Hope you had a great holiday weekend, fam. Did you know that 19 countries have “right to disconnect” laws? That means that once the workday is done, it’s literally illegal to contact workers. They’re truly off the clock. Could that ever happen in the US? We won’t hold our breath…

In other news… YouTube stars look for TV gains, “demure” makes ownership go viral, and Post Malone speeds to the top of the charts.

Want to discover even more newsletters? Here are some of our favorites

• YouTube – Terrifier 3 

• X (Twitter) – Kinds of Kindness

• Google – Archery Paralympics 

• Reddit – Adele 

• TikTok – “No Flockin’” - Kodak Black

• Spotify – “Falling Asleep” - St. Lucia 

.MEDIA.

YouTube talent wants TV rewards

Popular creators like Sean Evans of Hot Ones, Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal of Good Mythical Morning, and Amelia Dimoldenberg of Chicken Shop Date are looking to score some of the money, prestige, and awards that “on air” talent enjoys.

The Big Picture: The line between capital “S” streaming shows on Netflix and Hulu and some of the biggest shows on YouTube is blurring… and digital creators and audiences know it. It may only be Hollywood that’s still behind.

Between the Lines: There are several factors as to why YouTube talent is still seen as lesser-than in comparison to traditional TV talent.

• Money. Ad rates on YouTube are still way under that of streaming and broadcast TV because there’s so much content on the platform, users can skip the ads, and a lot of content is still controversial.

• Awards. Hot Ones has scored Emmy nominations, but most shows don’t ever register with awards voters because most members are over 40 and tied to more traditional platforms.

• Support. While studios and streamers incubate talent and launch rich For Your Consideration campaigns, YouTube has been more hands-off. That’s beginning to change as the company explores helping with more marketing and promotion.

Closing Thoughts: It’s only a matter of time until you see a lot more YouTube-bred shows compete with more “legit” programming. Brands spend more money advertising on YouTube than anywhere else and only Disney’s constellation of platforms commands more viewership than YouTube. The top shows on YouTube are mainstream.

Go Deeper: But just because someone is insanely successful on YouTube doesn’t mean they can easily transition to the “big leagues.”

52.6% of you voted Yes in Friday’s poll: Do you like ESPN?

“Good coverage of sports. Excited they got the 10-year tennis contract!”

“Good personalities and enjoy the sports.”

“I don’t dislike it; I just never think about watching it. Meh.”

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.

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT TROVATRIP.

Travel the world with your community

You’ve worked hard to build your community online.

Now, imagine traveling the world with them.

TrovaTrip makes that possible. They’re a group travel company built to help creators like you take your community places. We’re talking 25,000+ travelers booked on 1,500 trips and counting.

They have a whole library of carefully designed and vetted itineraries (100+ in over 40 countries) that you can choose from to offer trips for your audience. Best of all, they work with local guides and operators to run those trips, ensuring that you travel safely and sustainably without worrying about logistics. Just show up, bond with your travelers, and grow your brand in the world’s most exciting destinations.

Really, the only question is: where to next?

Media, Music, & Entertainment

• The Venice Film Festival is the talk of Hollywood this week, with the premiere of buzzy films like Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and the Nicole Kidman-starring Babygirl. [Read More]

• Post Malone scored his first #1 album on the Billboard 200 chart with F-1 Trillion. [Read More]

• Paramount Global is trying to figure out the best path for Paramount+ before Skydance officially steps in, including merging with a larger streamer. [Read More]

Fashion & E-Commerce

• Affirm stock soared 30% after reporting that it would be profitable by the end of the year. [Read More]

• Coach is fully diving into the battle to stitch the successor to the Birkin bag. [Read More]

• Trail-shoe brands like Hoka and On are gobbling up market share as traditional sneaker labels struggle. [Read More]

Tech, Web3, & AI

• California’s most sweeping AI regulation bill, SB 1047, which has caused a stir in Silicon Valley, is now on Governor Newsom’s desk. [Read More]

• Google has teamed up with India-based Salcit Technologies on an AI system that can tell if you’re sick just by listening to you. [Read More]

• Axiom has tapped Nokia to build the communications system that astronauts will use during NASA’s Artemis III mission to the moon. [Read More]

Creator Economy

• TikTok is rolling out a “Manage Topics” tool so that users can control what they see on their For You feed. [Read More]

• Bluesky said that video capability will be a big part of its next update. [Read More]

• A new platform called COY Creator promises to give creators full ownership of their data and content distribution. [Read More]

.SOCIAL MEDIA.

Creators fight over the “demure” trend

After Chicago-based TikToker Jools Lebron’s “very demure, very mindful” clip exploded in popularity, other parties tried to trademark the slogan to reap the benefits. But a quick backlash has apparently solved the issue in Lebron’s favor — a potentially life-changing situation.

The Big Picture: The internet is no longer the Wild West where a creator can’t claim ownership of their creation, no matter how trivial. And considering how culture jumps on even the simplest trend (everyone from J.Lo to The White House is in on “demure”), there’s big money behind short viral hits.

Between the Lines: Lebron had posted a tearful video (now removed) that other people were trying to trademark her viral phrase (the original video has roughly 50 million views). The internet didn’t like that.

• A person named Jefferson Bates and the company Do or Drink both tried to file trademarks for “very demure, very mindful” after it went viral.

• People went up in arms on social media that Lebron wouldn’t hold the trademark of her phrase. One other TikToker even tried to get the trademark so they could transfer it to Lebron.

• Eventually, the situation got “handled,” according to Lebron. In that video, brands like Zillow and Ritz Crackers commented (we know, all of this is insane).

Closing Thoughts: Wired notes that we’ve come a long way since the day when the phrase “on fleek” went viral on Vine and creator Peaches Monroee was unable to capitalize on its virality. Memes may be silly, but they’re now big business with cultural cache. Netflix even asked Lebron to curate a “Very Demure, Very Mindful” watchlist on the service — for money, of course.

Go Deeper: Even the Hawk Tuah Girl is reaping the rewards of the meme life.

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT MASTERWORKS.

Invest in a market that’s appreciated 96% of the time

You’ve heard of Banksy. But did you know that his artworks have appreciated 96% of the time when returning to auction (2006 to 2023)?

That’s just one artist, but the overall contemporary art market has also appreciated 11.5% yearly (1995 to 2023), according to the MW All Art Index.

With over 400 paintings offered to date, Masterworks has completed 23 exits. With three illustrative sales, Masterworks investors have realized net annualized returns of +17.6%, +17.8%, and +21.5%.

Use this exclusive link to skip the waitlist.

**Investing involves risk. Art sales price data is comparative only. Each painting is unique and historical data is not a direct proxy for any specific painting or investment. Data represents whole art not an investment into our offerings which includes fees and expenses.

“Net Annualized Return” refers to the annualized internal rate of return, or IRR, net of all fees and costs, to holders of Class A shares from the primary offering, calculated from the final closing date of such offering to the date the sale is consummated. A more detailed breakdown of the Net Annualized Return calculation for each issuer can be found in the respective Form 1-U for each exit. The 3 median returns above represent the ones closest in percentage to the median of the 12 exits with holding periods over 1 year.

• Read: The Verge explores why OpenAI is trying to license content from publishers even after it scraped their data. It might have something to do with covering their tracks and taking on Google.

• Watch: Bloomberg details how Nvidia has become the powerhouse behind the AI revolution, which has quickly made it one of the most successful companies in the world.

• Listen: The Future of Everything chats with Atlantic Sea Farms CEO Briana Warner about her quest to make seaweed a go-to food in the US.

Another great weekend for Ticketmaster execs.

LATEST PODCAST EPISODE

Today, on an extra special bonus episode of Future Forecast, our hosts Boye and Chris sit down with Andrew Kenward, the President and COO of Almost Friday Media. Andrew was an agent at WME in the digital media department at WME before being brought into the Almost Friday universe in 2021. We chat with him about his career, his goals for the brand moving forward, and what it's like working in media today.