Metaverse be fashionable! Parsons School of Design students will be able to include Roblox fashion design in their studies. The class explores the intersection of physical and metaverse fashion, culminating in students creating and selling items on the Roblox marketplace. Zuck would be proud.

Wait... They shipped what!?

YouTube shipped Primetime Channels, letting users subscribe and watch content from 30+ streaming partners directly within the YouTube App.

Details: The feature mostly sits within the 'Movies & Shows' hub, but videos will also show up in search results and recommendations. Users will see a 'Pay to Watch' CTA on videos from services they haven't subscribed to.

The initial partner list includes the likes of Paramount+, AMC+, and Showtime. Each will operate like normal YouTube channels, with videos and a curated homepage.

Why it matters: YouTube is effectively turning streaming companies into YouTube creators by leveraging its massive reach.

In the midst of macro headwinds and increasing competition, distribution is the top of mind challenge for most streaming platforms. As a result, many are willing to take a haircut on unit-economics and product control to unlock growth.

For YouTube, it's a great way to start filling the 'Official Content' hole - i.e. having lots of trailers, breakdowns, and commentary videos, but not the core content itself.

Of note: By making the new feature a separate offering, YouTube is subtly admitting that to win in bundled streaming, YouTube TV isn't going to cut it. Why? Because YouTube's TV's 5 million subs simply don't compare to YouTube's 2 billion MAUs...

Features & products hot off the press

Big tech

• Amazon Prime gets a full music catalogue + ad-free podcasts

• Facebook expands professional mode setting to all creators globally  

• Google shuts down Hangouts for good

• Twitter discontinues ad-free articles for Blue subscribers 

• Google Search rolls out new promo and coupon shopping features 

• Instagram tests new nav scheme & video experience on web 

General and early-stage

• Cruise expands its driverless robotaxi area to all of SF

• Disney+ expands into e-commerce by shipping an exclusive merch store 

• Twilio kills its Zipwhip business texting service

• Rewind ships a cross-application search engine

• Vowel launches a mobile app and a suite of meeting search & notes tools

• Nouns Builder ships a no-code tool to launch DAOs on-chain 

Getting 1% better at building product

• Strategy - 4 key parts of an effective product vision, by Reforge

• Execution - Building Substack, by Sachin Monga

Broader tech happenings

• Borrowed time. FCC commissioner says US government should ban TikTok

• Greenchain. Indonesia considers a blockchain powered carbon trading scheme

• Liftoff! SpaceX successfully launches Falcon Heavy for 4th time ever

• Off to the races. Call of Duty Modern Warfare II generates $800m in 3 days 

• Digital polos. Ralph Lauren partners with Fortnite on in-game collection

Courtesy of mindless Twitter scrolling

@adweak

@manasjsaloi

And that’s a wrap for today. Stay tuned for more!

- Amol