🎵 Spotify hits shuffle

Plus: Private jets vs. the environment, a zombie matching game, Dole Whip news, and more. [View Online]( [The Hustle] The winner of the $2B Powerball jackpot — the largest lottery prize in US history — bought a $25.5m Hollywood Hills mansion replete with an infinity pool and wine cellar. Embarrassingly, the mansion has just one movie theater. In today’s email: - Spotify: Its biggest updates in a decade. - Video: Private jets vs. the environment. - Floppy disks: Still a thing, apparently. - Around the Web: Obscure words, running the experiment, a quirky game, and more cool internet finds. 🎧 On the go? [Listen to today’s podcast]( to hear Jacob and Juliet discuss the new Spotify, Sam Altman’s longevity investment, a surprising candy twist, and more. The big idea [Spotify logo]( Spotify hits play on some big changes The company also released all-new stats about its business. 2023-03-09T00:00:00Z Jacob Cohen We probably heard the words “only on Spotify” ~266x yesterday during the company’s Stream On event — and we were happy to, because we did it for you. So what went down? Mostly, the [biggest changes]( in roughly a decade to the app’s design: Now, instead of a bunch of album covers, the home screen will look more like an endless, vertically scrolling mishmash of autoplaying content from Spotify, TikTok, YouTube, and Audible. - Spotify’s product chief said the new feed is intended to help users save time, but, as The Verge’s Alex Heath also [pointed out](, that “seems antithetical to an endless feed.” Beyond music, Spotify wants to make it easier and more engaging for people to discover and consume the podcast, video, and audiobook content it’s invested in over the years. The company also said… … it now has [500m+]( users; is aiming for 1B by 2030; is nearing [$40B]( in payouts to the music industry; and now accounts for 20%+ of global recorded music revenue, up from under 15% in 2017. 2022 compared to 2017: - 57k artists on Spotify generated $10k+, up from 23.4k. - 10.1k artists generated $100k+, up from 4.3k. - 1k+ artists generated $1m+, up from 460. - The 50,000th highest-earning artist on Spotify made $12.58k, up from $2.84k. Also neat: In 2022, 281k+ songs were streamed 1m+ times each on Spotify. But it wasn’t all feel-good hits On Twitter, many users [said]( they just want the app to keep things simple. The Future of Music Coalition [criticized]( Spotify for bringing the Jonas Brothers on stage to announce new features when smaller artists are the ones who need help monetizing. Others have [questioned]( the early success of Spotify’s move into audiobooks, which has been hurt by the company’s [predicament]( with Apple. Want more: Check out our [deep dive]( into the economics of Spotify. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Spotify+hits+play+on+some+big+changes%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F03092023-Spotify%3Futm_campaign%3DThursday%2BEmail%26utm_content%3D03092023-Spotify%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( TRENDING [eyeball wearing a hat] The Dole Whip — a soft-serve and pineapple combo beloved by Disneyland and Disney World guests — is coming to a grocery store near you. It’s one of [11 new Dole products](, including probiotic sodas. SNIPPETS Add 10 years to the average human life span — that’s the goal of Retro Biosciences, which MIT Technology Review [confirmed]( secured $180m in funding from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Humane, a startup co-founded by a husband-and-wife duo, [raised]( $100m, partly from Altman, bringing its total to $230m. It’s unclear what Humane does, but patents hint at an interactive, wearable projector device. Inching forward: GM is [reportedly]( building just a dozen Hummer EVs daily, in a slower-than-hoped rollout of the vehicle, which has an 80k-person waitlist. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom [announced]( that it will match Delta’s 40% pay bump for pilots. A pilot shortage has led to delays and cancellations across the industry. SunnyD is getting into… cocktails? It’s rolling out a [canned vodka seltzer]( at select Walmart locations this month. Huh: WWE met with Colorado and Michigan gambling regulators about legalizing [betting on matches](. Yes, they are scripted, but WWE said wrestlers won’t know who wins until just hours beforehand. Market moves: Stripe is [reportedly]( raising $6B at a $50B valuation, and Uber is [considering]( spinning off its Uber Freight logistics division. Blue Origin is facing two lawsuits [accusing]( the space company of age discrimination: one from a hiring manager who claims he was told to find younger candidates, another from a 64-year-old job applicant. Ticketmaster [bungled]( Eurovision sales, just months after the Taylor Swift debacle. Fans reported numerous website issues when trying to buy tickets to the now-sold-out competition. FROM THE BLOG [laptop] If you could choose between a bottle of shampoo with your name on it and one with generic branding, which would you grab? We have a guess, and so do the businesses using personalization as a [branding tactic]( that plays to your psychology. Video [Kylie Jenner’s flight path]( 2023-03-09T00:00:00Z Our latest video: How bad are private jets for the environment? Also, TBT to the time Kylie Jenner’s $72m Bombardier BD 700 took a 17-minute flight, making up [~25%]( of an average plebe’s annual carbon footprint. [Watch the clip →]( Free Resource How to reach more of the billion on Instagram Before you post anything powerful, please consult the 2023 [Instagram Engagement Report](. We worked with social media experts at Mention to decode data from over 37m posts. Read concise summaries on engagement strategy, caption crafting, hashtag trends, and more. Inside this report: - The state of Instagram in 2023 - Global and regional breakdowns (NAM, UKI, and APAC) - How top brands like Nike tackle storytelling - How you stack up against your region and niche - What and when to post (with copious charts) - Pointers for captions and hashtags - 10 tips for viral video content Hope this helps you rack up the wins. [For the ‘gram →]( Throwback [floppy disk]( The floppy disk is still kickin’ The humble floppy disk, invented in 1971, is still in use today. 2023-03-09T00:00:00Z Sara Friedman Once upon a time, before the cloud, flash drives, or CDs were [invented]( to store our files, there was a humble plastic square called a floppy disk. Released in [1971](, the floppy disk (which today’s young’uns might recognize only as the “save” icon) allowed people to transfer data and programs between computers. Although the last major manufacturer, Sony, stopped making floppy disks in [2011](, there’s still some tech that relies on the remaining supply, per [Wired](. The floppy disk is still used in: - Airplanes like some Boeing 747s and 767s, and [Airbus A320s]( - Medical equipment and embroidery [machines]( - San Francisco’s [subway system]( - Chuck E. Cheese animatronics (but not for [much longer]() Floppies were even used in the US [nuclear weapons]( program up until 2019. And, they can be a medium for some pretty cool [art](. While the world goes digital… … one man holds his ground. Tom Persky runs [floppydisk.com]( from a California warehouse filled with hundreds of thousands of disks. - He sells ~1k floppy disks per day (3.5-inch disks are most popular) - Almost 25 years ago, disks sold for as little as seven cents; now, Persky sells 3.5-inch disks for $1 each - The site also recycles disks, completes data transfers, and resells used or broken disks Welp, we said the word “floppy” too much and now it sounds weird. [Here's why]( it’s called that, BTW. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=The+floppy+disk+is+still+kickin%E2%80%99%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F03092023-floppy-disks%3Futm_campaign%3DThursday%2BEmail%26utm_content%3D03092023-floppy-disks%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( AROUND THE WEB 🛣️ On this day: In 1985, the first [Adopt-a-Highway]( sign appeared on Texas’s Highway 69 featuring the Tyler Civitan Club. Engineer James Evans came up with the idea a year earlier after noticing litter on the road. 🧠Useful: Check out [this website]( to learn obscure words and “Scrabble” tips. 🧪 How to: “Run the experiment” to [stop]( overthinking. 🧟 Cure boredom: “[Gridland](” seems like a simple matching game set in a zombie apocalypse, but it gets complicated quickly. 🐢 Aww:  And now, [to the sea](! Tweet [Zoom meetings tweet] Pregame warmups wouldn’t hurt either. ([Link](.) TELL FRIENDS → GET PRIZES Help your friends aboard our growing pirate ship. Share The Hustle Daily to start winning loot. [all prizes]( [Share The Hustle 🤠→]( Or copy this custom referral link: [ Your referral count: 0 How did you like today’s email? [Love It]( [Meh]( [Hate It]( Today's email was brought to you by [Jacob Cohen](, [Juliet Bennett Rylah](, [Sara Friedman](, and [Rob Litterst](. Editing by: Mark “SunnyD sommelier” Dent. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. 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