Cass Frank

Director of Artist Management | Big Night Talent

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

Activision paid $99.9 million for Guitar Hero's publisher in 2006, made over $2 billion off the franchise, then killed the entire genre in four years. Today that publisher's name came back from the dead to sell plastic guitars again.

RedOctane was two brothers, Kai and Charles Huang, who started out selling dance pads. They published the first Guitar Hero in 2005 and it hit $1 billion in North American sales in 26 months, faster than any franchise before it.

So Activision did what Activision does. Annualize.

In 2009 alone they shipped Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero, DJ Hero, and Guitar Hero editions for Metallica, Van Halen, and Smash Hits. Six music games in twelve months.

That playbook works for Call of Duty because a sequel only asks for $60. A Guitar Hero sequel asked you to justify the $100 plastic guitar already in your closet, and every new SKU competed with the last one on the same shelf. Genre revenue went from $1.7 billion in 2008 to about $300 million in 2010. Activision shut down RedOctane, then the whole Guitar Hero business unit.

They strip-mined ten years of demand into three.

Now the Huang brothers are back as advisors at a revived RedOctane, the studio head is a Guitar Hero veteran, and Stage Tour launches December 10 with 90 licensed songs and 180 real Gibson guitars. Fifteen years of untouched demand, and the people who invented the genre finally get a second run at it.

[Tap In: Get Everyone’s Answers, Fast @Tap_in_ai]

Group chats are where good plans go to die.

Here's why your friends never actually meet up.

[Dancing Astronaut @dancingastro]

Happy 10th birthday to @RLGRIME - Core 🐐

A decade of the trap goat. This @HARDFEST 2015 video is still so legendary

(🎥: @glenjamn)

[Adrian Wojnarowski @wojespn]

New Orleans has landed Dejounte Murray to anchor the Pelicans backcourt

[Dancing Astronaut @dancingastro]

On this date in 2013, Avicii and @aloeblacc released “Wake Me Up” ◢ ◤

The crowd booed them when they debuted it together at Ultra 2013

11 years later and still one of the most iconic dance music tracks of all time

(🎥: @ultra)

[Rob Abelow @AbelowRob]

3 of music's biggest reports just dropped:

• RIAA's US Music Report
• Luminate's 2023 Global Report
• IFPI's Global State of the Industry

I went deep on all of em.

Come take a look where music's going 👇

[Rob Abelow @AbelowRob]

Tour managers should be put in charge of the country.

Everyone will be fed.
No detail will be missed.
On time & under budget.

Enough of these 70+ yos let's get us a battle-tested TM who can double as FOH if necessary.

[Kyante Wilson 🦍 @kyantewilson_]

Every year I find it an obligation to resurface this video of Deadmau5 discovering Chris James making him the official vocalist for The Veldt based off of a Twitter submission because it’s the best video of all time.

SHOOT YOUR MOTHA FUCKIN SHOT YALL

[Cass Frank @cassfrank]

@JasonEulerMGMT Started over the weekend and can’t wait to finish!

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Trite as it may sound, I wish for world peace

[Cass Frank @cassfrank]

@EDMManiac Not EDM but hands down Jazz Fest in Nola 💯

[Festival Season Media @Festseasonmedia]

[THREAD]

10 old tracks that were never officially released

(📸 via @tomorrowland)

[Cass Frank @cassfrank]

@arengoldd Sad we aren’t there with you guys this time 😢

[Cass Frank @cassfrank]

@dancingastro @itsJakeShore @deerockmusicc @KastraMusic @partywithraydj stay killing it

[Rob Abelow @AbelowRob]

"Timing and momentum are more important than talent."

Andre 3000 gets it.

Music is about connecting.

Not just flexing your talents.

"There's a lot of people with talent. There's so many dope people on the internet that are raw. But it's your timing, it's what you're talking about, it's if you're catching the zeitgeist of what's happening in the world."

My takeaway:

You need to be of the moment.

Everything builds on everything else.

- How people are feeling
- The music & art they're experiencing
- The events & technology of the world

You need to channel it.
You need to say something new.
You need to add to the conversation.

Talent is part of it.

But connection is everything.

[partywithray @partywithraydj]

opening for @ZHUmusic tomorrow night and friday at the freakin hollywood palladium!!! and ripping a set at exchange later friday night for the after party 🫡🖤 and i’m opening for @madeon at sound next thursday!! let’s go LA 🫶🏼

[Dancing Astronaut @dancingastro]

The GTA VI trailer is finally coming next month. Dance music looked a lot different when the last GTA was released in 2013:

▪️Avicii - ‘True’ just came out
▪️“Wake Me Up” was the #1 dance song
▪️Kaskade - ‘Atmosphere’ just came out
▪️‘Random Access Memories’ was 4 months old
▪️Martin Garrix was 17 years old
▪️The Chainsmokers’ SoundCloud remix era
▪️RL Grime was still releasing as Clockwork
▪️Bigroom was at its peak
▪️SHM were broken up, A^I didn’t exist yet
▪️‘Recess’ was still 6 months away
▪️‘Worlds’ was still a year away

(📸: @rukes)

[Cass Frank @cassfrank]

@DJTwinnyTwin My dude @partywithraydj know how to make a sync friendly record 💯

[Dancing Astronaut @dancingastro]

HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY, “UNDER CONTROL”

@Alesso x @CalvinHarris x @theohurts

A decade of a golden age GOAT 🐐

[Andre Mullen @TheAndreMullen]

Behind every great artist…

There’s a manager who has created and executed business models and plans, networked and built relationships, and found and created opportunities when there wasn’t any.

Overnight growth only exists in fairytales and euphoria.