Hi gang, hope everyone is well. Your humble narrator is in the midst of a busy stretch at “the office,” aka my living room, so I am experimenting with a different (read: reduced) format for this week and similar periods in the future. Limited on the lines, longer on the links. It is August, after all, and our European peers are off on their multi-week vacations, while we Americans, to paraphrase Tame Impala, are only going backwards…
“I’m reading an amazing novel that really captures this moment.”
Source: H. Lin, New Yorker, August 2020
Weekly information diet
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek gave a rather odd interview to Music Ally in which he seemed determined to antagonize the musicians who provide the vast majority of the value in his product. You can read the full interview, or check out Stereogum’s summary. Regardless of your view on whether artists have outmoded views of their production and the financial worth of their output, you have to admit that this seems like a strange position for the CEO of a music (ok, audio) streaming service to take.
An artist’s renderings (Input) of the very delightful “cities of the future” that await us. Check out the full visual collection.
Good, quick read on Gojek & Grab (the dominant ride-hailing players in Southeast Asia) and how they intend to drive towards profitability (Tech in Asia) amidst macro circumstances that have placed significant pressure on their core businesses. Spoiler alert: e-wallets (and maybe food delivery). In related news, Uber’s second quarter earnings show that its delivery business, Uber Eats, is now bigger than its core ride-hailing business (Tech Crunch), on an adjusted net revenue basis.
Catherine Shu, of Tech Crunch, also wrote a good article describing Grab’s broader fintech ambitions, including recent launches of micro-investment and consumer loan products. I am not able to resist referring to this as “The Money Grab.”
Microsoft emerged as a suitor for ByteDance’s TikTok (Tech Crunch), with the intent of creating a separate US company, or possibly buying the whole kit and caboodle (Input; who knows!). This headline brought me great joy. Allow me to paint a fantastical picture: it is 1:37am and you are hard at work on an Excel spreadsheet. Why are you using Excel? Because you started your career in the 90s OR you once worked in banking/consulting; you are a Serious Person. Your eyes are starting to close…and then, suddenly 🤯🤯🤯 a new TikTok screen appears on your monitor, as if by magic. It is your coworker Greg, and he is doing the Toosie Slide! You are re-energized: Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind. You finish your work in a blaze of inspiration and bask in the reflected glory of your own brilliance and global Tween culture. Why not? Innovation!
Trump initially claimed that he planned to ban TikTok imminently, independent of any M&A (Tech Crunch). Then, he thought it was kinda okay (CNN). I hesitate to write anything else, because whatever I type is outdated before I finish the sentence. Regardless, the Chinese government is not pleased (Bloomberg) with the prospect of TikTok falling into Microsoft’s hands. The Trump Administration continues to be equivalently displeased with “untrusted Chinese apps” and wants them removed from US app stores (CNBC). It’s a good time to be alive.
Meanwhile, Facebook’s Instagram Reels product is gaining steam (Input) as speculation about TikTok’s fate intensifies. Not coincidentally, Facebook’s product suite is reportedly experiencing a 15-20% increase in usage since the TikTok ban in India; expectation of a similar tailwind in the US is motivating the rapid launch and promotion of the product.
Nilesh Christopher wrote a great piece for Rest of World, focusing on the way that e-commerce is conducted in Bangladesh: transactions brokered through Facebook, thus rechristened F-commerce. Particularly recommended if you revel in stories about compulsive purchasing of exotic birds. Shout out to Bangladesh.
The Weeknd is taking his creep&b musical stylings to a virtual TikTok world tour (Verge). The shows are a partnership between recently-funded LA startup WaveXR and TikTok; fittingly, Mr. Weeknd will be represented by an avatar. Check out the dates, if you’re interested.
Really enjoyed this video from Curiosity Stream (courtesy of MusicREDEF), which somehow spans Jay-Z, deepfakes, the Navy SEALs, Tacotron (Google’s ML-enabled text-to-speech generator), and “reverse hip hop” (where the rap vocal becomes the basis for a new instrumental composition). File under: esoteric but excellent.
In the spirit of AI and creation, I recommend Casey Newton’s old-ish longform piece, “Speak, Memory,” (Verge) which focuses on a software engineer who “rebuilt” her dead best friend using an AI chatbot model. Suitably concerning and thought-provoking, and good context for future Trillium content. 👀
Billboard’s Tatiana Cirisano wrote a great longform piece about the lessons that the creative world can learn from Travis Scott’s now-historic performance in Fortnite. Well trod ground, to be sure, especially for the Trilliuminati, but worth a scan due to the level of detail that Cirisano provides and her analysis of the technical requirements of a performance like Scott’s, as well as the roadmap for Fortnite’s developer (Epic Games).
For your ears only
Habibi Funk is a great German reissue label that rose to some degree of popularity in part because Ramy (Hulu TV) used several of its recordings for its excellent soundtrack. Passion of the Weiss recently promoted the latest Habibi Funk release, which has moved from mid-20th century Middle Eastern pop to Sudanese jazz but continues to be awesome. Check out a few tracks from Sharhabil Ahmed, apparently “The King of Sudanese Jazz,” below.
See you next Friday.
N