Hi,

We’re officially in the home stretch of 2024 and the new year is upon us. It’s been a wild and crazy year in the music industry (it legitimately almost feels like 2 years lol) and the craziness shows no signs of slowing down for 2025, especially with a potential looming TikTok ban.

For the last newsletter of 2024, let’s take a look at some of the biggest moments that stood out to me as defining this year.

This newsletter highlights:

• Some of the most defining moments of 2024

• 10 music industry job roles

Let’s dive in ⬇️

Before diving in, I wanted to share a quick note on a fun social campaign I helped put together with some friends launching tonight at 5pm EST today on my IG (@heymike).

I teamed up with the creative universe Same Old Kids to put a fun spin on some of the most memorable moments in entertainment this year. From the Drake & Kendrick beef to Taylor Swift’s record breaking year, I hope you enjoy the recap!

Here’s a preview of one of the moments -

In no particular order, here are some things I’m thinking about as I reflect on the year that was.

1) Teasing life without TikTok

It feels like so long ago that UMG pulled its music off TikTok but in reality, it was just 10 months ago.

The few months we went without artist’s music on the biggest music discovery app was a rocky and chaotic time.

Was that short window a tease into what life might be like if TikTok officially gets banned this January? That decision will inevitably shake up the global music industry and have massive ripple effects on the entertainment world.

A life without TikTok in the United States would force a reset of sorts in the music industry - if that happens, it’ll be interesting to see where artist discovery goes.

2) Taylor Swift’s record breaking world tour

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour became the highest grossing tour of all time, pulling in over $2 billion when it was all said and done.

Will we ever see a tour on this scale again? If so, will it be by Taylor Swift herself breaking her own records?

As more and more artists struggle to solve the economics of touring, it’ll be interesting to see how many massive tours still exist and when they do, what numbers they pull in.

As the industry continues to become more fractured, it’s very possible this is one of the last record breaking mega tours we see for a long time.

3) Spotify Wrapped’s (largely) disappointing rollout

It felt like the general consensus around this year’s Spotify Wrapped was that it was largely underwhelming. The data points felt stagnant without much new information to share with artists and their fans.

Spotify Wrapped has grown to be one of the biggest campaigns of the year in the music industry (so much so that non music companies are taking a page out of Spotify’s book with their own end of year wrapped) and felt like it was evolving and advancing year over year.

Many feel like the underwhelming campaign was due to the reliance on AI as a result of significant staff layoffs - having artificial intelligence help craft the campaign instead of humans.

Curious to see how Spotify rebounds next year and if they take what feels like general sentiment into consideration.

4) The Drake & Kendrick beef

It’s hard to reflect on this year without mention of the Drake & Kendrick beef and the aftermath associated with it.

Whether it be public perception of both artists and who the masses think won or lost, Drake’s lawsuit, or their place in hip-hop, the beef dominated the hip-hop conversation for much of this year and will likely continue to create conversation for years to come.

5) Kai Cenat becomes primetime

Kai Cenat officially became primetime this year - as mass attention and eyeballs continue to evolve and point toward the streaming space, Kai broke records this year becoming the most Watched Streamer of 2024 and garnering the most subscribers ever with +700,000 subscribers during his Mafiathon 2 stream.

While streaming for the month of November, Kai had some of the most popular names in music and entertainment as guests including SZA, Snoop Dogg, Kodak Black, G Herbo, Druski, GloRilla, a FaceTime with LeBron and more.

Every night felt like there was a new special guest with stream moments that took over the internet - Kai dominated the internet for weeks at a time and put on a brilliant display of how to keep people engaged in the current attention economy.

Kai is essentially becoming what late night TV used to be - an appearance on Fallon or Kimmel felt like the entire world was watching you (and at one point they were). Now it feels like the equivalent is Kai’s stream.

Before signing off for the last time this year, I wanted to share a quick reflection from 2024 as well as a thank you.

A few months ago I was chatting with someone who’s perspective I really value and was getting their take on something marketing related. I felt like this specific marketing campaign we were discussing had to be this intricate, layered, and dense thing and at some point started feeling overwhelmed on which direction to go in.

What was the right move? With so many options, which one was right? How would we know it was the right decision?

He then asked me a question that really shifted my perspective…

“What would this look like if it were easy? What is the simplest and most straight forward way of going about this”?

I took a moment to think about it and realized the answer was starting at me in the face the whole time. Deep down I knew what the answer was (or at least my gut did) but I felt this pressure to overcomplicate it because it couldn’t be that easy or straight forward right?

But the truth is…sometimes it actually is that easy. I now ask myself that question with every single thing in my life (professional and personal) and it’s helped tremendously.

My eating habits are the simplest they’ve ever been (I literally rotate between 2-3 options per meal per day and keep it easy) and I feel the best I’ve ever felt.

My approach to marketing and campaigns is now starting with “what does the most straight forward of this look like?'“

Focusing on a simple approach not only decreases stress and increases the path of least resistance, it also allows you to become expert level at the thing and understand all of the 1% nuances or changes you can tweak to really maximize progress.

This approach drives vastly different results than trying to come up with a super intricate layered system that only allows you to barely touch the surface of each level, thus decreasing its impact.

My diet is the simplest it’s ever been.

My sleep schedule is the most consistent and simple it’s ever been.

The growth on this newsletter has been a result of very simple, straightforward steps with a focus on just that.

It’s one of my biggest reframes going into 2025 and something I’m going to try and approach with everything.

Lastly, thank you for all the support on the newsletter this year - I’ve gotten encouraging feedback and kind words on a more consistent basis and hope to deliver even more value in 2025.

Thanks for reading, until next year.

_{Music industry job opportunities}

1) Spring Intern, Marketing - AEG

Salary: $18.29 - $20.29

Location: Denver, CO

Apply HERE

2) Summer 2025 Internship - Wasserman / Cycle

Salary: $15.00 - $19.97

Location: Various Locations

Apply HERE

3) Tour Rep Assistant - Live Nation

Salary: Unlisted

Location: Farringdon, London, United Kingdom

Apply HERE

4) LN Concerts, Tour Marketing Coordinator - Live Nation

Salary: $18.40 USD - $23.00 USD Hourly

Location: Beverly Hills, CA

Apply HERE

5) Social Media & Global Digital Marketing Manager - PHONO SOUNDS

Salary - £15+ Hourly

Location: London, UK

Apply HERE

6) Digital Marketing Specialist - Thriller Records

Salary: $45,000 - $50,000

Location: Findlay, OH

Apply HERE

7) Artist & Repertoire (A&R) Representative - Thriller Records

Salary: Unlisted 

Location: Los Angeles, CA 

Apply HERE

8) Marketing Coordinator - Rostrum Pacific

Salary: Unlisted

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Apply HERE

9) Senior Graphic Designer - Super Evil Genius Corp

Salary: $75,000 - $85,000

Location: Long Beach, CA

Apply HERE

10) Event Administration and Entertainment Sales Manager - Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum 

Salary: Unlisted

Location: Nashville, TN

Apply HERE