Hear Pharrell's Floor-Stomping New Song "Able"
Photo provided by Nue Agency.
Greeting Techsters!
Another week in the hustle. Looks like Soundcloud isn’t going anywhere. They raised another 70 million which should keep them in the game a bit longer while they try to finalize label deals and / or an impactful revenue model.
But the theme of this week is hardware and especially the Samsung Galaxy S8. Let’s see if they can get their brand back on track with a hit new handset. Rumor has it the edges are round this time around. Feels more iPhone than ever. We’ll see after the big press event on Wednesday.
See you in the streets or on those Tweets.
And here are the five things you need to know about in hip-hop + tech this week:
Here's why you'll soon start seeing blurred photos on Instagram
Instagram will soon roll out a new feature that blurs out sensitive content. As part of an effort to "build a safe environment," Instagram will put a screen over photos and videos that have been reported — and confirmed by Instagram's team — as sensitive.
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Soundcloud raised $70 million in debt funding
Music streaming service Soundcloud has raised $70 million (£56 million) in debt funding, according to documents filed with Companies House in the UK.
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Photos of the Galaxy S8 have leaked that show the phone in every color and angle
Prominent gadgets leaker Evan Blassleaked several photos that supposedly show every color and different angles of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus.
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Drake Breaks His Own Records With ‘More Life’ and Earns Another No. 1
More Life, the new so-called playlist (which is somewhere between a mixtape and an album) from the rapper, has debuted at No. 1, setting a streaming record in the United States with 385 million song plays in its first week, according to Nielsen. Those numbers are the biggest in music since Drake’s own Views, which totaled 1 million units when it debuted last spring, including 245 million streams, a record at the time.
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Pharrell Williams' Life Story to Be Adapted for Fox Musical
Fox has won a hot pitch for a musical inspired by Pharrell Williams. The project, called Atlantis, is a musical that is being described as a Romeo and Juliet style story (with a music element) inspired by Williams’ childhood in Virginia Beach.
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Jesse Kirshbaum has been in the trenches of the music business, specializing in securing talent for concerts, tours and endorsement deals for his various clients and brand partners internationally. He founded Nue Agency (a creative agency, recently named to Inc. Mag’s 500 list as the 3rd fastest growing Media Company in America) to sit at the center of culture, brands and technology. He is the host of Hot 97’s new web series Hot In Tech, an authority in Music Tech culture, news and events. Jesse is also the executive producer for both the hit digital series #CRWN and The Annual FlashFWD Awards, which honors premiere stars in Music Tech. @JesseKay on Twitter + Instagram.
