The Mail Cart: Wednesday, September 30th

👋 Soooo just like every other music fan, I’m sitting here patiently waiting for Coachella to announce ~~Dua Lipa, Tame Impala, BTS and maybe Fred Again..?~~ their lineup. The rumor was the lineup was going live on Monday, then Tuesday and now of course today. I’ll dive into more below.

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📝 Former South Park Writer created a website to expose the Cornell Students, Director Shawn Levy leaves Disney for Netflix, YouTube wins TV while Paramount & WBD lose, the MTV VMA’s saw their best viewership in over a decade, Sundance named 19 new grant winners, and Disney conducted their 3rd round of layoffs this year.

🌴 HEY AUSTIN TEXAS! Are you headed to ACL? The AvA team is throwing a welcome party at the Proper Thursday night.

💼 Looking for open Entertainment jobs? Scroll to the bottom of this email. Our Job Board now has 220+ early career Entertainment roles as well.

Not subscribed yet? Join 39,650+ of your peers. Your future self will thank you.

🎾 HOLLYWOOD’S MAILROOMS ARE GOING HEAD TO HEAD THIS WEEKEND IN LA

9 agencies. 1 trophy. And the competition will crown the real best Hollywood agency.

THE TEAMS:
Buchwald, CAA, Gersh, IAG, Innovative Artists, THE·TEAM, UTA, Verve, WME

Come out and rep your agency, support your coworkers, and see who takes home the title of Best Mailroom in Hollywood.

Plus, they will compete in mail cart races, “coffee runs,” “bowling calls,” and we’ll be handing out giveaways from Puma, Gruns & more.

PLUS FREE food AND a cold plunge. Don’t say we don’t do nice things for you all.

We asked our audience of 208k+ music industry professionals and artists, for their burning questions, opinions and hot takes about Spotify. Here are ones that stood out:

🔥 “For most artists, Spotify offers exposure, not a living.”
🔥 “Spotify is a great deal for listeners because artists bear the cost.”
🔥 “Spotify builds fans of playlists, not fans of artists.”
🔥 “Artists should be able to reach their own followers without paying for promotion.”
🔥 “Labeling AI music isn’t enough. Listeners should be able to opt out entirely.”
🔥 “Spotify has made it easier than ever to release music, and harder than ever to stand out.”
🔥 “Spotify replaced the old gatekeepers with bigger gatekeepers: playlist editors and algorithms”

Because I’m a man of the people, I am going to be asking Joe Hadley, Spotify’s Global Head of Music Content & Partnerships, to respond to each of these on AvA LIVE today at 12:30pm PT.

Plus I’m bringing on the woman behind YouTube’s deal with Coachella, and the duo behind the Rolling Loud Movie to break down what those deals look like.

AvA LIVE Lineup Booked In Partnership With:

Wait so back to this Coachella announce..

Why would they this week? Goldenvoice’s major electronic festival, Portola, just wrapped up this past weekend up in SF. Approximately 45% of Coachella’s 2026 lineup was electronic, and although they can be more flexible with their own radius clause, they like to make a bigger splash by holding off announcing Portola artists on Coachella’s lineup till after the fest wraps.

Why wouldn’t they this week? Goldenvoice announced a NEW major electronic festival happening October 10-11 featuring Calvin Harris, Swedish House Mafia, Skrillex & more on the same gounds the festival is on. Maybe they take a risk and delay the announce till after.

Why would there be a (slight) delay? Agents are fighting over billing of course! What’s billing? Billing is where the artist’s name is listed on the lineups (further up and to the left is better).

What is a radius clause? It’s an exclusivity provision that limits where/when artists can perform, and when they can announce other shows, around the festival. Coachella’s is known as the strictest in the biz, has faced a ton of backlash from Artists, and helps protect Coachella’s lineup from competing events. See below from 2018 when it was first leaked.

💼 Former South Park Writer made a website that exposes all of the Cornell Students to ensure there will be accountability for their appalling actions. More of this.

📺 Director Shawn Levy signs a new overall TV deal with Disney after 10 years with Netflix (Past projects include Deadpool & Wolverine, Star Wars in 2027, and more)

📈 YouTube has gained a 37% share of total TV watch time since 2024, while Paramount & WBD are down by 19%

Credit: Neilsen

📰 The MTV VMA’s saw their highest viewership in 11 years including a 51% jump compared to last year alone

☀️ Sundance Institute named 19 grant winners to receive more than $1 million in unrestricted funding

👎 Disney conducted their 3rd round of layoffs this year across hundreds of HR and IT positions

💸 Speculation is swirling over what the combined Paramount Warner Bros. will be called:

Skydance Corporation, WarnerMount, ParaBros, Paramount Skydance, Paramount Skydance Warner Bros. Discovery or maybe just David Ellison’s continued massacre of the Entertainment industry™.