EDITORS NOTE: 

Today will be the last Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins on the Substack platform. 

It's time to go.

I've had nothing but excellent experiences with the Substack team. My start on this platform came from a DM from Hamish in late 2018. Initially, this thing was a Tinyletter, and I saw an opportunity to build something that reflected my voice and perspective. Substack has been a great platform to be a part of; I appreciate all of the people who were introduced to my work through it. Becoming a Substack Mentor last year was a highlight for me when I needed it most emotionally. Being featured next to those big names was a validating feeling when I lost all my freelance income. It was most important because it introduced me to Safy, my mentee—the Brock Lesnar to my Paul Heyman. She's gonna be the Next Big Thing, and without Substack, we wouldn't be connected. The platform also allowed me to take the leap into full-time employment as a publisher. While I'm still drowning (this is the part where I remind you that becoming a paid subscriber is a really cool thing that really cool people do), Substack helped me keep my head above water at times over the last year when things got shaky. 

I try to remember that there are extremes in life. Things are rarely as bad as they might seem, but also, things are seldom as good as they might seem. Being TOO positive (I see you, hustle porn and rise & grind culture) makes it really hard for you to be realistic about the positive experiences you've had in business, which can interfere with how you make your decisions,  and usually sets you up to take a loss. I have no delusions of grandeur about Substack suffering some kind of loss once I and others like me leave the platform. They won’t. . But I also refuse to be cynical about the newsletter industry at this moment. The people who are dooming and glooming the real disruption that these tools provide are incapable of fully appreciating what's in front of them, or see it as a threat to their careers. 

The folks who treat Substack like it's the worst thing in the world are doing too much. 

The folks who decry genuine criticism of Substack as “Cancel Culture” are full of shit.

In the middle, there's folks like me. Folks who saw the writing on the wall from the get, and who once they get their sea legs will say “so long, and thanks for all the fish.” 

I understand that actions like what I'm taking reek of pretensions or some kind of posturing meant to come off as me seeming holier-than-thou. Still, I have no political base to whip into a fury. I could easily have written this from the perspective of creating a fear-based narrative. I believe that's how a lot of the politically-minded writers are finessing the right as we speak. Let me tell ya something, brother; it's far more effective and profitable to tell y'all that all of your fears are going to come true (and/or all of your wildest dreams are going to come true) than to be a Debbie Downer about NFT's. I trust that my readers are adult enough to hear things they will disagree with and be curious to learn more, not dunk their heads in the sand.

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All that said, I'm leaving Substack a few different reasons. 

*Before we get there, I think it's essential to provide some context for folks who haven't been up on the drama* around Substack. There are some dynamite points brought up in this piece by Jude Ellison Sady Doyle. This piece  does an overall good job at laying out some of the issues that were expanded upon in Jude's writing (though I disagree with the "scam" thing. If that's the case, every social platform that has ever existed is a sca—oh wait)

Firstly:  Substack and the people who make the decisions in the building see value in catering to the opinions of people either... 

1. Don’t like folks who look like me.

or 

2. Don’t like folks who look like me but are in denial of that fact. 

For purely ethical reasons, I want nothing to do with center-right dickheads. Guys, I'm from Chicago. Don't let the blue state thing fool you; I've heard every center-right talking point you can listen to my whole life. Half the Matt Yglesias's and Bari Weiss' of the worlds "independent thinking" is just reheated talking points churned out by University of Chicago jagoffs who dress like William F. Buckley and read goofy fascist shit like Storm of Steel when they aren't ruining every bar they go into. 

From a platform standpoint, it sucks because Substack is a GREAT product. I believe they stuck the landing on all the hard stuff that nearly all creator economy brands seem to miss: building community, creating a destination people want to go to, and prioritizing visibility. And despite arguments to the contrary, Substack is a publisher now. By paying people to publish on their platform, they are a publisher to 99% of the average American, if they've heard of Substack at all. I'm not "Ernest, a writer.” I'm a "Substacker.” Through 0% of my own choice, I am lumped in with everyone who has ever set up a publication on this platform. As such, it doesn't matter what my politics are, I'm going to be lumped in with a bunch of people that I truly would love nothing more than to kick in the chest.

The thing is, they fumbled the ball here, even if they don't want to seem to admit it yet. Having language against hate speech in the TOS, then not enforcing it, then saying "it is important to us to not have hate speech, so that's why it's in the TOS" is not being accountable. Besides, the Substack Pro thing would have gone a lot easier if they were transparent off rip, methinks. Like, does anyone know the criteria to be chosen, other than "big audience"? Isn't that what we just did with Digg and all those other sites? I think it's messy as hell that they picked people for those Pro deals based on what appears to solely be a "large audience?" but never telling anyone who they are? That doesn't sound right, no matter what first amendment language you use to explain it. 

Secondly: The biggest reason I am leaving is because Substack's embrace of center-right talking heads has directly led to a decrease in my income on the platform. No hyperbole here. I've lost anywhere between $400 and $1100 in churned subscriber revenue due to paid subscribers not wanting to give money to this platform anymore. I need it to be clear that for the two years on Substack before this, I had a 0% subscriber churn rate. Go ask your buddy who works in publishing about that stat. It was one of the only stats I indeed was proud of.

But I don’t blame those people for unsubscribing!  I believe in everyone's right to support what they want with their hard-earned money. But I also believe I should create the best possible environment for the folks who support my creations. 

Thirdly: . I am leaving Substack because I can feel myself succumbing to the same hierarchical thinking that plagued my time as a journalist. We’ve established that Substack is now a Publisher...and I’m very aware that what I’ve been doing here doesn’t appeal to the type of consumer they’re trying to attract. Therefore, to subject my feeble lil' brain to a fake competition to reach "the top" is frankly a waste of time.

Now, I don't want to come off as bitter or jealous because I wasn't chosen for one of these Substack Pro deals. Even if they were courting left-wing minorities (and for all I know, they might be?), I don’t see a world in which Substack would have offered me any money. My audience isn't huge or even impressive to the average media publisher. I don't have a book deal, a development deal, an agent, or a reel of talking head segments. I've never been in the NYT or WaPo or the Journal or the Atlantic. As a businessperson, I'm the living embodiment of "scrappy," or whatever we use colloquially to say, "broke but ambitious." Keyword on that "broke" part. Save for a few Hail Mary gigs and the enduring love and support of my wife, this isn't some kind of profitable situation for me yet. I get up every morning and work on this thing because I believe in it. Apparently, you do too, so I'm leaving Substack to create an experience that will be the best for you, my beloved subscribers.

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I see the Newsletter Industrial Complex going down the same way podcasts and blogs did: A few players spark interest in a media thing as an opportunity to finally "make it", which leads to an influx of folks trying to hit it quickly, which leads to a few notables dropping heat consistently and everyone else either getting bored and moving onto the next thing or letting their brand lapse because they thought success would come quicker. I confidently believe Substack will become the home of the center-right, and I'm not the only one.

It gets depressing, you know. From early on, marginalized folks are not meant to succeed in these industries if we play by the same rules. From the printing press to the newsletter to the news app, unless strictly stated beforehand, we will always be deprioritized, save those of us with broad appeal to big numbers and white crossover appeal. Honestly doesn't this whole thing feel like we're going to see a grant or something placating the writers of color or marginalized folks with medium-size audiences that are still on Substack in a few months? Some kind of "blazing new voices" horseshit?

I don't want to be one of those tokens. Not for any amount of $. I want to succeed or fail on my own terms. I don't want a handout because some white guy feels terrible, you know? How many times does success in life for folks like me come down to that?

I never planned to be here forever anyway, so this is me pushing myself out of my comfort zone and forcing myself to stand and deliver. I'm doing this all for you readers. I want you to be proud of your subscription, and I want you to get mad that people are sleeping on what we're building. I want to make you smarter. I want to make you better understand the cultural industries and the bridge between the people with taste and the people with money. I want you to take something from this newsletter and finesse it into a colossal check that will change your family's lives forever. I believe where we're going next will deliver the best value for you, the reader, in exchange for your continued support. Now, onto details:

• As this is the last newsletter on Substack, we're going to be dark for the next two weeks while migrating current subscribers over to our new home. There is nothing for you to do on your end other than to tell everyone that gets what we're doing here about Office Hours.

• Paid subscribers: I'm committed to bringing you a better overall experience. I'm moving away from the Slack channel concept, as I know it reminds people of work. I'm working on a few scenarios where we'll be able to have a community exchange around the topics around the newsletter. If you have thoughts on things you’d like to see/get, please reach out! 

WANNA HELP ME OUT?:

• Free Subscribers: It would mean the world to me if you could become a paid supporter of my work. Like I said up top, this is currently my full-time job and Daddy needs a new pair of…everything?

Subscribe now

• Sponsor the newsletter: Are you a brand in a culture that wants to get in front of about 3,000 readers between 19 and 45 across 14 countries? My open rate averages between 38% - 45%. Email us for one of those shiny decks about how we can help you!

• Tell Friends: When we go live in our new home, tell everyone. Tell people to sign up now, so they don't miss the next issue. Just TELL people about this thing!

• Bookmark the new home of the newsletter: OfficeHoursNewsletter.com. Right now, it should bring you to this Substack page, but that will change soon. Like I said, bookmark it.

• Follow this thing on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

  ---

AROUND THE WORLD

Black Friendship, Broadcast (NYT)

One of the most obvious things about a good podcast that so many people ignore is the fact that I should feel like I'm part of a fantastic club when I listen to it. These two have that energy in Costco-sized packages. Their pod is like listening to two of my cousins talking shit and having fun, which adds to my enjoyment of the pod, lowkey. Very happy for their glow-up, I am so happy for these two.

"Politics is personal, and whether or not a voter responds to a politician is dependent on so many factors—both internal and external—that it's easy to speak too broadly. Biases around race, gender, and sexuality complicate our discussion. And we cannot forget that likability is ultimately a question of taste and sensibility—which are class proxies.Like I said—it's a hard conversation, requiring a lot of nuance.

We did not get a nuanced online discussion of Pete Buttigieg during the primaries."

SHEESH, what a read from a former digital staffer for Mayor Pete.

The Rise of the Athlete Podcaster (New Yorker)

I love this piece, as well as any attempts by ex-pro athletes to branch out into the next phase of their career on the media side.

Maker of Dove Soap Will Drop the Word ‘Normal’ From Beauty Products (NYT)

Fuck "normal". Who is normal? What is normal? For all the "normal" people you can think of, are you sure you're not just using "normal" as an excellent way to say "that person is boring"? 

TUNES:

NEW PLAYLIST: COOKIN’ WITH THE WILKINS’

I really dislike most “cooking” playlists, so I made a better one. This is what we listen to when we’re making delicious meals aka tater tots in the air fryer. BEST ON SHUFFLE.

Listen on: SPOTIFY / APPLE MUSIC / TIDAL

CATCH UP ON SEASON 2 OF THE PODCAST:

While we’re dark, listen to season 2 of the podcast. We’ve featured interviews with some big thinkers across cultural industries. Click here to pick your preferred podcast platform and subscribe so you never miss a new episode. As a bonus, that link contains every episode of The Office Hours w/me podcast, including all of Season 1.

• Amanda Mull, The Atlantic

• Ana Andjelic, who was recently named the NEW Chief Brand Officer for Banana Republic!

• Josh Spector, For The Interested/Newsletter Creators

• Kellie Pean and Alyssa Convertini of BNAC

• Jarrod Dicker, Washington Post

• Simon Owens, The Business of Content newsletter

• Folu Akinkuotu, of the Unsnackable newsletter and the creator of the #HumblebragDiet.

• Maria Cristina Sherman, author of “Larger than Life: A History of Boy Bands from NKOTB to BTS”

• Brands to Watch 2021: The Chicago White Sox

• Brands to Watch 2021: Roon Labs

Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, Illinois. GO GO WHITE SOX, 2021 WORLD SERIES CHAMPS BAYBEEEEEE.

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EDITOR’S NOTE:

Do you ever get the feeling you're the only one who sees something? Like, you think you see the world pretty normally, until you see a problem that others can’t? Then you just feel insane. 

I believe that those of us who consider ourselves to be "cultured” have already lost the battle for the minds of young American men. And if we don’t make immediate moves, we’re all going to suffer the consequences of our inaction. 

Sounds crazy, right?

Now, this might sound like it's coming out of left field. I admit, this issue isn’t as obvious as others (which is perhaps why it isn’t given its due time and attention). And really, I can only speak to the anecdotal experience of my own masculinity. That masculinity was formed almost entirely by culture. Culture shaped everything, from what I was expected to do, to what colors I was expected to wear. As a Midwestern Elder Millennial, I adhere to a vague set of mores, best surmised as follows: 

• You should do what you say you’re going to do. 

• You should be a good neighbor, a good friend, and a great husband and father. 

• You should know how to fix things. 

• You should have assembled a loose set of life skills that our community values and respects. 

• You should be ready to lead, no matter what the circumstances. 

But these things weren’t taught to me in school. As a society, the expectation is that I should be taught all those things by my father. But what happens if a father isn’t around? 

My dad died when I was 14. I learned a lot from him, like "Don't do business with or date anyone who doesn't respect bus drivers or waiters" and "Chicago is how it is because the people with taste have no money and the people with money have no taste". I also learned how to interact with members of the queer community in a respectful fashion and how to always offer my seat to any older woman on the train. Because that's what a real man does. When my mom protested our lobbying to skip church every week to watch the Bears instead would ruin my spiritual awareness, he went to the other parents in my class of different faiths and negotiated a religious crash course where I attended every type of service I had access to. Because a real man understands that he doesn't know everything, so he stays curious.

And then? He was gone.

Enjoying what you’re reading so far? Share this issue with someone that you think would enjoy this newsletter!

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Nature abhors a vacuum. If you don’t fill a gap, someone else will. 

When my dad “left,” like it or not, culture took his place as my primary influence. 

There’s been an influence vacuum around American men for… at least my entire lifetime. Especially white American men. And herein lies the problem. 

More than almost anything else, how white men see themselves in the United States is how the United States sees itself. The American Dream imagery that our nation created and sold to the world is one of the greatest marketing campaigns in history, second maybe only to rebranding kale from "garnish at the buffet" as "super-lettuce that costs $13 in a damn salad.”

If we're gonna stick with this white patriarchy thing (I want it on record that I’m at least down to TRY a matriarchal society. Why not?), then we have to understand that strong white male identity is essential to the development of a strong American culture. I also believe if white American men had better cultural influences, we'd avoid a lot of the issues that have plagued and will continue to plague ALL of us. 

We have to start addressing the larger issue of what we believe "men" do, think, and are in the ever-shifting world. That path, I believe, leads directly to our doorsteps. Yes, sorry to make some of you face reality, but the cultural industries single-handedly influence masculinity, from what men wear to what they aspire to be. What we watch affects who we are.

As this country is still run by white American men, then I believe that the cultural industries need to work our asses off over the next 5 years to create better cultural role models for white American men. Not doing so is continuing to cede control to the facist and white supremacist ideology that has been disguised as “manliness” or “what real men think/believe/do” over the last decade, both on and offline. 

That’s as weird to write as it is to read, I’d imagine. Here I am, a Black man, telling you that the key to life in an America where you don’t have to worry about getting your head blown off at the movies or a festival or a massage parlor or example or example or example or example or example...is to give white men something to look up to. 

If the ideal is what white dudes think it should be, then white dudes need to see better examples of what “the ideal” is across our industries? All kids need to see themselves via media so that they can understand themselves, in full color (pun intended). As it stands, white male culture is now powered by fear. Fear of being the other, fear of losing control, fear of losing power, fear of losing money, fear of losing hair, fear of not being able to get it up, fear of being left out, fear of not fitting in.

If I haven’t convinced you of how serious this is, think about this: In your opinion, who is the coolest white man in America right now? This means American born-and-raised. 

…I’ll wait. 

Who’d you land on? An athlete like Tom Brady? A musician? Did it take you longer than 30 seconds to think of someone? Now do you understand what I’m talking about? 

Like I said before: Nature abhors a vacuum. If you do not fill a gap, something else will. And I believe that's why we are where we are now.

So what should we be teaching these white boys? I don’t know, because I’ve never been white. I can offer that I believe masculinity is reflected in two ways: how a man exists within his community and what his responsibility to his community is. Race aside, I believe that’s how a majority of American men feel “being a man” is all about. Who am I and what do I stand for? 

Currently, there appear to be two polar opposites of the spectrum with regards to how masculinity is presented in the cultural industries. To use an allegory that's familiar to a lot of folks. Right now, what we have is a whole lot of Athens and a whole lot of Sparta. Both in extremes are bad for everyone.

Athens is all about the emotion and the idea to me which, without action, can just turn into endless conversations about ideas and emotions. Sparta is an elimination of emotions themselves. On one side, it’s too sensitive and the other side is too tough. There’s a middle between walking in the street with your dick out because you don’t adhere to capitalist society and this whole cold shower no masturbation be a warrior alpha lion mamba mindset even though you work in marketing for a company that sells shirts. It’s either all indulgence or militaristic discipline with these assholes and their wavering opinions. Guys can’t decide long enough what’s ok to move with positive intent, sometimes. 

I feel like this is why all of your usual favorite guys sites have been feeling a little dry over the past few years. It's not that "everything became political", it's just that you've been monetized to react to concepts online all day. Literally, that's it. It's why you log off after being on Twitter all day and feel a bunch of anxious energy that you don't know what to do with. It's also why you've likely felt grumpier.

You can see examples of the struggles men go through across our cultural industries today. The Joe Budden Podcast, a place that has won tremendous acclaim within some communities for it's honest and...this is going to sound insane to those who are not members of that subculture...safe community for men to not only discuss topics that are taboo to discuss as men in a public setting, but also to talk about the fact that there aren't a ton of viable options for the modern American male to not only find inspiration, but to find a place to be understood.

Anyway, the show is currently going through a bit of turmoil. Show co-hosts Rory and Mal have not appeared on the program for a week plus now and the ensuing conversation around their absence has dominated Twitter and provoked an odd reaction from the men I know that enjoy the show. Whereas any other media fracas would provoke “enough already” feelings, the men I know who follow the pod are secretly worried they’re going to lose one of the few spaces they have to be men. As a media publisher, I hope they can figure it out, because shows like the JBP exactly the kind of public discussion format that allow guys to feel safe to discuss male relationships. I’d assume this is also the main value props for the Barstool Empire.

No matter how we do it, we have to figure out how to talk about men and as men in a way that allows for us to feel safe. That doesn't currently exist in our society in a broader context. Instead, we have a splintered approach to sharing masculinity and the culture around it, and those splinters are fracturing the whole thing. 

Men's lack of emotional intelligence is equal parts nature and nurture. Being soft and weak is a no-no. Talking about your feelings is a no-no. Dealing with complex emotions publicly is a no-no. We don't get the same spaces for vulnerability in society because there are those in power who would prefer that we keep that shit to ourselves.

Now, I cannot even write these words without acknowledging reality. There are a lot of people who make a lot of money keeping things the way they are. I know this because our industries create culture that aims to explore the widening experience and insights of modern male life and do it pretty frequently, only to renege or defund or outright shut down those attempts, seemingly at random.

Some of this resistance is understandable. If my entire worldview hedges on the idea that white men are the alpha and omega, I'm not going to have much interest in hearing about the struggles or issues of someone who isn't me, much less someone I don't respect or even acknowledge.

The looming issue in our culture is not that of the collapse of the empire, or the looming threat of the sovereign citizen, it’s the fact that a frightening amount of us believe this nation doesn’t know what to do with our boys and men other than to teach them they’re always wrong.  

That leads to the thought: What qualities and beliefs do we believe ALL men in America should aspire to have?

Zero percent clue. I can tell you that I’ve spent my whole life looking for the answers to this question. Since I’ve turned 18, here’s where I’ve looked: Online forums, Myspace, P2P sites, GQ, Esquire, GQ Style, Details, Esquire's The Blackbook, GQ U.K. Esquire U.K. Hypebeast, XXL, The Source, BET, MTV, VH1, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, The WB, Disney, UPN, The CW, WGN, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, CNN, TBS, TNT, WCW, WWF, ECW, and the combined efforts of the following multinational conglomerates: Conde Nast, Warner Bros. Viacom and Universal. 

Now here I sit at 35, and I still don’t know much more than I did when I started. 

AROUND THE WORLD: 

Of COURSE Folu made the Cinnamon Toast Crunch shrimp. You should listen to her Office Hours interview, btw.

• “The NFL has officially agreed to add a 17th regular-season game to the schedule starting next year, but what does this mean for overall player salaries?”

• Advice for building a media brand from Brian Morrissey.

• Michael Williams and The Cog-Father talk about good stores. 

• Vanessa Grigoriadis goes in on social media stars and how they’ve changed the cosmetics industry 

• I want it on the record that this newsletter wouldn’t exist without folks like Ann Friedman. She talked to Delia about being I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T.

TUNES: 

SPRING IN THE CITY, NEEDLE IN MY ARM

A new playlist, inspired by getting my first vaccine last week. This might be the first playlist I’ve ever made with a Grateful Dead song on it. Jams from Harry Styles, Coi Leray feat. Lil Durk. Tuxedo, The Growlers, Don Toliver, Twin Peaks and more. 

Spotify / Apple Music / Tidal

CATCH UP ON SEASON 2 OF THE PODCAST:

So far, season 2 has featured interviews with some big thinkers across cultural industries. Click here to pick your preferred podcast platform and subscribe so you never miss a new episode. As a bonus, that link contains every episode of The Office Hours w/me podcast, including all of Season 1.

• Amanda Mull, The Atlantic

• Ana Andjelic, who was recently named the NEW Chief Brand Officer for Banana Republic!

• Josh Spector, For The Interested/Newsletter Creators

• Kellie Pean and Alyssa Convertini of BNAC

• Jarrod Dicker, Washington Post

• Simon Owens, The Business of Content newsletter

• Folu Akinkuotu, of the Unsnackable newsletter and the creator of the #HumblebragDiet.

• Maria Cristina Sherman, author of “Larger than Life: A History of Boy Bands from NKOTB to BTS”

• Brands to Watch 2021: The Chicago White Sox

• Brands to Watch 2021: Roon Labs

This week’s Office Hours Interview: Jack Carlson of Rowing Blazers, one of the 2021 Brands to Watch.

SUPPORT THIS THING:

Did you know, that for less than the cost of a bucket of beers, you can support a Black-owned independent media startup? Become a paid supporter of Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins on an ongoing basis today. $7 a month or $75 a year.

Subscribe now

Can’t do a paid subscription? Consider showing financial support for my work with a one-time donation!

Support Ernest's Work!

Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, Illinois. GO GO WHITE SOX, 2021 WORLD SERIES CHAMPS BAYBEEEEEE.

Hey! This newsletter now has a Twitter and IG. Click the buttons below:

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If this is your first newsletter — welcome, by the way! — this podcast is part of the 2021 Brands to Watch feature. For full context, you can read the whole thing by clicking this cute lil’ button.

Read Brands to Watch 2021

ROON LABS

Cultural Industry: Music

Founded: 2015

Employees: 45+

Why are they a Brand to Watch? How do you make being an audiophile cool? Make a product that’s not only high-quality, but easy-to-use, even for the tech-illiterate. Combine that with a savvy partnership strategy, and it won’t be long until they’re the system of choice for the discerning music listener.

I got on the horn with Marat Berenstein, the Global Music Partnerships & Artist Relations Lead for Roon Labs and we talked about: Roon’s growth despite the staff never meeting each other IRL, how Roon’s tech makes being an audiophile easier than ever, how “audiophile” gets a bad rep,artist ownership of companies, platforms, apps, what “partnerships” roles should look like in cultural industries and much more!

ICYMI:

One week left until the start of the MLB season = perfect time to read/listen to the Brands to Watch interview with the Chicago White Sox!

B2W: Chicago White Sox

CATCH UP ON SEASON 2 OF THE PODCAST:

So far, season 2 has featured interviews with some big thinkers across cultural industries. Click here to pick your preferred podcast platform and subscribe so you never miss a new episode. As a bonus, that link contains every episode of The Office Hours w/me podcast, including all of Season 1.

• Amanda Mull, The Atlantic

• Ana Andjelic, who was just named the NEW Chief Brand Officer for Banana Republic!

• Josh Spector, For The Interested/Newsletter Creators

• Kellie Pean and Alyssa Convertini of BNAC

• Jarrod Dicker, Washington Post

• Simon Owens, The Business of Content newsletter

• Folu Akinkuotu, of the Unsnackable newsletter and the creator of the #HumblebragDiet.

• Maria Cristina Sherman, author of “Larger than Life: A History of Boy Bands from NKOTB to BTS”

SUPPORT THIS THING:

Did you know, that for less than the cost of a bucket of beers, you can support a Black-owned independent media startup? Become a paid supporter of Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins on an ongoing basis today. $7 a month or $75 a year.

Subscribe now

Can’t do a paid subscription? Consider showing financial support for my work with a one-time donation!

Support Ernest's Work!

Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, Illinois. RIP Jessica Walter!

Deadline:

When Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan last week, the $1.9 trillion bill included a significant bump for arts and cultural agencies: $135 million each to the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and $175 million to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Just weeks earlier, he signed an executive order that changed the formula so that self-employed sole proprietors, the lifeblood of arts and culture, could be eligible for larger PPP loans.

Almost two months into the Biden Administration, arts advocates are encouraged but wish for an even greater commitment: A White House adviser, or even an office of the arts, bringing the U.S. closer to the cultural ministries of other countries. The idea is that an arts presence in the White House will elevate the importance of the creative economy.

Even when the Donald Trump White House proposed zeroing out the funding for the agency and other cultural entities, the Republican-controlled Congress soundly resisted it. Trump handed out the National Medal for the Arts but also let the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities dissolve. That happened after some of the remaining members of the PCAH, appointed during the Obama administration, resigned in protest over Trump’s response to the Charlottesville white nationalist rally.

The PCAH was created by President Ronald Reagan in 1982 to elevate the importance of the arts and through the years. Rachel Goslins, who was executive director of the committee from 2009-15, said that the operating budget came down to rent and three salaries that were split between the NEA and the NEH.

“Every administration kind of used it differently,” Goslins noted. Bill Clinton’s administration saw it as much more of a think tank, producing reports and research around arts and culture. George W. Bush’s administration used it as more of a diplomatic tool. The Obama administration, she said, focused its work on using the arts and humanities on boosting communities."

Man, I DEVOURED this article! What a simple concept, right? Appoint someone who’s job it is to look out for culture the same way we look out for defense or foreign affairs? This obviously piqued my interest, as it presents a really fun hypothesis: If the Biden Administration can create and execute a plan to rebuild and rebound America’s cultural industries after COVID-19, they can cement their legacy in history forever.

Today, we’re going to learn a basic knowledge of the government agencies working around culture for the sake of learning about how all of this affects the cultural industries we all work in.

Ok, so let's start at the top.  Here are the major federal players in the production, preservation, and distribution of American culture:

The NEH

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency created in 1965. It is one of the largest funders of humanities programs in the United States.

It’s probably best known for awarding grants. NEH grants typically go to cultural institutions, such as museums, archives, libraries, colleges, universities, public television, radio stations, and individual scholars. The grants are a pretty big damn deal, as they’ve funded:

• Seven THOUSAND books, 16 of which have won Pulitzer Prizes.

• The Civil War documentary by Ken Burns

• The Library of America 

• The United States Newspaper Project, which cataloged and microfilmed 63.3 million pages of historic newspapers, lasted from 1982 to 2011 (!!!)

• Annual support for 56 states and territories to help support some 56,000 lectures, discussions, exhibitions, and other programs each year

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is directed by a chairman appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate for four years. Advising the chairman is the National Council on the Humanities, a board of 26 distinguished private citizens appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The National Council Members serve staggered six-year terms.

FUN FACT: Since its creation in 1965, the NEH has awarded more than $5.6 billion for humanities projects.

The NEA

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) offers support and funding for projects exhibiting “artistic excellence.” It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent federal government agency.

It has the same setup as the NEH regarding both being appointed by the Prez and serving a four-year Senate term. They both offer grants; they just aim more for the…art stuff?

The NEA offers grants in 1) Grants for Arts Projects, 2) National Initiatives, and 3) Partnership Agreements. Grants for Arts Projects support exemplary projects in the discipline categories of artist communities, arts education, dance, design, folk and traditional arts, literature, local arts agencies, media arts, museums, music, musical theater, opera, presenting (including multidisciplinary art forms), theater, and visual arts. The NEA also grants individual fellowships in literature to creative writers and translators of exceptional talent in prose and poetry.

FUN FACT: From 1965 to 2008, the NEA gave out about 5 billion in grants and has a pretty fun “controversies” section on Wikipedia.

It also publishes how it makes the donuts and if you’ve ever wanted to see a chart that’s equally beautiful AND terrifying, here you go!

...ok! So that was…confusing!

Being a native Chicagoan, I unfortunately am used to navigating bureaucracy to do literally anything, so for all I know they all work hard every day to make culture important in this land of ours. Still confusing, though!

In the meantime, the biggest hurdle I believe to a cultural role serving any actual use in a Cabinet positions wouldn’t be political opposition, but the idea that culture isn’t “important”, when compared to other industries. In general, there’s a overall disdain in this country for anything that requires creative talent, likely because it’s rarer than finding someone to be a…scrum master. No disrespect to the scrum bums out there, but you know damn well that job didn’t exist when you were in high school. But you know what’s funny?

No kid wants to grow up to be middle management, and yet here you are.

I dare to dream. What if we thought differently about the value cultural types and the products of the cultural industries bring to the United States?

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Ugh, let’s get the cynical stuff out of the way now.

"WE SHOULDN’T FOCUS ON THESE THINGS BECAUSE THEY’RE NOT REALISTIC. NOT EVERYBODY HAS TALENT"

..And the current situation is working well for making sure the cream rises to the top?

"WE NEED TO FOCUS ON THINGS THAT GET US BACK ON TRACK"

...Yeah, like developing more American-maintained industry that could not only help to employ our unemployed, but could also help repurpose some of these outdated resources and facilities to actually produce a return on investment?

"ARTS SHOULDN'T BE THE GOVERNMENT'S JOB"

Wow, you really don't like the idea of change, huh?

Anyway, the NEA must hear this one a lot, because they have already laid out a rebuttal to this one on their site:

What is the role of the government when it comes to supporting the arts? The Arts Endowment’s role is to make sure all Americans have access to the arts no matter where they live.

• All 435 Congressional Districts benefit from Arts Endowment grants.

• Agency funding: • Creates an environment for the arts to bloom and thrive.

• Acts as a catalyst to leverage resources for key investments in communities across the nation.

• Stimulates giving; every dollar invested directly by the Arts Endowment is matched by up to $9 of additional non-federal or private investment.

• Contributes to our economy, with the arts and culture sector accounting for $804.2 billion or 4.3 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2016 as noted by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

• Adds millions of jobs to our workforce (more than two million full-time artists and five million arts-related jobs).

• Plays a vital role in revitalizing communities, and supports our military service members through a military healing arts program.

Look, I've always believed there's two types of people in the world.

The types who will look at something and say, "Of course not, that's not how it works". Then there's the folks like me, who look at something and say, "Ok, so that's that. Now, what could it be?"

(Our type of folks are a lot of fun at parties, not so much in algebra class.)

Instead of looking at this and scoffing at the idea that some child would DARE want to be a Youtuber instead of a...public company non-founding CEO or a "Chief Impact Officer”, or whatever…

...what if we made it possible for people that have the ability to do these crafts to make a living doing it?

More to come on the topic, but a thought, in parting: We need to accept that with a changing world, there needs to be a reimagining of how this nation — and the state/regional/local governments that fall under these federal organizations — prioritize and fund the industries that make the single-greatest export we've ever created: Our culture.

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AROUND THE WORLD:

A bunch of links, curated by cultural industry, that will make you well-informed so that you can make better stuff.

Museums Are Safer Than Any Other Indoor Activity, COVID-19 Study Says (Hyperallergic)

Imagine what Mike Carson could create with a million-dollar budget, an airplane hanger and a month to be left alone???

NFT MANIA IS HERE, AND SO ARE THE SCAMMERS (The Verge)

Tried to tell ‘em!

How Many Black Executives are Running Hollywood? (The Ankler)

I might just link to The Ankler every week, man.

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Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, Illinois. Happy Women’s History Month!

SHEESH!

FWIW, this doesn’t have anything to do with today’s newsletter, but, aren’t you happier now that it’s in your life?

If this is your first newsletter and if you skip through the preamble, I’d like to remind you that this whole operation is about the business of cultural industries.

“Hey, Ernest? What are those cultural industries, again?”

Glad you asked! In the 1990s, the UK Department of Culture Media and Sports came up with an influential definition of creative industries, as the exploitation of individual creativity for generating wealth and jobs. We could be here all day talking about the differences between what some feel are and aren’t “real” cultural industries, but for the sake of you picking up what I’m putting down, you should acquaint yourself with the UNESCO Framework for Cultural Statistics:

Up top are the “industries”, ok? Those are the individual cultural domains where we get busy. Now, if you’ll notice, the bottom of the diagram is the stuff we have trouble with. That “intangible cultural heritage” thing is tricky! Now, why the business of these industries?

‘cuz there’s GOLD in them thar hills, that’s why.

The cultural and creative industries (or CCI’s if you wanna sound like a marketing person) are one of the world’s most rapidly growing economic sectors. The sector provides 29.5 million jobs globally (2019 numbers), and with a global revenue of 2.25 billion $US, CCI’s revenues exceeded ALL telecom service revenues (aka EVERY PHONE COMPANY ON EARTH) and…was bigger than India’s whole GDP (in 2015).

Not sure if y’all have heard, but there is a need to find new areas of development that encourage innovation and development in this fair country of ours. Research shows that culture and creativity has an increasing influence on both sustainability and resilient growth, both with human and financial capital.

With that…here’s a bunch of links. Curated by cultural industry, all of these links will make you well-informed so that you can make better stuff.

That’s how this whole thing is supposed to work, right?

CULTURAL & NATURAL HERITAGE:

- Inside the Long-Awaited Academy Museum of Motion Pictures(Surface Mag)

- Call My Agent: the rise of the artist talent agency(The Art Newspaper)

While some of the larger movie and music agencies, such as the Los Angeles-based WME (part of Frieze' parent company, Endeavor) and Creative Artists Agency (CAA), only occasionally focus on the visual arts, others like UTA (United Talent Agency) has a whole division devoted to it.

Regarding the burning question of commission rates, all three structures say they take less than a traditional gallery (which would typically take 50% of sales). Tanguy receives 30% of the sale of a work of art and 40% on collaborations and public art projects.

PERFORMANCE & CELEBRATION:

- “There Are 250 Vocals in 'Dynamite’”: How BTS’s Hit Song Was Written in Record Time (GQ)

VISUAL ARTS (and farts) & CRAFTS:

Fashion’s love-hate relationship with bootlegging (Vogue Business)

This is a good read, but the way some folks in the fashion industry talk about this stuff is the most National Geographic-ass way of approaching these kinds of projects. Just a hot bowl of yikes all-around.

BOOKS & PRESS:

Trends Transforming The Publishing Industry Outlook in 2021 (LinchpinSEO)

Publishers have deserted traditional media as a source for information, and instead, 64.2 percent say they read blogs, with second place going to forums, with 11.7 percent of publishers reporting it as their source for industry news.

You don’t say…

A/V & INTERACTIVE MEDIA:

50 Ideas to Save Hollywood(The Ankler)

So good. So so so so good.

DESIGN & CREATIVE SERVICES:

Cocaine Chic: How Mirrors, Glass Bricks, and Conversation Pits Took Over Social Media(GQ)

I didn’t know what “aesthetic” was until I met my wife and she explained it to me. Now, try getting me to stop talk about it!

TOURISM:

The Modern Ecosystems of Online Casinos and Gaming (ReportDoor)

Though video games take a different approach than online casinos, the ultimate goal of driving long-term engagement remains similar. 

SPORTS & RECREATION:

A Race to Redefine How We Watch Sports (FOS)

Did YOU know Facebook “recently filed a patent to create game recaps using data from the crowd, announcer speech patterns, social media, and other data.” I didn’t!

ICYMI: LAST WEEK’S PODCAST…

…was a DELIGHTFUL conversation with author Maria Cristina Sherman, who wrote the best damn book on boy bands you’ll read this century. You should buy a copy.

We talked about her must-buy book, boy bands, why the best critics are fans, the power of the marginalized dollar AND the story of the time I met Harry Styles!

Click the button to listen:

#167 - Maria Cristina Sherman

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Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, Illinois. Happy Women’s History Month!

Maria Cristina Sherman is a music writer and culture critic currently living in Brooklyn, NY. She has worked as a senior writer at Jezebel, managing editor at Gizmodo Media Group, senior correspondent at Fuse TV, and contributor at BuzzFeed Music. You may have seen her work at NPR and in Billboard, SPIN, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and many other quality publications. Her debut book, LARGER THAN LIFE: A History of Boy Bands, NKOTB to BTS, was published in July 2020. If she were in a boy band, she’d be the bad boy.

In this episode, I reveal the story of the time I met Harry Styles, we talk all about Maria's amazing book, get nerdy as hell about boy bands and pop music, Menudo, masculinity, criticism and why the best critics are fans, the boy band fan life cycle, women’s influence in cultural industries, the power of the marginalized dollar, and what we want all young writers out there to know if you’re going to survive. This episode also contains the only Baldwin/Buckley-style debate about B2K EVER.

I’m not gonna hold you, this one is a HOOT.

SPEAKING OF BOOKS:

You can purchase Maria’s book, as well as books written by previous Office Hours Interviewees via our new Bookshop page!!!!

ICYMI, Bookshop.org is a new-ish way to buy your books online while supporting independent bookstores in the process. Like most Indie businesses in the cultural industries, bookstores are the backbone of the book world, but are fighting an uphill battle against Amazon and large corporate chains. With the coronavirus pandemic slowing sales, indie bookstores need our support more than ever. If anything, consider it as the ethical alternative to Amazon for your books.

CATCH UP ON SEASON 2 OF THE PODCAST:

So far, season 2 has featured interviews with some big thinkers across cultural industries. Click here to pick your preferred podcast platform and subscribe so you never miss a new episode. As a bonus, that link contains every episode of The Office Hours w/me podcast, including all of Season 1.

• Amanda Mull, The Atlantic

• Ana Andjelic, who was just named the NEW Chief Brand Officer for Banana Republic!

• Josh Spector, For The Interested/Newsletter Creators

• Kellie Pean and Alyssa Convertini of BNAC

• Jarrod Dicker, Washington Post

• Simon Owens, The Business of Content newsletter

• Folu Akinkuotu, of the Unsnackable newsletter and the creator of the #HumblebragDiet

• The Chicago White Sox. No, seriously.

WHILE YOU’RE LISTENING TO THINGS:

A few weeks ago, I was on Chicago’s NPR affiliate WBEZ talking about the best Chicago sandwich you’ve likely never had and segregation in food media. You can listen to the full segment here.

SUPPORT THIS THING:

Did you know, that for less than the cost of a bucket of beers, you can support a Black-owned independent media startup? Become a paid supporter of Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins on an ongoing basis today. $7 a month or $75 a year.

Subscribe now

Can’t do a paid subscription? Consider showing financial support for my work with a one-time donation!

Support Ernest's Work!

Follow Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins on Instagram by clicking the button:

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Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, Illinois. He thinks you shouldn’t worry about “skipping the line” and just get the damn vaccine the SECOND you can, ok?

If this is your first newsletter — welcome, by the way! — this podcast is the start of the 2021 Brands to Watch Spotlight, which kicked off in last Tuesday’s newsletter. For full context, you can read that by clicking this cute lil’ button.

Read Brands to Watch 2021

“Before this, I thought MLB stood for Major League Boring”.

When it comes to culture, actor/musician/activist/Chicago native LaRoyce Hawkins isn’t one to sugarcoat things.

He’s referring to his partnership with the Chicago White Sox, the team he grew up rooting for. Last season, the team reached out to him to talk about a new campaign they were working on. That campaign is just one of many calculated risks one of the most prestigious franchises in sports has undertaken over the last 5 years to build a bridge from the past to the present to the future.

In short, they wanted to Change the Game.

Bringing in folks like Hawkins seems like a no-brainer to most, but baseball isn’t exactly known for modern thinking. How do you combat declining popularity and claims of the game suffering from a lack of investment into diversity and inclusion?

If you’re the White Sox, you change the game AND what a team “looks” like.

I mean, look at this stuff!

Let’s look at the breakdown:

So, why are the Sox such a Brand to Watch? Teams do cool t-shirts and campaigns all the time, right?

Here’s the difference: With a strong focus on serving the diverse audience that makes up their fanbase, I’m calling my shot now: By leveraging their cultural influence and putting together a solid on-diamond performance, the Chicago White Sox will overtake the Chicago Cubs to become the #1 team in Chicago in the future for the kids. I'm of the opinion that last season was the beginning of a cultural shift in how Chicago views the team, and that shift will culminate in a few things this decade, a few of which are already starting to happen:

1. More kids are going to start becoming White Sox fans.

2. The work that the team has done over the last few seasons to partner with creatives will pay off with renewed support and a bigger fanbase nationally.

3. The Sox will be looked at nationally as one of, if not the, coolest team in baseball, if not sports overall.

This is a cool hypothesis and all, but I needed to get to the bottom of the matter. Enter Gareth Breunlin, a forever-creative who worked his way up from an entry-level design gig with the team to become the Senior Director of Marketing & Advertising for the White Sox.

This might be the first time you get this kind of conversation with someone in the front office of a major sports franchise. More than business, the conversation is about how Gareth not only keeps up with culture — Spoiler Alert: He doesn’t expect the young people in the building to do it for him, hint hint, wink wink! — but has leveraged his creative background to take an innovative approach to marketing the team not only to Chicago, but the larger country.

I ain’t gonna hold you, this is a dream come true for a third-generation Sox fan like myself. If you work in a cultural industry that’s slow to innovation (aka most of them?) then this is a great conversation about how to change things from the inside.

Sidebar: Talking on-diamond, I wrote last year for Chicago Magazine about how the White Sox were going to become a team to watch. I’m doubling down on that for this year. Get on the bandwagon now, because I think it won’t be too long here before there’s another trophy on the South Side.

CATCH UP ON SEASON 2 OF THE PODCAST:

So far, season 2 has featured interviews with some big thinkers across cultural industries. Click here to pick your preferred podcast platform and subscribe so you never miss a new episode. As a bonus, that link contains every episode of The Office Hours w/me podcast, including all of Season 1.

• Amanda Mull, The Atlantic

• Ana Andjelic, who was just named the NEW Chief Brand Officer for Banana Republic!

• Josh Spector, For The Interested/Newsletter Creators

• Kellie Pean and Alyssa Convertini of BNAC

• Jarrod Dicker, Washington Post

• Simon Owens, The Business of Content newsletter

• Folu Akinkuotu, of the Unsnackable newsletter and the creator of the #HumblebragDiet

WHILE YOU’RE LISTENING TO THINGS:

Last week, I was Chicago’s NPR affiliate WBEZ talking about the best #Chicago sandwich you’ve likely never had and segregation in food media. You can listen to the full segment here.

SUPPORT THIS THING:

Did you know, that for less than the cost of a bucket of beers, you can support a Black-owned independent media startup? Become a paid supporter of Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins on an ongoing basis today. $7 a month or $75 a year.

Subscribe now

Can’t do a paid subscription? Consider showing financial support for my work with a one-time donation!

Support Ernest's Work!

Follow Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins on Instagram by clicking the button:

Follow @officehoursnewsletter on IG

Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, Illinois. He’s grilling the second the temp hits 42 degrees, just try and stop him.

“See what those kids are doing? That Does Not Apply to you.”

From co-ed sleepovers in high school (this was Livejournal era, we were SLUTS) to not getting haircuts, my mom always reminded me that certain things, through no fault of your own, don't apply to you. Sometimes it was her trying to keep me safe.

Other times it was when she saw danger coming, before it was even on my horizon.

Now, back to today's subject. As business owners and leaders in creative industries, it's time we addressed the elephant in the room.

Every single cultural industry, from sports to tv to advertising, is having a Napster moment. No disrespect to those of you in the music industry...might still be too soon.

Now, I'm not dooming and glooming for the dopamine rush, we sincerely need to work together to solve the biggest problem we're all collectively experiencing in our siloes, but affects us all.

We have to rethink how we operate in our industries. From how we pay each other to how we work together. And no better example/kick in the ass is what's currently happening in the NFT space.

See, NFT's or non-fungible tokens (now you'll win your next Zoom trivia night) are the newest in what seems like a now-annual ploy to artists to finally move on up like George & Weezy. The reality is that two different things are coming true at the same time.

NFT's and the overall crypto space is a massive waste of time and money right now for most creatives and businesses in the cultural industry.

NFT's and the overall crypto space are the Silver Surfer coming to warn all creatives and businesses in the cultural industries about the coming of Galactus, aka Web 3.0. Web 3.0 is what will force all of our respective industries to fight for our literal survival over the next 10 years.

Luckily, you've got me. If we're sticking with the Marvel Comics metaphors, that would make me...

The Watcher.

PRESS PLAY WHILE YOU READ THE NEXT SECTION. Doesn't help anything, this song just slaps.

Ok, so when I say Web 3.0, I want to explain. See, we're currently in Web 2.0. Web 1.0 was the earliest days of our lives online. Millennials and older generations remember the birth of the internet and how our industries were before the rise of it. From advertising to movies to sex work, all the cultural industries were revolutionized and innovated in the wake of the expansion of Web 2.0. Here's a grand diagram to explain the concept further, using popular apps across time.

Web 2.0 To Web 3.0 Comparison Landscape

Now, if you'll notice, this diagram ended in 2018. You'll also see that more and more of your colleagues are just now discussing and talking about concepts like Bitcoin and Ethereum. So now think about it: If these concepts and terms have been around almost 10+ years now and if you're like most, your first significant experience with crypto has come in the last 9 months...does it make sense why I sounded so urgent at the top of this newsletter now?

We're already way behind.

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Creators, we gotta discuss how you approach selling your stuff and who you sell it to. Currently, everyone old enough to read this was brought up under a Web 2.0 mind frame of how to make money as a creator.

Here's where we are:

Now, here’s where we’re going:

Using that framework, I need you to realize that now is the best time in history to start making a thing that YOU own and that YOU created. This newsletter is a Web 3.0 mindset in a 2.0 world. Thus the first truth:

Learn it now or get finessed later. 

I got these sick diagrams from Neer, btw. You should subscribe to his newsletter.

Every single creator who can read these words should spend 20 minutes playing around on Zora this weekend/the next time you are stoned. Read the FAQ. Just learn what it is without worrying about how you're going to monetize it. The advantage we have as creatives is that we can see blind spots. Where someone powered by greed is gonna flood the market. Learn these tools the same way you learned whatever means you use every day. Then, figure out how it fits YOU best. Why in God's name are so many of you doing whatever Drake or LeBron or Coogler or Virgil or Kanye or Beyonce or whoever did? You. Aren't. Them.

I need to also address the genuine FOMO that comes with potentially missing out on a revenue opportunity since creators are perpetually on the short end of the stick when it comes to business and culture. Listen, I ain't gonna hold you, but if the last year has taught us anything, it's that just throwing stuff against the wall rarely works out, despite your best intentions (looking at you, Golden Globes!).

The other reality is that if you're reading stuff like this newsletter, you're already ahead of the additional 99% of people who have no clue what this is or don't understand the tightrope we all walk between business and culture. 99% of people in cultural industries will not attempt to become good at anything but whatever they see working at the time. That alone will thin the field for you (I can promise that they give up within five years). So, if you're worried that the vast majority of people will wake up and suddenly start working hard, I'll go ahead and guarantee you that it won't happen. Before you get the wrong idea, this is not a motivational Rev Run in the tub moment. I am explicitly stating that 99% of creators are too lazy to ever find out what they are good at in the first place to even monetize it properly, much less worry about emerging technology. It's up to you to put in the work.

Ok, now let's talk about the blockchain and NFT's.

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You: "Ernest, what is an NFT" 

Me: *furiously Googles* 

Uh...you see, a…

Non-fungible token (NFT) is a cryptocurrency token that is indivisible and unique. One NFT cannot be interchanged with another NFT, and the whole cannot be broken down into smaller parts and used. NFTs, offer myriad options for creating and trading digital assets — such as original artwork and blockchain-integrated collectible game items. NFTs are useful for proving the scarcity and provenance of rare assets, both digital and real-world.

Us both pretending we understand what I just shared:

Look, I'll sum it up like this. NFT's are a chance for artists and creators to leverage their talents to create one-of-a-kind exclusive masterpieces across all mediums. You could do an NFT of you doing the Crip Walk and post it up for sale. Say some weirdo who gets off to people crip walking wants to buy it. They can buy that NFT, and from that moment on, it's theirs FOREVER...or if they choose to sell it again. 

Now, as it stands, NFT's are being pitched to all of us as a chance to build what so many of us dream of, an opportunity to be appropriately paid for our creative labor. The thing is, the current NFT ecosystem is more Fool's Gold than Nick Catchdubs, and A-Trak put together.

Let me say it clear and direct: The only people winning in this space right now are people who have a lot of money.

Not "fake confidence because I'm a wannabe player" money, we're talking “if they made their whole net worth liquid, to measure it correctly, they gotta use the scale that they use to weigh the whales with” kinda money.

To illustrate my point, let's talk about the current buzz around town, NBA Top Shot.

ICYMI, NBA Top Shot, is an online company launched by Vancouver-based blockchain company Dapper Labs and backed by the NBA that allows users to procure a collection of digital basketball highlights (dunks, passes, steals, etc.), and then show off that collection to others. To get these highlights, which they call "moments," IRL money (or fiat money) must be spent in some way, either through purchasing digital packs containing a random assortment of these moments or through spending real cash in the virtual marketplace. The process of buying these packs is similar to standing in line for Supreme or a PS5 or anything you buy at a store. Like a sneaker drop, you have a reserved spot in a digital line based on when you click the link to purchase, and if there is still a product remaining at the time your position in line comes up, you get to cop a pack. Once the packs are sold out, they're gone.

Still with me?

You:

Now here's where everybody gets it wrong. All you keep hearing from people who sit on Clubhouse all day now is "Crypto and things like NFT are how people can connect with their fans directly!" "The kids all are doing it!".

I think all that talk is horseshit, and I'm willing to be the only one who says so, even if everyone else disagrees with me. 

Say my little cousin is 12. Say he LOVES Dame Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers (I mean, same!) Ideally, the NFT world of NBA Top Shot is for him, yes?

This is the market price for a Dame dunk on Top Shot, as of last week:

Wow. Ok, no Dame then. Ok, maybe I'll get something from his other fave, the Greek Freak!

…...uh, ok, those are superstars. Now, what about a guy who barely plays?

So now, the elephant in the room for me with NBA Top Shot: How is the "intended" target audience for this stuff supposed to be able to afford it?

Now, here's an example of a realistic expectation of the NFT space for a majority of the people reading this:

See, this makes sense to me, as people were already spending insane amounts of money on art! The clientele = affluent people in this bubble and wouldn’t you know? They buy! What’s wrong with saying “Until the tech is more widely adopted, NFTs are a luxury item for people who can afford it?” Why pretend it is what it isn’t? I keep logging on and seeing rich people talking to wealthy people about how big of an opportunity this is, but stop lying to yourselves about who this is "helping", please!

For a broader view of Top Shot, read this.

Wrapping this up, the focus needs to shift in cultural industries from following these hot fads and focusing on the broader context of what Web 3.0 is going to do to us, as a whole.

The usual chasm between the people with money and the people with taste needs to shrink for the betterment of us all to handle what's on-deck. NFT's and crypto are only part of the bigger picture around the blockchain, which I honestly can't explain without this thing taking up 3 more paragraphs. All I'm saying, is that it's coming to change everything that we do and how we live. Don't believe me? Look at this:

This is the world that's not coming. It's already here.

Let's drill down into some cultural industry-specific categories, shall we?

Let's say....music?

What about video and live streaming?

If you don't recognize any of these brand names, congrats. You have something to Google the next time you go to the bathroom. The long and short of it is that we need to spend less time chasing get-rich-quick opportunities and focus on educating ourselves so that when these changes shift our society, those who aren't ever respected, be they the folks behind the scenes who get underestimated in every corporate meeting they're in, to the ones out in front who usually don't hear about this stuff until it's already too late.

I'll close with this: The normal you remember is never coming back. That's hard to hear, but you need to accept it if our industries are going to survive what's coming next, ok?

Also, if you want to hear a way better explanation of the current NFT climate than what I just wrote, listen to this: 

AROUND THE WORLD:

I'm bringing back the link dump and renaming this section after Daft Punk's conscious uncoupling a few weeks ago.

• Instagram wants their corners back.

• A New Media Structure: The Ownership Economy - Former Office Hours Interviewee Jarrod Dicker is back with some new heat, and this time, he brought friends!

• If i had the budget, I'd poach Frazier Tharpe from under Will's nose over there at GQ , and I wouldn't think twice about it. His fresh-outta-jail profile of Bobby Shmurda is one of the reasons why.

• Speaking of music and writing, I've dusted off my music writer hat to pen some words about the immortal Wu-Tang Clan for the all-new Coda Collection.If you haven't heard of the service yet, think the Criterion Collection for classic music performances, it's insane. Hopefully, I got the jumper back, and I'll be doing music writing again this year (if you're editing a music publication right now, this is my pitch that I'm back outside. Let's work.)

  ---

TUNES:

One of the coolest feelings is when something you put out in the world gets discovered by someone you don't know, and you find out about it. I got to live that joy this past Sunday when a subscriber sent me this tweet via DM: 

That 65 hour-long podcast is RIP Herb Kent, my curated tribute to the Sundays of my youth, where Herb Kent "The Cool Gent" came on shortly after the morning gospel show ended. Herb Kent was one of the longest-running radio personalities in America, who was on the air from the 1940s, right up to the day of his death on October 22, 2016.

SUPPORT THIS THING:

Become an ongoing paid supporter of Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins. $7 a month or $75 a year.

Subscribe now

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Support Ernest's Work!

Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, Illinois. Happy Women’s History Month!

Click here to pick your preferred podcast platform and subscribe so you never miss a new episode. As a bonus, that link contains every episode of The Office Hours w/me podcast, including all of Season 1.

CATCH UP ON SEASON 2 OF THE PODCAST:

So far, season 2 has featured interviews with some big thinkers across cultural industries.

• Amanda Mull, The Atlantic

• Ana Andjelic, who was just named the NEW Chief Brand Officer for Banana Republic!

• Josh Spector, For The Interested/Newsletter Creators

• Kellie Pean and Alyssa Convertini of BNAC

• Jarrod Dicker, Washington Post

• Simon Owens, Simon Owens’s Media Newsletter

• Folu Akinkuotu, Unsnackable newsletter and the creator of the #HumblebragDiet

WHILE YOU’RE LISTENING TO THINGS:

I’m on Chicago’s NPR affiliate WBEZ today talking about the best #Chicago sandwich you’ve likely never had and segregation in food media. You can listen to the full segment here.

SUPPORT THIS THING:

Did you know, that for less than the cost of a bucket of beers, you can support a Black-owned independent media startup? Become a paid supporter of Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins on an ongoing basis today. $7 a month or $75 a year.

Subscribe now

Can’t do a paid subscription? Consider showing financial support for my work with a one-time donation!

Support Ernest's Work!

Follow Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins on Instagram by clicking the button:

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NEXT WEEK:

The Office Hours Brands to Watch 2021 interviews begin. I’ll be doing podcast interviews with some of the folks behind the honorees over the next few weeks. It should be a lot of fun! If you missed this year’s Brands to Watch, you can check them out here.

Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, Illinois. He’s grilling the second the temp hits 42 degrees this weekend.

The future of culture, it's clear, will be defined by innovators who aren't afraid to think differently.

The Brands to Watch list for 2021 is a mix of ambitious startups, young companies, and a marketing gamble that not only paid off, but should be studied by every D2C brand.

All have strong brand identities that make the whole company look more human, achievable and relevant to the moment. Together, they represent an early glimpse into the brands you'll be watching in the decades to come.

This list is different from most other “people/brands to watch” articles you’ve come across in the past. My readers have some of the highest BS-sniffing abilities i’ve ever seen, y’all know some hype when you see it. This won’t be a list of people with the best PR team, or the ones who paid for inclusion or consideration. On the contrary, this list exists to make all those other lists obsolete.*

See, around the world, in every industry, there are a handful of companies that are inventing the future. The advancements within technology and manufacturing have changed what consumers want from their cultural industries, expecting maximum quality and efficiency at lower prices. As the cultural industries change shape, with new technologies and social media fueling that change, I feel it’s time to shine a light on brands poised for breakout success in 2021. 

Listen, I’ll be honest and say that neither I, you or anyone else has no idea who is going to be relevant in 3 years. My prior work in music and culture writing has taught me this. In this line of work, we’re all making an estimated guess, at best. Often, you come across names you've never heard of, and you end up following them to see where they go. Next thing you know, everyone is talking about them. 

To get ahead of the curve, brands in cultural industries have been making moves to capture emerging talent: getting in early on young designers, musicians, filmmakers and artists who haven't yet hit it big but are showing real potential to redefine the cultural landscape.

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No matter the time of year, the public expects marketers and brands to have a cohesive and compelling message that aligns with each brand's identity. That means for the modern brand marketer in the cultural industries, every day feels like the Super Bowl, without the lead-up or the media coverage.

In spite of this sobering reality, I still believe 2021 will be a year of change and opportunity. There is always progressive movement in the creative industries and that will not stop any time soon. 

It may seem early to be looking ahead, but I've seen enough trends come and go to know that now is the time to start placing your bets. Some things are changing faster than ever before. New products need new marketing. New customers are coming online - and on the lamb - every day. The brands of 2021 will not look like those of 2011.

There is no doubt that the brands on this list are headed somewhere. They are doing things differently, and I am pegging them as the next generation of leaders in their respective cultural industries. What these categories have in common is that they're growing in cultural importance and influence. If I had the capital, I’d invest fully into all of these brands. My loss is your gain. 

*How do I calculate what makes a Brand to Watch? 

If you’re a business type, you’ve seen a SWOT analysis. I adapted and innovated upon that concept for cultural industries. As far as I know, it’s the only measurement of a cultural brand’s qualitative and quantitative value AND share of culture. If you’d like more information about the analysis tool, reach out. 

Subscribe now

GET ON THE BANDWAGON NOW:

The brands are not new to those who know, but they’re poised to have a breakthrough mainstream moment in the next 3 years:

ROWING BLAZERS

Cultural Industry: Fashion

Founded: 2017

Employees: 10

Why are they a Brand to Watch?  Rowing Blazers might be the only real contender to usurp Ralph Lauren’s decades-long reign on preppy-but-chill style. 

CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Cultural Industry: Sports

Founded: 1900

Employees: 455

Why are they a Brand to Watch? With a strong focus on serving the diverse audience that makes up their fanbase, I’m calling my shot now: By leveraging their cultural influence and putting together a solid on-diamond performance, the Chicago White Sox will overtake the Chicago Cubs to become the #1 team in Chicago in the future for the kids. I'm of the opinion that last season was the beginning of a cultural shift in how Chicago views the team, and that shift will culminate in a few things this decade, a few of which are already starting to happen:

1. More kids are going to start becoming White Sox fans.

2. The work that the team has done over the last few seasons to partner with creatives will pay off with renewed support and a bigger fanbase nationally.

3. The Sox will be looked at nationally as one of, if not the, coolest team in baseball.

4. Hopefully, another World Series (this one is just a personal wish, haha!)

ON THE WAY UP:

Niche brands that have the opportunity to become major players:

MEL MAGAZINE

Cultural Industry: Media/D2C

Founded: 2015

Employees: 37 (editorial masthead)

Why are they a Brand to Watch? Originally launched as a newsletter (wow, what an idea!), the men’s-focused lifestyle and culture publication might be the first (and only?) media outlet owned by an insanely large global brand that doesn’t suck.

ROON LABS

Cultural Industry: Music

Founded: 2015

Employees: 45+

Why are they a Brand to Watch? How do you make being an audiophile cool? Make a product that’s not only high-quality, but easy-to-use, even for the tech-illiterate. Combine that with a savvy partnership strategy, and it won’t be long until they’re the system of choice for the discerning music listener.

THE LONG-TERM BETS:

These picks are me calling my shot early. We believe these two brands have the ability to become a brand that could shift how we look at the niche they currently dominate.

RACQUET MAGAZINE

Cultural Industry: Media/Sports

Founded: 2016

Employees: 2

Why are they a Brand to Watch? Life in the panchero has rendered some of us with less options to connect socially while getting a sweat in. As such, tennis and golf have roared back into cultural context. This Kickstarter-funded magazine is the tennis magazine for people who don’t read tennis magazines. As the game veers back into mainstream popularity in the years to come, they’re positioned to make some real noise.

DONNY THE DYBBUK

Cultural Industry: Fashion/Sports

Founded: ????

Employees: 1

Why are they a Brand to Watch? It’s hard to be able to understand how difficult it is to build something by yourself, unless you’ve done it before. A former Israeli factory worker, Donny has taken the skateboarding and fashion world by the neck by doubling down on the one thing money can’t buy: Integrity. His custom flips of skate classics turn regular Air Force 1’s into surreal concept art. He recently launched his first signature sneaker, the Lucky 7. The shoe is so popular, even the usual cast of cool people can’t get their hands on a pair.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

• We’re just getting started with Brands to Watch 2021. Starting with this Thursday’s podcast episode, I’ll be doing interviews with some of the folks behind these brands over the next few weeks. Up first? The Chicago White Sox.

• I HAVE A WEBSITE NOW: Want to work with me? Want to learn more about me, my projects and how I can help you stand out in your cultural industry? Check out my all-new website (and the eventual new home of this newsletter) ErnestWilkins.com.* 

  *My site was built by Office Hours subscriber Tim T. and the good folks at Covert Nine. Hit them up if you need a new website.

SUPPORT THIS THING:

Did you know you can support a independent media startup for less than the cost of a bucket of domestic beer?

Become a ongoing paid supporter of Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins. $7 a month or $75 a year.

Subscribe now

Can’t do a paid subscription right now? Consider showing your support for my work with a one-time donation!

Support Ernest's Work!

Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, Illinois. RIP Uncle Perry!

Folu Akinkuotu is a home cook, prolific baker and rare snack aficionado. Her newsletter Unsnackable features rare snacks, drinks and fast food from around the world and has been in The New Yorker, SBS Australia and The Face Magazine.

Folu is one of those world-class talents that manages to hide in plain sight. With one tweet almost a year ago, she’s influenced some of the biggest names in the cultural industry of food and drink media, despite you likely never hearing her name until now.

Even if you aren’t on Twitter, the above thread is worth digging into. Her take on food prep and how she employs regular ingredients in with luxurious items was early for the pandemic home chef influencer, as she’s been doing the #humblebragdiet for years now. Look at some of this stuff!

Turns out, her followers weren’t the only ones paying attention to her work.

This tweet is one that garnered a lot of attention in her section of the cultural industry of food and drink media. You see, the media entity in question had a bit of a rough summer. The fact that they didn’t think to reach out to her until they were desperate for diverse faces in their content to limit blowback was yet another example of creators leverage over most media brands, as well as why legacy media is not structurally built for non-white people to succeed within.

Follow Folu on Twitter, Instagram and SUBSCRIBE to Unsnackable!

The three biggest takeaways from this interview:

1. By the end of this episode, you will not only believe that Folu deserves a show or bigger platform, you will want her to run for some sort of public office.

2. You will never look at baking the same way again.

3. Creators who speak the language of business in cultural industries can sell to their audiences. When it comes to who gets the better deal from a media partnership both now and in the years to come, the Folu’s of the world don’t need these platforms and brands. That independence gives them leverage to pick and choose what deals make the best sense for themselves and their audiences. It might be hard to hear, but platforms and brands need creators and thinkers like Folu more than those creators and thinkers need these platforms and brands.

CATCH UP ON SEASON 2 OF THE PODCAST:

Catch up with season 2 of the Office Hours w/me podcast. Suppose you’re one of those aesthetic types. In that case, I want the vibe of this thing to be like a Millennial take on the Charlie Rose show…you know, minus the problematic behavior. So far, season 2 has featured interviews with some big thinkers across cultural industries.

• Amanda Mull, The Atlantic

• Ana Andjelic, who was just named the NEW Chief Brand Officer for Banana Republic!

• Josh Spector, For The Interested/Newsletter Creators

• Kellie Pean and Alyssa Convertini of BNAC

• Jarrod Dicker, Washington Post

• Simon Owens, Simon Owens’s Media Newsletter

SUPPORT THIS THING:

Did you know, that for less than the cost of a bucket of beers, you can support a Black-owned independent media startup? Become a paid supporter of Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins on an ongoing basis today. $7 a month or $75 a year.

Subscribe now

Can’t do a paid subscription? Consider showing financial support for my work with a one-time donation!

Support Ernest's Work!

NEXT WEEK:

I will be announcing the Office Hours Brands to Watch 2021 in Tuesday’s newsletter. If you missed 2019’s list and this is your first Brands to Watch, I’ll be sharing shorter brand profiles about brands in cultural industries that are on the cusp of making it big.

The process used to choose these brands is equal parts qualitative and quantitative. Some personal observations about their potential impact and additional resources for anyone interested in doing more in-depth research later. Then, I’ll be doing podcast interviews with some of the folks behind these brands over the next few weeks. It should be a lot of fun.

Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, Illinois. He is REALLY happy that his mom got the COVID-19 vaccine this week!!!

Yeah…no newsletter today. Tried my best, but…yeah. Back tomorrow, new pod on Thursday.

FWIW: If you unsubscribe between now and then, I’ll take it as a slap in the face against not just me, but everyone currently dealing with nature’s cruel mercy. Sorry, I don’t make the rules. How COULD you, by the way?

Jokes aside, if you have time, help out those who are less fortunate, I suggest you Google some variation of “(city/town you care about) + recovery efforts”. Or just go dig out your block or something.

Two types of people in the world: The ones who see show needs shoveling, pause, think about doing it, then concoct some story about them being wronged in the past and then using that as motivation to not go outside, and there’s the janitors, who already back inside because they went and got it done in the time it took to do all that thinking. And with that said, BRB!

CATCH UP ON SEASON 2 OF THE PODCAST:

Catch up with season 2 of the Office Hours w/me podcast. If you’re one of those aesthetic types, I want the vibe of this thing to be like a Millennial take on the Charlie Rose show…you know, minus the problematic behavior. So far, season 2 has featured interviews with some big thinkers across cultural industries.

• Amanda Mull

• Ana Andjelic

• Josh Spector

• Kellie Pean and Alyssa Convertini of BNAC

• Jarrod Dicker

• Simon Owens

THIS WEEK’S INTERVIEW:

The Office Hours Interview with Folu Akinkuotu of the Unsnackable newsletter and the #HumblebragDiet. This is the interview that takes this whole thing to the next level, I PROMISE. I want her to run for President and you will too, after hearing her Office Hours Interview.

SUPPORT THIS THING:

Did you know, that for less than the cost of a bucket of beers, you can support a Black-owned independent media startup? Become a paid supporter of Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins on an ongoing basis today. $7 a month or $75 a year.

Subscribe now

Can’t do a paid subscription? Consider showing financial support for my work with a one-time donation!

Support Ernest's Work!

Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, Illinois. Why, lord? Why so much snow? Is it because of Trump?

Simon Owens covers the media industry for his Substack newsletter and podcast The Business of Content.

He writes about how publishers create, distribute, and monetize their digital content. He and I share the belief that there's this misconception that the average newsletter reader is clamoring to pay for content, when in reality converting a free reader into a paid subscriber is like pulling teeth. We discuss that, why he’s transparent about the struggles of building a newsletter, alternative tactics that newsletter operators should think more about, building a better paid subscriber experience, where we think Substack is going, and the state of the newsletter business in 2021 and beyond.

If you’re a media operator/publisher/writer/editor/media advertising person/journalism student/C-suite person looking to get more in tune, or you’re just someone who is really really really nerdy about this stuff, today’s episode, like last week’s conversation with Jarrod Dicker from the Washington Post, is for you.

STUDY GUIDE:

(Some of my favorite pieces Simon has written over the past few years)

• Why laid off journalists should launch their own media companies

• The exact time commitment it takes to run a paid newsletter

• How I ran an NPR-style pledge drive to grow my newsletter

• Should media companies be afraid of Substack?

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CATCH UP ON SEASON 2:

Catch up with season 2 of the Office Hours w/me podcast. I want the vibe of this thing to be like a Millennial take on the Charlie Rose show…you know, minus the problematic behavior. So far, season 2 has featured interviews with some big thinkers across cultural industries.

• Amanda Mull

• Ana Andjelic

• Josh Spector

• Kellie Pean and Alyssa Convertini of BNAC

• Jarrod Dicker

NEXT WEEK:

The Office Hours Interview with Folu Akinkuoto of the Unsnackable newsletter and the #HumblebragDiet.

SUPPORT THIS THING:

HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH!

Did you know, that for less than the cost of a bucket of beers, you can support a Black-owned independant media startup? Become a paid supporter of Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins on an ongoing basis today. $7 a month or $75 a year.

Subscribe now

Can’t do a paid subscription? Consider showing financial support for my work with a one-time donation!

Support Ernest's Work!

Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, Illinois. He just learned this morning that baking soda doesn’t always come in the orange boxes???

Is Advertising a Cultural Industry?

Depends on who you ask.

Some believe advertising isn't a cultural industry, but actually exists as a way to prey on culture itself.

Jeremy Williams:

"When it comes to society however, and the big picture effects of advertising in general, it’s not pretty. The report’s conclusion is that advertising promotes values that are directly opposed to human wellbeing, environmental sustainability and a fair society. It ought to be considered a detrimental influence, and regulated accordingly. While advertising campaigns reflect society to a certain degree, they also have the effect of ‘normalising’ values or behaviours and tend to promote ‘extrinsic’ values rather than ‘intrinsic’ values. Extrinsic values rely on external factors for validation – admiration or desire, for example. Intrinsic values are rewarding in themselves without need for outside approval. Think about how you feel when you finish something you worked hard on. That's an intrinsic value. 

Advertising might not even promote choice after all. By manipulating its audience, it may in fact stifle choice. Much advertising is subliminal, creating positive associations without prompting conscious thought. If we sat down and decided to think about why we prefer Coke or Pepsi, odds are that it wouldn't take long to decide that conclude we don't care because it doesn’t matter. An active choice, in this instance, is bad for the brand."

Now, that above passage— while intended to be a broader take on advertising and its role in how we live as a culture—also makes me curious:

Is any industry that uses culture to influence us—be it positive or negative— a cultural industry? I would say yes.

From where I sit, advertising is a core cultural industry that is the clearest intersection of economy and culture that we have. Yes, advertising is the creative product of advertising agencies, but it also is the most obvious example we have in society of marketing and communications: a broader set of cultural practices that aim to tie how we live with what we buy. Advertising leverages common and shared meanings created by people; those common and shared meanings are what we mean when we talk about “culture”. Advertising follows the same path as film, sports or music: it leverages culture to get consumers to associate themselves with particular products and services.

We should aim to discuss all cultural industries under the same context we discuss the creative aspects of advertising. No matter what discipline they follow, creatives have to learn to produce with consistency and frequency. When those who work as creatives  ignore the economics of their industry  by pretending their abilities aren't within their control, or that the process of creation is all magic or bottled lighting, we enable our own ignorance (not to mention we give up the change to break the cycle that keeps us all BROKE). The transparency found in advertising should be standard across all cultural industries. If you told a musician who loved the scent of their own farts that you'd like them to create a 3-minute tune about dish soap or an alcoholic seltzer, they might put a cigarette out on you. Counter that with the hurried and worried art director, who not only can create society-defining work at-will, but can do it in 4 hours because they have to present the idea at 8 am.

Advertising brands and logos pervade everyday life and social communication, as well as the fabric of material culture surrounding us in our homes and the streets of our cities. That is, advertising gives society its very look and feel. It both takes and gives from culture, amplifying trends in subcultures to the mainstream. The fact that organizations build full content strategies around critiquing Super Bowl ads every year, elevates the humble “advertisement” from sales  tool to artistic thesis. We are who we tell people are and we tell people who we are by what we buy. 

TL;DR: advertising is a cultural industry. Glad we got THAT settled.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

• I HAVE A WEBSITE NOW: I’ve had a lot of people reach out over the last few months about working with me or wondering about what it is that I actually do for a living. Well, now you can learn about me, my projects and how I can help you stand out in your cultural industry via my all-new website (and the eventual new home of this newsletter) ErnestWilkins.com. My site was built by Office Hours subscriber Tim T. and the good folks at Covert Nine. Hit them up if you need a new website.

• CHICAGO: Through my volunteer consulting work with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, I’m pleased to announce that applications for the 2021 CityArts grants are now LIVE. Putting this next part in caps because I need y'all to pay attention: THE CITY IS GIVING OUT MONEY TO HELP OUT ARTISTS & CULTURAL ORGS. APPLY NOW. YES, YOU. NO EXCUSES!!!!

• ICYMI: If you missed the webinar that Dan Runcie of Trapital and I recently did about the best hip-hop album rollouts of all-time, you can hear it on the Trapital podcast or watch it in full below.

  ---

  TUNES:

  In anticipation of Drake’s forthcoming new album, whenever it drops, I made a playlist of the best Drake songs where he’s fully talking his shit (because those are the best Drake songs)🦉

  ---

  SUPPORT THIS THING:

  Did you know, that for less than the cost of a bucket of beers, you can support a Black-owned media startup? Become a paid supporter of Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins on an ongoing basis today. $7 a month or $75 a year.

  Subscribe now

  Can’t do a paid subscription right now? Consider showing your support for my work with a one-time donation!

  Support Ernest's Work!

  ---

  Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, Illinois. He’s seriously cold right now.

Jarrod Dicker is currently the commercial chief at the Washington Post. There, he oversees the business of The Post across advertising, subscriptions and R&D as well as new ventures (like WaPo’s Zeus, which we discuss in-depth during this interview) and is a former CEO/founder in the crypto space (po.et). Prior to his days at the Post, he ran product, engineering and business teams at RebelMouse, The Huffington Post and Time Inc.

Before his current media role, he started his career as a music journalist and photographer, amassing over 100 interviews with musicians/bands/artists. When he’s not doing everything I just shared, he writes on the creator economy and the application of it for independents and existing media companies.

WARNING: If you’re expecting a “professional” (aka boring) chat about media and the creator economy, you’re going to be disappointed with this one. Jarrod and I go DEEP on newsletters, Substack (duh), how journalists are the new rock stars and how THAT makes newspapers the new record labels.

We also talk about the media landscape in 2021 and beyond, why all journalists should learn the business side of media and I reveal why I have 0% interest of partnering this newsletter with a legacy media brand (Not gonna lie, this might be the take that kills the remaining dreams I had of ever getting a fawning profile in the NYT, lol).

If you’re a media operator, publisher, writer, editor, advertising person, suit, C-suite person looking to get more in tune or you’re just someone who is really really really nerdy about this stuff, today’s episode is for you.

STUDY GUIDE:

• The Next Media Opportunity: Talent, Reputation and Lessons from Record Labels

• Media 2020: Rise of the Renaissance Creator

• Breaking the Fourth Wall: The Business of Media Subculture

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SUPPORT THIS THING:

HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH! Did you know, that for less than the cost of a bucket of beers, you can support a Black-owned media startup? Become a paid supporter of Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins on an ongoing basis today. $7 a month or $75 a year.

Subscribe now

Can’t do a paid subscription right now? Consider showing your support for my work with a one-time donation!

Support Ernest's Work!

Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, Illinois. He’s still confused why everyone wants Elon Musk to be Tony Stark so badly when it’s been very clear from jump that Musk is actually Lex Luthor.

2020 should have been your wakeup call that the way things used to work is not how things will work in the future. No matter what industry, cultural or not, the only constant in business and life, is change.

I want this platform to be a showcase for the brands and organizations in cultural industries that are doing really big work you engage with on the regular, all while hiding in plain sight. Today’s podcast is a perfect example of that mission coming to life.

Brand New A Collective is an enlightened think-tank that translates ideas into actionable, memorable and exciting experiences, which come to life in live events, partnerships, and digital/social content.

The co-founders, Kellie Pean and Alyssa Convertini, represent what I believe to be the evolution of a much-needed shift in the balance of power within every cultural industry.

Right now, we have an assortment of organizations and brands that operate under the same power structure:

A guy runs the show (and gets all the praise) while mostly women do all the work (for less pay.) No longer.

BNAC represents a focused effort to use a community-driven model to build meaningful cultural experiences across a variety of cultural industries, from movies to music to sports. And they’re coming with a stacked Rolodex and more skills than me, you, your mom and your cousin, too.

Prior to co-founding the company in 2018, Kellie spent years as a senior media executive at Valence Media, where she led integrated marketing for Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter. Alyssa spent the majority of her career at Valence Media (aka Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Vibe, Spin, Stereogum and Dick Clark Productions properties) most recently as executive director of branded content and music strategy. She helped build out Valence's integrated marketing and branded content teams. To say that the co-founders are both media/entertainment industry veterans is an understatement. Significant experience at that level alone should be worthy of praise, but the perspective they share on how they approach marketing in their industry in this episode is why I’m so excited to feature them today.

Let Clubhouse tell it, marketing across cultural industries is a series of tactics or sheer luck that can only be manifested in a reactive way — say, your brand goes viral because a guy did a Tiktok while drinking your product on a skateboard while listening to Fleetwood Mac — versus what it actually is, understanding people in your culture and moving with intention to serve their wants and needs. These two not only understand that, but they leverage a community-focused strategy that allows them to make major moves, like the 1800 Seconds campaigns they did in collaboration with 1800 Tequila, Pusha T, and Future.

Hope you enjoy today’s episode. Make sure to follow BNAC on Instagram! These two are the best and have so much insight and I lowkey want them to run for office?

REMINDER:

I'm co-hosting a free webinar TODAY with Dan Runcie of Trapital Media in a few! We're breaking down the best hip-hop album rollouts of all time! The best hip-hop rollouts are like blueprints for anyone launching a product. Join us! Sign up here.

SUPPORT THIS THING:

Did you know, that for less than the cost of a bucket of beers, you can support a Black-owned media startup? Become a paid supporter of Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins on an ongoing basis today. $7 a month or $75 a year.

Subscribe now

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Support Ernest's Work!

Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, Illinois. He’s really tired of people talking about Gamestop.

Yesterday, World Wrestling Entertainment announced that the WWE Network -- their subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service founded in 2014 -- would become exclusive to the Comcast-owned streaming service Peacock beginning in March. Execs would not discuss the five-year deal's financial details, but it is said to be worth more than $1B. On its face, this looks simple enough. Streaming services need content and, more importantly, content that keeps viewers on their platforms. Yes, a streaming service licensing a content library isn't exactly shocking news. Still, this one is different because it signifies that this "fake" sport makes a genuine impact in the media world.

Everything is Wrestling

Like soap operas and news programs, professional wrestling has been on TV since TV started. The undisputed global #1 promotion is still WWE. The company has seen many ups and downs since the glory days of Hulk Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior, and "Macho Man" Randy Savage in the 80s. After several high-profile scandals, the company became the darling of Gen X and early Millennials a decade later with the rise of now-household names like Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Since then, the company has been known more for scandals than suplexes. 

Wait, people still watch pro wrestling? 

You better believe it. WWE's numbers aren't where they used to be, but they maintain a consistent and loyal audience that spends, spends, spends. Speaking of audiences, WWE is one of the most culturally relevant brands in American history. The company produced 8 of the ten highest-attended pro wrestling events in history, including the only pro-wrestling event in the Western hemisphere to draw over 100,000 fans (2016's Wrestlemania 32, which did 101,736 at Dallas/Arlington's AT&T Stadium). If you expand out of the world of wrestling, WWE still holds its owN. Out of the 50 biggest PPV buys in combat sports history, WWE has grossed 8 of them in the last 20 years. We haven't even touched their already-existing concurrent deal with FOX that brought WWE programming to the FOX network in 2018. That deal was also for over $1 billion.

So to recap, WWE has signed two deals with two different multinational conglomerates for licensing agreements grossing a billion dollars. A piece. 

What does WWE see in Peacock? 

• More eyes on WWE content.

In a recent interview, WWE President & Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan laid it out pretty clearly: 

So, I'll give you an example: Peacock is free in the [24 million] Comcast cable and Cox cable homes, as I'm sure you know, so…for the first time ever, WrestleMania, which is our Super Bowl, is going to be available for free to those homes./ "NBC's reach will help expand WWE audience." 

• An old friend.

WWE had been in conversations for this deal with other brands like ESPN, who began covering WWE in its usual mix on shows like Sportscenter recently. What they didn't have was the nearly three-decade relationship with NBCU that helped seal the deal. WWE and NBC have been working together since the days when Dick Ebersol took over and co-created Saturday Night's Main Event as a lead-in to Saturday Night Live in the 80s. When Vince McMahon decided to get into the football business and launched the first incarnation of the XFL, it aired on NBC. The company's flagship program, "Monday Night Raw," has aired almost-exclusively on Comcast/NBCU-owned cable channel USA Network since it began airing back in 1993. 

What does Peacock see in WWE?

• One of the most valuable pieces of IP in the world.

Read that again. You want to talk share of culture? WWE owns the most extensive library of professional wrestling content in the world. WWE owns a total of more than 125,000 tapes and more than 130,000 hours of footage of wrestling. The WWE tape library contains American pro wrestling history, almost in its entirety.

(Fun Fact: the oldest match on the WWE Network is this Killer Kowalski match from 1952).

• A way to bump those subscriber numbers.

Currently, WWE Network has about 2 million subscribers in the US. Those paid subscribers are paying $9.99 per month. Peacock's premium service is available to around 25 million Comcast and Cox subscribers at no added cost. Other subscribers pay $4.99 for access -- half the price of WWE Network's current fee. Given the fact that all significant WWE PPV's -- including Wrestlemania -- will air on the $4.99 tier, this should translate into a bump for Peacock's overall subscription numbers since WWE fans will be saving money while getting the same experience, ads-notwithstanding.

My take: 

The world as we know it is changing. I'm changing the Wu-Tang song. The "C" in CREAM now stands for "Content" because where we're going, the need for content will get interesting quickly. 

In a post on his website, media analyst Matthew Ball broke down the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on viewing habits and streaming services. We know that TV was already seeing a gradual shift from pay-TV ( aka cable) to streaming services like Netflix and Hulu — I believe moves like this signal that in 2021, we're going to see viewers cut out cable as an unnecessary cost, once and for all.

Think about it: We're all in the house, and we're all bored as hell. TV viewership is up across the board, but it's up, and it's STUCK for streaming services. The most significant streaming services (not counting Amazon Prime) saw an average 75% jump in daily sign-ups after most states put the shelter-in-place order. I know this won't last once people get vaccinated and head back outside. Still, I believe the same way people are abandoning cities to live places where their dollar goes farther, people will have to choose whether the paid cable is a necessary expense vs. streaming services. It isn't looking good for Big Cable.

For WWE, this also gives them a post-Vince McMahon play. The WWE CEO turns 76 this August and for years, people have wondered what will happen when he finally doesn't kick out for the final three count. I can see the company remaining privately-owned and continuing to do these kinds of licensing deals in the future, and why not? They retain ownership and are free to explore other options once these deals are done. Selfishly, as a longtime fan, I'm also rooting for wrestling as a business. Any investments into it, especially at this scale, should be considered a positive sign for the future. 

TUNES:

New playlists to wrap up January from The King of Very Specific Vibes.

TECH FLEECE SZN: It’s beyond freezing out, so the real ones know what time it is.

Tunes from LNDN DRGS, Big L, Roc Marciano, AZ, and Larry June. Listen WITHOUT shuffling for maximum impact. Fun Fact: This is my shortest playlist ever!

COOL PANDEMIC DINNER PARTY: Put this one at your next pandemic dinner party to make it cool.

Tunes from dvsn, Alan Parsons Project, Brandy, Teenage Priest, SIMPSON, and Chaka Khan. Listen on shuffle!

SAVE THE DATE:

I'm co-hosting a free webinar with Dan Runcie of Trapital Media! We're breaking down the best hip-hop album rollouts of all time! The best hip-hop rollouts are like blueprints for anyone launching a product. Join us! Sign up here.

SUPPORT THIS THING:

Did you know, that for less than the cost of a bucket of beers, you can support a Black-owned media startup? Become a paid supporter of Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins on an ongoing basis today. $7 a month or $75 a year.

Subscribe now

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Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, Illinois. He’s really cold right now.

This newsletter turns 2 today. Before I got diagnosed with ADHD last year, the #1 thing I heard my whole life was that I’m not “consistent”. Work, school, projects, all I heard was that I couldn’t “follow through” on things. (Hmm wonder why?😂), but here we are. I’m really happy that I proved those people wrong but I’m even happier that I proved everyone who believes in me (aka you!) right! We’re 158 issues in and I have no plans to stop now.

New newsletter Tuesday, new podcast Thursday. Thanks to everyone for the support! 💕.

What’s new for Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins in 2021?

• The newsletter will evolve a bit. I'm days away from publishing my new website and eventually, that will become the home of all of my projects, including this one. That means expansion. Right now, I’m thinking that the Tuesday newsletter will become shorter, ideally you'd get a link and some original thought and if i really have something to say, a link out to a bigger piece. More on that to come.

• Over the pandemic, I've been teaching myself how to visualize concepts. It's a severe blind spot for me. That means I'm gonna give you more data visualizations, charts and overall data to back up all the shit I talk. If anyone is good at that and wants to work with me on data visualization stuff this year, reach out!

• Given that I have a lot of thoughts on the products that come from the business of culture, I must sadly announce that I will be starting to dip into some aesthetic-based content now and then. That means product recommendations, cultural observations on current events and potentially an advice column?

• A better paid subscriber experience. 2021 is about doubling-down on paid subscribers and building our community. I’ll be creating exclusive playlists and mood boards, exclusive podcasts and, God willing, access to live events (let's be serious, this is more like a 2022 thing)

• The Junto is getting an upgrade. The private Slack channel is going to evolve because I’m not trying to sit on Slack all day, are you? Maybe Slack isn't the best communication method? Currently, I'm looking at Circle. If anyone has thoughts on that service or any others, you know where to find me.

• The podcast is here to stay. Seasonal breaks in the summer and holiday seasons, it’s about BALANCE.

• ICYMI: last Monday’s newsletter was the debut of a new recurring segment called "In Their Own Words". This is the evolution a concept a few really smart people and I pioneered over on Clubhouse last summer. Goal is to showcase the opinions of a great thinker on a subject that's relevant to a current event. You've already seen demos of this concept. Essentially, this is a leveled-up version of #136.

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  SUPPORT THIS THING:

  Did you know that for less than the cost of a bucket of beers, you can support an independent media startup?

  Become a paid supporter of Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins on an ongoing basis today. $7 a month or $75 a year.

  Subscribe now

  Can’t do a paid subscription right now? Consider showing your support for my work with a one-time donation!

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  Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is written and curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, Illinois.

  This newsletter has an Instagram, too!

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivering this speech at Riverside Church in New York City on April 4, 1967.

In honor of MLK Day, I’d like to debut a recurring segment called “In Their Own Words”. This is the evolution a concept a few really smart people and I pioneered over on Clubhouse last summer. The goal is to showcase the opinions of a great thinker on a subject that's relevant to a current event. I try to prioritize either rare stuff from names you know vs random things you’ve never heard of. For longtime readers, you've already seen demos of this concept. Essentially, this is a leveled-up version of #136. Sound good?

I have a pretty good assumption this will be the first time you’ve ever heard this speech. That is likely because, without a doubt, this was King’s most controversial speech. It was so intense that even some members of his staff warned him not to give it. Consider all that happened to that man up until 1967. They were that worried about it. This speech is where a lot of people turned on King.

Do you want to know what cancel culture really looks like? After this speech, King’s popularity dove, losing tons of longtime supporters — of all colors. His critics called the address too radical. His fellow civil rights leaders criticized him, and major newspapers told him to stick to civil rights. (Heard that one before?) President Lyndon B. Johnson even stopped speaking to King.

This speech is why we should honor the man today. The courage that King demonstrated here is otherworldly. By this point, he was already beyond popular. King could have ridden his acclaim after the March on Washington to shift into the book and lecture circuit or even political office. Instead, he chose to put principle over his popularity. He put the needs of the culture over his clout.

After this speech, King took efforts to broaden his efforts towards causes like workers rights of all colors, while continuing to oppose the war. One year later—to the day—that this speech was given, King was assassinated in Memphis.

DO NOT TRUST OR LISTEN TO THE OPINIONS OF ANYONE TALKING ABOUT MLK TODAY WHO HAS NOT HEARD THIS SPEECH.

You can read the whole thing here, but you should do yourself a favor and listen to this. It’s one of the greatest speeches of all-time.

Here’s a few select bars, all emphasis is mine:

“Five years ago, the late John F. Kennedy said, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” [applause] Increasingly, by choice or by accident, this is the role our nation has taken, the role of those who make peaceful revolution impossible by refusing to give up the privileges and the pleasures that come from the immense profits of overseas investments. I am convinced that if we are to get on to the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

“A few years ago there was a shining moment. It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor, both black and white, through the poverty program. There were experiments, hopes, new beginnings. Then came the buildup in Vietnam, and I watched this program broken and eviscerated as if it were some idle political plaything on a society gone mad on war. And I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic, destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such.”

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

The Americans are forcing even their friends into becoming their enemies. It is curious that the Americans, who calculate so carefully on the possibilities of military victory, do not realize that in the process they are incurring deep psychological and political defeat. The image of America will never again be the image of revolution, freedom, and democracy, but the image of violence and militarism.

“We are taking the black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them 8,000 miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in Southwest Georgia and East Harlem. So we have been repeatedly faced with the cruel irony of watching Negro and white boys on TV screens as they kill and die together for a nation that has been unable to seat them together in the same schools. We watch them in brutal solidarity burning the huts of a poor village, but we realize that they would hardly live on the same block in Chicago.”

“It is a sad fact that because of comfort, complacency, a morbid fear of communism, and our proneness to adjust to injustice, the Western nations that initiated so much of the revolutionary spirit of the modern world have now become the arch anti-revolutionaries.”

SUPPORT THIS THING:

Did you know that for less than it costs to get a bucket of beers, you can support an independent media startup?

• Become a paid supporter of Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins on an ongoing basis today. $7 a month or $75 a year.

Subscribe now

• Can’t do a paid subscription right now? Consider showing your support for my work with a one-time donation!

Support Ernest's Work!

Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins is a newsletter about the business of cultural industries, written & curated by Ernest Wilkins in Chicago, Illinois.