…and Spotify's royalty rumble
| A movie experience (Patrick T. Fallon/Getty Images) | |
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Yesterday's Market Moves | | Dow Jones
38,647 (-0.17%) | S&P 500
5,434 (+0.23%) | Nasdaq
17,668 (+0.34%) | Bitcoin
$66,942 (-1.91%) |
| Dow Jones
38,647 (-0.17%) | S&P 500
5,434 (+0.23%) | Nasdaq
17,668 (+0.34%) | Bitcoin
$66,942 (-1.91%) |
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Hey Snackers, Major League Eating ended its relationship with 16-time champ Joey Chestnut ahead of this year's Nathan's Famous hot-dog-eating contest. The decision reportedly came after Chestnut decided to rep a plant-based-wiener brand. Now they have beef. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq notched yet another record-high close yesterday after a surprise drop in producer prices (the index had its biggest drop in seven months).
⚔️ Quizgaryen: Our weekly Snacks Seven quiz doesn't have as many as dragons as the upcoming "GoT" spinoff's second season (OK, it has zero), but it's still fire. Try the first Q: | |
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Sony buys quirky cinema chain Alamo, ushering in an era of studio-theater mash-ups | Truffle popcorn and an IPA… and throwing confetti at the screen during "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Sony Pictures scooped up Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, known for its upscale menus, quirky screenings, and super-strict no-texting policy. Alamo is North America's seventh-largest movie chain with 35 theaters in 14 states, showing flicks to 10M guests annually, including 4M loyalty members. It could probably use Sony's fund infusion after filing for bankruptcy mid-pandemic. Not just a summer slump: With few blockbusters on-screen, the box office is struggling. Analysts expect global full-year revenues to come in nearly 20% below the prepandemic average gross. Unique sell: Alamo's recovering faster than many of its theater peers. Its ticket sales jumped 30% last year, outperforming the industry.
Plot twist… Sony's the first big studio to buy a theater chain since the 1940s. A 1948 antitrust ruling barred major studios from merging with theaters, but that ban expired in 2020. Still, in the '80s, studios like Sony and Universal were able to buy stakes in some chains, and Disney snapped up LA's historic El Capitan theater. Since 2020, the only major studios to buy theaters have been streamers: Netflix and Amazon purchased individual locations like The Egyptian Theater for screenings that made their films eligible for Oscar noms. |  | THE TAKEAWAY |
| Experiences drive entertainment… It doesn't seem to make much financial sense for studios to purchase ailing theaters. But cinemas can be valuable marketing tools. Alamo could allow Sony to expand on its recent experiential pushes like its "Wheel of Fortune" world tour and Wonderverse gaming and dining hub in Chicago. Netflix, which has gone big on experiences like its "Bridgerton" ball, leverages its theaters for special events. Read this online | |
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Music publishers slap Spotify with an FTC complaint over its new bundle strategy | Get ready to bundle… One of the largest music-industry groups is going after Spotify for adding audiobooks to its premium subscription tier. Spotify said the addition of audiobooks means it qualifies to pay a discounted "bundle" royalty rate music for streams. The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) filed its first-ever FTC complaint on Wednesday, accusing Spotify of "cheating the music royalty system." FYI: the NMPA is the largest US music publishing trade group, repping thousands of songwriters, publishers, and record labels like Universal Music Group and Sony Music. NMPA said: Spotify has "declared war" on songwriters with its "unfair, deceptive, and fraudulent" move. It argues that the bundle is illegal since premium users were automatically opted in to audiobooks. Not the only one: Last month, the Mechanical Licensing Collective, a royalty-collection service, sued Spotify, demanding that it stop classifying its premium subs as bundles and that it pay back any lost revenue.
Royalty pains… The bundle beef started in April after Spotify announced it would hike premium prices to help cover the cost of adding audiobooks. The NMPA's legal options may be limited: US copyright law says that streamers are allowed to pay lower royalty rates if they also pay to license music and books. Rival Apple Music doesn't offer audiobooks within its music-streaming subscription. | | THE TAKEAWAY |
| Don't bite the hands that streams you… Spotify says it expects to pay the music biz more than ever this year. But it's estimated that the bundle loophole could cost songwriters and publishers ~$150M in lost revenue over the next year. Now, NMPA is preparing for an "all-encompassing" response (adding that it's never lost a copyright-infringement suit). In addition to its FTC complaint, the NMPA also requested an investigation from 10 state attorneys general. Down the line, that could affect rivals like Amazon, which offers both Amazon Music and audiobooks through its Prime subscription. Read this online | |
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| 🏛️ Votey… The Biden campaign is said to be considering accepting crypto donations via Coinbase Commerce (a merchant payments service). The move would follow in the footsteps of the Trump campaign, which said last month that it'd accept crypto. 💰 Spendy… Terraform Labs said it'd pay nearly $4.5B in fines and penalties following a settlement with the SEC. The biz was behind the collapsed algo stablecoin terraUSD, whose 2022 blowup helped usher in crypto winter. 🤹♀️ Quirky… A DAO said it would make copies of the Wu-Tang Clan's "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" album available on-chain with the purchase of $1 NFTs. The legendary rap collective made just one physical copy of the album when they released it in 2015. | |
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What else we're Snackin' | Round2: Tesla shareholders once again approved CEO Elon Musk's record pay package (around $50B) and OK'd moving the company's HQ from Delaware to Texas. The vote of confidence comes as Tesla's sales sag. Freebie: The Apple and OpenAI partnership that'll bring ChatGPT to iPhones reportedly won't see money change hands. Reports say OpenAI is being paid in exposure, while Apple hopes to see a sales boost. Poof: Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $700M to settle a nationwide case over claims it misled customers about the safety of its baby powder. The company halted the sale of the powders in North America in 2020. Venti: SCOTUS sided with Starbucks in its case against the National Labor Relations Board, making it tougher for the board to protect employees in union drives. 10K+ Starbucks workers have unionized since 2021. Cabaret: The Tony Awards are on Sunday, and a British company backed by private equity has invaded Broadway. ATG bought a majority stake in five houses in the Theater District, and it could change the landscape for live performances.
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Snack Fact Of the Day | Nearly half of US K-12 students said they use ChatGPT every week | | |
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Friday | Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Amazon, Apple, Disney, Starbucks, and Tesla Correction: In yesterday's Snacks, we misstated that Voodoo was buying BeReal for about $540K. The amount is $540M. We regret the error. Advertiser's disclosures:
*Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Start-up investments are speculative and involve a high degree of risk. Those investors who cannot afford to lose their entire investment should not invest in start-ups. Companies seeking startup investment tend to be in earlier stages of development and their business model, products and services may not yet be fully developed, operational or tested in the public marketplace. There is no guarantee that the stated valuation and other terms are accurate or in agreement with the market or industry valuations. Further, investors may receive illiquid and/or restricted stock that may be subject to holding period requirements and/or liquidity concerns. This is a paid advertisement for EnergyX's Regulation A+ Offering. Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.energyx.com | |
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Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... See more | |
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