Happy Monday!

In today’s newsletter, Ed Sheeran in Domino Park (where he announced a U.S. stadium tour for next year!), the awkward Emmys, further Charlie Kirk fallout, and more. 

Ed Sheeran and TikTok held a small, free concert in New York

Ed Sheeran played an intimate show near Domino Park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn to promote his new album Play. It was held in partnership with TikTok and streamed on Live. It was kept pretty discreet to limit the crowd, although there were people gathered on neighboring roofs to watch.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this Rolling Stone piece about how New York City pop-ups have become a major part of artist promo. Some of the biggest pop stars in the world have been doing free shows and appearances to promote their new projects. These events have a spontaneous vibe that often generates excitement and FOMO online.

I consider this a part of the long tail of Brat Summer. Charli XCX really smashed it out of the park with Brat promo last year — including the infamous green Brat wall in Greenpoint, Brooklyn that was painted live on TikTok. She also made an appearance at the wall in May 2024, which is right next to The Lot Radio where she performed a surprise set. This, combined with her low-capacity Boiler Room set several months prior, helped create higher intrigue, and therefore demand, for her work. 

Since then, as the RS piece points out, quite a few artists have put their own spin on this approach, including Lorde, Sombr, and Cardi B. It was only a matter of time until artists and platforms began partnering directly to organize and publicize these exclusive performances and/or appearances. Beyond Sheeran and TikTok, Doja Cat recently did one of these in partnership with Spotify after the VMAs. Lady Gaga also collaborated with Spotify to hold a secret fan-led press conference in NYC ahead of the release of Mayhem earlier this year.

It’s hard to know how effective these events are in getting people to actually listen to the albums (although, at a certain point, Ed Sheeran’s TikTok Live streaming the performance had upwards of 500,000 viewers!). Regardless, I think it’s a great service to fans at a time when it is famously impossible to get concert tickets. 

Unfortunately for the rest of the world, it seems to mostly be benefitting NYC fans. Still, perhaps this is a model for artists to create more democratic live opportunities in other major cities. These are the kinds of experiences that only real fans — or at least people with the motivation to see a famous person IRL on a whim — would care to go to. There is no competing with bots and scalpers to see the artist since they’re usually free and mostly unticketed. You’re usually surrounded by likeminded people who all share an interest. And now, you all share a story about that one time you flocked to a random NYC location to get a glimpse of your favorite artist. That’s community building!

Considering how important live events have become in the livelihoods of artists, I think these events are a win-win.  It’s a very smart way to 1) provide an exclusive and relatively intimate experience for local fans and 2) create some FOMO and buzz around your new project. 

Ed Sheeran announced a U.S. stadium tour during his Domino Park performance. Dozens of fans got to see up-close for free, while hundreds of thousands online got a taste of what they could see at his tour. Not that he needs it, but it might convince some people to go. If not, at least they know Ed Sheeran is still out here writing perfect wedding songs. And what else could an artist ask for in our fractured attention economy?

What the hell was up with the Emmys charity counter? 

At the top of the show, host Nate Bargatze explained that he would donate $100,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of America. However, the donation would decrease if the night’s winners went over their allotted 45 seconds for acceptance speeches. They also had actual children on stage for… added pressure on the winners? What an awkward bit to have. As a result, people rushed through their speeches, which made for a bit of a frenzied, stressful tone for the evening. It was quite the disservice to the artists in the room. 

The charity pot went into the negatives by the end of the show, but Bargatze and the production team pledged to donate $350,000 anyways. So… what was the point of all of that? Perhaps it was to ensure that winners didn’t get too deep or political with their speeches — or else pay the cost. It seemed that the Emmys and host Bergatze were aiming hard for milquetoast. That didn’t deter politics from coming up though. Whether it was Hannah Einbinder saying, “Go Birds, fuck ICE, and Free Palestine” or Stephen Colbert speaking to the despair in the U.S. amid his recent cancellation, winners reclaimed their time and said what needed to be said.

Every Monday letter gets a playlist. The world’s on fire but at least it’s beautiful outside. I love the fall so much. Here is a playlist to embrace the romance in this season!

In this week’s playlist:

• Man I Need - Olivia Dean

• Suzanne - Mark Ronson and Raye

• Leaveyourlove - Parcels

• DAISIES - Justin Bieber

• Hypotheticals - Lake Street Dive

• Petals - TOPS

• Let Me Love You - Amber Mark

• Really Love - Loaded Honey

Other things I want to share with you.

• Karen Attiah, now-former Global Opinions editor at the Washington Post, shared that she was fired for her Bluesky posts condemning political violence. The only direct post she made about Charlie Kirk was recounting his own disparaging comments toward Black women. The Post apparently called her conduct “unacceptable.” This is a scary time in media because so many outlets are capitulating to conservative pressure in order to avoid seeming “woke” or “inflammatory.” This is the absolute opposite of free speech.

• Some thoughts about Charlie Kirk from Hasan Piker. 

• With everything I said about New York and artists above, Cardi B takes the cake for most creative iteration of this trend. That’s because she’s a real New Yorker! Every piece of on-the-ground promotion has been New York to its core.

• Ugh the second Georgli wedding has hit my timeline <3 So deeply chic!

• For all my JADE fans, she did a breakdown of each track from That’s Showbiz, Baby! 

• Speaking of the long tail of Brat… I’m sat for this new era of Demi Lovato. She just revealed her new album cover, creative directed by Imogene, Charli XCX’s collaborator on Brat.