TGIF, fam. If you were hoping to dissect Kendrick Lamar’s withering lyrics on his Drake diss-single, “euphoria,” don’t expect to read them on Spotify… unless you have a Premium plan. The streaming service has moved its lyrics transcripts behind a paywall. This is “the year of monetization” for the company, after all.

In other news… Airbnb debuts entertainment vacays, UMG and TikTok turn the music back on, and Sundance gets pitched new homes.

We hope you enjoy this and all upcoming issues, but we have one request: please share your feedback. If you have any thoughts at all about our new look, format, and direction, please reply to this email. It’ll go straight to us. Do not hold back.

Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe

• YouTube – Eric 

• X (Twitter) – Chucky

• Google – The Idea of You

• Reddit – Ryan Gosling

• TikTok – “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” - Shaboozey

• Spotify – “Call me back” - James Vincent McMorrow

.ENTERTAINMENT.

Airbnb rents out pop culture

The Future. After dipping its toes in stunt listings like the one-off Barbie Dreamhouse, Airbnb is making these entertainment destinations a permanent part of its business with a new offering called “Icons.” Although it isn’t a moneymaking venture (at least for now), the listings are part of CEO Brian Chesky’s plan to turn Airbnb into an experiential company. Considering the A-list nature of the properties, expect booking a stay to be like winning the lottery.

X-Men vacation
Airbnb wants to literally immerse visitors in pop culture.

• Some of the 11 wild listings kicking off the new Icons label include the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning from X-Men ‘97 in New York, the Up house in New Mexico, and Prince’s home from Purple Rain in Minnesota.

• The homes have been meticulously designed to match the movie or show, such as the Xavier Institute’s hand-painted interiors that match the cartoon and the Up house elevated by a crane to seem like you’re flying.

• They’ll also include unique experiences, so a stay at the Ferrari Museum in Italy comes with a lap around the track in a race car with a pro driver, and an evening at Kevin Hart’s Coramino Live Lounge comes with a live comedy set from the star.

Stays at Icon listings are mostly free and first come, first served… but those that do require a payment are priced at less than $100 per person for the entire experience. They’ll also be around for just a limited time, with offerings refreshing throughout the year…

…making sure Airbnb is always making headlines.

82.6% of you answered No in yesterday’s poll: Have you been to Stagecoach?

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT TALKIE AI.

Meet your new AI bestie

What if you could create the character of your dreams and talk to them anytime you wanted?

Imagine tailoring appearance, voice, and thought to create a companion who gives you exactly what you’re looking for — whether it’s entertainment or support.

Well, now, you can.

Talkie AI’s groundbreaking, multi-modal approach brings characters to life audibly and visually. Whether you enjoy imaginative roleplay or realistic interactions, their platform lets you do it all — safely.

Hang out with characters already on the platform, or create your own from scratch.

Media, Music, & Entertainment

• Sony has officially joined Apollo’s bid for Paramount Global, submitting a $26 billion all-cash offer for the conglomerate that would take it private and make Sony the majority shareholder. [Read More]

• The Sundance Film Festival has reportedly received interest from San Francisco, Minneapolis, Santa Fe, Atlanta, and Chicago to be the new home for the influential festival starting in 2027… but Park City is still in play. [Read More]

• Universal Studios in Orlando is slated to be the third location for Super Nintendo World, which will open in 2025. [Read More]

Fashion & E-Commerce

• Etsy’s stock took a 13% slide after both its revenue and overall merchandise sales continued to slump. [Read More]

• MetaBirkin NFTs — which Hermès successfully sued to stop the sale of — will go on display at the Spritmuseum in Stockholm… except that, too, may violate Hermès’ lawsuit. [Read More]

• Gen Z is really into lip fillers, Botox, and other physical enhancements after being raised on camera filters on social media. [Read More]

Tech, Web3, & AI

• Microsoft apparently made its now very lucrative investment in OpenAI because it was “very worried” that it was falling behind Google in the AI race. [Read More]

• Huawei, a sanctioned Chinese tech giant, has secretly been funding innovative research at top American universities through a Washington-based foundation. [Read More]

• Hyundai is parking a billion dollars into autonomous driving startup Motional, giving the company a much-needed lifeline. [Read More]

Creator Economy

• A lawsuit against Meta by University of Massachusetts—Amherst professor Ethan Zuckerman claims that the social platform is required by law to let users control their feed’s algorithm. [Read More]

• A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that about 50% of Americans support a TikTok ban, and 46% believe that Beijing does use the platform to spy on US users. [Read More]

• Kajabi, the creator-focused online course platform, will now let creators develop their own branded apps, complete with AI chatbot-assistant. [Read More]

.MUSIC.

Universal Music Group and TikTok finally make a deal

The Future. After three months, Universal Music Group and TikTok have come to an agreement that will bring the music of UMG-signed artists back to the social platform. Now that TikTok is sharing more data, expect UMG to negotiate how to extract some royalties on sped-up and slowed-down versions of artists’ tracks next.

Unmute
UMG’s new deal with TikTok scored some important benefits and protections.

• It ensures that deepfakes of artists or their music are promptly taken down (hopefully a quicker process than UMG having to send individual take-down requests).

• It increases compensation for artists and songwriters to be more aligned with “other platforms in the social music category,” according to UMG CEO Lucian Grange.

• UMG and TikTok also plan on working on additional safeguards that “help address deepfakes, infringing and unauthorized content and algorithmic manipulation.”

Additionally, the companies will work on new promotional and engagement features, such as deeper analytics and ticketing features for concerts — exactly what labels love most about having their artists’ music on the platform.

Other than going viral.

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT WISHEW.

What’s your greatest wish?

See the Eiffel Tower? Go to college? Get a dog?

Make your wish come true with Wishew, the world’s first “wish-granting” social media platform.

Wishew connects dreamers across the globe to support each other’s wishes via donations, friendship, and community support. 

(And, honestly, what’s a better time to spread some magic in the world than right now?)

Join Wishew, the “greatest wish-granting machine in the world,” as it revolutionizes social media and crowdfunding.

• Read: Highsnobiety goes deep on how exactly a celebrity-Erewhon smoothie collab gets whipped up.

• Watch: Bloomberg explores how Latin America has become a key growth market for Netflix.

• Play: LinkedIn wants a piece of Wordle virality with the debut of three puzzle-based games.

AI hardware is really not vibing with the techies.

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT PROMPTS DAILY.

How do you keep up with AI?

We get Prompts Daily.

They provide the latest tools, news, and trends in AI — all delivered through bite-sized content.

Their perspective is fresh, and the read is quick. What more could you want?

Oh, and did someone say free? Well, it’s that, too.

LATEST PODCAST EPISODE

Today we get into how new legislation is aiming at protecting music fans from predatory ticket sales, a professor's idea at how we can save our jobs from AI, and Drake's use of AI in his beef with Kendrick Lamar.