👋 Welcome to The Mail Cart.
NEW LOOK, SAME ME. Huge shoutout to our friends at Pixels for giving this newsletter a massive glow up.
This is Warner, your unlicensed Hollywood therapist. Connect with me here + follow our IG page for daily resources.
BREAKING: Our first guest for our panel-style AvA LIVE: IRL! in LA on 10/18 leads recruiting at WME, and we just released a limited number of tix.
Paramount and Warner Bros Merger Makes Major Announcements with Leadership… and Their Joint Name
📰 Theaters also have spent a collective $2.7 billion over the past 2 years, WNBA regular season viewership is nearing all time highs, Sia sold 50% of her music catalog in a new partnership deal, ‘Heated Rivalry’ launched a real life foundation, and Macklemore’s ‘Free Palestine’ tour sells out.
💼 Looking for open Entertainment jobs? Today we highlight jobs from A24, Sony, WME, Disney and the UTA mailroom apps just opened for ‘27. Scroll to the bottom of this email, or visit our Job Board, which now has 215+ early career Entertainment roles.
My favorite post of the week:
One of the hottest topics in music is AI, and one of the biggest players in the Industry is Spotify.
The platform is now labeling AI artists with an “AI Persona” badge
They are allowing fully AI-generated artists, with AI-generated vocals, music and imagery to earn royalties on Spotify from legitimate streams. Key word here is “legitimate,” as..
they previously removed over 75 million spam tracks and implemented music spam filters targeting mass uploads, duplicate songs, and SEO manipulation designed to dilute the royalty pool.
They are also now blocking purely artificial intelligence identities from algorithmic and editorial recommendations to combat AI-generated spam and protect human creators.
I sat down with their Global Head of Music Content & Partnerships, former-CAA agent, and all around good guy, Joe Hadley, and asked him point blank “is AI a net-positive or negative for the music industry?”
That's to be determined. There are so many upsides to what can be done on the executive side, in terms of work and performance. I've seen incredibly talented musicians and artists use AI in their music, but you also see an extreme amount of content being generated that people would have legitimate concerns about. So it's really hard to say, but we're going to do our best to make sure it's net positive, and that we continue to surface and spotlight human artistry alongside whatever is happening in AI.
Joe Hadley - Spotify’s Global Head of Music Content & Partnerships
Check out our full interview below:
We are all sick of hearing about the Paramount and Warner Bros. Merger, but here is everything NEW you need to know:
First things first, their new joint name will be Skydance. Not a major surprise, but I was still hoping for ‘David Ellison’s Industry Ruining Empire’ or something of the sort.
As is the case with any merger, there were also a lot of employment shake ups with many more still to come. Former Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz will now be Co-CEO of the merged company (with a $30 million+ sign on bonus), and two Warner Bros. Chief Executives have been told they are not part of the new plans.
Otherwise the merger isn’t entirely formalized just yet, but it is looking more and more confirmed by the day. Someone should check on Mark Ruffalo.
🎬 Theaters have spent over $2.7 billion over the past 2 years on upgrades and innovations to keep fans returning, including heated recliners and bars.
🏀 The WNBA just posted its best regular season viewership in over 20 years with an average of 771,000 viewers per game (+17% to last season)
Total consumption reached a record 320.7 million hours (an increase of +117%), including the most watched regular season game since the league’s first ever season in 1997.
🎵 Sia just sold 50% of her music catalog to PopHouse for $180 million which includes a partnership deal for developing ‘new creative ventures.’
🏒 The ‘Heated Rivalry’ Producers launched a real Irina Foundation ‘dedicated to championing inclusivity and mental well being through sports and arts programs.’
💿 Macklemore’s ‘Free Palestine’ tour sold out almost immediately upon tickets being released.
📰 Industry Moves
Universal Music Group poached Libby Bush from CAA after over 5 years of service, and she will take on the role as President of Global Brands & Commercial Partnerships.
Netflix did the same thing by luring former Disney Executive Naomi Bulochnikov after she spent 8 years at the company. She will serve as the Head of TV Series Communications.
Warner Music Group just made a handful of nepo baby promotions including Val Blavatnik as Managing Director of various territories, and Elliot Grainge as the new Chairman of WMG’s distribution service.
Universal Music Group also named Oscar Celma as their first ever Senior VP of Applied AI & Machine Learning.
Our new job board features 215+ early career roles in Entertainment, including:
💼 Social Media - IMAX - Apply Here
💼 Junior Counsel (Film) - A24 - Apply Here
💼 Agent Training Program - UTA - Apply Here
💼 Music Business - WME - Apply Here
💼 Communication Coordinator (Remote) - iHeartMedia - Apply Here
💼 Production Assistant - Disney Animation - Apply Here
💼 Campaign Operations - Sony Music - Apply Here
💼 Video Producer - Betches Media - Apply Here
💼 Admin Analyst - Universal Music - Apply Here
💼 E-Commerce - Country Music Hall of Fame - Apply Here
💼 Catalog Operations - StubHub - Apply Here
💼 Physical Production Assistant - Legendary Entertainment - Apply Here
💼 Corporate Development - The Orchard - Apply Here
💼 Hardware Operations - Pandora - Apply Here
💼 Payroll Analyst - Madison Square Garden - Apply Here
💼 Admin Assistant - SAG-AFTRA - Apply Here
💼 Production Assistant - Disney - Apply Here
💼 Executive Assistant - Penguin Random House - Apply Here
🎒 2027 Marketing Intern - Country Music Hall of Fame - Apply Here
What do you find most valuable about The AvA Connection?
👋 See you back here on Monday
Warner Bailey
FOUNDER, ASSISTANTS VS. AGENTS
