It has been a few years since I was able to attend the Founder Camp, an annual celebration and gathering of founders backed by True Ventures. The global pandemic and travel restrictions made it impossible for us to host the event, but we found a way to gather outdoors and enjoy each other this year. While we call all work from remote corners of the world, there is no joy more than being in each other’s presence. IRL, rocks!
I didn’t do any work yesterday other than attending various conversations. The energy from the event kept me up late, and I spent a lot of time on my iPad, reading and catching up on my massive “read it later” list. In doing so, I found some interesting nuggets that caught my eye.
- Spotify launched the Car Thing. It likely will try and hasten what insiders already know: radio listening is going down in the cars. New technologies, bigger screens, and transition to EVs mean that the “radio” won’t be at the center of the entertainment experience — our phones are.
- Remember streaming was supposed to kill the music business? Quite the opposite is true, actually. In 2021, the global revenues were $25.9 billion, up by $4 billion over 2020, according to IFPI’s Global Music Report. Streaming accounted for 65.0% of recorded music revenues, up from a 61.9% share in 2020. Revenues from ad-funded streaming services (including video services) matched physical sales in 2021. There are 523 million paid subscribers.
- Cord-cutting continues unabated. Pay-TV providers in the U.S. lost about 4.69 million net video subscribers in 2021 versus 4.87 million in 2020, and Comcast lost over 1.6 million in 2021.
- Oura, the sleep tracking and health-focused ring maker, says it has sold a million rings. For context, Apple has sold upwards of 50 million watches in 2021 alone. I have ordered an Oura — it is a less intrusive way to track sleep than Apple Watch.
- Starlink has 250,000 subscribers. That didn’t stop them from raising prices for its kit – $599 for new orders.
- AT&T has cut prices on its 5G and has launched a new value plan. Let me remind you that their 5G is pretty shit, and thus there isn’t much value in it. OpenSignal, a market research and analytics company points out that if you want 5G in the US, you have to go with T-Mobile USA.
WORTH READING
- If it works, the Webb Space Telescope can and will rewrite cosmic history. I didn’t know much about the telescope, and this article gave me all the context and information I needed.
- What the hell does Tinder have to do with the war in Ukraine? Swipe right to find out.
- Why has Cathy Wood’s hyped-up ARKK ETF down 30 percent this year, and what’s next for this buzzy group?
- The world is already getting bored of the apes. Don’t tell that to the investors in Yuga Labs, who have valued the company at over $4 billion. Casey Newton is getting antsy about Apecoins.
March 24, 2022. San Francisco