RockWater Roundup

We’re in the midst of not one, but two, once-in-a-generation paradigm shifts: the “Streaming Wars” and the “Audio Wars”. And industry players are spending big on "land grab" strategies to own tomorro…

2021 was the year acceleration stuck. It was also the year in which the “passion economy” gave birth to the “ownership economy”, which blurs the line between creators and fans into communal ownership…

Livestream shopping festivals in the US are ramping up during the holiday season. From Facebook and YouTube to even Twitter. And our RockWater team has been participating in all of them. Yet livestre…

Over the last few weeks we've tracked various Content x Commerce activations. From Cameo buying Represent and Fanatics exploring RSN acquisitions, to Walmart partnering with Netflix and Barstool, and…

The Livestream Commerce market in the US continues its rapid expansion. Whatnot just raised a $150 million Series C, valuing it at $1.5 billion and its third fundraise of 2021. And NTWRK raised a $50…

Social platforms are investing big money into creator funds and products. Like LinkedIn ($25 million), Facebook and Instagram ($1B), YouTube Shorts ($100M), Snap ($1M per day), Only Fans (£80K), and …

Just a few weeks ago, a Blackstone-backed media vehicle acquired Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine for $900 million. Before that, Amazon acquired MGM for $8.5 billion. The list of studio M&A deals a…

Today's episode is part 2 of our Audio Wars coverage. 

Since 2018 we've tracked over 30 M&A deals on our industry Audio M&A Watch List, like Amazon / Wondery and SiriusXM / Stitcher. There's also been…

Since 2018 we've tracked over 30 M&A deals on our industry Audio M&A Watch List, like Amazon / Wondery and SiriusXM / Stitcher. There's also been numerous talent and IP licensing deals like Amazon / …

Mattel Films is partnering with MGM to put Polly Pocket on the silver screen. Hasbro and Epic Games are creating a line of Victory Royale toys for Fornite fans. And Kidfluencers are driving over $1 b…

This month Logan Paul fought Floyd Mayweather in an exhibition event, drawing 1 million PPV buys and generating $50 million in revenue. It's yet another datapoint in the growth of made-for-social cre…

Etsy just bought Depop, an ecommerce marketplace known for vintage clothes and streetwear that's highly popular with Gen Z. We discuss the deal logic, how the $40 billion resale market is outpacing o…

Whatnot, a livestream commerce marketplace for authenticated resale (like trading cards), just raised a $50 million Series B. We explain the origins of China's $170+ billion livestream selling market…

Anthony Pompliano, an investor and podcaster, launched Bitcoin Pizza, a new "decentralized" pizza brand. It's yet another example of a creator or media brand launching a direct-to-consumer food & bev…

AT&T just sold WarnerMedia to Discovery for $43 billion, after acquiring it for $85 billion just a few years ago. We discuss why AT&T needs to refocus on its wireless business and stop buying media a…

There have been a handful of recent livestream deals in music and sports. NBCU tapped Twitch to produce and deliver live content that will live on a new NBC Olympics Twitch channel for the 2021 Tokyo…

In the past week Catena Media acquired Lineups.com for $40 million, and Better Collective acquired Action Network for $240 million. The deal frenzy includes 20+ other transactions, and kicked off in …

In December 2020, Clubhouse had 600,000 users. As of April 2021, it has 10 million. But just as it’s beginning to achieve critical mass, its core “Social Audio” experience is being replicated by a sl…