The Daily Valet. - 5/27/22, Friday

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May 27, 2022

Friday, May 27th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

Will I eventually be able to cash in on my entire catalog of newsletters?

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

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Today’s Big Story

Justin Timberlake Cashes In

He is the latest to sell his entire music catalog on the booming song acquisition marketplace

Justin Timberlake has become the latest musician to sell his music catalog for a huge payout. London-based firm Hipgnosis Song Management announced Thursday the purchase of all the singer’s copyrights on tracks he wrote or co-wrote.

The deal gives the private equity firm full ownership and control over some 200 songs, a stable of hits that includes “Cry Me a River,” “SexyBack” and “Mirrors” from his solo career; and that song from the Trolls movie that no one could avoid for much of 2016.

The dollar figure behind the deal wasn’t officially disclosed, insiders valued it upwards of $100 million, reports the The Wall Street Journal. Maybe it’s because I’m a longtime fan (we go back to the original NSYNC days), but this seems kinda low, right? Then again, while he was a defining voice of the early aughts, he’s felt semi-retired (at least musically) for the last decade or so.

Owning one’s masters is one of the most important recurring topics within the music industry today (just ask Taylor Swift), but it can be just as important for artists to understand how to use and profit from them as well. Timberlake now joins the ranks of such artists as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Stevie Nicks who have all sold off all or part of their back catalogs recently. Why are they forgoing future royalties and creative control over their songs?

A former music executive compares being a musician with a catalog of hits to owning a house now someplace like Austin, Texas. “All of a sudden, the market is crazy, and everybody’s paying ridiculous sums of money—the kind of stuff you never thought you’d see. And people worry it’s a bubble,” she told NPR. “Maybe it will stay that way. You know, maybe that’s the right time to sell.”

The pandemic is part of it, too. Touring and other performances were stalled for some time. Which explains why so many sales went down in 2020 and ’21. Some in the industry say the market for catalogs could be starting to cool. But the fact that Timberlake just pocketed a hundred million shows there is still a healthy market for pricey transactions. And might explain why you could be hearing his old music more in the near future.

↦ Dig Deeper: Here’s a running list of all the artists who have sold some or all of their song catalogues.

Hidden Ancient City Discovered

A sprawling set of urban structures was just unearthed in a remote Amazon region

The Amazon is one of the planet's last great wildernesses, but legends have circulated for centuries that lost cities existed deep within the forests. Now the plot has taken a new twist, as scientists have discovered that ancient cities really did exist in the Amazon, reports Smithsonian.

Researchers have discovered the remains of an ancient Amazonian settlement in Bolivia. Remnants of the 1,500-year-old settlement were found in forested mounds using advanced laser-mapping technology capable of penetrating the dense vegetation.

The ruins of the settlement features a 72-foot tall pyramid, huge earthen platform buildings and miles of elevated roads and canals. Several sites are surrounded by successive rings of moat and rampart fortifications.

The find is “mind blowing,” according to one member of the research team. And it upends long-held beliefs among many experts that the region lacked sophisticated societies until European colonizers arrived in the 16th century.

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IKEA Reworks Its Iconic Bags in Black

Call it a remix by Swedish House Mafia

Two Swedish powerhouses have just unveiled their inaugural collaboration. IKEA is collaborating with musical supergroup Swedish House Mafia.

Fresh from headlining Coachella, the group is reimagining the iconic and nearly indestructible FRAKTA bags. There are three versions of the familiar woven polypropylene bag—all focused on musicians and creators. One bag is catered toward cords and cables, the second can carry up to 100 vinyl records, and the final is the traditional FRAKTA bag, but in all-black.

In fact, all the bags—set to arrive this coming fall—will be in Swedish House Mafia's signature color. The collection will also include over 20 furniture pieces, interior products and home styling accessories for “creators with limited means but unlimited creativity.” The furniture pieces are set to be revealed on June 9 at IKEA Festival during Milan Design Week, reports Uproxx.

Speaking on the collaboration, Friso Wiersma, in-house designer, IKEA of Sweden, told Hypebeast, “It had been a dream for the guys to make a FRAKTA, but they wanted to add something more to it. Talking about functionality and how they would use it in their daily life, it became clear that we wanted to solve different problems—and that we couldn't do it all in just one bag style.” I'm all for cool, limited-edition collaborations that are useful and (even better) affordable.

↦ FYI: The classic 19-gallon FRAKTA bag can reportedly hold a weight limit of 55 lbs.

A Weekend Pairing

‘City of Orange’ + a Desert Sun Cocktail

I'll be traveling for the holiday weekend and you might be too. So I thought for this week's installment of the Weekend Pairing, I'd suggest a book that could kick off your summer reading. City of Orange, out today, is best-selling author David Yoon's literary fiction debut. Talk about an escape: The story kicks off with a man waking up in a desert wasteland with no memory of who he is, where he is, or how he got there.

With only fragments of memories and no idea what caused the destruction to the world around him, he sets off into the desert in hopes of survival—and maybe to unravel the many mysteries that plague his current reality. The book is getting great reviews so far. Publishers Weekly calls it an atmospheric character study and “Yoon finds the tension in the smallest of acts,Ý while Booklist says the book “encourages readers to think deeply about how they might handle the situation ... it takes big risks, but they pay off dramatically in the end.”

↦ Your Pairing:I wanted something spicy and refreshing to sip while turning the pages. How about this summer cocktail from Patron? It mixes Reposado tequila with Citrónge Orange Liqueur and adds some fizz with a splash of grapefruit soda. Of course, it's the spicy Tajín salted rim for me.

In Other News

↦ Gunman’s Final 90 Minutes Fuel Questions About Police Delays

↦ Is ‘Cancel Culture’ Finally Over?

↦ Here’s What a 16.6 Second NASCAR Pit Stop Looks Like in Slow Motion

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

The new Gucci Oura ring

Ray Liotta’s best roles

The ‘Gray Man’ trailer

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Researchers estimate that men have roughy a 40% chance of developing ED by age 40—with this risk increasing by 10 percent with each additional decade. And while there's nothing to be ashamed of, it's not exactly an easy thing to bring up to your primary care doctor. Which is why hims has become a real lifesaver for a lot of men.

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