, this is the episode for you. Tune in to hear from one of the minds leading the build of the platform experience!

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Range Media Partners just raised big $$ from Liberty Global, Wildcat Capital Management. It's an M&A warchest so they don’t fall behind their peers.  Let’s break it down… BACKGROUND ON RANGE • Mgmt and prod co founded in 2020 by Peter Micelli and other top agents from CAA / WME / UTA • Goal = extend beyond trad film / TV representation • Has expanded into music, sports, gaming, digital, music pub M&A + CAP MARKETS HISTORY • Merged with film / TV prod co Automatik in Jan 2023 • Bought upstart athlete mgmt co Stoked Management Group in Sep 2023 • Existing investors incl Steve Cohen’s Point72 Ventures and A+E Networks (also has prod deal) NEW INVESTMENT • Last week closed significant minority investment by John Malone’s Liberty Global, TPG founder’s Wildcat Capital, and family entertainment co Playground Productions • Former CAA film finance exec Rick Hess, and The Forest Road Company were also involved (either as investors or advisors, can’t tell exactly from press release) • Use of Funds: M&A, scale in US, int’l growth, add more talent rep and prod services What you need to know about this deal 👇... It's not surprising when you consider all the other fundraising and M&A amongst Range’s peers in talent representation.  The influx of capital and high dealmaking volume is driven by a belief that outsized returns will go to rep firms who are fastest to scale, in a winner-take-most market. Because scale makes it easier to sign more talent clients, work with the largest brand marketers, hire the best talent agents and managers, package up the largest Hollywood projects, and launch the most exciting new talent-led ventures. Particularly in a world where scaled access to audience (which talent and influencers bring in a post ATT world) is the top driver in capturing share of high-growth IM spend, which is est at $7B in 2024, up 15% YoY. So it’s a race to the top. And that race is being fueled by large M&A war chests from big investor backers… Companies to watch here are: - Crestview-backed Gersh (just bought A3’s digital team) - Coral Tree-backed Loaded (just bought GG Talent) - Providence-backed Wasserman (13 deals in 2 years) - TCG-backed Night (just bought LFM and Roost Podcast Network) - The big 3: CAA, UTA, Endeavor And after last week, I expect Range Media to ramp up its acquisition activity. Particularly in athlete and digital-native representation. Curious to see what they do next with the $$. Will definitely add them to our buyers list as we bring more deals to market. —- I’m the founder of RockWater Industries. We do M&A and strategy advisory for media, agencies, and creator economy. My DMs are open. #media #agency #creatoreconomy

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UTA just promoted 24 new partners. What's driving this? Promotions can be part of a retention strategy as competition for talent, and their reps, heats up. Particularly when new firms like Range Media Partners, which was the result top agent defections from the Big 3 Hollywood agencies in 2020, are growing fast and raising growth capital (see my analysis 👇). Some questions worth asking... - How is the agency's employee retention rate trending? - How does the % of promotions compare to prior years? - What agency depts are seeing more promotions? e.g. fast-growing areas like digital? - What are the benefits of being a partner? - What type of commitment is required from partners, if any? - How does all this compare to peer agencies? Many talent reps are thinking through decisions about staying VS leaving at bigger co's, starting their own firms, staying independent, and more. This is important info to track. For both those starting out their agency careers, and more seasoned agency execs thinking about their next career step. #media #agency #creatoreconomy

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Very good insight! I agree, the landscape is shifting. Adapt or die. As a TV and movie production company we can align with the streaming platforms, and with half a dozen companies reach HALF of the entire world's population. By doing so we can also control our own destiny and costs. That is alluring. The media distribution marketplace will dramatically change in the next 36 months. Is there a place for cinema, theatres, streaming, and other alternative delivery methods to co-exist? Time will tell, we all adapt, we all evolve, that is the nature of business. Here is a prelude of things to come...

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Transparency is a concern for buyers of streaming ad inventory. The challenge often begins with buyers dedicating substantial budgets directly to streaming platforms, marking a departure from the conventional TV landscape where advertisers typically concentrate their buying efforts directly with networks and channels. #FAST #CTVAdvertising https://lnkd.in/g4SPkYW5

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SAG-AFTRA has cut a deal with the measurement and analytics firm Nielsen to be a third-party provider of streaming content measurement. The Nielsen data — from its Streaming Content Ratings service — will “complement first-party data from streaming platforms and serve as a consistent and comparable lens through which the performance of streaming titles across various distribution platforms can be analyzed,” the companies said in the announcement. When SAG-AFTRA cut a deal with the studios in November to end the prolonged actors strike, it included a streaming bonus for shows on platforms like Netflix, Prime Video and Peacock that are bona fide hits. The deal saw the streamers agree to release some data privately to the union to help gauge what shows are hits, and which are not. The Nielsen deal suggests that the union wants to be sure there is another party involved for “forecasting and enforcement.” The rapid evolution of the media landscape and audience behaviors over the past decade has not only affected how content is consumed and measured, but also greatly impacts the financial models on which the entertainment industry operates. Nielsen is in the midst of transforming its business to adapt to a streaming-first world, where third-party measurement can be challenging thanks to walled gardens and consumers watching programs on phones, computers, smart TVs and through devices like Roku sticks. Many traditional TV companies have also sought to partner with other measurement firms in recent years, like Comscore, iSpot, EDO and VideoAmp to broaden the number of companies that help track the viewership of programs and efficacy of ads. #streaming #measurement #svod #nielsen #ott #content #audience #behavior #engagement #video #metrics

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The Meaning of vinyl outselling CDs • Physical sales keep growing but there is a hidden problem about streaming music that labels are about to address. • 3 strategic ideas music radio stations can employ to get in on the trend. • How young consumers are in the midst of changing the way they enjoy music (again). • The user-generated tools that will soon become available to allow music fans to control the speed of the music they hear and these other factors. • TikTok and Instagram Reels have forced a new approach that will make sure labels get paid. https://lnkd.in/eX4aKwQc

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Music Business Association Music Biz 2024 coming up in May. Find out more about Reactional Music and what we are delivering across interactive music, music personalisation, in-game economies, generative composable music and the possibilities for creators, composers, artists and developers

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“Apple could be the first tech giant to be fined under the EU’s Digital Markets Act in relation to its App Store rules around in-app payments. There has been a change to those rules since the DMA went into effect, but the FT’s sources say officials still reckon Apple is not compliant with the new law. The European Commission has reportedly decided that Apple is not compliant with the Digital Markets Act when it comes to allowing app developers to sign-post alternative payment options. This means that Apple will now need to offer more concessions to app developers in order to avoid being charged mega-fines - news that will be very much welcomed by Spotify. We already knew that the Commission was investigating whether Apple, Alphabet and Meta are compliant with the new rules that were introduced by the European Union’s Digital Markets Act. The DMA rule that says Apple and Alphabet must allow app developers to make users aware of payment options outside their apps has been very much in the spotlight. Not least because of campaigning by Spotify and other digital music services. According to sources who have spoken to the Financial Times, the Commission’s preliminary findings say that Apple is not yet compliant with that rule. Apple is expected to respond to the preliminary findings with proposals for additional changes to its policies that might placate the regulator. If it fails, the Commission could instigate significant fines against Apple. As the FT notes, “if found to be breaking the DMA, Apple faces daily penalties for non-compliance of up to 5% of its average daily worldwide turnover, which is currently just over $1 billion”. Read the full article for more: #Apple #EU #EuropeanCommission #DMA #DigitalMarketsAct #Spotify #Alphabet #Meta #EuropeanUnion #Music #MusicBusiness #Musica #MusicIndustry #Musique #Musik #MusicBiz

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I could not agree with this sentiment more: “Free is a great driver to get people to try something,” says John Buffone, vp and media entertainment industry adviser at market research company Circana, noting, “Free doesn’t keep you there.” Regardless of platform type ... you need to build an offering and cost of entry that lures audiences in to sample what you've created ... and then you have to work to deliver on that promise and expectation day after day and week after week to consistently support the path leading to your strategic long-term vision, so the audience develops a new habit of returning to your platform - because each time they visit your platform, their expectation is met. Consistency is key. This growth and shift in habit for the audience takes time and patience ... regardless of the offering, regardless of the platform. You need to be in it to win it, so to speak ... with a right-sized expectation that matches your content and marketing investment and a realistic view of the time and resources needed to build audience in such a fragmented market. I love working with my clients to help right-size their expectations as we work together on short and long-term strategies to meet their platform goals. It's what I have been doing for over 25 years. If this type of guidance and partnership might be useful to you and your company, let's talk!

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The Cumulus compensation ploy • May 2nd Cumulus had their annual shareholders meeting and they were not talking about what their angry investors did. • They approved one thing – their account firm. • When asked to re-elect their board of directors, a surprising and resounding outcome. • The company is still laying employees off and shrinking operations so when they asked shareholders to show a financial vote of confidence in them, an even greater surprise. • What’s really going on here – a questionable debt exchange deal, a second bankruptcy and a growing rift between investors and their top management. https://lnkd.in/gQRZYCWq

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