It’s Thursday and a new game from ad agency McKinney is bringing players face-to-face with the realities of racial bias in AI. So…”Are You Blacker Than ChatGPT?”

HEAD IN THE GAME

Moonbug is bringing on a former Spotify exec as its first-ever Head of Music

Moonbug (aka the parent company of YouTube and Netflix sensations like Cocomelon) has hired Spotify vet Courtney Holt to fill a brand-new position.

The role: Holt will take on the role of Head of Music and Audio Initiatives at Moonbug. In that newly created position, the exec will oversee both the company’s music label and its audio and music team from Los Angeles.

The resume: As Moonbug CEO and Founder René Rechtman noted in a recent statement, Holt’s “proven track record” makes him a strong choice for Head of Music.

• After working at “Big Three” labels like Warner Music and Universal Music Group, the exec transitioned to MTV and then to MySpace. He later served as the long-term COO (and briefly CEO) of Maker Studios—a network acquired by Disney in 2014—before moving on to Spotify.

The context: Rechtman (who previously served as Maker’s President of International) is looking to Holt to strengthen Moonbug’s position in the music industry—and it’s not difficult to see why. Original and adapted music has long played a crucial role in the success of some of Moonbug’s top properties, including CoComelon.

• With streaming on the rise and social media’s influence over the music industry growing steadily, multichannel networks like Moonbug stand to gain millions from their catalogs of original content.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Fujifilm is adding to its TikTok-famous X100 line with the upcoming release of a brand-new creator-friendly camera: the X100VI. (Tubefilter)
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• Reddit is officially going public. According to Engadget, the platform has filed for an Initial Public Offering on the New York Stock Exchange. (Engadget)
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• A new study from Pew Research Center found that approximately 48% of adult TikTok users have never posted a video. (TechCrunch)
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• Bluesky announced on Thursday that users will be able to store their own data by hosting individual servers. (The Verge)

COLUMNS • STREAMERS ON THE RISE 📈

KiwiOnTheSticks is ready to “elevate and push forward” in 2024

KiwiOnTheSticks grew up on video games—but for a while, she didn’t actually play them.

How it started: KiwiOnTheSticks spent most of her childhood hanging out with her older brothers. They loved video games, so she’d sit and watch them play titles like Resident Evil and Castlevania (aka the kind of games likely to terrify a little kid).

• Then, one day, Kiwi came across Kingdom Hearts at a sleepover. That title, she says, “really proved to me that I love video games myself, but also that I would be able to play them and I didn’t just have to be the spectator at this point.”
  
  

• As soon as Kiwi realized that gaming wasn’t just for boys, she was all in. She continued playing Kingdom Hearts, discovered her love for Splatoon as an adult, and eventually co-founded a competitive team.
  
  

• It was then that Twitch came into the picture. Kiwi was looking for a way to learn the ropes of Splatoon 2 (and maybe make a few friends in the process) when one of her teammates started streaming. So, she decided to set up a channel of her own.

How it’s going: Nearly five years later, Kiwi is a full-time streamer with over 20,000 followers and plenty of impressive milestones under her belt—including a three-month ambassadorship with Epic Games and a Twitch billboard in Time Square.

What’s up next: Those achievements are only the beginning for Kiwi. In addition to manifesting the sight of her “giant head on a TwitchCon campaign,” she’s focused on “growing in the sense of my capabilities and how I’m working. I still want to stream, but I want to elevate and push forward.”

LET’S MAKE A DEAL

BuzzFeed just sold Complex for $108.6 million

Complex is switching hands for the second time in three years.

All-cash deal: In 2021, BuzzFeed gained control of Complex Networks through an acquisition that covered multiple verticals. Now, the internet media company is passing some of those rights to NTWRK in a $108.6 million all-cash deal (per Variety).

• That acquisition will give NTWRK control of the flagship Complex brand, while BuzzFeed will retain the right to certain brands in the Complex Networks portfolio, including Hot Ones home First We Feast.

The plan: Two years after raising a $50 million funding round, NTWRK has tapped into “drop culture” to sell exclusive items alongside celebs like T-Pain and Blackpink. Now, the brand plans to leverage its acquisition of Complex to establish a digital hub focused on key themes like art and streetwear. Levant describes that destination as “the definitive global content, commerce, and experiential platform of convergence culture.”

• Music is another crucial aspect of NTWRK’s plan. In addition to granting independent artists access to its upcoming platform, the company is partnering with UMG labels Interscope Geffen A&M and Capitol Music Group to develop experiences that will target music fans.

The ramifications: BuzzFeed has a very different plan for its $108.6 million haul. As part of its confirmation of Complex’s acquisition, BuzzFeed indicated that it will lay off 16% of its remaining staffers.

• In a statement, Founder Jonah Peretti noted that BuzzFeed’s latest round of layoffs and the sale of Complex will give the company “the ability to accelerate innovation powered by AI.”

WATCH THIS 📺

The new Borderlands trailer has major Guardians of the Galaxy vibes

The teaser: Borderlands might not be the same Twitch sensation it was in the 2010s, but plenty of long-time players are still hyped for the upcoming film—especially now that they’ve gotten a peek at the action.

• After leaving fans in suspense for nearly a decade, Lionsgate has at last dropped a trailer starring Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Ariana Greenblatt. The 3-minute teaser is as irreverent as fans might expect, with off-kilter humor and a poppy soundtrack that channels Guardians of the Galaxy.

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. Drew Baldwin helped edit, too. It's a team effort.