Creative Review - April 2021
Listen: #TheSoundofNow Volume 02 is here
As part of our ongoing playlist series, we’re sharing volume 2 of #TheSoundofNow featuring artists we’ve had the honor of working with and those we wish to work with soon (feel free to hit us up, guys!).
AR beat: ScavengAR Brings augmented art to daily life & 24kGoldn’s “El Dorado” Album Drop
Our mobile AR partner ScavangAR continues to innovate in the world of AR art experiences, bringing AR art to life in cities worldwide.
Artist Nadine Kolodziey began a collaboration with ScavengAR to build “Walk Your Day.” In light of the pandemic, the experience encouraged viewers to get up and have a productive and mindful start to their day through motivating visuals.
ScavengAR also recently had the opportunity to work with 24kGoldn for an AR experience surrounding his latest album El Dorado that works without the need to download an app using Apple’s new AppClip technology. To try the experience yourself tap here on your Apple mobile device to see El Dorado in action!
Watch: Diplo Brings the Future to Cuba
This weekend, let Diplo and friends transport you to Cuba to watch as Major Lazer ushers in a new era of cultural exchange, bringing their groundbreaking international beats to Cuba to perform the first show of its kind in the island’s history: watch Give me Future this weekend on YouTube Originals now!
Watch: Music on my Radar
Over the last year, I have loved following Rina Sawayama, especially her QVC themed video for “XS”. Expect to hear more from Rina soon as she’s on the shortlist of artists rumored to work with Lady Gaga on her Chromatica Remix EP.
If you’d like some more of Rina - check out her trippy, gender-bending video for “Comme Des Gar?ons.”
I am also a big fan of Leon Else and have been living for his raw, stripped-down covers lately especially Mariah Carey’s Love Takes Time, Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams, and Britney Spears’ Everytime.
Livestreaming: by the numbers
60 Seconds or Less: Selfish Love takes TikTok by Storm
Selena Gomez and DJ Snake teamed up to host a TikTok challenge for Gomez’s “Selfish Love” single to great success -- Billboard reports: “Selfish Love” earned 5 million U.S. clicks on the week ending March 4, according to MRC Data, after its first full tracking week as the song was released March 4 via DJ Snake/Interscope.
The business of audio: Spotify’s Promo Cards get a makeover and “Marquee” makes its debut.
Spotify has added new Promo Cards that allow artists to create personalized assets for use on social media and other promotional channels.
In addition to promo cards, Spotify’s ever-growing offering of visual artist tools expands beyond Canvas into the new Marquee product which allows artists to target a full-screen recommendation that says “New music for you!” when an artist drops a new release in order to turn listeners into bigger fans.
Festival Circuit: TriBeCa Film Fest Returns for In-Person Fest
Tribeca is shaking things up this year by bringing the festival back in full force with in-person screenings across all five boroughs of Manhattan. This breaks tradition with the virtual versions of well-known fests like Sundance, SXSW and others thus far which have gone purely virtual. With vaccination rates rising rapidly, this could be a highly successful event for moviegoers all around and the industry in general. The festival would run about two months later than usual, on June 9th-20th.
The lineup for this has yet to be announced, but once it is, you can find it here.
Film: Normalcy slowly returns: will audiences follow?
With theaters opening back up and vaccines readily available, the biggest cinematic feats in theaters are not so much Godzilla vs. Kong as much as they are a quest to bring butts back into seats.
Godzilla vs Kong was the first victor in this race bringing in $350m directly from theaters, despite it being free to all HBO Max subscribers.
Other blockbuster films looking to inject some much-needed positivity into the US box office on the horizon are:
- Mortal Kombat - April 23rd
- A Quiet Place Part II - May 28th
- The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It - June 4th
- Fast and Furious - June 25th
- Black Widow - July 9th
- No Time to Die - Oct 8th
- Dune - October 1st
Esports: Champs flex their muscles at IEM 2021
The Esports industry has continued to enjoy a healthy and continuous boom and with that, the Intel Extreme Masters Championship has continued to expand its long-standing worldwide tournament, and 2021’s IEM Katowice was no exception.
Enjoy highlights from the world’s premier Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players, as they continue to set the bar for elite gameplay.
App beat: Apple officially announces ‘Spring Loaded’ 2021 event
Apple has announced the first Apple event of the year for April 20, which again will be completely virtual. At this event, Apple is likely to announce new iPad Pro models, AirTags, and more. The event will be streamed live from Apple Park Tuesday, April 20th at @10am PDT. PT/1 p.m. ET.
The news of this event was first accidentally revealed via Siri this week.
After holding three special events in three months last fall (September, October, and November), the April event will mark Apple’s first event of 2021. The event will once again be held remotely due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Live Music: On the Horizon in 2021
Even though Coachella remains canceled again in 2021, plenty of other live music events remain on the horizon in 2021 like:
- Suwannee Live April 16-17
- Primavera Sound June 2-6
- The Weeknd: After Hours tour June 12
- Mile 0 Festival Key West April 27-May 1
Billboard has a full list of all of 2021’s rescheduled concerts and festivals.