In Partnership With:
👋 Welcome to The Mail Cart. This is Warner, founder of AvA. Connect with me here.
‼️ Cara Delevingne & AvA Collab???? Get on our guest list below.
🎥 Kareem Rahma didn’t get in front of the camera until 33 and is now essentially the face of the good (human) side of the internet. I sat down with him on AvA LIVE where he made 2 bold claims: Cosmic Crisp apples are better than Honeycrisp apples & you shouldn’t do molly at a bar mitzvah. He also talked about betting on yourself, advice to creatives, and why going viral shouldn’t be the goal.
📰 Spotify announced two things this week I am not vibing with. Apple is broadcasting a pro sports event vertically for the first time in history.
💼 Looking for open Entertainment jobs? Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter. Plus Our Job Board now has 220+ early career Entertainment roles as well.
Not subscribed yet? Join 38,500+ of your peers. Your future self will thank you.
ASSISTANTS!!! Cara Delevingne & AvA are partnering to highlight the people making Hollywood run (you of course).
She just announced a super intimate pop-up at a secret location in LA next Wednesday May 27, and she set aside tickets so we can pack the room with Assistants.
Want to get on our guest list? Comment ASSISTANT on the vid below to enter the ticket lottery.
⭐ Spotify tripled down on AI at their yearly ‘Investor Day’
The company announced a UMG partnership that will let fans create AI-generated covers and remixes of their favorite songs. The catch: artists have to opt in, and fans have to pay.
They’re also rolling out AI-generated “personal podcasts,” where users drop in a prompt and Spotify spits out a custom show on demand.
Congrats to dead internet theory on another huge quarter.
Then came “Reserve,” a Live Nation partnership that sets aside concert tickets for an artist’s biggest fans, likely a push to build superfandom while “fighting bots and scalpers.”
Spotify has already gone hard on AI across discovery, playlists, and now long-form content. Investors loved it. The stock jumped 15% after the announcements.
Mission accomplished for an audience of one: Wall Street.
⭐ Apple is broadcasting the first major pro sporting event shot entirely on an iPhone this weekend
Apple TV will stream Saturday’s LA Galaxy vs. Houston Dynamo FC shot on their ~iPhone 17 Pro~ of course
⭐ In related news: IG Reels is now making as much revenue as Netflix
Short form content is a $100B business (check out Belloni’s pod breaking this down in more detail). Everyone and their mother is developing vertical originals to prove that Quibi wasn’t wrong, just early. And bad at spending money.
And Sports is the next frontier now that iPhones can be used to broadcast? All we have to do is rotate them..
My bet: within 2 years, watching sports vertically on your phone will feel like the norm. Not because TVs disappear, but because sports will be rebuilt around mobile behavior: alternate angles, creator commentary, betting overlays, live chats, POV cameras, and personalized feeds.
⭐ Shamrock Capital launched its fourth content strategy fund, with $813M already pledged
Across its first three funds, Shamrock says it has $3.3B in assets under management and $7.4B total.
Translation: the money people are still very much buying entertainment, they’re just calling it “content strategy” so it sounds less fun.
🧠 Today’s Big Brain Fact: Taylor Swift reportedly paid around $360 million to buy back her masters from Shamrock Capital
⭐ NBC just won primetime for the first time since 2008
Yes, the Winter Olympics and the second-most-watched Super Bowl ever helped carry the torch, but still: NBC ended CBS’s 18-year chokehold on broadcast primetime.
Insert pic of Peacock logo breathing into a paper bag.
🚕 "Be cringe”
Kareem Rahma (SubwayTakes, Keep The Meter Running) didn't get in front of the camera until 33. Before that, he was building behind the scenes at Vice and The New York Times.
At the ripe age of 33, he bet on himself & his creativity and left the comfort of the corporate world. Now, he's turning tiny human moments into massive digital franchises with billions of views across platforms.
I'm also 33, although I talk like a bitchy 24 y.o. on IG, I’m putting my face in front of a camera for the first time with AvA LIVE. It was something I convinced myself not to do for nearly a decade at WME, Live Nation, in tech building a livestream company (the irony) and on the music festival side.
One of our AvA Ambassadors Savannah joined the chat and asked “What advice would you give to someone building a creative project in public?”
Kareem’s answer:
🧠 “Be cringe, be embarrassed, be embarrassing. No one's thinking about you as much as you're thinking about yourself.”
Full episode of AvA LIVE here. Subscribe & leave a comment & I’ll love you forever:
Every week we drop our favorite podcast & book recs.
Today we have Quinta Brunson, the Abbott Elementary creator and showrunner on House Guest with Scott Evans.
They discuss what it takes to build something great in media, what it means to produce 22 episodes of television a year, and how to unlock your true creative energy.
This is a great watch or listen for anyone interested in the creative process and developing their own projects, whether that’s a TV show, podcast, or something entirely their own.
Another amazing conversation facilitated by the team at Central Talent Booking.
Our new job board features 220+ early career roles in Entertainment, including:
💼 Senior Accountant - Superfan Live (VIP live music experiences) - Apply Here
💼 Strategic Partner Manager - Twitch - Apply Here
💼 Sr. Industry Partnerships - IMDb - Apply Here
💼 Current Series Creative Producer - Mad Realities - Apply Here
💼 Analyst Creators - UTA - Apply Here
💼 Executive Assistant (Film) - Netflix - Apply Here
💼 Music Touring Assistant - CAA - Apply Here
💼 Social Media Manager - AEG - Apply Here
💼 Mobile Marketing Manager - Amazon Music - Apply Here
💼 Publicity Assistant - Penguin Random House - Apply Here
💼 Programmatic Partnerships - Warner Discovery - Apply Here
💼 VFX Coordinator - NBCUniversal - Apply Here
💼 Partner Agent Assistant - Gersh - Apply Here
💼 Events Coordinator (VIP) - Fanatics - Apply Here
💼 Executive Assistant (Tech) - UTA - Apply Here
💼 Associate Producer (Comedy) - SiriusXM - Apply Here
💼 GTM Positioning Specialist - NBCUniversal - Apply Here
💼 Media Buyer - Universal Music Group - Apply Here
👋 See you back here on Monday
What do you find most valuable about The AvA Connection?
Want this newsletter in your inbox every week?
The Mail Cart is written by Warner Bailey and edited by Riley Furey and Dominik Sansevere.
Get in touch! Email us at [email protected].
Want to partner with us and reach 300,000+ music and entertainment professionals? Reach out to [email protected]
Want to write your own newsletter? Check out our friends at Beehiiv