👋 Welcome to The Mail Cart. This is Warner, founder of AvA. Connect with me here + follow our IG page for daily resources.
Sorry about that clickbait subject. I’ll explain below.
🎥 Kareem Rahma (SubwayTakes & Keep The Meter Running), Sony’s VP of A&R who has guided the career of Kane Brown, and Angela Nissel, who went from writer to exec. producer of Scrubs join AvA LIVE today at 12:30pm live on YouTube.
📝 Sphere goes International. Spotify bans AI pods. Roku plays hungry hippo with the creator economy. And BTW Late Night with Stephen Colbert officially goes off the air tomorrow + more.
💼 Looking for open Entertainment jobs? Scroll to the bottom of this email.
Our Job Board now has 215+ early career Entertainment roles as well.
Not subscribed yet? Join 38,500+ of your peers. Your future self will thank you.
📹 Tune in to AvA LIVE today at 12:30 PT | 3:30 ET
Or rewatch when your boss isn’t responding with a thumbs up to your text asking multiple questions.
🎙️ Kareem Rahma, Host and Creator of SubwayTakes + Keep The Meter Running
🎙️ Angela Nissel, TV Writer & Producer (Scrubs, Boondocks, etc.)
🎙️ Margaret Tomlin, VP of A&R at Sony Music (for artists including Kane Brown and Miranda Lambert)
🎙️ No Notes (Live from Cannes!), One of the greatest shows on earth (in their and my opinion) produced by Cinegogue and hosted by Gabriel Frieberg and Sen
Want your question asked live on the show? Submit one HERE for our guests!
⭐ Streamers continue to make big bets on the creator economy + the collapse of legacy gatekeepers has created more ways into traditional Hollywood than ever before.
Roku is launching a new dedicated creator hub aka FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television) channels ft. everyone from Prof G Podcast to iShowSpeed. I’ve mentioned this a few times recently, but here is what you need to know:
Legacy media spent decades deciding what audiences watched, then creators built audiences outside the system. Now the system (Roku in this case) is buying back attention it used to control.
The old model was: Develop → distribute → find an audience
The new model is: Build an audience → prove demand → expand distribution
More simply put: Hollywood used to discover talent, package it, and distribute it. Now creators do all three first, and platforms are acquiring proven demand after the fact.
Or even MORE simply put: Is it even a hot take to say there is no longer a line between legacy systems and the creator economy, unless you're a legacy trade just now discovering what clipping is and trying to put a label on things you don’t understand. Sorry that was bitchy.
⭐ Spotify is cracking down on AI slop
and is banning podcasts that impersonate real people and adding verification badges so listeners know who’s actually behind the mic. More here
⭐ What Happens in Vegas, Does No Longer Stays in Vegas..The Sphere has a new sibling
The company behind the giant Marty Supreme pingpong ball eyesore in Vegas (no not your credit card bill) announced its first non-U.S. location: Saudi Arabia. Because well of course. The cost? $1.7 billion. It’s expected by 2029, but like GTA, I’m expecting that to stretch into the 2030s.
Major bet for a company that reported annual revenues of $1.22 billion in 2025 (+8% YoY) but an operating loss of $229.6 million. You may or may not remember, well you would if you read this newsletter, the first expected Sphere clone was set for outside London until the Mayor shut down their plans after public backlash and millions of $$$ already pumped into the site. MSG called it “political football.” The non-American type.
The next mini-sphere is set for Maryland’s National Harbor at a cost of $1 billion. Sounds wicked.
⭐ BMI acquired Soundmouse and will now become the largest and most comprehensive database of global cue sheets
💡WTF if a cue sheet? A cue sheet is essentially a one stop shop for all of the music that is used in a production, including movies, TV, gaming, and more.
⭐ Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro are buying personal minority stakes in the Las Vegas Raiders, each under 10%, with deals expected to close as soon as late May.
Reality is the new luxury good & sports valuations continue to skyrocket.
🧠 Today’s Big Brain Fact: 9, the NFL’s 2026 season will feature a record 9 international games across four continents
⭐ Adobe backed AI music generation platform Tamber is live after $5 million in funding
They claim they aren’t interested in ‘blatantly ripping off musicians.’ Huge if true
⭐ Issa Rae’s new vertical drama “Screen Time” pulled nearly 75 million views in its first week
It was the top launch across TikTok and PineDrama during release week. The 27-episode series came from Rae’s own Hoorae Media.
⭐ The first 10 minutes of Star Wars film ‘Mandalorian and Grogu’ are now available to watch inside of Fortnite because whatever honestly.
Our new job board features 215+ early career roles in Entertainment, including:
💼 Executive Assistant (Music) - Spotify - Apply Here
💼 Assistant to Partner Co-Head of Music- UTA - Apply Here
💼 Founder's Content Creator - FLIGHTSTORY - Apply Here
💼 Communications Associate - New York Times - Apply Here
💼 Social Media Manager - Fender - Apply Here
💼 Content Programming Associate - Netflix - Apply Here
💼 Brand Manager - Live Nation - Apply Here
💼 Partnership Marketing Manager - WWE - Apply Here
💼 Programming Producer - Premier League - Apply Here
💼 Social Media Manager - Night - Apply Here
💼 Business Affairs Assistant (Motion Pictures) - CAA - Apply Here
💼 Desk Editor - NBCUniversal - Apply Here
💼 Sales & Marketing Manager - Universal Music - Apply Here
💼 Digital Marketing Associate - Concord - Apply Here
💼 Social Analytics Manager - STARZ - Apply Here
💼 Digital Campaign Strategy - Sony Music - Apply Here
💼 Digital Marketing Associate - Concord - Apply Here
💼 Assistant Editor - UFC - Apply Here
💼 Participations Manager - Lionsgate - Apply Here
💼 Streaming & Growth Strategy - NBCUniversal - Apply Here
👋 See you back here on Friday
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