The AvA Connection

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🐝 AvA IRL Comes To Boston

Student? Live in Boston? See you at our first Industry College mixer in Boston on 10/16

🐝 The Weekly Buzz

1) The European Union doubled the US in recorded music industry growth in 2024. Despite the EU’s market being notably smaller than the states, they managed to rake in €470 million total, and €230 million more for a 9.1% jump year over year. In US dollars that’s uhhh a lot.

2) Spotify takes a shot at “the worst parts of Gen AI” on their platform. They just deleted over 75 million spammy tracks.

• 1) Music Spam Filter

  • This will specifically combat accounts and tracks that engage in mass uploads, duplicates, SEO hacks, and more. (This has always been an issue, but AI has accelerated the behavior.)

• 2) Stronger Impersonation Rules

  • This pertains to AI clones of artists (like the ones that were going around of The Weeknd, Drake, etc.), giving them stronger protections and clearer repercussions.

• 3) AI disclosures to music with industry standard credits

  • This will essentially allow artists to label where AI was specifically used in the process of creating a song.

3) Variety is honoring Scarlett Johansson with the ‘Legend & Groundbreaker.” Why is this a headline you should care about? Because I have 2 fun facts for you:

1. She is the highest grossing lead actor of all time at the global box office.

2. This one has nothing to do with the above but despite not being one of the most talked about names, Willem Dafoe has been Letterboxd’s most watched actor for the past 3 years. Full list here.

4) Telemundo Studios is stepping into ‘Vertical Shorts Dramas’ as an alternative content expansion. 

• Vertical shorts are an industry I’d be going all in on as a young creative (both on the creator and business side). China’s short-form industry revenue is set to beat their box office entirely in 2025 with an expected $9.4 billion. U.S. next?

💼 AvA Job Board

Our new job board features 110+ early career roles in Entertainment:

Some standouts:

💼 Talent Booker - Betches Media - Apply Here

💼 Social Media Coordinator - UFC - Apply Here

💼 A&R Assistant - Warner Music Group - Apply Here

💼 People & Culture Coordinator - Warner Bros. Discovery - Apply Here

💼 Social Media Coordinator - Fanatics - Apply Here

💼 Executive Assistant - Games & Digital - NBCU - Apply Here

💼 Temporary Receptionist - A24 - Apply Here

💼 Music Assistant (Electronic) - Wasserman - Apply Here

💼 Business Affairs Assistant - WME - Apply Here

💼 Partnerships Coordinator (Insomniac) - Live Nation - Apply Here

💼 Multimedia Content Coordinator - NBCUniversal - Apply Here

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📞 The Call Log: Phil Sandhaus, Former Manager for David Bowie & The Rolling Stones, Now Leading CBGB Fest’s Revival

Phil Sandhaus has 35+ years as a Music Artist and Estate Manager, a Marketing and Business Development Executive, and a Film/Theatre Producer. He’s been involved in the management and strategic marketing of artists, estates and their IP, including The Beatles, Miles Davis, David Bowie, Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones and Elvis Costello.

Our conversation is below:

AvA: You’ve managed the legends from Bowie to The Rolling Stones. What’s one (or two) stories from those years that have stood with you? 

Sandhaus: Sitting with Mick and Keith at the planning meetings for the release of “Forty Licks” and how each of them were so true to form – Mick studiously asking questions about the package design and the marketing plan and Keith basically just hanging out waiting “to get back on stage.”  My recollections with David was how charming, engaging and smart he was and that he would be able to talk to you about anything - music, art, theatre, ballet, mime, and even the internet, and this was 1995! And then just Princess Di and Prince Charles dancing in the Royal Box at Wembley Stadium, opening night of his Glass Spider Tour.

AvA: Seeing multiple eras of the music business first hand, what excites and terrifies you most about where the industry is heading right now?

Sandhaus: AI and all digital distribution both excites me and terrifies me at the same time. I was an early proponent of the peer to peer space but instead of the music industry embracing and managing the paradigm shift they tried to fight it. You can never fight it. They lost 20years until they got it. You need to figure out how to embrace and make it work for both the artist and the consumer and for business while making sure artists rights are protected and they are paid a commensurate rate for their IP.

AvA: Let's talk about managing estates. You've worked with the estates of B.B. King, Buddy Holly, Notorious B.I.G., Whitney Houston & more. 2 part question: What does managing an artist’s estate entail?

Sandhaus: Similar to an artist that’s living but not totally. You’re not managing behind the release of new music but you can be managing behind a tour or something else driving the market. Estates have anniversary releases of their important records, you are positively exploiting their name, image and likeness, there is merchandising and there are bio pics, limited series and documentaries, stage musicals, digital immersive and live experiences to consider and now, digital avatar shows - the ultimate through line in any of these areas is that you are managing to connect that artist to not only their core older audience but how to engage a younger, new audience.

AvA: As technology changes with AI, holograms and immersive experiences, how do you see the role of estate management and monetization evolving over the next decade?

Sandhaus: It’s here. As long as it’s honest and authentic and represents how the artist would have wanted to be represented then it’s fine. It’s up to the executors and managers of the estates to manage this process effectively and make sure the artist’s heirs are protected and compensated properly. 

AvA: Reviving CBGB as a festival is a huge moment. What was the vision behind bringing it back in 2025 and how did you land Iggy Pop’s first NYC show in over a decade.

Sandhaus: We happened to hit a certain moment. All kinds of rock have been an outlier over the last 20 years. We had been looking at locations in NY to open a new CBGB club that could represent what Hilly did in the beginning — unsigned bands, discovering new music, new trends like punk and new wave and represent that attitude. We weren’t having much success finding a location so we decided to do the same and lean in to live music, honor the original movements and welcome some of the new, younger bands through a Festival. The time seemed right, there’s a new punk and new wave movement happening – Fontaines DC, The Idles, The Linda Lindas, Wet Leg, Scowl, Lambrini Girls, YHWH NailGun…..We decided to partner with Bowery Presents who shared our vision of curating the lineup to include both the older bands and the new torchbearers. We were thrilled to be able to get the OG, Iggy on board. There aren’t many left of his era. We went to his agent and said for his next NY appearance it should be with us. ​They agreed. And we’re  thrilled to bring Jack White on board to also wave the flag for Detroit rock. 

AvA: For someone just starting their career, what’s one piece of advice you’d give about building longevity in the music business?

Sandhaus: Be open. It may not seem it but this business is based on an art form that will be ever changing depending on the social, political, economic, cultural and technological moments that you’re living in. Be aware of that and, probably no matter what part of the industry you’re in, remember that your job is to connect that artist with their audience and help them to grow their fans. It’s actually a great joy when that happens. 

🍗 Tender Fest Ticket Giveaway 🎵

We've partnered with Tenderfest to giveaway TWO VIP tickets to the annual event on October 12 in Beverly Hills. Click below to enter:

👋 See you back here on Monday

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This newsletter is written by Warner Bailey and edited by Riley Furey and Dominik Sansevere.

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