Sudden internet fame is warping teenagers' lives

PLUS: Why other media outlets can't create their own Wordle

Welcome! I'm Simon Owens and this is my media industry newsletter. If you've received it, then you either subscribed or someone forwarded it to you.

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Let’s jump into it…

Quick hits

Do you have experience in B2B ad sales?

I'm likely missing out on six figures in revenue by not focusing at all on growing the sponsorships side of my business. There's another creator in my space who has almost the exact same audience as me, and by my estimates he's generating over $500,000 in annual revenue through sponsorships.

I'd be willing to share up to 50% of revenue with someone who could grow this share of my business. To be clear, this could be a $250,000 opportunity for someone with experience in B2B ad sales. If this is something that interests you, you can find my email address over here (don’t just reply to this newsletter because that’ll go to a different address).

The Print Magazine Revival of 2024

Print isn't necessarily making a comeback, but it's clear that the media industry is starting to reinvest in the medium as a way to strengthen subscription offerings and brand penetration. Print magazines also provide a great opportunity to upsell advertisers who still value full-page, glossy ads. — Bloomberg

The Future of Music Festivals Is Niche and Artist-Led

The biggest musicians are increasingly switching from the concert model to putting on entire music festivals where they invite in other niche artists and even provide non-music activities. The idea is that a festival is a greater value proposition for potential attendees and more money can be squeezed out of those attendees during an all-day event. — Bloomberg

'Washington Post' won't endorse in White House race for first time since 1980s

The people who have been arguing for years that it's probably not a good idea for billionaires to be buying up newspapers because of the potential conflicts of interest are probably feeling pretty vindicated right now.

I think what's especially chilling about this WashPo news is that it comes as Trump is getting increasingly explicit about his intentions to punish media outlets he doesn't like. If there were ever a time to not back down, this would be it. — NPR

By the way, I came up with the Washington Post’s new slogan.

For High School Age TikTok Influencers, Online Fame Can Bring Real-Life Consequences

I don't think we as a society have completely grappled with the idea that, for the first time in history, a random high school student filming videos from their bedroom can suddenly find themselves with millions of followers. It's a level of fame that was once only reserved for a small number of child actors who pursued Hollywood careers, and this new dynamic is radically changing the way these young people interact with the world around them. — Teen Vogue

Playbook’s New Playbook

Politico's Playbook newsletter — which was initially helmed by Mike Allen — generates about $15 million per year. Now Politico is "finalizing an offer, very likely to a television news veteran who will be given a mandate to manage the franchise and its talent much the way an executive producer manages a morning show."

It’s probably hard to overstate the role Playbook played in making newsletters sexy again. In some ways you could probably trace the origins of newsletters like Morning Brew, TheSkimm, and 1440 back to it. — Puck

Pad Thai, Spring Rolls and a Side of Peacock? Why Streamers Are Teaming Up With Delivery Apps

Consumer product companies are increasingly bundling streaming services into their subscriptions. My guess is that they're trying to mimic the success of Amazon Prime — which bundles video streaming and free product delivery.

The question I have is how profitable this could be for either the consumer product company or the streaming service. Kroger's membership program costs $99 a year — so how much could it really afford to pay Disney to offer up a free Hulu subscription? Is this purely a marketing play to simply get more people shopping at Kroger? — Hollywood Reporter

Reflections on Newcomer Four Years In

Eric Newcomer, a former reporter for Bloomberg and The Information, is now on track to hit $2 million in revenue and $1 million in profit from his own media business. While about a half million of that is coming from subscriptions, the vast majority is from sponsorships and events. I actually have an upcoming interview with Eric on the podcast — he went super deep on how he built this business. So you should probably become a paid subscriber if you haven't already. — Newcomer

How The Author Stack grew to over 31,000 subscribers

Russell Nohelty wears lots of different creative hats. He’s a bestselling fiction author. He organizes live conferences. He sells online courses. And over the last few years he’s put much of his energy into building The Author Stack, a newsletter focused on helping writers and other creatives in their careers. He’s grown it to over 31,000 subscribers, and it’s increasingly become the central hub for all his creative businesses.

In a recent interview, Russell walked through every aspect of his growth strategy, including how he generated his first 16,000 subscribers by running sweepstakes with other writers, how he leverages paid marketing, why he utilizes multiple email platforms to send his newsletters, and why he thinks social media marketing is a waste of time.

You can watch, listen to, or read the interview over here.

More quick hits

Why new online puzzles can’t clone the brilliance of ‘Wordle’

Lots of media companies have noticed the NYT’s success with games and are quickly launching or acquiring their own games. None have managed to achieve the same cultural impact as Wordle, however. — Fast Company

She Starred in ‘Teen Mom 2.’ Now She Is Building a Book Empire.

Think back to 20 years ago. Is there any conceivable scenario where a major TV network would have aired a TV show about new books coming out? Now it's a common occurrence for book influencers to amass millions of followers. Our culture has never been richer. — WSJ

Morning Brew rebrands as its B2B products grow

Lots of people still think of Morning Brew as a daily business news digest, but it's actually diversified into a multi-faceted media company that includes several B2B verticals, a hit daily podcast, and a growing video arm. The B2B verticals alone are driving $25 million in revenue. Its multimedia content is generating $10 million. — Axios

Ceilings, walls, slow growth

Defector's revenue growth has pretty much stalled out, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Its biggest goal was to provide a sustainable income for its stable of writers, and it achieved that goal. Its staff doesn't have the ambition for achieving scale for the sake of scale. — The Rebooting

Anime Is Japan’s Next Global Champion

Anime is becoming one of Japan's biggest global exports: "The global market for Japanese animation, known as anime, and its related products has more than doubled between 2012 and 2022 to 2.9 trillion yen, equivalent to $20 billion ... The overseas market has been driving that growth. Markets outside of Japan made up around half of the total in 2022, compared with around 18% a decade earlier." — WSJ

Podcasts are dominating the 2024 election. Why?

"I think it’s hard for journalists to process that podcast hosts think of interviews very differently than they do. CNN’s Dana Bash and CBS’s Bill Whitaker are asking Kamala Harris very specific questions — trying to push her off her talking points, trying to make news. Most of the podcasters she talks to have no agenda like that. They just want to talk to her about stuff that interests them." — WashPo

‘Let It Slowly Die.’ MrBeast’s Irate Texts Over Burger Deal Revealed in Court Docs

As creators amass more and more influence, companies are coming out of the woodwork to partner with them on product launches. MrBeast's fight with the company that operates his ghost burger chain is a good case study of the pitfalls one faces when you outsource your brand to third-party companies. — The Information

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