🏠🎈 Airbnb unveils crazy "Icon" experiences

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Russell 2000: +0.97% 📈

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TOP STORY
🤝 TikTok x Universal Music Group: The Saga continues

TikTok and Universal Music Group ($UMG) have reached a new deal to bring back the legendary label’s music to the platform.

The deal, which has been debated for months since UMG pulled its entire catalog, is aimed at prioritizing artists.

Here’s what it means:

• UMG’s music catalog will return to TikTok immediately.

• UMG artists will be able to use TikTok's e-commerce tools to find new ways to earn money beyond streaming music.

• Fair pay for UMG's songwriters and artists.

• Both parties promise to protect UMG's music from being used without permission in AI-generated content.

• UMG and TikTok will team up to advertise UMG's artists worldwide.

The agreement seems like a big win for artists, but with TikTok's limited oversight, we’ll have to wait and see how long they can keep up their end of the deal.

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RETAIL
🥗 Walmart is launching a new private-label grocery brand, Bettergoods

The Bettergoods line will include "trend-and chef-driven foods," focusing on healthier, plant-based options.

After some shoppers made it clear that they wanted, no joke, "elevated culinary, inspirational types of items.”

I think we all know which age group that was, ahem, millennials.

From what’s known, Bettergoods will be like a Walmart version of “Good & Gather,” Target's private label food line with its own assortment of healthy options.

Bettergoods at a glance:

• 300+ food items

• Over 70% of items cost under $5.

• Items range from $2 to $15.

While becoming trendier is certainly appealing, Walmart’s decision likely has more to do with investing in the private label wave. 

• Over the past couple of decades, virtually every major retailer, not just Walmart, has transitioned into the private label game.

• From Costco's "Kirkland" to Target's "Good & Gather," and of course, the OG private label retailer, Trader Joe's.

Why? Private labels allow retailers to control the entire supply chain from production to marketing to distribution.

By eliminating the middlemen, retailers earn higher profit margins, which allows them to make items cheaper—talk about sharing the wealth!

Walmart knows better than anyone the importance of being affordable, especially at a time when costs are rising and people are struggling to put food on the table. 

And with a freshly minted private label, Walmart can keep its title as the low-price king.

HOSPITALITY
🏠️ 🎈 Airbnb unveils 11 “Icon” stays in its 2024 Summer Release

From the actual "Up" house suspended from a crane to a wake-up call in the renowned Musée d'Orsay for the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics; these stays, which will probably be booked until the end of time knowing my luck, are truly once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

Instead of trying to describe them, let’s just show you:

• Spend the night in the Ferrari Museum

• Step into X-Men ’97

• Go VIP with Kevin Hart

• Join a living room session with Doja Cat

• Stay in Prince’s Purple Rain house

• Game with Khaby Lame

• Go on tour with Feid

• Live like Bollywood star Janhvi Kapoor

• Make core memories with Inside Out 2

How can I sign up? Open the Airbnb app now, and you’ll see an Icon logo on the homepage. Or, just click on the links above.

You can click on whichever experience (or all) you like and “request” bookings via the app.

This will enter you into a raffle for a chance to receive digital golden tickets.

Around 4,000 tickets are available in 2024, and if you win, you'll be getting one hell of a bargain with most of the experiences either free or priced under $100 USD per guest.

And if you don't win or for some reason don't think the first 11 are cool enough, don't worry—Airbnb has already said this is just the beginning, with new experiences dropping worldwide throughout the year.

Here’s what else you might’ve missed…

Sony ($SONY) and Apollo ($APO) make a $26B buyout bid for Paramount ($PARA).

T-Mobile ($TMUS) acquired Mint Mobile for $1.35B, Ryan Reynolds cashes in big.

UnitedHealth Group ($UNH) paid $22M to cyber criminals

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney invest in another soccer team.