The AvA Connection

🐝 The Weekly Buzz

1) David Ellison and Paramount cannot be stopped. They are reportedly preparing a massive bid for rival Warner Bros. Discovery. Under WBD’s umbrella: DC Entertainment, HBO (or whatever they are calling it now), New Line Cinema, Discovery, TNT, CNN, Food Network etc. etc. Here is what a possible merger would look like.

David Ellison looking at literally every Media property (below). It’s giving kid in the candy shop, but just with way more money (his dad became the World’s richest man for a day yesterday).

2) Women accounted for 36% of all TV creators in 2024-25. An all-time high, and up from 27% in 2023-24.

🏊 Let’s take a Deeper Dive…

• Programs with at least one woman creator employed dramatically higher numbers of women than programs with exclusively male creators.

• On shows with at least one female creator, women constituted 42% of directors, 62% of writers and 32% of editors.

• On programs with exclusively male creators, women accounted for 20% of directors, 20% of writers and 20% of editors.

• Full breakdown here

3) Bad Bunny avoided the US and brought in $200 million for Puerto Rico’s local economy.

• 600,000 visitors traveled to PR

• 30-show run where he had fans come to him rather than touring globally

• Avoided the U.S. due to ICE. Amazing stuff from a genuine superstar. 👏

💼 AvA Job Board

Our new job board features 118+ early career roles in Entertainment:

Some of my favorite new roles:

💼 Music Creative Production Coordinator - Netflix - Apply Here

🎒 TV Production Finance Intern - A24 - Apply Here

💼 Community Operations Specialist - Soundcloud - Apply Here

💼 Live Event Production Coordinator - Nintendo - Apply Here

💼 Recruiting Coordinator - Live Nation - Apply Here

💼 Partnership Marketing Coordinator - Paramount - Apply Here

💼 A&R Assistant (Pop/Rock) - Warner Music - Apply Here

💼 Digital Content Publishing Project Employee - NBA - Apply Here

💼 Production Assistant - Madison Square Garden - Apply Here

💼 Awards Coordinator - Disney - Apply Here

💼 Executive Assistant - Fox Entertainment - Apply Here

💼 Assistant - Atlas Entertainment - Apply Here

💼 Booking Production Assistant - NBCUniversal - Apply Here

💼 People & Culture Coordinator - AGBO - Apply Here

🎒 International Marketing Intern Fall 2025 - Sony Pictures - Apply Here

📞 The Call Log: Will Tenney, Founder & Managing Partner of SunPop

Will Tenney is a music executive and entrepreneur whose decade-long career has covered almost every aspect of the music business. Currently he serves as Founder and Managing Partner at SunPop – an NYC-based record label and management firm where he’s sold over 1 million records with some of music’s buzziest pop, rock, and country acts. SunPop has worked on strategic projects with artists like Rod Wave, Sara Bareilles, Dasha, Charlotte Sands, Def Leppard, and more.

While building SunPop, Will spent six years as the Head of Streaming Strategy & Promotion at Crush Music. Here, he oversaw sales and data for Miley Cyrus, Lorde, Sia, Green Day, Weezer, Fall Out Boy, and Train, among others. Prior to this, Will toured North America as a musician alongside acts like Against The Current, Cash Cash, Parachute, and Lauv (then Somersault Sunday).

Our conversation is below:

AvA: Starting your own business seems shiny on paper, but the “founder grind” can be brutal. What’s the toughest hurdle you’ve hit so far, and how did you fight your way through it? 

Tenney: Yeah, check in on your local entrepreneur—they’re probably carrying a lot. We want to be cheering those people on, especially artist managers! Their entire job is hurdles. For me, one of the hardest lessons was learning the day’s limitations. There are only 24 hours to work with, and some of them require sleep. Every good entrepreneur tries to disprove that theory at some point, but nature will humble you. 

There’s a manic energy to those early years that’s equal parts magic and madness. When you want something badly enough—whatever “it” is—it’s tempting to push through with sheer force. But that rarely works. Eventually, you drain your battery and have to re-strategize. I’m glad we’re past those days. Nobody likes the person who’s too busy for everything. 

AvA: You’ve worked as a touring musician, an artist manager, a Goldman Sachs analyst, and now the head of a business. Do you think moving through all sides of the industry has given you an edge? 

Tenney: I don’t know if it’s given me an “edge,” per se, but those experiences have definitely shaped my approach. I fell in love with the music business early in life and quickly realized I was the only elementary student with a baseline understanding of the industry. At that age, it gave me a leg up—and maybe even compensated for areas I wasn’t strong in, like singing. Having “know-how” made me valuable, so my mission became clear: learn about everything. That mindset took me to Goldman, then into roles at Warner Music and Crush Music, before officially launching my own business. 

Similarly, Hannan Mumtaz—who works on our team—spent summers at JPMorgan and C3 Presents before touring North America twice with one of our bands. She’s definitely a young industry executive to keep an eye on. We have a first-hand understanding of what our larger operation might face day-to-day, and that helps us see the matrix more clearly. 

AvA: You’ve worked alongside artists like Lorde, Sia, Quarters of Change, Katelyn Tarver, and more. What signals show you an Artist is building a career, not just having a moment? 

Tenney: The industry is full of “moments” right now—viral soundbites that achieve global notoriety in minutes. But most of the time, you don’t even know where they’re coming from or the name of the artist behind them. Some of the world’s biggest records have recently translated into just a few hundred tickets sold in major markets.

There are plenty of reasons that might be: 

• The rise of short-form media 

• Scroll-based user interfaces 

• Easier access to production and distribution 

• Record-high release volume at DSPs 

Whatever the reason is, it’s not really our business right now. We know an artist is building a well-rounded career when we see multiple areas of their business connect - not just the viral byte. If there’s a legitimate tie between an artist and their community, even on a small scale, we can usually turn that spark into a business across touring, merchandise, records, and more. I love “moments” when we’re lucky enough to have them, but they’re merely welcomed bursts of speed amidst an otherwise sturdy plan. They give us more to build on! 

AvA: How do you balance the data side of music with the gut instinct it takes to bet on an artist? 

Tenney: Data is more accessible than ever, and that’s completely changed how bets are made in this industry. The way major-label A&Rs move in 2025 is very different from how they would’ve moved in 2015. They’re watching different metrics and acting at different thresholds. For people focused solely on recordings, data dominates. But as managers, we’re invested in the whole picture, so instinct still plays more of a role. 

Take a band like Quarters of Change, for example…. Without being cliché, there’s just something special about them. That indescribable quality has put them in arenas with The Jonas Brothers, on the main stage at Governor’s Ball, and everywhere in between (often despite the data). Quarters of Change is an anomaly, and I'd bet on them any day. 

AvA: What’s one shift you see coming in our industry that most people still underestimate? 

Tenney: I think people are still underestimating the level of corporate turbulence ahead. Unless we fine-tune how recorded music is consumed and monetized, this correction will continue. The recorded music industry—now being dismantled—was built on label copyright ownership and predictable revenue streams. Both of those ideas are now being challenged, leaving us with this reality:

Revenue from recorded music no longer supports the infrastructure we’ve relied on for decades, at the scale it’s been operating — with large salaried teams, multiple brick-and-mortar offices, and so on. In response, businesses have been forced to correct. As Kristin Robinson from Billboard so eloquently put it, “the vibes in the music industry are not good.” 

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

Tenney: Don’t make decisions with ego. It’ll almost always be a net negative.

👋 Enjoy the weekend and 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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