Media & Entertainment Tech Review: 2020 © Maxime Eyraud

Media & Entertainment Tech
The year in review
2020
Maxime Eyraud

About me
2
Hey, I’m Maxime!
I’m a media professional working at the intersection of
technology and the creative industries. I’m based in Paris, France.
I’ve always been passionate with media & entertainment at large.
How stories are created, shared, discovered, and enjoyed. How
technology enables creativity and shapes our imaginations. My
background is a mix of humanities and business, and I’d like to
think that both have informed how I look at these issues.
If you’re building or/and investing in media, or just want to jam
about this space, I’d love to chat!
You can find me on Twitter and LinkedIn, or shoot me an email at
hi@maximeeyraud.com.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Media & Entertainment Tech Review 2020 © Maxime Eyraud

What you’ll find here
3
This report is an overview of the trends and companies that
pushed Media & Entertainment Tech forward in 2020 – a
momentous year if there ever was.
Packed full with insights from the best operators, analysts, and
investors, it aims to help you better understand where the space
stands today, and where it’s going next. (If you need a refresher on
everything that happened in 2019, I think you’ll find my previous
report useful!) It also makes good use of the data I collect in my
personal database all along the year.
Being French, I mostly hear and read about Western products and
companies. I’ve tried my best to fight this bias and discuss trends
that I think are having a global impact.
Happy reading!

Table
4
59
71
89
98
SOCIAL
CREATOR ECONOMY
NEW MEDIA
WRAP-UP
OVERVIEW
GAMING
VIDEO
MUSIC
AUDIO
5
9
22
36
48

6
KEY TAKEAWAYS
A few macro trends in Media & Entertainment Tech – 2020
• The COVID-19 crisis impacted categories and companies across media & entertainment in drastically different ways. With
artists unable to tour and movie theaters worldwide shut down, people stuck at home instead turned en masse to digital
experiences – from video streaming to Zoom-powered Happy Hours to virtual concerts. Difficult times catalyzed consumer
adoption, forced constant experimentation for artists to communicate and monetize, and durably disrupted entire value chains.
• Already the fastest-growing media category, gaming continued its rise to cultural prominence. On the one hand, the global
pandemic has turned virtual worlds like Fortnite, Roblox, Minecraft, and others into de facto social hubs and venues. On the other
hand, ever-growing user bases have made these games go-to destinations for every IP holder looking for cultural relevance. As
the medium enables new uses cases far beyond entertainment, it’s poised to capture more of our time, attention, and spending.
• Co-creation and co-consumption are now ubiquitous. Creative tools like Figma and Gravity Sketch are enabling real-time
collaboration, while features like TikTok’s Duets continue to legitimize derivative content. Meanwhile, sudden interest in screen
sharing and virtual watch parties signals consumers’ desire to turn once solitary activities into social experiences.
• The creator economy keeps expanding, drawing more aspirants, coverage, and funding in the process. From TikTok to
OnlyFans and from Substack to Clubhouse, numerous platforms reported a surge in new accounts, engagement, and creator
payouts. Ushered by culture and enabled by technology, new participatory protocols (e.g. social tokens) point to a near future
where the distinction between fandom and investing becomes irrelevant .
• Media categories continue to blur across the board: short-form video is driving music discovery, while hybrid live entertainment
is combining livestreaming with real-world gear. To thrive, IP holders will need to think across formats.

Sources: Crunchbase; various press
NOTABLE DEALS
Media & Entertainment – 2020 (1/2)
7
Round
Date
Company Funding Investors or acquirer
November
September
June
August
August
Acquisition
Acquisition
Acquisition
Growth
Acquisition
$3.5B
$7.5B
$1.8B
$1.78B
$1.5B
+6

NOTABLE DEALS
Media & Entertainment – 2020 (2/2)
8
Round
Date
Company Funding
December
December
March
November
March
Acquisition
Acquisition
Private Equity
Strategic
Private Equity
$1.2B
$1.2B
$1B
$947M
$750M N.A.
Investors or acquirer

KEY TAKEAWAYS
Gaming – 2020
10
• As gaming rises to cultural prominence, Hollywood is avidly mining the medium’s best-known intellectual properties for both
TV and film adaptations: Netflix, for example, announced no less than seven gaming-derived projects last year. In turn, games
themselves have become inevitable destinations for most linear IP’s. With a global, mostly young audience, they will only grow
more vital for long-term worldbuilding, engagement, and monetization.
• The cloud gaming race is rapidly intensifying as both tech giants and startups rush to capture gamers’ time and spending with
new offerings. Yet interest remains limited: the technology’s current shortcomings (including cost and latency) and often
confusing marketing on the providers’ end are making it hard for consumers to take the leap. Still, the biggest obstacle has to
do with content: cloud-native games formats and mechanics remain far and few between.
• The world’s most sophisticated simulation tools, game engines like Unreal and Unity continue to see traction far beyond
gaming. Though their current offerings already make them ideal sandboxes for thousands of companies worldwide, a steady
stream of acquisitions promises to augment their capabilities even further.
• The Metaverse discourse reached a tipping point in 2020, drawing not only extensive media coverage, but also ample funding
for the companies building towards that goal. The excitement seems warranted: from virtual worlds and goods to avatars to
ubiquitous communication tools, some of the technologies that could power the Metaverse in the future have seen rapid
adoption in the past few months.
• Party games like Innersloth’s Among Us and Mediatonic’s Fall Guys brought some welcome fun to our screens with their social
features and casual visuals. Their rise speaks to the role of user-generated video content in the success, or failure, of games.

NOTABLE DEALS
Gaming – 2020
11
Round
Date
Company Funding
June
September
August
August
December
Acquisition
Acquisition
Growth
Acquisition
Acquisition
$1.8B
$7.5B
$1.78B
$1.5B
$1.2B
+6

Sources: Observer; Variety; Matthew Ball: (1), (2); Polygon; Ampere Analysis; The Verge
12
TREND
Gaming IP finally takes off in film and TV...
After years of hesitations, gaming IP is taking off in film and TV. In turning
already successful franchises into linear content, Hollywood studios hope
they can rely on these properties' mostly young, and often global, built-in
fanbases from day one to spread awareness.
Netflix has been particularly active on that front. At 7.6%, gaming represents
a substantial, and growing, source of material for the service, ranking third
behind books (63.3%) and comics (15.2%). From Capcom's Resident Evil to
Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell franchises, the company
continues to actively mine gaming IP for global impact, turning it into both
live action and animated adaptations. No less than seven projects of
adaptations were announced in 2020 alone.
At a deeper level, gaming's influence is now impacting the writing itself. Rich
worlds, colorful characters, and branching narratives not only make for
captivating shows, but also leave optionality for character-focused sequels,
prequels, and spin-offs. Disney's The Mandalorian notably drew from game
design with a quest-driven structure – each episode both a standalone
mission and a piece of a larger narrative puzzle. As more writers start
evolving across both film and gaming, narrative traits will blur between the
two.
Announcement Platform IP IP owner
February 2020 Diablo
June 2020 Cyberpunk 2077
July 2020 Beyond Good & Evil
July 2020 Fallout
July 2020 Splinter Cell
October 2020 Assassin’s Creed
October 2020 Resident Evil
November 2020 The Last of Us
December 2020 Sonic
Notable adaptation announcements

Sources: Matthew Ball: (1), (2); The Hollywood Reporter; Fandom
13
TREND
… while games become the go-to platform for linear IP
Instead of developing and overseeing their own games, the major Hollywood
studios have historically chosen to license their franchises, characters, and
stories to game publishers, in hope of high-margin deals. With no platforms
of their own, they're now reliant on high-impact but ephemeral integrations
with third parties to grow their in-game presence as the medium takes off.
Epic Games has been a direct beneficiary, and enabler, as Fortnite has
become a go-to destination for pop culture IP. From DC's Deadpool and
Aquaman to Disney's Captain America, Iron Man, and the Mandalorian, the
game acts as a global platform for film studios looking to spread awareness
or grow brand affinity around their most prized properties. Yet beside
marketing, these activations have done little to extend or advance actual
storylines.
As more studios embrace a transmedia approach to storytelling, gaming will
only grow more vital for long-term engagement, worldbuilding, and
monetization. But despite obvious potential, legacy media companies have
continued to neglect what they see as non-core businesses: In January
2020, Disney sold the FoxNext game studio; AT&T, meanwhile, considered
selling WB Interactive, Warner Bros.'s gaming division, before retracting in
September.
Release date Character(s) IP owner
March 2020 Ant-Man
April 2020 Deadpool
April 2020 X-Men
July 2020 Aquaman
July 2020 Captain America
October 2020 John Wick
October 2020 Wolverine
November 2020 Venom
December 2020 The Mandalorian
Fortnite’s notable IP integrations

Sources: The New York Times; UC Berkeley; Jesslyn Tannady; Domus; Alexandre Dewez; Peter Rojas; @GaeaXIV
14
EARLY SIGNAL
Beyond entertainment, games have become a venue for every major event in our lives
Commencement ceremonies
(e.g. UC Berkeley’s “Blockeley” event
in Minecraft)
Political events
(e.g. the Biden/Harris HQ in Nintendo’s Animal
Crossings: New Horizons)
Funerals
(e.g. a player’s online funeral on Zalera,
a Final Fantasy XIV online server)

Sources: Matthew Ball: (1), (2); McKinsey; Deloitte; Andreessen Horowitz; Jacob Navok: (1), (2), (3), (4); Newzoo
15
TREND
The cloud gaming race is on, but current offerings leave much to be desired
Competition to capture gamers' time and spending is mounting as tech
giants each launch their own cloud gaming offerings. Tencent and Huawei
joined forces in March; in September, Microsoft’s xCloud launched for Game
Pass Ultimate subscribers; in October, both Facebook and Amazon debuted
new services. The space has also had some setbacks: Rovio’s service Hatch
shut down in December, while Blade is undergoing recovery proceedings.
The market's focus to date has been on convenience, as infrastructure
providers prominently feature cross-device play and the elimination of
download time. Yet cloud gaming comes with trade-offs, since it increases
play latency, endangers fidelity, and only replaces the upfront cost of buying
a console with ongoing ones. Meanwhile, discourse continues to conflate
delivery (cloud gaming) with business models (game subscriptions), further
blurring the technology's utility for consumers.
The promise of cloud gaming lies chiefly in the kind of content it will enable.
Developers should thrive to use the cloud not just for distribution but to
design new experiences around centralized AI, physics, and rendering that
are unique to the technology. Instead of "bigger" (i.e. more concurrent
players), "better" (i.e. more realistic graphics) versions of locally-processed
games, cloud-native games should explore new gameplay, interaction, and
monetization models.
A steady stream of new launches is making the cloud
gaming space more competitive. (Newzoo)

Sources: Matthew Ball: (1), (2); Nicole Williams; TechCrunch; Deadline; VentureBeat; Polygon; Gamasutra; Bloomberg
16
TREND
Game engines are eating the world – and gobbling up startups to do it even faster
As the most sophisticated simulation tools available today, game engines
continue to appeal to new industries far beyond gaming. The trend is
especially obvious in Hollywood, where Unity and Epic Games have been
pushing the film & TV industry toward entirely new workflows with virtual
production: Disney’s The Mandalorian, for example, notably made use of Epic
Games’ Unreal Engine, giving its director Jon Favreau direct control over
every aspect of the set in real time.
Even entertainment at large is now just one of many industries leveraging
these capabilities. Companies across automotive & manufacturing,
architecture & construction, healthcare, and more, rely on them to design
products collaboratively, test systems and train datasets with synthetic data,
or develop immersive marketing experiences. Accordingly, recent moves by
Unity and Epic Games point to rapid diversification as both of these
companies aim to make their engines ever more versatile – with every new
acquisition then brought into their respective ecosystems as built-in tools.
For the near future, breadth of offering, educational resources, and a well-
established, and growing, community of developers should further entrench
the Unreal/Unity duopoly. Still, there are opportunities. On the one hand,
Roblox is following suite, with two acquisitions of its own in December:
Loom.ai, an avatar creation company, and Imbellus, a developer of in-game
assessment technologies. On the other hand, edge cases may present
opportunities for more nimble engines to thrive.
Announcement Acquisition Acquirer
June 2019
March 2020
May 2020
May 2020
August 2020
September 2020
November 2020
December 2020
January 2021
March 2021
March 2021

Sources: Playbyte; Kyle Russell: (1), (2)
17
FOCUS
Playbyte | playbyte.io
In a social-driven world, the success of any particular
piece of content increasingly lies in its spreadability. Yet
compared with photo or video, games have remained
closed-ended, with little potential for virality or creative
collaboration. Playbyte's focus on remixability rewards
derivative content, essentially treating games like memes.
With basic tools, graphics, and game mechanics,
creativity moves away from technicality and further up
the stack towards cultural wit and savviness. Custom
cursors, backgrounds, and text let creators tie games to
the current conversation and make them relevant to their
own communities.
This will bring new opportunities. The creators that can
deliver a steady stream of micro-games and use them for
social-cultural commentary will become influencers in
their own right. In turn, branded games and in-game
product placements will become high-prized marketing
channels.
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
Founded in: 2018
HQ: U.S.
Latest funding: $3.25M Seed, May 2020
Playbyte is a platform for social-first games.
Its web-based tools enable users to make, remix, and
share simple 2D games. When shared, games appear on
Playbyte's algorithmic feed, where they can be instantly
played and remixed by others, leading to new games.
Each individual game can also be shared and accessed
online via a unique URL.
In addition to templates of game mechanics and textures,
users have access to a number of customization options,
from changing a game's background to adding hoverable
text blocks.
BUSINESS

Sources: Matthew Ball: (1), (2); VentureBeat; Not Boring; TechCrunch; L’Atelier; Michael Dempsey; The Washington Post; Alexandre Dewez
18
TREND
The Metaverse discourse gains steam
The promise of the Metaverse – a live, shared, persistent universe of
interconnected virtual worlds – is capturing imaginations as more
companies claim to be building towards it. This has made the term a
somewhat gimmicky rallying cry for both startups and investors.
Still, excitement is palpable as more of the Metaverse’s underlying
technologies get closer to mainstream adoption. From presence (virtual
worlds) to identity (avatars) to ownership (Non Fungible Tokens) to
connection (live audio and video), users are quickly growing accustomed to
what could be the building blocks of something much bigger.
Fully functioning economies continue to form, sparking speculation in the
process. Users are investing in digital assets that they hope will appreciate
with time as supply dwindles, demand increases, and cross-platform
portability becomes the norm. Paid virtual services are next: Bloxburg’s
restaurant Pizza Planet, for example, lets players work and get paid as either
Pizza Bakers or Delivery Persons.
Much is still needed. The Metaverse will emerge only gradually as more
technologies and protocols intersect through the collaboration, and
competition, of countless contenders vying for the next platform.
Presence
Identity Ownership
Connection
Eternal
Hardware

Sources: PC Gamer; Niko Partners; TechNode; Forbes; The Telegraph; Tech in Asia; TechCrunch; Not Boring; Daniel Ahmad
19
FOCUS
Tencent’s gaming empire continues to grow with an aggressive M&A strategy
Already the world's largest gaming company, in 2020 Tencent was also the
most active gaming investor, with 31 investments across multiple categories
(up 300% YoY). While most of its investments are minor stakes in smaller
Chinese companies, Tencent is quickly growing its international portfolio,
with multiple deals (including acquisitions) in Europe and the U.S.
The need to venture out into international markets is heightened by slowing
growth, regulatory scrutiny, and fierce competition at home. Chinese giants
Alibaba, NetEase, and ByteDance, along with up-and-comers including Lilith
and MiHoYo, are putting pressure on Tencent's longtime lead in the space.
Approximately 25% of Tencent’s game revenue is generated outside China,
with plans to grow it to 50% in the next few years.
Ultimately, gaming is only one piece of Tencent's broader entertainment
engine. With activities in publishing, animation, and film & TV, and control
over distribution through WeChat, QQ, Douyu/Huya, and Tencent Video, the
group is able to maximize the value of its IP over time and across media and
platforms. Arcane, an upcoming animation series set in the League of
Legends universe, is expected to debut in 2021.
23
2
1
1
1
1 1 1
China
Japan
Norway
Sweden
Germany
France
U.K. U.S.
19
3
2
1
1
1
1
3
Developers, including:
Publishers, including:
Video platforms, including:
Cloud infrastructure
Game creation platform:
Game development software
esports
N.A.

Sources: Blake Robbins; Game Rant; GamesIndustryBiz; Unity; The Washington Post
20
TREND
Party games dominate social conversation with a push from streamers
As social isolation made the need for connection more pressing, a number of
indie games rose to prominence as the next best hangout spots. Simple but
fun mechanics and the ability to play alongside friends via private lobbies
made games such as Innersloth's Among Us and Mediatonic's Fall Guys
ideal candidates for casual competition.
Streaming has been instrumental. Released in 2018, Among Us saw interest
and usage surge after it became a streamer favorite over the summer of
2020. Numerous online creators – including non-gamers – banded together
to play the game in front of their respective audiences, pushing it further up
the charts through word of mouth. Meanwhile, Fall Guys' bright colors,
cartoonish characters, and ragdoll physics emphasized its entertainment
value for viewers.
Sudden success is pushing studios to double down on their properties, but
maintaining players' interest won't be easy. Relying on streamers for
visibility puts games at risk of losing relevance once creators move on to
newer releases. In December, Among Us reached 68K average concurrent
viewers and 50.3M hours viewed, down from 204K viewers and 147M hours
in September.
Social features turned Among Us and Fall Guys into viewer favorites.
(Innersloth; Mediatonic)

Sources: Newzoo; PC Gamer; Mythia; TechCrunch: (1), (2); Kippo; Backbone; The Verge
21
EARLY SIGNAL
The rise of gaming creates new opportunities for adjacent products and services
As gaming continues to grow as a media category and business ($174.9B
generated in 2020, up 19.6% YoY), gamers also become more attractive an
audience. This opens up new opportunities to develop products and services
that can address consumers by acknowledging and celebrating their
passion as a central element of their broader identity.
This has potential across multiple categories. In October, gaming peripheral
maker Razer launched its own gamer-focused Razer Card in partnership
with Visa: the program integrates with a gamified rewards system that lets
users track and redeem rewards based on everyday transactions. Mythia’s
“debit card for gamers, by gamers” features random rewards for every
transaction and weekly social challenges. Meanwhile, Kippo’s dating app
lets users connect over their favorite games.
The trend is also visible in hardware, where new products aim to make the
overall play experience more enjoyable for gamers. Tencent, for example,
continues to partner with hardware manufacturers including Black Shark,
RedMagic, and Asus on high-end smartphones that promise better response
speed, frame rates, and network latency. Backbone’s Backbone One
combines iPhone-focused controllers with a companion app that includes
cross-game voice chat, capture, editing, & sharing capabilities, and the
ability for players to join their friends in-game from a push notification. We’ll
see many more companies develop adjacent products for performance,
comfort, and fun.
Mythia
Backbone

KEY TAKEAWAYS
Video – 2020
23
• Competition in streaming is intensifying as new players vie for viewers’ attention. While the current crisis has been a boon to
the whole space, some services have fared better than others: Disney+, for example, saw 70M+ new subscribers in the span of a
year. Not all companies will have the same breadth of offering, nor the resources to ramp it up. This will make focus and
differentiation even more important for the smaller players out there.
• Social distantiation has made video communication the default option for millions of individuals to keep in touch with their
family, friends, and coworkers. With new use cases emerging, the current one-size-fits-all offerings are lacking; opportunities
abound for more nimble solutions to unbundle Zoom and serve consumers with better tools.
• Cowatching surged as both startups and the major video streaming platforms introduced new features for viewers stuck at
home. The space is still in discovery mode, especially because large-scale collective viewing poses obvious legal issues. Still,
as broader availability entices more people to launch and host watch parties, both streamers and rights holders should
experiment with the format to connect with fans in new ways.
• Interactive video companies are using our smartphones’ capabilities to bring new kinds of stories to life and turn viewers into
active participants. But despite strong promise, a dearth of both talent and investment is slowing down further experimentation.
• With millions of families sheltering in place, the need for quality kids’ media only became more pressing. A number of dedicated
video services have emerged to fill that void and offer kids safe, thoughtful content – and their parents, some peace of mind.
They’re using interactivity to turn screen time into a more active experience, and to merge entertainment into a deliberately
educational curriculum.

NOTABLE DEALS
Video – 2020
24
Round
Date
Company Funding
December
November
November
March
March
Acquisition
Acquisition
Strategic
Private Equity
Acquisition
$1.2B
$3.5B
$947M
$750M
$440M
N.A.

Sources: Matthew Ball: (1), (2), (3); The Entertainment Strategy Guy: (1), (2), (3), (4); Andrew A. Rosen; Quartz; Digiday
TREND
Competition intensifies among video streaming services
25
Competition is mounting as new players join the streaming fray.
WarnerMedia's HBO Max and NBCUniversal's Peacock launched in 2020,
while Viacom's Paramount+ (formerly CBS All Access) debuted in 2021. For
most, streaming comes with self-inflicted but necessary cannibalization of
their legacy distribution and business models.
The pandemic has been a boon to the whole space. With millions of potential
viewers sheltering at home, video streaming services were able to reach
captive audiences hungry for entertainment. Extended free trials and steep
discounts made it easier for consumers to sample content across platforms,
leading to sudden and massive surges in app installs, viewing, and
broadband usage worldwide. These habits are likely to stay.
Despite Netflix's head start, streaming won't be winner-take-all: Disney’s
brand, breadth of catalogue, and adept distribution strategy enabled Disney+
to pass 90M paid subscribers in little more than a year – and three years
ahead of schedule. Differentiated services can also thrive, even with smaller
audiences, by optimizing for specific interests or demographics: anime-
focused Crunchyroll sold to Sony for $1B+ in December.
Not everything will be SVOD, either. 2020 saw media conglomerates vie for
ad-supported services, including Comcast's acquisition of Xumo and Fox's
acquisition of Tubi, a year after Viacom took control of PlutoTV. These
services are increasingly betting on linear channels for drop-in consumption
– a surprising reversal to previous viewing habits from the TV era.
While breadth of offering matters, focusing on one particular type of content
can be a useful differentiator. (Entertainment Strategy Guy)
Disney+’s rapid international expansion has led to explosive growth. (Statista)

Sources: Wall Street Journal: (1), (2); The Verge; Variety; Seyi Taylor; TechCrunch; Antenna Data; VentureBeat
Quibi came in stark contrast with Silicon Valley's typically
lean approach to company building. Led by seasoned
executives and profusely funded, the company received
extensive coverage early on. Touting large production
budgets, advertisers' confidence, and the app's
proprietary format, the team set high expectations.
Besides lackluster content, users soon criticized the
inability to take screenshots, share clips, or cast the app's
shows to a TV screen – a feature that made the
experience insular and prevented word-of-mouth.
Support for AirPlay and Chromecast came only months
later, as a last resort.
Quibi's ultimate failure showed a disconnect between the
company's vision and consumers' actual wants and
needs. The management's dismissal of recent but major
shifts in the content we consume and the way we
consume it resulted in a product irreconcilably at odds
with the times.
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
Founded in: 2018
HQ: U.S.
Latest funding: $750M, Private Equity, Mar 2020
Quibi was a mobile-only streaming platform for short-
form video content.
The service aimed to bring Hollywood's premium
production values into the mobile era. Focused on on-
the-go consumption, it broke shows down into smaller
episodes, or "quick bites," of under 10 minutes that could
be watched in an either horizontal or vertical format.
In October 2020, it was announced that Quibi would be
shutting down after failing to gain traction with
consumers. In January 2021, Roku snapped up the rights
to the majority of Quibi's original programming for under
$100M, with plans to release it on its own Roku Channel.
BUSINESS
1.7M
App downloads in its first
week
$1B
spent on original content in
its first year
8%
Estimated conversion rate
after the end of the free trial
(April-June 2020)
FOCUS
Quibi | quibi.com
26

Sources: TechCrunch; Josh Constine; Seyi Taylor; Nick Pappageorge; Eugene Wei: (1), (2)
FOCUS
Mobile-native and mobile-only mean very different things in the social-first video era
27
Company
Social thesis « anti-social » social-first
Content
High production values,
top talent, fixed
User-generated
Approach to
IP
Traditional/protective,
partner-focused
Derivative, “memetic,”
user-focused
Features
No screenshots, clipping,
or casting; no social
interaction (messaging,
likes, comments)
Video downloads enabled
by default; automated
watermarks;
collaboration-driven
content (challenges,
Duets)
Mobile-native is very different from mobile-only: one has to do with the type
of content produced; the other, with sheer device availability. By focusing on
the latter and not the former, Quibi failed to align its content and distribution,
instead forcing viewers into the consumption model it had envisioned for
them. In contrast, TikTok in September debuted a TV app that made its
mobile-native content even more widely available.
In a social-first world, Quibi's deliberately anti-social approach put it at a
clear disadvantage. With no screenshots, clipping, or casting, no in-app
messaging, likes, or comments, the app made for a passive experience that
ran counter to what viewers have come to expect from short-form video
content.
While there is room for premium video content – as Netflix, Disney+ and the
likes continue to show – resource allocation matters. Quibi's massive
content spending (up to $6M per hour of content produced, as per the
company) was intent on communicating prestige but had little to show in
terms of creativity. As opposed to Hollywood talent, digital-native creators
could probably have made better use of Quibi’s proprietary turnstyle format,
and better driven their existing fan bases to the app.

Sources: JJ Oslund / Alison Hennessy: (1), (2), (3); Aaron Z. Lewis; TechCrunch; Andreessen Horowitz; Steve Blank
TREND
As video communication takes off, unbundling is only a matter of time
28
Video communication is now ubiquitous as quarantine restrictions
worldwide have precipitated adoption for both personal and professional
use. Despite growing fatigue, the medium has become a must for higher-
fidelity communication that can convey more of our non-verbal cues and
better answer our longing for connection.
With so many new audiences, each with their own needs, the legacy one-
size-fits-all approach doesn’t cut it anymore: having become the lowest
common denominator, Zoom and other large services like Microsoft Teams
fail to address most edge cases. Fragmentation seems inevitable as
startups take on today’s incumbents with novel, more focused solutions
across relationships (family, friends, dating), services (education, fitness,
wellness), or specific fields (sales, HR) and aspects (collaboration, virtual
office) of our work lives.
Video itself is being commoditized. Multiple API-first companies now
provide building blocks for livestreaming, screensharing, and more, that
enable newcomers to kickstart their products and scale worry-free: Agora
powers companies like BUNCH, RunTheWorld, and Pragli; Mux serves
Udemy, Hopin, and VSCO. This will push services to differentiate with
additional features, including audio enhancement, captioning, and
conversational insights.
Generic products like Zoom leave room for more targeted solutions.
(JJ Oslund / Alison Hennessy)

Sources: Luma; BBC; Quartz; The Guardian; The New York Times; Jeff Morris Jr.; Amrit Pal; The Verge; Noah Kagan
TREND
Consumers stuck at home look to upgrade their video-first lives for fun and status
29
In a Zoom-driven world, consumers are looking for new ways to upgrade
their digital presence and spice up their screen time.
On the one hand, things like background music, visual backgrounds, or even
impromptu entertainment experiences (e.g. InviteRick or Zoom Hypeman)
can bring a welcome dose of fun to a never-ending stream of video
communication. On the other hand, users also want to look their best selves
now that their appearance and home are on display for everyone to see and
judge. High-end work-from-home set-ups and interiors have become a way
to signal status, raising opportunities to bundle hardware (e.g. camera, mic,
and lighting) and software products (e.g. noise reduction and face filters)
into camera-ready packages for consumers.
For brands, this surge in video communication represents new inventory to
tap into. With more and more events moving online, backing a creator
financially in exchange for background prominence or featuring a product
during a webinar or live course might help companies reach potentially
thousands of qualified eyeballs at a time. While such deals today remain
informal, we might see new intermediaries emerge to support brands with
Zoom-first visibility.
Notable “digital enhancement” companies and products
Fun Utility
Key features
Filters, virtual
backgrounds, surprise
guests
Lighting & color
enhancement,
movement tracking,
noise cancelling
Notable
companies and
products
Snap Camera

Sources: The Atlantic; The Guardian; Rolling Stone; Business Insider; PRWeb
EARLY SIGNAL
Fostered by quarantine, Zoom-powered video entertainment is already here
30
Forward-looking creators made the most of difficult times to come up with
narrative formats. “Screen life” productions, where the story is told from the
vantage point of a computer or phone screen, saw particular interest, with
amateur filmmakers taking to video platforms like YouTube to share their
perspective on the crisis through “Quar-horror” – quarantine-inspired
features.
The constraints of remote-first production have mainly fostered creativity.
Isolation is an anthology of nine interconnected shorts from directors who
filmed using only resources immediately available to them. Host, a found
footage feature film, leveraged Zoom and features including virtual
backgrounds and filters. This new, composite storytelling is building off
current events and cultural undercurrents to resonate with its audience.
In some instances, video-conferencing is only one part of the creative
equation. For example, Reason's range of remote escape rooms incorporate
"a virtual assistant, remote controllable props, live host over video
conference, and puzzles in the real world & the digital world." Hybrid
approaches are likely to become more common as more creators learn to
combine software tools into compelling entertainment formats.
Host (Shadowhouse Films)

Sources: TechCrunch: (1), (2), (3), (4), (5); The Verge: (1), (2), (3); Republic; Scener
31
TREND
Consumers, craving collective experiences, turn to virtual watch parties
With millions of people stuck at home craving collective experiences, video
streaming platforms raced to enable co-watching, letting viewers sync up to
enjoy content together, remotely. Standalone products like Squad, Scener,
and Teleparty, which allow seamless, cross-platform sharing at the browser
layer, also saw major uptick.
Feature-wise, the space is still in discovery mode. Hulu lets users control
their own playback without affecting the group's experience; Plex keeps
everyone in sync. Besides content, social capabilities like live chat and audio
and limits to a party's size (from 8 on Hulu to 1M viewers on Scener) may
drive users to the most permissive offerings.
Collective viewing poses obvious legal issues. To make sure cowatching
doesn't mean piracy, subscription-based platforms require every user to
have their own account. Meanwhile, Scener's deals with over 10 streaming
services have made it a vested partner, and a safe destination for
consumers.
Rapid adoption raises an opportunity to design new entertainment
experiences. Branded virtual theaters, themed viewing marathons, and
exclusive watch parties alongside a show or film's cast will become more
common as streamers aim to keep viewers engaged.
Notable co-watching announcements in 2020
Announcement Platform Feature’s name
March Co-Watching
May N.A.
May Hulu Watch Party
June Watch Party
July Watch Together
September GroupWatch
September Watch Together
September Watch Party
September Sling Watch Party

Sources: TechCrunch; Variety; The Verge; Scener: (1), (2); Alamo Drafthouse
32
Scener was quick to strike official partnerships with the
major streaming services. This not only helped prevent
challenges against a legally blurry form of consumption
but also made Scener a trusted partner: its tech powered
the virtual installment of Alamo Drafthouse's Fantastic
Fest, and today hosts Alamo on Demand's paid watch
parties.
The company aims to be a destination. Social features
now include profiles, which allow hosts to build a
presence, schedule watch parties, and gain followers
based on the content they watch or hosting style; and
lists of "recommended hosts," popular shows, and
upcoming parties (from both partner platforms and indie
hosts).
As consumer adoption accelerates, Scener could
monetize in multiple ways, by: promoting partner content
such as a movie premiere; selling subscriptions for watch
parties of popular hosts; and collecting affiliate fees from
partner platforms for subscriber sign-ups.
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
Founded in: 2020
HQ: U.S.
Latest funding: N/A
Scener is a browser extension that lets people stream
video content together remotely. Via a simple URL, users
can join their friends' private rooms, host a live public
party for up to a million viewers, or schedule a watch
party for later.
Public theaters focus on the host's commentary, while
private rooms support audio and video chat between
participants. Each guest needs their own streaming
service account for most services to be able to join a
specific party.
The company now supports over 10 streaming platforms,
including major services such as Netflix, HBO Max, and
Disney+, and niche ones like Shudder.
BUSINESS
FOCUS
Scener | scener.com

Sources: PARQOR; Games Radar; The Hollywood Reporter: (1), (2); TechCrunch; Whatifi; The Verge
33
TREND
Mobile-first companies are making interactive storytelling social
Two years after Netflix debuted its first choose-you-own-adventure show
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, digital video platforms continue to experiment
with interactivity, giving viewers a more active role in the stories they're
watching. From dialogue choices to physical actions, storytellers should
make sure every intervention adds to the narrative, lest users feel deprived of
their agency.
By leveraging the smartphone's capabilities, mobile-first companies are
pushing interactivity forward. Unrd's mysteries make use of their characters'
texts, emails, and video calls to drive the narrative with interfaces that
viewers are already used to. Whatifi lets groups of up to 9 viewers vote on
the outcome they want – and discuss via a native chat until they've reached
an agreement.
There's a chicken-and-egg problem. The need for substantial production
work and ad hoc Content Management Systems due to branching narratives,
as well as the current lack of distribution channels for interactive stories,
may deter creators from engaging with the medium. In turn, low supply could
result in poor user retention for the services betting on this content.
Interactivity-focused platforms will need to ramp up content spend to entice
creators if they want to kickstart the space.
Notable interactive storytelling companies
Mobile-first
Aconite

Sources: Axios; Fast Company; TechCrunch; Business Insider
34
TREND
Kids-first video services gain steam with thoughtful content and experiences
As the pandemic forced millions of families everywhere to shelter in place,
the need for quality kids media became more pressing. While YouTube's
endless offering of free content has long served as a de facto digital baby-
sitter, parents grown wary of passive screen time are now asking for better,
smarter solutions.
A growing number of startups aim to seize this opportunity with thoughtful
kids’ content made for the digital era. These companies are moving beyond
video and harnessing touchscreen and camera capabilities and features like
speech and object recognition to design novel multimedia experiences that
keep kids engaged.
Entertainment and education are increasingly interconnected, as active play
is seen as a means to a child's cognitive and emotional development. The
companies that can offer a sound, evidence-based learning curriculum will
be welcomed with open arms by parents.
Ultimately, digital should only be one part of a child's daily life. Kids-first
services will have a role to play in empowering their users to engage with
their immediate surroundings, through either considerate time monitoring or
hybrid activities that help them reconnect with the real world.
Notable interactive kids’ content companies
OK Play

Sources: Hellosaurus; Common Sense Media; Kidscreen: (1), (2); Business Insider
35
FOCUS
Hellosaurus | hellosaurus.com
Hellosaurus addresses parents' growing concerns over
content quality (curation vs. choice overload); business
model (subscriptions vs. ads); and formats (interactivity
vs. passivity). As more housebound parents put a
premium on their peace of mind, Hellosaurus can build
off the shortcomings of its predecessors in the kids'
media space.
Content quality is paramount. Hellosaurus works with
established creators, tweaking their existing content to
make it playable. A growing library of original content,
which allows for more integrated interactivity, will help
the company churn out valuable IP, with potential for
merch and licensing.
Kids-focused services are inherently subject to churn as
their users age out. While building for ages 2-8 makes for
a relatively large addressable market, Hellosaurus will
need to make sure it can address the needs of each
particular age group in terms of both entertainment and
education.
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
Founded in: 2020
HQ: U.S.
Latest funding: $3.5M Seed, Nov 2020
Hellosaurus is an interactive video platform for kids
media. The company was founded by James Ruben, who
was previously the Director of Product at live mobile
entertainment company HQ Trivia.
Designed for kids ages 2-8, its app features a library of
interactive shows that encourage active play around
topics including music, mindfulness, science, art, and
more. Parents can create kids profiles, each with their
own viewing preferences, video recommendations, and
settings.
The service is available on a subscription basis, with
monthly, quarterly, and yearly options.
BUSINESS

37
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Music – 2020
• With live music activities worldwide brought to a halt by COVID-19 restrictions, specialized investors raced to seize the rights
to high-prized catalogues as more artists looked to part with them. These firms see music as an asset class whose cultural
resilience can bring in reliable revenue over the long run. Top-tier catalogues can command high premiums as a result, with
deals reaching the hundreds of millions of dollars for legendary artists like Bob Dylan.
• For more than a year now, social media and livestreaming platforms have been the only way for artists to stay connected with
their fans and monetize beyond music streaming. This has turned livestreaming from a niche strategy into an accessibility –
and economical – imperative, and led to an explosion in dedicated services that aim to serve artists with better tools. As screen
fatigue kicks in even among hardcore fans, artists need to keep innovating in terms of content, formats, and scheduling.
• Virtual concerts, in particular, are on the rise. Companies like Epic Games, Roblox, and Wave provide top talent with a global
stage and an opportunity to step up their worldbuilding with immersive experiences. Fans, now active participants, get to
engage with both the content and others and to cop collectibles for fun and status. The space is poised for explosive growth.
• Video is playing an increasingly larger role in music’s success, driving discovery and resurfacing older hits for new generations
of listeners. Recent moves by platforms including TikTok, Triller, and Snap point to bigger ambitions for the medium.
• DMCA strikes are putting streamers’ livelihood at risk as music labels flex their muscles against repeat infringers. While more
legal options have started to appear, the problem isn’t quite solved yet. Video creators will need to tread carefully and look for
solutions on their own if they want to stay off the labels’ radar; demand for both royalty-free licenses and AI-generated music is
likely to grow quickly.

38
NOTABLE DEALS
Music – 2020
Round
Date
Company Funding
February
February
March
September
June
Acquisition
Strategic
Series B
Debt
Venture
$70M
$75M
$55.9M
$50M
$48M
+angels

Sources: Music Business Worldwide: (1), (2), (3), (4); The Washington Post; Water and Music; Financial Times; Forbes
39
TREND
With no concerts in sight, music rights investors offer cash-strapped artists a deal
With most artists unable to tour due to COVID-related restrictions, a flood
of money has rushed to music IP rights, seizing a mix of publishing and
master rights as more cash-strapped artists looked to part with them.
Several specialized funds, including Round Hill Music, Primary Wave, and
the publicly-traded Hipgnosis Songs Fund Ltd., went on a shopping spree
to acquire valuable catalogues, with multiple deals reaching the hundreds
of millions of dollars.
This sudden rush is part of a bigger trend. Catalogue can generate long-
term revenues as songs are covered or remixed by artists, or placed for
sync rights in new content across ads, TV & film, and video games.
Specialized players believe they can find new opportunities to extend and
monetize this cultural influence and bring these songs to a new
generation of listeners.
Because these funds seek predictable, reliable income, this tends to
benefit mostly top-tier artists: only the most established producers and
songwriters, those with hits of their own and notable credits, have enough
cultural and economical resilience to be able to command high prices in
the marketplace. Still, newcomers can cash in on the interest, too:
startups like Anote or Open on Sunday let them sell a portion of their
future royalties for instant liquidity.
Notable rights acquisition in 2020
Announcement Artist/band Acquirer
January Emile Hayne
April Mark Ronson
August Blondie
August RZA
October Calvin Harris
November Rick James
December Stevie Nicks
December Leo Sayer
December Bob Dylan

Sources: Water & Music : (1), (2), (3), (4); Mark Mulligan; Variety: (1), (2); Financial Times; Dice; Chartmetric
40
TREND
Music livestreaming has turned from a “niche” strategy into an accessibility imperative
The COVID-19 crisis made it impossible for artists to tour, hurting their
ability to connect with fans, grow their audiences, and make a living.
Artists big and small have had to double down on their social presence
and turn to new formats, more intimate settings, and more participatory
models of engagement.
The major social platforms are still lagging for this use case, with no
proper discovery, ticketing, or monetization features. As a result, artists
are often forced to optimize either for reach on mainstream platforms like
Instagram or Facebook, or for revenue on smaller-scale, but feature-rich,
platforms. To stand out from competitors, these smaller players have
been keen to work with artists on custom solutions to best answer their
creative needs and help them improve the production value of their
shows.
Screen fatigue soon struck livestreaming, too. To maintain their fans'
interest after the initial excitement is gone, artists need to experiment. In
contrast with the default availability of digital content, novel solutions like
geo-fencing and time exclusivity can help create a sense of scarcity
around their shows.
$0.6B
Livestream ticketing revenue in 2020

Sources: Cherie Hu; The Guardian
41
TREND
In a fragmented livestreaming space, artists need to choose between reach and features
B2B Simulcasting Audio-only
Generic Music-focused Immersive
Hovercast

Sources: Cherie Hu: (1), (2), (3); GameIndustryBiz; Rolling Stone; Midia Research: (1), (2); The Verge; Granola Studios
42
TREND
Virtual concerts offer fans a new way to engage with their favorite artists
As games continue to capture a larger share of consumers' time and
spending, they're becoming prized destinations for artists hoping to make a
splash. With user bases in the hundreds of millions, virtual worlds such as
Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox give creators global reach and an opportunity
to take their worldbuilding to the next level.
Rather than just consumed, virtual concerts are experienced. Users can
choose their preferred vantage point (spatiality), affect their surroundings or
the show itself (interactivity), and socialize (connection). Both Marshmello
and Travis Scott leveraged Fortnite for heavily-produced live shows that
built on their respective creative identities. In contrast, Disclosure’s Energy
Minecraft Experience took fans on a “crate-digging scavenger hunt” that
included hidden rooms and items.
Democratization is greatly needed. Today, only top-tier entertainers get to
work on such events, leaving a majority of artists with no 3D outlet to
perform in and amaze their fans with. From body tracking suits to motion
sensors and virtual-world-as-a-service platforms, self-serve tools could
enable the long tail of creators to build a virtual, avatar-powered presence
on their own without depending on the current gatekeepers.
Notable immersive concert companies and platforms
Interactivity and collector skins make for lasting memories. (Epic Games; Roblox)

Sources: Matthew Ball: (1), (2); Variety; Billboard: (1), (2); Forbes; Epic Games; The New York Times
43
FOCUS
Fortnite | epicgames.com
At 350M registered users (as of May 2020), Fortnite's virtual world provides
artists with a global stage and a prime opportunity to get in on the future of
live entertainment. Extended media coverage and endless user-generated
video content continue to drive awareness long after those events are over.
For the few artists lucky enough to integrate with the platform, these deals
are a boon. In addition to upfront fees and back-end bonuses, they can drive
listening spikes for an artist's music: Marshmello saw massive streaming
and sales gains on the day of his set, including a nearly 24,000% increase in
on-demand video streams of his song "Check This Out." Merch sales (both
virtual and physical) further add to the appeal.
Ultimately, Epic Games aims to move from a hands-on, producer's role to
that of a mere technical enabler. For all their commercial and cultural
impact, these shows serve primarily as tests for finding out what appeals to
players, building new technology and skillsets, and inspiring IP owners and
artists to experiment on their own with the company's proprietary Unreal
engine.
27.7M
Unique players across 5 shows
12.3M
Concurrent players

Sources: Matthew Ball: (1), (2); Variety; Billboard: (1), (2); Forbes; Epic Games; The New York Times
44
FOCUS
Fortnite continues to push virtual concerts forward through experimentation
FORTNITE’S MUSICAL JOURNEY
MAY 2020
Epic Games debuts Party
Royale, a new area dedicated
to weapons-free play and live
entertainment.
FEB 2019
Marshmello's concert draws
10.7M players.
APR 2020
Travis Scott's "Astronomical"
draws 12.3M live players and
27.7M unique players across
five shows.
OCT 2020
Fortnite’s Halloween event
features a J Balvin concert.
SEPT 2020
Epic Games announces
Spotlight, a live concert series
in Party Royale.

Sources: Oda; Engadget; Washington Post; Jeff Jarvis; Maxime Eyraud
45
With a mix of hardware, content, distribution, and pricing
innovation, Oda is creating an entirely new way to
experience music.
Especially notable are its seasonal approach and the fact
that it will offer no recordings of performances – a
meaningful choice in the digital era. By making sure these
moments remain unique, Oda hopes to ritualize music
listening.
The promise of distributed yet communal musical
experiences will likely appeal to forward-looking artists.
Oda's already gathered an eclectic roster of creators and
is offering fair compensation – per the company, over
70% of the income from its season membership goes
directly to pay artists and production costs.
In terms of audience, focusing on both hardware and
content enables Oda to address both audiophiles and
music lovers with a premium play.
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
Founded in: 2020
HQ: U.S.
Latest funding: N.A.
Oda is a music company designing a new at-home
listening experience with dedicated hardware and
exclusive performances.
On the hardware side, Oda has developed a set of wooden
speakers built with live music in mind. On the content
side, the company is commissioning series of live music
performances that can be accessed only through its
proprietary speakers. The series "follow a seasonal
programming model, with a new lineup of performers
appearing on Oda every winter, spring, summer and fall.“
Oda's live programming is available through a
$79/season membership, billed at the beginning of each
season, with the season price then pro-rated based on
activation time.
BUSINESS
FOCUS
Oda | oda.co

Sources: Axios; Bloomberg: (1), (2); Variety; TechCrunch; Tavish Zausner-Mannes; Music Business Worldwide
46
TREND
In the virality era, music and video are increasingly interdependent
As music and video grow increasingly interdependent, the balance of power
is blurring. On the one end, legal scrutiny is pushing social video platforms
to reach deals with the labels and publishers for the rights to their
catalogues. On the other end, the platforms' cultural sway has made them
indispensable to every rightholder's success –TikTok's top 10 songs alone
saw more than 60B views.
Video's influence is quickly upending the old ways. Labels and management
companies are now using mostly reactive marketing to amplify organic
interest outside of an album's typical promotional cycle; estates from the
likes of Prince and Queen are creating profiles to introduce their artists' work
to a new generation of listeners; Apple debuted Viral Hits, a Gen Z-focused
weekly round-up of the songs that are gaining steam on social media.
After years of providing distribution and discovery, short-form video
platforms are starting to integrate more of the value chain. With their
promise of endless derivative content, TikTok's Duets enable artists to
generate new ideas and find collaborators. Meanwhile, Snap's acquisition of
Voisey points to bigger plans in terms of music creation. Direct monetization
through tipping and merch could make them one-stop-shops for music
creators.
Platform
Music’s role Primary Secondary
Background
music
Goal Virality Expression Filler
Notable
features
Trimming;
Duets
Trimming /
Audio editing capabilities are growing richer, with automated chunking, trimming,
and loops. (Triller)

Sources: Digital Music News; The Verge: (1), (2), (3), (4); Twitch: (1) (2); Billboard; Monstercat; Colin Cabana
47
TREND
Music copyright is a growing hurdle for livestreamers
After years of somewhat tolerating streamers' copyright infringements, the
music industry through its various trade associations is turning against both
the digital platforms and their respective communities. Repeat DMCA strikes
are taking a toll on creators, as outright bans hinder their ability to stream
and make a living, with little to no legal recourse.
Under scrutiny, the platforms are finally taking on the issue. Twitch in
September debuted Soundtrack, which strips out the music stream from the
source video stream so that VOD clips can live on as archives music-free,
without any copyright issues for creators. In contrast, Facebook Gaming
took a more official (and costly) route, striking comprehensive deals with the
major labels and publishers that enable streamers to use music freely in
over 90 countries.
Seeing a huge gap in the market, multiple companies are building direct
relationships with streamers through dedicated offerings. Startups including
Music Vine (through its service Uppbeat), Artlist, Soundstripe, and Epidemic
Sound, and music label Monstercat now offer paid subscriptions that give
streamers access to music they can use worry-free for all their content
needs.
Notable streaming-ready music solutions and companies
Generative music
Built-in music rights or tools
Music libraries
Labels
Endel Melodrive
Facebook Gaming

49
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Audio – 2020
• The major audio streaming platforms continue to strike exclusive – and costly – deals with top creators, hoping to attract and
retain new audiences as they put listeners’ favorite shows behind a paywall. While this has been a boon for A-list talent from
Joe Rogan to Michelle Obama, the trend is also threatening podcasting’s historically open infrastructure and giving even more
power to platforms like Spotify or Apple Podcast that can leverage this content into fully integrated experiences.
• As more audio-native properties reach the mainstream, adaptation rights to popular podcasts have become increasingly
sought-after. Proprietary access to consumption data could put digital aggregators like Spotify in the enviable position to pick
up early listener interest in any one property, creator, or genre and make the most promising properties exclusive to their
services. Meanwhile, prominent IP owners like Marvel are using audio to tell their stories and connect with fans in new ways.
• Social audio has taken the consumer app space by storm. Emboldened by Clubhouse’s success, dozens of players big and
small are tackling the medium and trying to capture users’ time and attention with new listening habits. From 1:many
broadcasts (e.g. Stationhead or Capiche.fm) to large-scale audio events, the focus to date has been on live, FOMO-inducing
content. With competition accelerating, it remains to be seen whether audio alone can make for a viable moat as established
players like Twitter kickstart their own offerings by leveraging their existing social graphs.
• Ubiquitous connectivity, rapid consumer adoption of wireless earbuds, and advancements in geolocation and audio
spatialization technology are enabling new kinds of location-based audio experiences. Ambient audio promises to add an
invisible, reactive layer of content, context, and services on top of our surroundings. This will unlock a world of opportunities for
both entertainment and more practical applications.

50
NOTABLE DEALS
Audio – 2020
Round
Date
Company Funding
December
July
November
February
December
Acquisition
Acquisition
Acquisition
Acquisition
Series C
$300M
$325M
$285M
$196M
$75M +1

Sources: Vulture; Wall Street Journal; The Hollywood Reporter: (1), (2); Billboard; Forbes; Marker; Los Angeles Times
51
TREND
Exclusive deals enable top creators to strike gold – with a few trade-offs
Spotify’s key exclusive deals in 2020
Announcement Show Creator/brand
May
The Joe Rogan
Experience
Joe Rogan
June N.A. DC (Warner Bros.)
June
criminal-justice
reform podcast
Kim Kardashian
July
The Michelle Obama
Podcast
Michelle Obama
July Mama Knows Best
Addison Rae,
Sheri Nicole
August We Said What We Said
Rickey Thomson, Denzel
Lion
December N.A.
The Duke and Duchess
of Sussex
In the attention economy, top creators' work comes at a high premium for
the platforms that wish to claim exclusivity. From internet celebrities to
former FLOTUS Michelle Obama, A-list names bring with them large
audiences, part of which digital services hope to convert and subsequently
retain with a long tail of additional content.
This strategy has largely paid out. The Joe Rogan Experience, a Spotify
exclusive as of December, was the platform's most popular podcast in 2020;
The Michelle Obama Podcast, also exclusive, ranked #4.
Still, these deals come with risks. Given these creators' high visibility, any
issue in their relationship with their host platform is amplified by earned
media, making it hard to resolve quietly. Controversial content is also raising
concerns over the platforms' responsibilities, while conversations about
specific deal terms, now publicized, can reveal predatory practices.
Despite attractive incentives, creators should think twice before they give
away access to their hard-earned audience. Experimenting with exclusive
content on their own terms through direct subscriptions might allow many of
them to reach equal – if not greater – financial success, while also
preserving their independence.

Sources: John L. Sullivan; James R. Cridland; Nathan Baschez; Nieman Lab; Singh Kays; The Verge: (1), (2)
52
EARLY SIGNAL
Platform enclosure is threatening podcasting’s open ecosystem
While podcasting has long relied on openness – with RSS serving as an
efficient cross-app distribution mechanism – platformization is rapidly
altering the state of affairs. Exclusive deals are shifting distribution and
listeners’ attention away from open architectures and towards proprietary
content ecosystems where value can be better captured.
On the one hand, philosophical attachment to open standards has limited
differentiation. On the other hand, fragmentation has deterred coordination,
preventing cross-industry implementation of analytics and monetization
tools that might have been beneficial to many smaller players. In contrast,
Spotify's integrated approach allows it to innovate at scale and design new
compelling experiences for listeners, creators, and advertisers alike.
As network effects accelerate the concentration of supply and demand in
podcasting, some fear larger players will end up imposing their views to the
rest of the ecosystem: independent services need to act urgently if they are
to fend off Spotify's M&A-powered dominance in podcasting. If they don't,
premium podcasting may become inextricably linked to exclusivity-inclined
platforms, leaving RSS as a second-class standard destined only for
amateurs creators.
Spotify vs. the open podcast ecosystem: two opposing value chains
and technological architectures. (Source: Nathan Baschez)

Sources: Variety: (1), (2); Vulture; Deadline; The Ringer; LA Times, Marvel; SiriusXM
53
TREND
Podcasts are the new goldmine as Hollywood looks for fresh IP
As more audio-native properties reach the mainstream, adaptation rights
from podcasts are increasingly sought-after. With streaming platforms now
looking for exclusivity, this could lead to contentious negotiations with talent
over long-term creative control and financial incentives.
Digital aggregators like Spotify and Apple Podcasts are now in an enviable
position, as proprietary access to consumption data allows them to pick up
early listener interest in a given property, creator, or overall genre. From
there, they'll be able to either facilitate connections between talent and
agents (potentially taking a cut in the process), or acquire the rights
themselves to move further up the value chain as producers or co-producers
for both TV & film.
Podcasts are also a valuable outlet for other forms of media to delve into. As
a mostly lean-back medium, they allow for adjacent, and more intimate,
conversations around an IP's story, characters, and worldbuilding. Video
streaming services like Netflix and Apple and prominent IP owners are
increasingly using them to expand on their properties and grow brand
affinity by reaching customers in new ways during their day: SiriusXM has 8
shows from Marvel alone.

Sources: Ryan Dawidjan; Jeff Morris Jr.; Andreessen Horowitz; Josh Dance; TechCrunch; Chris Cantino
54
TREND
Social audio companies are capturing listeners’ time with new conversational rituals
A wave of companies are building audio-first products, capturing a rapidly
growing share of consumers' time. From one-to-many broadcasting
(Capiche, Stationhead) to vibe-based (Roadtrip) or topical (Clubhouse,
Twitter Spaces) group chat rooms, these services are betting on radically
different visions for the medium.
In contrast with video's more involving "camera-readiness," audio allows for
intimate but low-bandwidth conversation: many of these services are seeing
users gather not to communicate, but for the sake of human connection
around new conversational rituals. Live and recorded content each serve
different purposes and enable listeners to participate on their own time and
terms.
With custom controls, audio rooms in particular are enabling a variety of use
cases. At one end of the spectrum, impromptu conversations mimic IRL
serendipity; at the other end, recurring events signal the emergence of
appointment audio. Venture capitalist Josh Constine and On Deck's Erika
Batista each host regular discussions on Clubhouse, drawing loyal
audiences. As these shows continue to attract listeners, we’ll see audio
moderation grow increasingly valuable a skill – and demands for
monetization (through both ticketed events and tipping) become more
pressing.
Social audio companies
(both launched and reported as of March 2021)
Capiche.fm
1:1 many:many
live
recorded
Spaces
Chalk
Spatial audio

Sources: Clubhouse; Ryan Dawidjan; Wired; Vulture; TechCrunch: (1), (2); Julian Lehr; Stratechery; Tom Webster
55
FOCUS
Clubhouse | joinclubhouse.com
Clubhouse was quick to earn users’ attention. An ever-
growing supply of live content, and the ability for listeners
to drop in and out of it as they please, have fostered
repeat usage and shaped new habits.
With success came controversy, as the intimacy of audio
and the fact that the app has long remained invite-only
emboldened participants to discuss often contentious
issues. The company's management has proven
reluctant to moderate discourse, instead invoking free
speech and the technical inability to monitor live audio at
scale.
Competition is looming. Companies are building off
audio's momentum and around features like live rooms to
power more serendipitous forms of communications.
With tech companies like Twitter using their existing
social graphs to kickstart competitors, Clubhouse will
need to leverage its early community in order to remain
the go-to platform for cultural discussion.
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
Founded in: 2020
HQ: U.S.
Latest funding: $100M Series B, January 2021
Clubhouse is a voice-based social network that lets users
start, join, and schedule discussions, or “rooms,” on the
topics they care about. Each chat room determines its
own speaking privileges. Use cases today span
everything from talk shows and language learning to
press tours and Broadway-worthy live entertainment.
The app rose to prominence after being loudly promoted
online by early users, many of them U.S. tech insiders. A
much-publicized funding round, which saw top VC firms
compete to invest, put Clubhouse’s valuation at around
$100M only a few months after launch. The app steadily
climbed up the charts in 2020 to rank #36 at the end of
December – and has continued to garner interest as it
expands internationally.
BUSINESS

Sources: Jollyn Vallejo; Julian Lehr: (1), (2); Sari Azout; Chris Cantino; Alex Heath; Sportico; Complex; Neer Sharma
56
FOCUS
Content on Clubhouse already lives on a spectrum of audio serendipity
Daily rituals Talk shows
Language learning Top-tier entertainment

Sources: Julie Zhang; Rewind Stories; Foursquare; Real Life Magazine; Brett Bivens: (1), (2); Julian Lehr
57
EARLY SIGNAL
Ambient audio promises to augment our surroundings with content, context, and services
Ubiquitous connectivity, rapid consumer adoption of wireless earbuds, and
advancements in geolocation and audio spatialization technology are
enabling new kinds of location-based audio experiences. Real-time, ambient
audio promises to add an invisible layer of content, context, and services to
our physical environments, with both entertainment- and convenience-
focused applications.
Context awareness will be paramount: Ambient audio services should be
wary of disrupting users in their activities with unwanted notifications, as
such experiences might turn consumers away from using the medium
altogether. Proactive audio assistants will need to adjust criteria such as
timing, loudness, and tone of voice to the type, importance, and urgency of
the content they're pushing into our ears.
Players in the space will take different approaches. Some will favor user-
generated content, allowing every user to create and share their own audio
maps, rich with personal commentary and anecdotes about local
businesses, meeting places, and cultural hotspots. Others will work with
brands on exclusive experiences that will take users on interactive audio
journeys around a city or neighborhood – generating valuable foot traffic in
the process.
Marsbot for Airpods (Foursquare) SonicMaps editor (Recursive Arts)

Sources: Slator; Replica Studios; VocalID; AITHOS; TechCrunch; European Commission; MIT Technology Review
58
EARLY SIGNAL
Speech synthesis advancements show strong potential – but raise legitimate concerns
The last few years have seen major advancements in the field of speech
synthesis – the artificial generation of human speech. On the one hand, tech
giants including Microsoft, Google, and Amazon continue to improve their
technologies, each time making them widely and cheaply available through
their respective cloud offerings. On the other hand, a wave of startups
including WellSaid Labs, Synthesia, and Replica aim to address a growing
audience of non-technical users with more intuitive interfaces and pricing
models.
While the technology was first developed for medical purposes, it shows
strong potential in media & entertainment – especially for a long tail of
smaller-sized studios and agencies that might not be able to afford
professional voice acting for their productions. Current limitations in voice
realism and breadth of offering may still deter the most demanding
companies from experimenting with the technology, or limit its use to
secondary work (e.g. Non-Playing Characters).
Speech synthesis is bound to raise both ethical and legal concerns. The
spread of disinformation, and deepfakes in particular, has made legislators
wary of how new technology might be ultimately weaponized by bad actors.
To prevent such outcomes, a number of companies are actively sharing best
practices: Modulate and VocalID, for example, formed the AITHOS Coalition
“to uphold the core principles of ethical, responsible and equitable media.”
Notable speech synthesis companies

60
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Social – 2020
• Consumer social made a comeback in 2020 as a flood of new vertical-focused products aimed to unbundle the Reddits and
Facebooks of this world. With tailored features and interfaces, these services are moving beyond their predecessors’ one-size-
fits-all approach and creating spaces that leave more room for creativity and self-expression.
• Social commerce is surging. On the one hand, major platforms including Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok are rushing to bring
ecommerce capabilities to their already massive audiences, following China’s and India’s hugely successful examples. On the
other hand, startups like Popshop Live and Whatnot are building for “shoppatainment” from day 1, using high-fidelity video
productions to add context to each individual product.
• Spatial software saw rapid innovation as consumers looked to move beyond the flat options they’ve now come to dread.
Combining map- or game-like interfaces with realistic spatial audio, a number of early-stage companies like Cosmos and
Gather are bringing back a sense of presence to our never-ending streams of virtual communication.
• Pushed by both gaming and videoconferencing, avatars continue to grow more ubiquitous and culturally prominent. More than
photorealism, the goal should be personalization and usability, as consumers increasingly expect their avatars to follow and
represent them across platforms. Here, companies like Genies and Snap are leading the way.
• Free speech became a burning topic as more of the major social media platforms made moves to label, moderate, or outright
ban the groups and individuals they deemed problematic. This is leading to increasingly contradictory demands, impeding
these platforms’ historical claims to ideological neutrality, and driving supposedly censored communities to smaller, “anything
goes” services.

61
NOTABLE DEALS
Social – 2020
Round
Date
Company Funding
May
March
December
July
November
Acquisition
Private Equity
Series H
Series C
Series B
$400M
$1B
$140M
$125M
$125M
Kuaidian Yuedu
Greenoaks Capital
+2

Sources: Greg Isenberg: (1), (2), (3); Toby Shorin; Inga Chen; Commsor; Justine and Olivia Moore
62
2020 saw both consumer and investors turn to "small social“ – vertical-
focused platforms addressing niche interests and communities. As the
Facebooks and Reddits of this world continue to pursue a one-size-fits-all
approach, the opportunity for unbundling becomes more obvious.
What they lack in size, these smaller communities more than make up for in
engagement and stickiness. With utility and connection driving up
willingness to pay, they can successfully move away from social media’s
legacy ad-supported model to experiment with commissions or
subscriptions. Specific use cases and interests – from D&D gaming to
mental wellness – will also call for tailored features and interfaces, pushing
the next wave of niche services to build from the ground up to best serve
their users' needs.
Increasing platform fragmentation has benefits. Whereas social
concentration online can deter active participation for fear of judgement,
niche services allow users to independently express their many interests.
With their identity split across platforms – and the cover of anonymity or
pseudonymity – users are free to indulge in their passions.
Notable vertical social companies
Sports
Crafts
Trading
Beauty
Fashion
Food Supply
Plant Parenthood
Vertical social apps allow niche interests to thrive with the support
of a dedicated community. (Breadwinner)
TREND
Vertical-focused social services find “riches in niches”

Sources: TechCrunch; The Generalist; Stadium Live; EU-Startups
63
EARLY SIGNAL
Rapid innovation is taking the traditional sports fan experience online
As COVID-19 raged across the globe, the world of professional sports came
to a halt, leaving fans everywhere restless. Several companies saw an
opportunity to take the traditional fan experience online with loyalty
programs, live Q&A's, and exclusive fan zones. In contrast with offline
fandom, these digital settings enable precise fan segmentation and more
targeted rewards through exclusive experiences based on their users’
various levels of engagement.
Companies in the space have a variety of potential business models at their
disposal. Brand partnerships are likely to remain front and center, as
professional leagues and teams need turnkey solutions to stay connected
with their fans. Other options range from in-app purchases (e.g. virtual skins
on Stadium Live) to paid memberships (e.g. Iqoniq) and commissions on the
growing sports betting space.
Digital or not, the social component can't be overstated. The most exciting
digital sports products enable fans to connect over their passion, collectively
root for their favorite athletes and teams, and compete with one another in
games or full-on tournaments. By tying users’ performance in-game to that
of their favorite athletes in the real world, these apps are shaping exciting
new forms of sports entertainment.
Notable digital sports companies
Live viewing Polls Avatars

Sources: Andreessen Horowitz: (1), (2), (3), (4); Holyn Kanake; CNN; TechCrunch: (1), (2); Bain; Fashion Network; Forbes
64
TREND
Social commerce is taking over the major platforms
The major social platforms are introducing new ecommerce capabilities to
let brands and creators sell their and their partners' products: Instagram was
fully revamped in November to feature shopping more prominently; TikTok
started testing shoppable livestreams in December. To ensure native
purchase experiences, these services are striking large-scale partnerships
with infrastructure providers (e.g. TikTok x Walmart, Facebook x Shopify).
Western players are lagging behind Asia, where Alibaba's Taobao or
Bytedance's Douyin already generate massive engagement and revenue
through social commerce. In addition to ecommerce staples like fashion or
beauty products, rapid consumer adoption and sellers' creativity have
opened up opportunities for more surprising categories, including farm-to-
table food products.
While network effects benefit the larger platforms, there is room for smaller
players to address social commerce from day 1. Companies like NTWRK and
Popshop Live or India's BulBul and Simsim seamlessly blend entertainment
with commerce, sharing the history, process, and context behind every
product with high-fidelity productions and enthralling live streams.
Opportunities abound, from industry-focused apps to exclusive drops.
Notable social commerce companies
Startups
BulBul
Down To Shop
Xiaohongshu
Mainstream platforms

Sources: Down To Shop; TechCrunch; Vogue Business; Popshop Live
65
TREND
Social commerce companies turn shopping into full-fledge entertainment experiences
Shoppable scripted shows
(e.g. Snap; Down To Shop)
Squad shopping
(e.g. Squadded)
Interactive livestreams
(e.g. Popshop Live)

Sources: John C. Palmer: (1), (2); TechCrunch: (1), (2), (3); High Fidelity
66
EARLY SIGNAL
Spatial software companies aim to give screen time a new dimension
A flock of new digital products are calling on our sense of space to come up
with novel interfaces and features. By drawing on the way we naturally
experience the world, spatial software (both visual and audio) can make our
screen time feel more intuitive and bring up a sense of presence that other
social tools have failed to provide.
Not all companies aim for the same level of realism. From integrating a
user's face into static environments (Famera) to 2D game-like maps (Gather,
Cosmos) and avatar-based networks (Chudo), these services live on a
spectrum, allowing for contexts both personal and professional. With tools
such as white boards, podiums, and ice-breaker games, spaces spanning
meeting rooms and social areas, and specific templates (e.g. University)
these environments aim to address most real-world needs.
There are challenges. The sheer appeal of spatiality is unlikely to draw most
users to dedicated destinations, and might instead by quickly copied by
mainstream videoconferencing services: Microsoft Teams' "Together mode,"
introduced in July, arranges participants as if they're sitting in an auditorium.
The companies that can provide cross-platform tools instead might stand a
better chance to become go-to infrastructure providers – and attractive
acquisition targets.
Notable spatial software companies
Famera
Nototo Chudo Eternal
Envelop
Spatial audio
2D game-like room (Cosmos) 3D map-like notes (Nototo)

Sources: TechCrunch: (1), (2), (3), (4); Doug O’Laughlin; The Atlantic; Protocol; VentureBeat; Julie Young; Turner Novak
67
FOCUS
Discord | discord.com
Discord has long outgrown its gaming roots – a fact
recently made obvious by the company's more inclusive
rebrand. Its ease of use – server templates are available
for new users – and focus on live, informal conversations
have made it a go-to destination for all types of
communities.
Much of the appeal comes from the platform’s
ecosystem of bots that let community builders automate
processes (e.g. onboarding, access), grow engagement
(e.g. matchmaking, in-chat games), and monetize.
Six years after launch, monetization is only nascent, as
the company has made it clear it is against advertising.
Besides its subscription Nitro, Discord in October began
testing digital stickers. As more servers turn into digital
economies in their own right, the company will have an
opportunity to share in its community's success through
commissions.
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
Founded in: 2015
HQ: U.S.
Latest funding: $100M Series H, December 2020
Discord is a live chat platform for online communities. It
lets users create private or public servers and join
interest-specific conversations on dedicated channels
using live chat, audio, and video. A comprehensive set of
tools enables server operators to moderate, ban, and give
roles and permissions to others at a granular level.
Discord makes its core chat product available for free
with unlimited usage, monetizing instead via Nitro, a
$9.99/month subscription that gives users access to
perks, custom profiles, and HD video.
After seeing strong growth from the COVID pandemic, the
company reached 140M MAU in November 2020. It was
on track to generate an estimated $120M in sales for the
year.
BUSINESS
6.7M
Daily active servers as of
June 2020
140M
Monthly active users as of
December 2020
$479M
of capital raised to date

Sources: TechCrunch: (1), (2), (3); Matthew Ball; Forbes; Samsung Next; Michael Dempsey; Fast Company; The Hustle
68
TREND
Avatars are taking over our digital lives
The rise of gaming and video conferencing as social hubs is pushing avatars
to the forefront of our virtual lives. As more of our activities move online, our
digital appearances become natural outlets for expressing our interests,
affiliations, and overall identities.
From stylized 2D to high-fidelity 3D, a growing number of tools are
facilitating avatar creation. They make attractive acquisition targets: in Q4
alone, Epic Games acquired Hyprsense, and Roblox acquired Loom.ai. Ease
of creation, more than photorealism, should remain the main criteria for the
foreseeable future.
Portability will only grow more important as consumers expect their avatars'
unique traits to follow them across platforms. In contrast with today's
experience-specific avatar models, companies like Snap and Genies are
providing a turnkey avatar infrastructure – and effectively preempting the
digital identity layer in the process.
Customization will expand to new areas. Developer- and user-created
assets today enable users to express themselves and share in cultural
moments. Next, the commoditization of face tracking and motion capture
will let us control our avatars in real time, using a standard smartphone
camera or webcam as low-cost input.
Notable avatar companies
Rosebud
Avatar-based social
Avatar creation
Chudo Eternal
acquired by
acquired by

Sources: VentureBeat: (1), (2); The Hollywood Reporter; Coindesk; WWD; Digiday; The Hustle: (1), (2)
69
FOCUS
Genies | genies.com
Genies enables entertainers to scale their digital
presence to rake in the benefits of remote, and even
simultaneous, gigs. With a roster of 2,000+ celebrities, the
company's Agency makes it a key stakeholder in avatars'
rise to cultural prominence.
Providing its technology as a cross-platform
infrastructure means Genies can gather data and revenue
from a diverse set of third parties. Every additional
partner increases Genies' distribution and broadens its
offering, giving consumers ever more options to
customize their appearances.
Experimentation is vital. In July 2020, Genies launched
Human Ventures, an investment arm, to back projects
building off its SDK; in November, it partnered with crypto
company Dapper Labs to let celebrities issue their own
Non Fungible Tokens. From AI-driven content to gaming,
the company's long-term success will lie in its ability to
preempt the most innovative platforms and use cases.
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
Founded in: 2015
HQ: U.S.
Latest funding: $3M corporate round, November 2020
Genies is enabling the creation, distribution, and
monetization of 3D digital avatars.
Its activities are twofold:
• On the service side, the company's Avatar Agency
works with celebrities to create their 3D avatars, which
it then represents to find them creative, promotional,
or commercial opportunities.
• On the product side, Genies' Avatar and Digital Goods
SDK is used by partners such as Giphy and Gucci to
enable turnkey avatar creation and marketplaces
within their own apps.
Genies is also working on its own, avatar-based social
network.
BUSINESS

Sources: Twitter: (1), (2); Richard Rodgers; The Verge; The New York Times; TechCrunch; MIT Technology Review
70
TREND
Social services struggle to position themselves on the free speech spectrum
After years of promises, social platforms have taken action against a number
of groups and individuals whose content they say goes against their
policies. From Facebook to Reddit to Twitter, major services have banned
accounts (either temporarily or permanently), closed private groups, or kept
specific content from spreading to avoid misinformation. Political
advertising in particular was in the crosshairs: Facebook banned it in the last
week ahead of the U.S. election, whereas Twitter terminated it altogether.
Every such decision has received both praise and criticism. Some have long
pushed for platforms to take a stand against hate speech, while others argue
that private enablers shouldn't intervene in the public discourse. Most calls
for and against “deplatforming” ultimately speak to broader political and
sometimes philosophical views of what is, or isn't, acceptable speech.
This is leading to increasingly contradictory demands, from both internal
and external stakeholders. The need to reconcile global operations with local
concepts of free speech and fairness is putting new pressure on the
platforms' ability to act as neutral infrastructure for online conversation –
and leading to a surge in smaller, “anything goes” services purpose-built for
supposedly censored groups.
Twitter steps up
Twitter has rolled out a variety of warnings and labels to slow down or
prevent the spread of misinformation across its network.

72
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Creator Economy – 2020
• Pushed to the cultural forefront by Substack’s explosive growth and an influx of prominent writers, newsletters were
inescapable last year. In contrast with feed-based platforms, email for now offers creators a more direct way to connect with
their audience. In most cases, newsletter revenue is likely to be only a minor part of a broader creative portfolio.
• A variety of creator communities are bundling learning, building, and mentorship for individual creators – and growing valuable,
distributed networks in the process. Paid, cohort-based programs like On Deck and the writing-focused Compound, for
example, can offer some welcome structure and accountability. Their brand recognition could soon enable them to play an
important role as novel education institutions.
• With their work and identity split across multiple media and platforms, creators have long relied on the infamous, and ever-
changing, “link in bio” to direct fans to their latest announcements. A myriad of companies are now tackling the issue, providing
easy-to-use landing pages that can help smaller creators maintain a more evergreen presence. With a steady flow of new
capabilities (e.g. analytics and ecommerce), these tools are poised for continued growth.
• From MSCHF to Clubhouse to Step Chickens, innovative companies and collectives continue to experiment with social-driven
marketing tactics. A mix of exclusive (e.g. waitlists, drops) and inclusive (e.g. “raids,” referrals) features and practices has
proven particularly effective at cultivating hype, using status, belonging, and recognition to fuel the engine.
• Growing interest in social tokens points to the first signs of the Ownership Economy – one where new protocols (e.g. token
governance) promise to better align the interests of creators and their most engaged fans. An entire stack is emerging to
address specific pain points, from token issuance to reward management.

73
NOTABLE DEALS
Creator Economy – 2020
Round
Date
Company Funding
September
November
December
August
March
Series E
Growth
Acquisition
Series A
Series B
$90M
$150M
$65M
$62.3M
$55.9M +angels

Sources: Columbia Journalism Review; Julian Lehr; NPR; Hunter Walk; Nieman Lab; Marie Dollé; Exploding Topics
74
TREND
The newsletter craze shows no sign of slowing down
Newsletters became inescapable in 2020 as more people aimed to grow an
audience, and make a living, by sharing their ideas online. From Fortune's
Polina Marinova to The Verge's Casey Newton, some prominent journalists
have taken their brand with them, drawing readers old and new towards indie
subscription journalism.
With other, feed- and algorithm-based channels increasingly crowded, email
(for now) provides writers with an alternative route to reach and connect
with readers. Still, the sudden surge in supply calls for better discoverability
to help surface the best content for every reader. A growing number of
services are addressing the issue by optimizing for discovery, curation
(Newsletter Stack, Letterlist), or distribution via dedicated inboxes (Stoop) or
a return to the long-forgotten open RSS standard (Substack).
Monetization is happening in a number of ways, with options including built-
in subscriptions, affiliate marketing (both open and covert), and advertising.
But writing alone might not always bring in enough revenue: for most
creators, their newsletter will be part of a broader portfolio of content
(podcasts, courses), products (merch), and services (consulting, speaking
fees) – essentially serving as top-of-funnel marketing to generate more
opportunities.
$15M/y
Collective revenue from
Substack’s top 10 writers
500K+
Paying subscribers
(Feb 2021)

Sources: Chris Dixon; 2PM; Digiday; Every: (1), (2)
75
TREND
When done right, bundling proves beneficial to content creators and fans alike
More and more individual creators are joining forces, combining their
respective brands and audiences into content bundles. Such initiatives can
provide value at every step of the creative process, enabling creators not
only to share ideas and feedback on each other’s work, but also to cross-
promote, pool resources (e.g. research & editing, software, and marketing),
and work together on new offerings.
Digital platforms should pay attention. If they hope to please – and retain –
their top creators, they’ll have to address this appetite for collaboration and
move the adequate features further up their product roadmap: after Every
(then known as Everything) hacked its way to a bundle, Substack started
directly working with the team to answer their technical needs. The services
that fail to address this use case may see valuable talent move elsewhere as
they outgrow their first digital home.
Whether temporary or permanent, bundling is likely to create tedious admin
work for all parties involved, shifting time and focus away from actual
creation. From proper attribution to right windowing to revenue split,
creators will need dedicated tools to help them manage the legal and
financial aspects of these partnerships.
Bundles can successfully get rid of deadweight loss to maximize the number of
paying customers – and thus revenue. (Every)

Sources: Every: (1), (2), (3); Superorganizers; Nathan Baschez; Axios; Jen Lee
76
FOCUS
Every | every.to
That Every emerged from a platform whose success
comes partly from unbundling traditional writing rooms is
notable. Independent writers often lack the resources to
expand on their original editorial line or experiment with
new formats. For those of them exploring adjacent topics,
collaboration can help take their respective work to the
next level.
By solving market inefficiencies, bundles offer
considerable value. Consumers get access at a discount
to the same amount of content they would be willing to
pay for separately; producers get to maximize revenue by
eliminating deadweight loss. In time, growing their overall
output will enable bundle publications to command
substantial price hikes.
To best serve its business-minded audience, Every is
thinking beyond content: subscribers already have
access to Superorganizers' app Superbox. In the near
future, courses, affiliate deals, and other digital products
may add new layers to its offering.
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
Founded in: 2020
HQ: U.S.
Latest funding: $600K Pre-Seed, January 2021
Every is bundling the work of top-tier individual creators
across newsletters and podcasting.
It began as an experiment on Substack between two
writers, each of them already successful in their own right
at the time. After the founders hacked their way to a
bundle, Substack introduced new features to streamline
similar initiatives in the future.
The team has been steadily adding to its roster of talent,
and to the breadth of topics it covers. From business
strategy (Nathan Baschez's Divinations) to productivity
(Tiago Forte's Praxis, Dan Shipper's Superorganizers),
Every aims to be "a bundle of the best modern business
writing.“ As of January 2021, the bundle included 10
newsletters.
BUSINESS

Sources: Axios; Joseph Albanese: (1), (2); Li Jin; The Information
77
FOCUS
Stir | usestir.com
Stir caught attention by supporting creators when
mainstream platforms were failing their respective
communities. Goodbye Mixer let creators export their
following list from Mixer as the service was about to
close; FYI.RIP enabled TikTok users to download every
video they'd ever made, as the app was reportedly about
to be banned in the U.S.
This enabled it to earn creators' trust with ad hoc tools,
friendly pricing, and a "build in public" mindset. While
several of its products were time-sensitive and have been
terminated, the team is building expertise and growing a
solid network in the creator community, one project at a
time.
Drops enable companies to maintain excitement, while
also expanding on their core mission through an
opportunistic portfolio approach. As more startups
understand the power of building up and cultivating hype
around their work, the model will become more common.
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
Founded in: 2020
HQ: U.S.
Latest funding: Series A, February 2021
Stir is empowering creators through a portfolio of digital
products, with a focus on audience ownership,
collaboration, and monetization.
Its main product is a one-stop-shop tool that aggregates
financial and audience data so that creators can monitor
their business at a glance. Users can also add
collaborators such as editors, accountants, managers, as
well as other content creators, to split income from any
joint project on a percentage or flat-fee basis.
In addition, the company frequently releases drops, agile
one-off projects that aim to solve specific pain points for
creators.
BUSINESS
Stir’s growing list of drops

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