👋 Welcome to The Mail Cart. This is Warner, founder of AvA. Connect with me here and go follow our IG page for daily resources.
📝 Bieber put on the most “controversial” Coachella set since Frank Ocean. Music label goes all in on creators. And our next AvA LIVE guest owns your favorite venue.
💼 Looking for open Entertainment jobs? Scroll to the bottom of this email.
Our Job Board now has 225+ early career Entertainment roles as well.
Not subscribed yet? Join 36,500+ of your peers. Your future self will thank you.
Episode 2 of our new live talkshow AvA LIVE features some HEAVY HITTERS:
David Grutman (Founder @ Groot Hospitality)
Alice Ma (CEO @ Mad Realities)
James Crane (Director, Partnerships & Growth @ Sugar23)
AvA LIVE airs every Wednesday at 12:30PM PT / 3:30PM ET on our YouTube.
Missed episode 1? Get caught up here
⭐ Justin Bieber negotiated his $10 million performance fee without an agent to become the highest paid Coachella headliner of all time
Bieber is getting cooked for a “lazy” performance, but here’s my take: the music industry has had this guy in a chokehold since he was a kid, and Saturday was the first time he’s looked happy in a long time. (Stay with me before you get pissed and unsubscribe).
In January 2023, he sold his full music catalog (publishing rights, masters, and artist royalties) to Hipgnosis Songs Capital for $200M+, covering 291 tracks released before the end of 2021.
He then split with his agents at CAA, and his longtime manager Scooter Braun. Instead of a traditional music agent, his career is now run by “Mr. Bieber’s Family Office" which includes COO Will Bracey (acting as his manager) and attorney David Lande.
So back to last night… I’m not defending 30 minutes of karaoke over YouTube videos, playing meme videos, and exclusively his new music for $10 million. And if a female artist did the same thing, the backlash would be far worse. But still, he looked free. And YouTube has to be thrilled. The platform that made Bieber famous just got one of the most internet-native, interactive sets we’ve seen in a while.
⭐ Virgin Music Group takes a big swing on a creator-led label ‘Suede Records’
VMG has teamed up with Ari Elkins (2.1 million followers on TikTok alone) and A&R Executive Joey McCarthy, for a global distribution partnership that includes marketing services.
“Suede’s mission is to combine two strengths that rarely coexist: a direct line to the audience and the patience required to build artists who last.”
⭐ The Women’s NCAA Championship game grew by 16% in viewership at 9.88 million compared to last year, just .02 million shy of the all time record
⭐ Paramount promises WBD merger will bring “more avenues for their work, not fewer” (Deadline)
⭐ Mubi, the London based ‘arthouse streamer,’ has reached 1.7 million subscribers and continues to grow
⭐ ‘Super Mario Galaxy’ is now the highest grossing Hollywood film of the year so far at $629 million, with ‘Project Hail Mary’ in 2nd at over $500 million
Disney internally promoted April Carretta to EVP of Communications, which will also include being the day-to-day lead for the newly appoint President & Chief Creative Officer Dana Walden.
Warner Music also promoted Miles Gersh to EVP of A&R, and he has climbed the ranks through the company since joining in 2019.
UTA has signed 10-time Grammy winner Janelle Monae across all areas.
Neon made a string of marketing hires & promotions
Our new job board features 225+ early career roles in Entertainment, including:
💼 Motion Pictures Talent Assistant - CAA - Apply Here
💼 Executive Assistant / Office Manager - Sony Music - Apply Here
💼 Senior Accountant, Controller - G&B Digital Management - Apply Here
💼 Music Group Assistant (Pop/R&B) - The-Team - Apply Here
💼 Writer’s Assistant - WWE - Apply Here
💼 Product Manager (Music RIghts Management) - Spotify - Apply Here
💼 Executive Assistant to President Global Content Distribution - Paramount Skydance - Apply Here
💼 Soccer Specialist Producer (Temp) - NBCUniversal - Apply Here
💼 Publicity & Influencer Community Outreach Assistant - Simon & Schuster - Apply Here
💼 Content Partnerships Manager - The Walt Disney Company - Apply Here
💼 Analytics & Strategy Senior Manager - Universal Music Group - Apply Here
💼 Relationship Support Manager - The Orchard - Apply Here
💼 Admin Assistant - Sony Music Publishing - Apply Here
💼 Senior Product Marketing Manager - Amazon Music - Apply Here
💼 National Digital Sales Manager - iHeartMedia - Apply Here
💼 Branding & Commercial Endorsements Assistant - Gersh - Apply Here
💼 Mastering Coordinator - NBCUniversal - Apply Here
👋 See you back here on Wednesday
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