The AvA Connection

🐝 The Weekly Buzz

Bit of a shocker: Amazon MGM Studios is taking creative control over the James Bond franchise. Long-time producers 007, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, are stepping back. This opens the door for more Bond movies and TV shows. Read more here.

Ryan Tedder, best known for his Millennial OneRepublic anthems, is teaming up with Scooter Braun & HYBE to launch.. a new global boy band.

Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have reunited! (they both signed with CAA)

Lady Gaga topped 123 million monthly listeners on Spotify, the most ever for a female artist on the platform. It has been a blockbuster year for her, with a Coachella headlining slot just 2 months away. Read the number breakdown here.

For some background on Gaga’s past and current success:

• Gaga first reached the top spot on the Billboard 100 in 2009 with the single “Just Dance”

• Her Bruno Mars collab “Die With A Smile” hit 1.89 billion streams on Spotify

• “Abracadabra,” her latest solo single, is at #29 on the Billboard 100, and will certainly continue to rise next week.

• New album titled ‘MAYHEM’ drops on March 7th

Tyla has become became the first African solo artist to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify with her single, “Water.” She joins only 3 other African artists who have reached the milestone: Wizkid on Drake’s “One Dance,” Tems on Drake & Future’s “WAIT FOR U,” and Rema with the Selena Gomez assisted “Calm Down.”

Deeper Dive: Africa’s annual music streaming revenues is predicted to grow from $92.9 million back in 2021 to $314.6 million by 2026.

Netflix is betting big on Mexico with a $1 Billion investment over the next 4 years. Tariff-ic news. Read more.

Early candidate for marketing play of the year: Chappell Roan’s ‘country spiked’ song “The Giver” by Spotify:

It’s giving Larry H. Parker billboards all around L.A.:

TikTok’s Head of Music Business Development Ole Obermann is leaving the company after 5 years for a new role at Apple. He will be replaced by Tracy Gardner who has been with the company since 2019.

FREE A$AP! Oh wait he’s free

📞 The Call Log: Amazon Music’s Head of Marketing for Merchandise, Ary Esfahani

Ary Esfahani is a marketing leader whose career began in digital marketing at startups and fashion. After moving to Seattle to join Amazon Web Services (AWS), she led marketing and ticket sales for AWS' Intersect Festival in 2019. Now, as a founding member and Head of Marketing for Amazon Music's merchandise business, she has been instrumental in building and overseeing successful artist collaborations, including excluding exclusive merch collections for Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE tour. She was recognized by Billboard’s Women in Music in 2024.

Our conversation is below:

AvA: What was your first job and how did that help shape your career path? 

Esfahani: After I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, the startup scene was buzzing - I landed a digital marketing role at a social media software startup called Spredfast. Because it was a startup, there were no bounds to aspects of digital marketing I could learn - so I ended up doing everything from email, to paid social, to paid search, and landing page optimization. I stayed curious and learned a lot, which still pays off today as I oversee a marketing team and understand how all these channels work more intimately. 

AvA: Looking back on your career so far, what’s one moment that you consider to be a milestone or turning point for you? What did you learn from that experience that you still carry with you today?

Esfahani: When I first started this role at Amazon Music, I had this idea to start a vinyl subscription box. I took the lead on putting together a plan with a teammate on how we could actually have the inventory to make it happen when vinyl supply chain at this time was constrained and we needed to make sure we delivered a good customer experience with titles they actually wanted. We moved quickly (in less than 2 months) to launch this entirely new product, focusing on the Golden Era of vinyl and targeting customers who were new to vinyl and wanted a discounted path to collecting. We exceeded our 6-month goal in 1 month on subscriptions and got 15+ media articles. It taught me to trust my gut, and to worry about making things happen first, then try to make it perfect after. 

AvA: What does the future of Artist-To-Fan and Fan-To-Artist connection look like in your eyes? 

Esfahani: For Artist-to-Fan connection, I would predict that merch will likely grow its importance. At Amazon, we’re constantly thinking about how we can make merch transaction more frictionless. I think fans will be given variety of ways to shop an artist’s merch, from more brand collaborations, to higher quality merch items, and be given special incentives to do so.

AvA: What are 3 of the most important qualities you see in your peers who have risen through the ranks quickly in their professional roles?  

Esfahani: I think these are universal truths, but ultimately, people who are dedicated, curious, and collaborative. To me, you can’t overstate the importance of someone being easy to collaborate/work with.

AvA: What is one piece of advice you have for someone early in their career? 

Esfahani: To be competitive in this job market, you have to be strategic to get as much quality experience as you can.  

Initially, in college, I wanted to work in fashion. I was a sales associate for BCBGMAXAZRIA, a premium women’s brand, throughout school. When applying to internships, I got advice to prioritize getting a bigger name brand on my resume to stand out in future job applications. So I targeted a BCBG internship since I knew BCBG’s customer and brand well – and was able to secure it pretty easily. I had to move to LA for the summer to do this unpaid internship, and so ended up paying two rents that summer, and racked up $3K in credit card debt as a result. Looking back, it was so worth it. The internship helped me land more internships, and I ended up with two job offers at graduation, giving me options on how I wanted to shape my career. 

AvA: Dream festival headliners (dead or alive)?

Esfahani: Patsy Cline collaborative project with Khruangbin  

AvA: If money was no object, what would your job/career be (outside of the Entertainment Industry)? 

Esfahani: A traveling tour guide 

AvA: What are you binging on TV right now?

Esfahani: Two and a Half Men – can’t tell you why I’m binging it, but it’s a great show.

AvA: Podcast recommendation? 

Esfahani: We Must Be Drunk by Mark Normand and Sam Morril. Two of my favorite modern-day comedians.

👋 See you back here on Tuesday for a brand new selection of Entertainment jobs

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