Singer Michael Franti exudes optimism. In fact, he wants all of his songs to be “uplifting.” One of his albums is even called “The Sound of Sunshine.”
And he has that “glass half full” outlook about the streaming industry too. He says it’s a platform for discovery.
“Someone who has never known you before used to have to wait for your song to come on the radio and maybe it never would. Maybe they’d never hear you,” Franti told Cheddar’s Jon Steinberg. “[Now] you can find fans in parts of the world that never had access to you before.”
While the streaming industry may have replaced the need to buy songs, ruining one revenue stream, Franti thinks it has opened the door to another, leading to more loyal fans who show up for concerts.
“I was talking to a friend of mine who goes, ‘I’d rather have 100 fans than a million followers.’ And I really believe that,” said Franti.
In the 1990s, Franti was the lead singer for the hip hop band Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. Then in 2010, his “Say Hey” climbed to the Billboard Top 20.
Earlier this week, Franti was awarded the Nelson Mandela Changemaker Award at the PTTOW! conference in Ojai, Calif., which this year attracted the likes of Vans global brands president [Doug Palladini](https://cheddar.com/videos/on-board-with-vans), NBA All-Star [Baron Davis](https://cheddar.com/videos/tech-no-foul), and celeb DJ [Steve Aoki](https://cheddar.com/videos/why-steve-aoki-says-the-streaming-industry-is-great-for-music).
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/michael-franti-spreads-love-and-optimism-with-his-music).
Premio Lo Nuestro 2022 is kicking off awards season this month with its 34th show. The star-studded event will include performances from Pitbull, Luis Fonsi — and even Sting with his new Spanish-language single "Por Su Amor." Ignacio Meyer, the vice president of music and non-scripted entertainment, Univision, joined Cheddar News to talk about the music award show details. "We’ve actually still got plenty of surprises that were going to be announcing," Meyer said. "We're not done announcing the star power just yet." Singer Camilo leads with 10 nominations going into the event.
Black spending power reached a record $1.6 Trillion in a 2021 report from the University of Georgia Selig Center for Economic Growth. Ayesha Selden, certified financial planner, breaks down why real estate is the key to closing the racial wealth gap and how Black Americans are using social media to improve financial literacy. "If we look at home ownership as being a primary driver of wealth, when you look at the equity that Americans have in their homes, that equity can be used to buy additional assets like other rental properties. That equity can be used to educate our children," Selden said, noting that lower rates of home ownership meant Black Americans tend to incur more debt on average for their student loans.
On this episode of Cheddar Reveals, Dr. Kate Strasdin, fashion historian & senior lecturer in Cultural Studies at Falmouth University, discusses the lessons industry leaders draw from history to make fashion more sustainable today; Kendall Becker, fashion editor and trend forecaster, forecasts the hottest trends of 2022, and what will be left in 2021; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Going Circular.'
Dr. Kate Strasdin, fashion historian & senior lecturer in Cultural Studies at Falmouth University, joins Cheddar Reveals to discuss the lessons industry leaders draw from history to make fashion more sustainable today.
A new survey from Etoro suggests that talking crypto might actually help Americans on the dating scene find love...or at least land another date. The survey found that 74% of respondents would be more interested in going on a second date with a person that pays the bill in Bitcoin. Callie Cox, Etoro's U.S. investment analyst, joined Cheddar News to discuss.
Energy Vault, the company developing sustainable, grid-scale energy storage solutions, is now trading on the New York Stock Exchange following the completion of its business combination with Novus Capital Corporation II. Energy Vault develops sustainable, grid-scale energy storage solutions designed to advance the transition to a carbon free, resilient power grid. Robert Piconi, co-founder and CEO of Energy Vault, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to disucss.
A new mobile app has launched just in time for Valentine's Day. Our.Love bills itself as an A.I.-powered, gamified, relationship wellness app for couples. The app is set in what the company calls the Coupleverse, a virtual world where each couple can build a virtual relationship home as they also build their real-world relationship. Founder and CEO Tal Zlotnitsky joined Cheddar to discuss how the app works. "The concept behind Our.Love is to give people the opportunity to understand where they stand in their relationship through very simple metrics that we provide within the app that will help them in real-time, see where they stand, see where their partner is, and be able to get closer together," he said.
