Hi,

As someone who has their own newsletter, I’ve become fascinated by the idea of them - including their growth, value, and economics.

As my research progressed, I became surprised to find out how many creators, brands, and public figures place emphasis on newsletters and how integral to a business they can actually be.

Some would say we’re in the midst of a newsletter revolution.

Let’s dive in ⬇️

I always thought newsletters were only used by corporate companies to promote and sell their products.

For the majority of my life, my awareness and familiarity with newsletters were the endless promotional kind from Macy’s, JC Penny, etc that I used to receive on Black Friday and other holidays. In my mind, newsletters were “salesy” and corporate.

In recent years, as I’ve become passionate about the music, tech, and creator industries, I’ve watched the emergence of newsletters from brands and individual people turn into legitimate businesses.

They weren’t just used to sell products or push someone to buy something - they were informative, educational, and in many cases, showed a different side of that brand or individual.

At the suggestion and urging of a few people back in 2023, I started this newsletter as a way to further share my thoughts, curiosities, and the content I was already sharing online. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made and has helped build what’s become an amazing community of like minded people.

Newsletters are popping up everyday (almost so much so that it’s become a bit cringe to say that you have one) and brands and creators are using them not just to sell products but serve as an extension of their brand and communicate with their audience in a different way.

In the music industry, we talk a lot about “owning your audience”. Essentially it’s the idea that you don’t actually own your social media audience - it’s hard to know who your Instagram followers actually are.

What are their names?

Where do they live?

Your ability to communicate with them is dictated by the algorithm. If the algorithm isn’t in your favor or the app goes down, your ability to speak to them disappears.

Newsletters provide the obvious ability to own your audience - collect emails, names, set up surveys to better understand your audience, and communicate with them directly.

However…equally as important is that they give you the ability to communicate in a different way. It’s a chance to see a different side of that brand, creator, or person to further engage their audience and build their brand.

Let’s take a look at a few examples below.

_{1. Mike Posner}

Mike Posner has had his newsletter for years and is probably one of the first musicians of our era to put an actual focus on it. I’m not 100% sure when he started it but I remember being subscribed as early as 2017.

What’s cool about his newsletter is how personal it is - it’s an inside look into his life and what he’s going through at any given moment.

All of his newsletters start off the same way - sharing where he’s writing from and what he’s listening to.

It’s kind of cool to get a small glimpse into what other artists and musicians are listening to and where they are in that exact moment of writing it. It feels personal.

Much of Mike’s newsletter centers around his wellness journey and learnings. He walked across the country a few years ago and climbed Mount Everest so he certainly has a lot to talk about. That said, the newsletter is also a fun way to keep him up with and get an inside perspective into what he’s thinking, along with wellness tips and tricks.

While some issues do plug new music, there’s a healthy balance between music content and personal wellness content. It’s kind of cool to see another side of him and be allowed so much insight into his personal life.

Much of Mike’s newsletter content centers around wellness but the format can apply to any artist, creator, or brand.

For example, let’s say you’re an artist who loves cooking but don’t know the best way to communicate or incorporate that into your brand on social media.

It could be fun to start a newsletter sharing your favorite recipes, what you cooked that week, feedback from people you cooked for, and more.

It’s a chance to give your audience a different perspective on your brand and something else to become attached to. This can apply to any of your interests or even just sharing things about your career that aren’t found on social.

For some reason I can’t actually find a link to subscribe to Mike’s newsletter (I don’t see it on his website) but if you’re interested, feel free to reply to this email and I can forward you the latest edition.

_{2. Russell Westbrook}

NBA superstar Russell Westbrook recently launched his own newsletter with a company called Beehiiv (it’s what I use to write mine and love it - I know, I know…shameless plug).

The newsletter kicked off last week and looks like it will be bi-weekly launching soon.

Why is this so smart? It’s a chance for Russell Westbrook to:

• own a portion of his audience

• strengthen the relationship with his fans by sharing personal insights that fans won’t get anywhere else

• potentially monetize

With how established Westbrook is and how valuable the real estate in his newsletter is (partly because it’s a co-sign from him and partly because of the eyeballs he brings), Russell could generate extra income by having brands sponsor his newsletter.

I’d imagine athletic brands or shoe brands would jump at the opportunity to sponsor something like that and help him generate extra revenue.

This could also be the case with brand deals - for example, if Westbrook was doing a brand deal with a company (for sake of example, let’s say: Samsung) and charging for a post across his social media platforms, he now has another platform he can include to increase his rate and generate additional revenue.

Check out the newsletter HERE.

_{3. Tom Brady}

Russell Westbrook isn’t the only athlete to have his own newsletter. Earlier this year, NFL legend Tom Brady launched his newsletter called “199”.

Only a few issues have been sent so far but they appear to be musings, lessons, and frameworks from his career that people can apply to their everyday lives.

According to the website, the newsletter is “an extension of my group chat with friends and family.”

The same concepts from Westbrook apply here - if Brady puts enough of a push behind it, creates great content, and drives enough subscribers, it could potentially be a sizable source of revenue.

In general, Brady seems to be super focused on brand building across social right now with the launch of his own YouTube channel creating original content.

Kind of cool to see so much of an inside perspective into the life of someone with such legendary football history. It’s a smart play for someone who wants to continue to stay relevant and redefine what their brand becomes in the internet era.

The opportunities are endless for growing his brand tenfold by building his own properties.

Check out the newsletter HERE.

_{4. Local newsletters}

This niche is a little less applicable to the music and creator space but it’s one that’s equally as fascinating.

There’s a growing trend that’s becoming popular right now called “local newsletters”. Instead of the newsletter being centered around a hobby, person, sport, or activity, it’s centered around a geographic location.

The contents of the newsletter are specific to that location (city, state, township, etc)

The newsletter might share upcoming events for that area, highlight local businesses, share historical information, etc.

From a monetization perspective, I’ve seen them advertise with local businesses as well as create products.

One of the most interesting examples I’ve come across is a local newsletter called Catskill Crew. It’s a weekly newsletter serving those living in the Catskill Mountains.

Growing up, I spent a lot of time in upstate New York in the Catskill region visiting my grandparents and family so I’m somewhat endeared to the concept but the model is really cool - the newsletter shares historical information about the area, upcoming events, and it just started introducing products.

The founder, Michael Pesto, recently created a custom Catskill monopoly game and is selling it through the newsletter. He found proof of concept by running a poll in the newsletter asking his audience if they’d be interested in buying it.

After a resounding yes, he spent time learning how to create a custom game and after launching it in January, already has local businesses asking to sell it.

There are tons of these local newsletters popping up with some generating hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in revenue.

People are essentially creating their own media / publishing companies with these in the same vein of a local newspaper.

_{The caveat}

Okay okay…all of this is well and good but it’s easy to overlook this one simple thing -

Building anything great takes time. Like a lot of time. And a lot of effort.

Some of these have taken years to gain any sort of traction. It requires time to set up, write, and promote them.

Mike Posner has been writing his for almost a decade to my knowledge (maybe longer).

It’s important not to just do one for the sake of doing it - if you’re already busy or scattered across different projects and things, it may not be the best time for it.

I’m excited to see what other kinds of newsletters emerge this year and how people utilize them.

Thanks for reading, until next time.

_{The Vault}

1) Beehiiv - I mentioned it above but Beehiiv is an awesome option to build and host your newsletter if you’re a creator. The interface is incredibly user friendly, easy to build, and has great analytics. They’re evolving into more of a newsletter “engine” than just a platform - they’re constantly developing and introducing new ways of monetizing, reaching new audiences, and working with brands. One of the features I think is missing (for the moment) though is integration with Shopify and a focus on ecommerce. For that, Klaviyo is a great option to remarket and promote products. HERE

2) The Artist Marketing Playbook - I teamed up with my good friend and fellow music marketing expert Drew De Leon to present The Artist Marketing Playbook. An in-depth look at what an artist can do to set themselves up for success in 2025. More info HERE.