JUNE 10
Spicy content ahead, let's enjoy our Thursday. Hope you're doing good btw.
This week, a stupid amount of collabs and small consoles are like drugs, but first...
Madeby Franco
Sheeeeesh. If you're in the mood of reviving some Napster-vibes, we are there.
Quick explanation?
Streamers have been using music on Twitch for years. The music industry didn't like that one bit. So exactlya year ago, they started sending DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) strikes to hunt people playing their music for free.
Except...
This shit was calculated. The DMCA was released in '98, because of Napster and the revolution happening around music at that time. For the ones thinking— gaming got truly popular two years ago, before that, Twitch was unnoticed. Come on now...
The music labels' PTSD on Napster prepared them for this moment. Do you really think they didn't know about Twitch? The first fucking minute a streamer played music it was monitored by the labels. But they were like— now that the law is on paper, let them use our shit and let's strike them later when is too big to be fixed.
And indeed, that happened.
Think about singers and songwriters being more independent than ever, add TikTok and everything going viral to the mix, plus the fact that artists are outspoken on being in bad terms with labels... what do you get? Music labels loosing power by the minute and trying to scratch dollars from what ever corner they can.
To have in mind:
It's a simple equation: Twitch is owned by Amazon, Amazon has unlimited money, literally. The music industry is looking for money because all of theirs is being invested in lawyers. Yes, it's an investment. Music labels are not looking for a solution or adapting to the world, they invest in the problem and get paid if people can't solve it. Gnarly, but at this point, predictable.
Currently
Twitch is receiving a new wave of strikes and they publicly said that they are trying to work with the music industry to keep creators afloat. They also said that labels don't give a fuck about solutions, they will keep sending strikes. Well, of course. Twitch can't be this naive to think the music industry will cooperate.
Twitch is politely letting us know that we are at war against the music industry.
The Next Beer
Instead of hiring people to manually alert creators for their music used in 2017, they probably are starting to use the same software that Youtube uses to automate the process. In my eyes, there're two outcomes:
The True Concern
Well, I would never imagine somebody joining the music industry train, but I was wrong. Last year, this guy said that streamersshouldpay a fee to publishers if they play their games on Twitch. Today, that will not be a thing, but makes me think, what are we going to be able to do online in the future?
Is the internet content going to look like the last years of TV? Scripted as fuck.
The gaming industry has the love of the people and that's very powerful. Twitch is at the front of it, and it could be a crucial moment to show other industriesthat gaming is in control. It sounds aggressive, but think about it.
🔌 Product Spotlight
Playdate— Small consoles are trending.
🤔 Virtual = IRL
Puma is dropping its 'Court Rider' basketball shoe in NBA 2K and in real life. It's interesting to see how in-game purchases are taking more importance than IRL. Later on, brands will be able to test product release in both scenariosat the same prize and see where are we headed.
🐦 Tweet of the Week
Facebook plans on charging less to creators, by Peter Kafka.
🌐 Immersive is the New Normal
Warner partnered with Roblox to create an immersive experiencef or the new musical film In The Heights. Film is promoted through gaming, but music is cancelled.
🔑 A LEC spot for dibs
Schalke 04 pockets have been emptied after the pandemic, just as every single club out there, and now they need to recover the money. I guess that the people high in the ladder said— ok, we did the E-gAmes thing for too long, sell that shit, we need to buy a left back.
📖 Read of the Week
Looking back on 10 years of Twitch livestreaming, by GamesBeat.
🎮 Game of the Week
Sniper Elite VR— Release: July 8.
OTHERS
Taking Suckaz Money
TSM FTX. That’s the new name for the North American organisation formerly known as Team SoloMid. Less than a week ago, the team brand entered into a 10-year deal with cryptocurrency exchange FTX that’s apparently worth $210m — $21m per year will be paid as a result. This deal will now be the flagship example of how lucrative esports can be when LinkedIn grifters attempt to welcome new people into their cult.
I’m all for celebrating groundbreaking deals, if for no other reason than the fact they show there’s serious value to be derived by getting involved with an esports company. As always with me, however, I have a healthy dose of scepticism to quickly deliver to you today. Esports organisations are volatile, sometimes surviving month-by-month off of sponsorship revenues and venture capital injections. Cryptocurrency is anything but stable in its current form. What happens if this major deal doesn’t run its course? I believe, and perhaps rightfully so, that it would then serve as an example of esports not yet carrying the value that many people are basing their operations upon. Congratulations, TSM FTX, but please don’t fuck this up!
GHOST OF TSUSHIMA JUST DROPPED
THIS 18 DREW ALL POKEMONS IN A FRAME (@FOOZHOCHII)
Deep Dive: Open-World Games.
Case Study: Brands Leveraging Live Streaming.
FPS players: can't see shit with this display. It blocks my view.
MMO players:
June 3 - 13 / IEM Summer 2021
June 10 - 13 / CDL Los Angeles Thieves Home Series
June 10 / Summer Game Fest
June 12 - 13 / E3
June 13 / Xbox and Bethesda Showcase
June 15 - 20 / BLAST Premiere Spring Final
June 16 - 22 / Steam Next Fest
👇 Reach out for feedback, questions or quick intro!
Twitter | Email: hi@weekly.gg
