There have been a handful of recent livestream deals in music and sports. NBCU tapped Twitch to produce and deliver live content that will live on a new NBC Olympics Twitch channel for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. And Warner Music invested in virtu

Rise of Social Audio

Apr 24th, 2021 11m 49s

In December 2020, Clubhouse had 600,000 users. As of April 2021, it has 10 million. But just as it’s beginning to achieve critical mass, its core “Social Audio” experience is being replicated by a slew of well-capitalized incumbents like Facebo

Riches in Niches and the 40% of Non-Whites (2022 Prediction)

Feb 24th, 2022 10m 22s

We’re in the midst of not one, but two, once-in-a-generation paradigm shifts: the “Streaming Wars” and the “Audio Wars”. And industry players are spending big on "land grab" strategies to own tomorrow's consumer. But in 2022, we expect the deal

Birth of the Ownership Economy: 2021 Year In Review

Feb 10th, 2022 20m 50s

2021 was the year acceleration stuck. It was also the year in which the “passion economy” gave birth to the “ownership economy”, which blurs the line between creators and fans into communal ownership. All driven by the Web3 boom. And it reveals

The US-China $295 Billion Livestream Gap

Dec 9th, 2021 15m 35s

Livestream shopping festivals in the US are ramping up during the holiday season. From Facebook and YouTube to even Twitter. And our RockWater team has been participating in all of them. Yet livestream commerce sales forecasts of $5 billion in

Cameo Buys Represent and Content x Commerce B-B-P

Nov 11th, 2021 16m 34s

Over the last few weeks we've tracked various Content x Commerce activations. From Cameo buying Represent and Fanatics exploring RSN acquisitions, to Walmart partnering with Netflix and Barstool, and Shopify partnering with Spotify and Mailchim

NTWRK + Whatnot Raise More $$, and Twitter Commerce

Oct 21st, 2021 16m 59s

The Livestream Commerce market in the US continues its rapid expansion. Whatnot just raised a $150 million Series C, valuing it at $1.5 billion and its third fundraise of 2021. And NTWRK raised a $50 million Series C (we estimate valuation at $

The Future of Creator Funds and Tools

Oct 6th, 2021 11m 37s

Social platforms are investing big money into creator funds and products. Like LinkedIn ($25 million), Facebook and Instagram ($1B), YouTube Shorts ($100M), Snap ($1M per day), Only Fans (£80K), and the list goes on. The platforms are also aggr

Hello Sunshine Sells for $900M and High-Priced Studio M&A

Aug 18th, 2021 15m 2s

Just a few weeks ago, a Blackstone-backed media vehicle acquired Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine for $900 million. Before that, Amazon acquired MGM for $8.5 billion. The list of studio M&A deals and rumors is a long one, with buyers ranging

The Audio Wars: Buyer-verse Expansion (Pt 2)

Aug 4th, 2021 13m 46s

Today's episode is part 2 of our Audio Wars coverage. Since 2018 we've tracked over 30 M&A deals on our industry Audio M&A Watch List, like Amazon / Wondery and SiriusXM / Stitcher. There's also been numerous talent and IP licensing deals like

The Audio Wars: No End In Sight

Jul 23rd, 2021 13m 9s

Since 2018 we've tracked over 30 M&A deals on our industry Audio M&A Watch List, like Amazon / Wondery and SiriusXM / Stitcher. There's also been numerous talent and IP licensing deals like Amazon / Smartless and Spotify / Call Her Daddy, as we

Kids Screen Time: Crossing the Chasm and New Revenue Models

Jul 8th, 2021 13m 9s

Mattel Films is partnering with MGM to put Polly Pocket on the silver screen. Hasbro and Epic Games are creating a line of Victory Royale toys for Fornite fans. And Kidfluencers are driving over $1 billion in toy sales. The kids market activity

Paul / Mayweather and the Growth of Sports Creator Competitions

Jun 21st, 2021 13m 14s

This month Logan Paul fought Floyd Mayweather in an exhibition event, drawing 1 million PPV buys and generating $50 million in revenue. It's yet another datapoint in the growth of made-for-social creator competition series, which represents the

Etsy Buys Depop for $1.6 Billion and the Rise of Resale

Jun 14th, 2021 10m 34s

Etsy just bought Depop, an ecommerce marketplace known for vintage clothes and streetwear that's highly popular with Gen Z. We discuss the deal logic, how the $40 billion resale market is outpacing overall apparel, the recent IPOs of Poshmark a

Whatnot Raises $50M and the Future of Livestream Commerce

Jun 7th, 2021 12m 30s

Whatnot, a livestream commerce marketplace for authenticated resale (like trading cards), just raised a $50 million Series B. We explain the origins of China's $170+ billion livestream selling market, the rapid growth of the $15 billion sports

Bitcoin Pizza and Food Commerce Momentum

Jun 1st, 2021 10m 30s

Anthony Pompliano, an investor and podcaster, launched Bitcoin Pizza, a new "decentralized" pizza brand. It's yet another example of a creator or media brand launching a direct-to-consumer food & beverage brand. In this episode we explain why f

AT&T Exits WarnerMedia and Lessons Learned

May 21st, 2021 12m 6s

AT&T just sold WarnerMedia to Discovery for $43 billion, after acquiring it for $85 billion just a few years ago. We discuss why AT&T needs to refocus on its wireless business and stop buying media assets, Jason Kilar's exit and why traditional

Sports Betting Media in Overdrive

May 12th, 2021 11m 55s

In the past week Catena Media acquired Lineups.com for $40 million, and Better Collective acquired Action Network for $240 million. The deal frenzy includes 20+ other transactions, and kicked off in 2020 when Penn National Gaming acquired Barst

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