The Pace Report: Volume 5

Boutique, artist-led experiences are on the rise, and they’re hardly just another gig.

From impromptu pop-up shows in unconventional settings to artist-led festivals that invite attendees into the artists' creative universe, the boundaries of live performance spaces are rapidly being redrawn.

Kygo’s globe-trotting Palm Tree Festival is heading to Cairo where some of the perks include a welcome meal with the artists, 5-star hotel accommodations, and sunset rides on camelback around The Great Pyramids. Meanwhile, Diplo is headed on a week-long, mid-December cruise to Antarctica where tickets begin at an eye-watering $16,000 per person.

While luxury has always been a facet of the entertainment industry, its convergence with these experiences is particularly noteworthy. The contemporary VIP experience at these events goes beyond a backstage pass; it embodies a promise of unparalleled immersion.

In August of 2020, the launch of Instagram reels was hardly an instant hit, but three years later Meta’s bet on short-form video content is paying off. Originally developed in response to the meteoric popularity of TikTok during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company’s pivot towards prioritizing Reels related content did not sit well with Instagram’s most prolific users including Kylie Jenner.

However, despite the initial skepticism and even resentment towards the changes, Reels continues to demonstrate strong momentum starting with a 57.4% year-over-year increase in usage between 2022 and 2023. Beyond the top-line growth, 74% of Instagram users are now using Reels and 80% of brands have posted at least one Reel since the feature launched.

Perhaps most importantly, however, the adoption rate of Reels suggests Instagram is taking market share from TikTok, as one recent Morgan Stanley study indicated. Addressing investors, the firm writes, "This flattening of TikTok adoption as other platforms rise is notable.” You can read more on the results of their survey here.

There’s a new battleground quietly emerging amid Big Tech’s quest for AI supremacy. This summer, both Google and Facebook launched proprietary generative music solutions, MusicLM and Audiocraft respectively. Both are large language models which allow for text-to-audio based output based on user prompts. Likewise, both models are free and accessible to all users.

Prompting these models results in the output of audio clips between 10 and 30 seconds in length, so while you won’t be generating a full track with either of these models just yet, their ease of use and high-fidelity outputs are likely to inspire musicians and producers alike to incorporate them into their creative process.

Meta has differentiated itself from competition by launching Audiocraft as an open-source solution, a move it says demonstrates the company’s commitment towards advancing the field of generative audio. “While we’ve seen a lot of excitement around generative AI for images, video, and text, audio has seemed to lag a bit behind,” Meta said in a company blog post. “There’s some work out there, but it’s highly complicated and not very open, so people aren’t able to readily play with it.”

Known for providing merchandise solutions to social media creators, Fanjoy has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after a decade in business. The once meteoric e-commerce company currently owes over $1 million to industry partners, suppliers, and creators.

Fanjoy’s partnerships, which included the likes of Jake Paul, Addison Rae, and more extended to the upper echelons of social media influence. What began as an asset-light, print-on-demand business model would transform materially following a 30x in year-over-year sales in 2017. The company brought on a dedicated sourcing team and began producing domestically out of Miami. The pandemic era brought further momentum and change as the company partnered with Mad Engine on a robust go-to-market strategy for retail and storefront locations.

Fanjoy’s bankruptcy amid broader macroeconomic headwinds has stoked fear that the once profitable merchandising creator revenue stream may be under threat. However, Fanjoy’s downfall is more likely attributable to the fact that creators are savvier than ever when it comes to setting up independent stores themselves, which may render managed partnerships with 3rd party services similar to Fanjoy less attractive going forward.