The AvA Connection

🐝 The Weekly Buzz

Netflix smashed Q4 with 18.9 million new subscribers. Q4 was fueled by the Tyson-Paul “fight,” Carry On, the NFL Games (ohhhh you mean the Beyoncé Concert?) on Christmas Day, and Squid Game Season 2. Shares of the company rose 10% shortly after the news, which now values them at $400M or double the worth Disney. The streaming service is reportedly set to raise subscription prices in a trio of countries including the US. More on that here.

The Oscars Nominations have been announced.

• Leading the pack is Emilia Pérez with 13 nominations. Wicked and The Brutalist followed with 10 each.

• Best Picture Nominations below (you can now BET on the winner of these which is pretty fun). (I’d insert legal language here about betting if I had a lawyer).

• Snubs? Zero noms for Madam Web, Challengers (recency bias strikes again?), Babygirl, Furiosa, Longlegs & probably many others depending on who you’re asking.

Trevor Noah is set to host the Grammys for the fifth time, tying LL Cool J for second-most appearances. Only Andy Williams has hosted more (seven times).

After 35 years, IMDb founder Col Needham is stepping down as CEO. IMDb has been the go-to rabbit hole for figuring out what other movie that random barista was in—so thank you for your service, Col. Fun fact: IMDb is owned by Amazon, which is why you see actor names pop up at the bottom of your screen when streaming on Prime.

Ryan Gosling is in talks to star in an upcoming Star Wars film, set to be directed by Shawn Levy (Deadpool & Wolverine). Gosling’s hot stream shows no signs of cooling.

📞 The Call Log: Lane 8 - Artist

Denver-based Daniel Goldstein, better known as Lane 8, is a renowned American DJ and producer known for his melodic house style. He debuted the This Never Happened show concept, attached to his Little by Little tour, in 2016. The idea was simple (but revolutionary at the time) attendees were prohibited from recording the shows with cell phones or cameras on the basis of encouraging attendees to be present.

He launched, and now runs his own record label, also called This Never Happened, and has played nearly every prominent festival worldwide including Coachella, Tomorrowland, Electric Forest, Bonnaroo, Ultra Music, Outside Lands and many more overseas.

Our conversation is below:

AvA: How has the role of an Artist changed most since you've launched your career? 

Lane 8: I don’t think the role of the artist has changed that much, actually. The artist’s job is still to convey meaning and emotion through their work. What has changed a lot are mediums and what is expected of artists, for eg that they become 24/7 entertainers in the circus of social media. But I would argue that’s something quite different than art. 

AvA: One my personal favorite concerts of all time was your show in L.A. that prohibited phones. The concept, This Never Happened, has evolved in a big way since. Can you talk about that evolution? 

Lane 8: Our shows may have become larger in terms of scale, but the idea is still the same. Getting a big group of people off their phones so they can dive headfirst into a communal musical experience creates an incredible level of atmosphere and connection. And that's ultimately what it's all about, that's why I fell in love with electronic music in the first place. I really love that we are fortunate enough to do TNH shows in such a fulfilling way and that our fans have embraced the concept over the last 8 years of doing these no-phone shows.

AvA: How do you balance running your own label (TNH) while focusing on developing your own career? 

Lane 8: Honestly, it feels like for every hour I spend working on anything Lane 8 related, I spend about 20 hours on various label side quests. And there are times where it feels that I'm spreading myself too thin. But I have a lot of fun running the label, and ultimately I care and root for every artist we sign. Being in that position feels like a privilege almost always, and it's really rewarding when we develop long term partnerships and there's mutual respect and appreciation for all the effort that goes into it. 

AvA: What is the biggest challenge facing the music industry today? 

Lane 8: There are a lot of challenges. I would say an oversaturation of choice is the biggest problem for those who want to break through. And it’s not just the mind-bending amount of music being released every week, we are also competing with many other forms of "content", even on platforms that were built entirely off the backs of musicians themselves. That part feels pretty unfair, but it is what it is, and we don't have much choice but to roll with the tide and try to do things with integrity and pride. I do think though, as a result of the oversaturation of choice, there is a sort of race to the bottom, where the competition to grab people's attention within 1-2 seconds becomes so intense it's almost crushing any sense of subtlety in any music that gets put out. In some ways that's very sad, but I also feel like it leaves the door open in a certain way.

AvA: What about the biggest opportunity? 

Lane 8: There is some level of opportunity for those who are willing to build things in a slow, methodical and sustainable way. It’s not sexy but it still can work. What it does take is a huge amount of faith - when every signal is telling artists that if they don't achieve a certain level of viral success, they will never get anywhere. I just know that these days I am still seeking music that is emotionally rich and dynamic, and trying to ignore shallow cheap imitations, and I know I can't be the only one who feels that way. It's hard to ignore the bite-sized content that media platforms are now serving up in an endless loop, but I think doing just that is the only way to a) stay sane and b) have some hope of creating something with actual meaning beyond the 15 seconds someone is looking at it.

AvA: What is one piece of advice you have for Artists just beginning their career? 

Lane 8: I think most people trying to be artists need to be bigger fans first and expand their musical palette. That means listening to lots of different music, not just one genre or whatever is the popular flavor of the moment clique of today that you want to copy. The more you develop your taste in music beyond what most people listen to, the more interesting things you will have to say in your own work

AvA: Dream collaboration?

Lane 8: Mos Def 

AvA: Favorite venue?

Lane 8: Red Rocks

AvA: Top Artist on your own 2024 Wrapped? 

Lane 8: Kara Talve and Anze Rozman who did the score for the series “Prehistoric Planet” on Apple TV. My son was obsessed with that show and we listened to the soundtrack in the car a lot!

AvA: If you had to change careers (outside of the Music Industry) what would you do?

Lane 8: My last job was as a geologist! I'd probably crawl back to that with my tail between my legs (let's hope this doesn't happen)

👋 See you back here on Tuesday for Entertainment jobs & news.

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