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While the use of magnetic tape to record and play music dates back to the 1930s, it wasn’t until 1963, at the Berlin Radio Show, that Philips introduced the two-spool cassette. Twenty years later, the finicky format passed vinyl as the most popular music medium in the United States, but it was a short-lived victory: The CD soon spun it into the bargain bin of history. But two decades after most music fans pressed the Eject button, cassettes are following vinyl’s comeback in stores and stereos.Reel Love
Operating under the Norelco brand in the United States, Philips launched an “intensified advertising and promotion drive” to get cassettes into American homes,” according to the Sept. 24, 1966, Billboard. “The Norelco success on TV with shavers will hopefully be duplicated with recorders.” By the Nov. 26 issue, Philips predicted that “the market for equipment that can record and play back cassettes will reach 4 million sets” within a few years, citing one advantage the format had over vinyl: the “capability to play in any position, even upside down.”
Hitting Pause on High-End
Over the next decade, cassette sales were on fast-forward — but the format struggled to attract audiophiles, who stuck with vinyl. “A $19 cassette is a difficult sale to make,” mused an ad executive who worked for a chain store in the May 8, 1982, Billboard, referring to high-end cassettes. But electronics company Maxell tried: In that very issue, a pre-fame Geena Davis, leaning on a shelf full of tapes, appeared in a full-page ad targeting audiophiles.
Tapes and Tapes
Big Brother must have carried a Walkman: In 1984, the March 24 issue reported that “cassettes toppled LPs as the dominant prerecorded audio configuration last year, accounting for almost 53% of all album product shipped to trade.” Cassettes were up 30.1% year over year, while vinyl dropped 14.1%. The “portable lifestyle,” Billboard noted, “continues to propel sales to new peaks.”
Find Cassingles Near You
“Is Cassette-Single Format Winding Down Already?” asked the front page of the Dec. 21, 1991, Billboard. Apparently so: “The dollar value of CD sales surpassed that of cassettes,” according to an article in that issue. “Most distribution executives [agree that] the format has passed its peak,” though one Midwest chain store owner blamed “lousy songs,” insisting that the decline was nothing “a couple of hits couldn’t fix.”
Measuring Tapes
By the end of the ’90s, cassette sales were unspooling. “The decline of today’s cassette mirrors the disappearance of the 8-track tape two decades ago,” Billboard reported in its Dec. 28, 2002, issue. A year later, cassette sales had dropped 40.3% while CD sales had dropped just 3%, due to the rise of online piracy. In a Dec. 19, 2009, year-end “Sales by Album Format” graphic, cassettes had been folded into the “other” category. But reports of the format’s death were greatly exaggerated. From 2015 to 2022, the little tape that could saw a 443% increase in U.S. sales, according to Luminate, as marquee names like Taylor Swift, Megan Thee Stallion and Maren Morris cued up the cassette’s comeback.
This story originally appeared in the Feb. 25, 2023, issue of Billboard.
What’s TikTok without music? That’s the central question at the heart of debates between major rights holders and the Bytedance-owned social media platform negotiating rates for their content, and a group of Australian users have been pulled into the middle to try to find out.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that that TikTok is running tests in Australia that limits the amount of licensed music some users can encounter on the platform. The test impacts fewer than half of Australia-based accounts, and it doesn’t affect everyone in the same way, according to a person familiar with the situation. The test puts people into multiple cohorts and provides them with different libraries of sounds to use in video creation. So, not everybody in the test will have the same catalog to choose from. Likewise, users in the test cohorts have different encounters with audio. Some people in test cohorts will encounter muted music on other users’ videos. This allows TikTok to compare and measure the different ways people interact with the app.
The results may inform TikTok’s licensing strategy, but evidence that some Australians are unhappy members of the test cohort can be seen on Twitter. “Tiktok really ruining its own app with all this ‘sound removed’ garbage,” one Australian user tweeted last week. Another echoed the sentiment: “wtf is up with tiktok removing like half the sounds??? like i swear ive seen SO many tiktoks where the sound has been removed.”
The risk of upsetting users and creators isn’t lost on TikTok. “We appreciate it’s disappointing if a certain track is unavailable or if a sound is muted on a previous video,” the company said in a statement. “This change will not be in place for long and not all music is affected.” The test will run from a month to a month and a half, according to a source familiar with the situation, meaning it should conclude by mid-March.
Why would TikTok degrade its user experience even in a relatively small market like Australia? A source familiar with the company’s thinking said TikTok is using the experiment to study what is trending, how users are accessing the platform through different entry points and how they are enjoying it. It is not a negotiating tactic, the person said. Nonetheless, the company is gathering the data during a year when most, if not all, of TikTok’s agreements with music rights owners come up for renewal. The source said it is predictable that TikTok would gather this information ahead of high-stakes negotiations, like those ongoing with major labels and other stakeholders.
Around the music industry, there are different interpretations for TikTok’s actions. One explanation is that TikTok is doing what tech companies do all the time: run tests, collect data and analyze the results. That narrative fits with what’s known. Australia, an important yet small and isolated English-speaking market, is a popular place for tech companies — Spotify, Facebook, Google, Tinder and others — to test new products. Much like these other companies, TikTok is an engineering-led company with engineers who want to take data-driven approaches to making decisions on how much time and resources should be invested in projects, building systems and, yes, even licensing rights. Sometimes, as history has shown with most of those other companies, too, a different mindset puts them at odds with creative industries.
“I don’t think they truly understand music at these tech companies,” says a record label executive. “It just doesn’t resonate with them.”
Negotiating tool?
TikTok, of course, has numerous people from the music world on staff: Ole Obermann, global head of music, and Tracy Gardner, head of licensing and partnerships, are former Warner Music Group executives. Jordan Lowy, head of music publishing licensing and partnerships, previously worked at Universal Music Group and Disney Music Group, and dozens if not hundreds of other music industry alums work at TikTok in editorial and artist partnerships. But the company looks and acts like a social media company, not a music company.
A less benign view of the test is that TikTok is looking for a rationale to argue music is not important to the platform – or not as important as labels believe. Annabelle Herd, the CEO of ARIA, the trade body for the Australian record industry, said TikTok “seeks to rationalize cutting artists’ compensation” and “downplay the significance of music on its platform.” Another industry executive believes the test is meant to lower expectations going into discussions with rights holders. “They’re looking to anchor their negotiating position near zero,” says a music industry source.
TikTok has spent years playing up music’s importance to creators, users and artists. “Music is at the heart of the TikTok experience,” Obermann stated in the opening words of the TikTok 2021 Music Report. That year, around 430 songs surpassed 1 billion views, up 200% from the previous year, and over 175 songs that trended that year charted on the Hot 100. In the company’s 2022 year-end report, Obermann reiterated TikTok’s value to artists, saying the platform “continues to unlock real-world opportunities for artists and labels, helping talent to secure record deals, brand collaborations, chart success, or be re-discovered decades later.”
And while the platform has certainly evolved beyond lip-syncing videos – book reviews and finance advice abound, for example – much of the recent news coming out of the company still involves music: StemDrop, an interactive, collaborative songwriting platform led by Max Martin, Syco Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Samsung; a Calvin Harris virtual reality concert; and welcomes to The Rolling Stones and Dolly Parton for joining the platform.
Anecdotally, exactly how important records labels’ music is to TikTok is debatable. Its top three trending songs of 2022 were independent releases, and the No. 1 song, “Sunroof” by Nicky Youre & Dazy, was originally released independently through SoundOn, TikTok’s music distribution business that’s been known to add promotion to music uploaded through its service. In all, only five of the top 10 of 2022 were signed to major labels. Major label music is arguably more important to on-demand streaming platforms and radio stations. By contrast, all the top 10 tracks of Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 and Radio Songs charts were released through major labels.
But major label music is everywhere on TikTok. Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” was the No. 4 trending song of 2022. Pharrell Williams’ “Just a Cloud Away” was No. 5. Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” was No. 10. And TikTok’s ability to give unknown artists a large audience increases its need to license music from labels. “Sunroof” was so successful that Youre signed with Colombia Records and reached No. 4 on the Hot 100.
What’s past is prologue
TikTok has ample motivation to reduce what it pays music rights holders. Licensing costs eat up more than 70% of a music subscription service’s revenue with little left over after paying operating expenses. Social networks, on the other hand, generate huge sums of free cash flow. Facebook, for example, had an operating margin of 25% in 2022 and 40% in 2021.
Services that once butted heads with music rights holders decided it was wiser to build partnerships that enriched both sides. Like TikTok, YouTube began as an ad-supported platform built on user-generated content and characterized by minuscule royalties. Over time, YouTube attracted better advertisers, built a strong on-demand premium service and became a major source of revenue for labels and publishers. In the 12-month period ended June 30, 2022, YouTube paid music rights holders $6 billion through YouTube advertisements and fees from the YouTube Music subscription service.
Now, YouTube has “a phenomenal partnership” with rights owners after it “decided that music is important to us forever,” Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl, YouTube’s former chief business officer, said during WMG’s Feb. 9 earnings call. It invested in music “holistically” by building a copyright management platform, Copyright ID, launching the YouTube Music subscription service and taking on TikTok with its short-form video platform, YouTube Shorts.
TikTok appears to share YouTube’s ambitions to offer a multitude of services that segment the market into ad-supported and paying customers. Parent company Bytedance already has an on-demand music service, Resso, operating in Brazil, Indonesia and India, and a separate on-demand service, Qishui Yinyue, in China. But in major markets like the U.S., TikTok users that want to listen to an entire track and explore an artist’s catalog end up going – in large numbers – to on-demand services like Spotify and Apple Music. Pairing its short-form video platform with an on-demand service would give TikTok a “significant opportunity” to leverage data and manage customers across multiple platforms, says one of the music industry sources. “Why would they not want to capture that demand themselves?”
“TikTok needs to do that [also],” Kyncl said during Warner’s earnings call. “It’s the right decision for them to evaluate.”
Additional reporting by Liz Dilts Marshall
The European Union’s executive branch said Thursday that it has temporarily banned TikTok from phones used by employees as a cybersecurity measure, reflecting widening worries from Western officials over the Chinese-owned video sharing app.
In a first for the European Commission, its Corporate Management Board suspended the use of TikTok on devices issued to staff or personal devices that staff use for work.
TikTok faces intensifying scrutiny from Europe and the U.S. over security and data privacy amid worries that the hugely popular app could be used to promote pro-Beijing views or sweep up users’ information. It comes as China and the West are locked in a wider tug of war over technology ranging from spy balloons to computer chips.
The EU’s action follows similar moves in the U.S., where more than half of the states and Congress have banned TikTok from official government devices.
“The reason why this decision has been taken is to … increase the commission’s cybersecurity,” commission spokesperson Sonya Gospodinova said at a press briefing in Brussels. “Also, the measure aims to protect the commission against cybersecurity threats and actions which may be exploited for cyberattacks against the corporate environment of the commission.”
Caroline Greer, TikTok’s Brussels-based public policy official, tweeted that the suspension “is misguided and based on fundamental misconceptions.”
“We have requested a meeting to set the record straight,” she said, adding that TikTok, which has 125 million users in the 27-nation European Union, is “continuing to enhance” its approach to data security. That includes opening three European data centers and minimizing data sent outside of the continent.
Commission spokespeople declined to say whether a specific incident triggered the suspension or what’s needed to get it lifted.
Staffers would be required to delete TikTok from devices that they use for professional business by March 15, EU representatives said, but did not provide any details on how that would be enforced for people who use personal phones for work.
In Norway, which is not a member of the 27-nation EU, the justice minister was forced to apologize this month for failing to disclose that she had installed TikTok on her government-issued phone.
TikTok also has come under pressure from the EU to comply with upcoming new digital regulations aimed at getting big online platforms to clean up toxic and illegal content along with the bloc’s strict data privacy rules.
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Chlöe Bailey is showing off her workout routine and teasing new music in a commercial showcasing Beats Fit Pro headphones in three new colorways.
The “Pray It Away” singer shared the commercial on Instagram on Tuesday (Feb. 21). “Listening to ‘In Pieces’ while [I work out] in my new Beats Fit Pro’s,” she captioned the post. “Get yours before the album drops.”
Beats tweeted the commercial captioned in part, “@chloebailey is all the motivation you need. Up your game in the new Beats Fit Pro color collection.”
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From boxing and jumping rope to practicing yoga and going over choreography, Bailey works up a sweat in the commercial, which features a snippet of her new song, “Body Do.” The 24-year-old singer’s next single, “How Does It Feel” featuring Chris Brown, drops on Friday (Feb. 24) while her debut album, In Pieces, arrives March 23.
Beats Fit Pro earbuds ($199) are equipped with comfortable, secure-fit wingtips, three different silicone ear tips and pressure-relieving vents for comfortable long wear.
Amazon
Beats Fit Pro – True Wireless Noise Cancelling Earbuds – Apple H1 Headphone Chip, Compatible with Apple & Android
$199.95
Designed to “stay put through workdays and workouts,” the earbuds are sweat and water-resistant and offer up to six hours of listening time, plus an extra 18 hours in the charging case — giving you 24 combined hours of playback and a five-minute quick charge that gets you up to an hour of extra juice.
The new, springtime colors — tidal blue, violet yellow and coral pink -– drop on Feb. 23 at BeatsbyDre.com and Apple.com. The earbuds will also be available at Amazon.
Not interested in the new colors? Beats Fit Pro’s are currently available in the standard shades of black, white, sage gray and stone purple and Kim Kardashian’s Beats Fit Pro buds in earth tones.
Watch Bailey’s Beats Fit Pro commercial below.
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Source: Geoffrey Short / Universal Pictures / Blumhouse
Horror video games are all the rage again, and Blumhouse Productions, one of the biggest studios that push out horror films at a ridiculous clip, is getting in on the action.
The studio behind M3GAN, Insidious, The Black Phone, and GET OUT is looking to make the next big horror game with the announcement of Blumhouse Gaming.
According to Deadline, Jason Blum’s production company, Blumhouse Productions, will enter the gaming space as Blumhouse Gaming, Zach Wood as President, and Don Sechler as CFO.
While the goal is to produce and publish games, Blumhouse Games aims to help independent game developers create “original, horror-themed games for console, PC, and mobile audiences.”
Indie Developers Blumhouse Games Is Looking To Work With You
Per Deadline, Blumhouse Games solely “will target indie-budget games (below $10M) in pushing creative boundaries.”
“For some time, we have been looking to build out a team to start accessing the growth opportunity in interactive media. When we sat with Zach and Don, they articulated an approach that resonated with Blumhouse’s model, and we knew it was a perfect place for us to start our push into the interactive space,” Abhijay Prakash, Blumhouse President, said in a statement.
“With their experience, sensibility, and knowledge of the gaming marketplace, Zach and Don are the ideal leaders to leverage Blumhouse’s unique genre strengths into gaming,” he continued.
Wood adds, “Through my time in the industry, I’ve had the good fortune of working closely with developers to bring their ideas to life. There’s a unique opportunity for horror and genre in the indie game space, and I’m thrilled about teaming up with Blumhouse to meaningfully leverage the company’s brand, reputation, and creative talent.”
Does this mean we might get a video game based on M3GAN or GET OUT? We sure hope so.
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Photo: Geoffrey Short / Universal Pictures
Fortnite is bringing indie music into its gaming platform with a new soundtrack option called Radio Underground. The playlist, which is curated by Bandcamp editors, will be available through March 8, when the game’s Battle Royale Chapter 4 Season 1 comes to an end.
Fortnite’s creator, Epic Games, purchased Bandcamp in March 2022, and this new initiative marks the first integration between Epic’s flagship game and the indie music marketplace and service. At the time of the acquisition, Epic pointed to its “vision to build out a creator marketplace ecosystem for content, technology, games, art, music and more” as one of the reasons behind the deal, while Bandcamp founder/CEO Ethan Diamond noted that the partnership would help it expand internationally.
The 11 tracks and artists on the offering do combine some international acts (Panama’s Jungle Rat USA, Pale Blue Eyes from the U.K. and New Zealand group The Beths) as well as U.S. artists like Starflyer 59, Ronnie Martin, Gladie, Pow Wow!, P.E., De Lux, Pool Kids and Ginger Root.
Initially, the acquisition of a dearly-loved indie platform like Bandcamp by a gaming company like Epic was viewed with some skepticism as to what the overarching plan was for any integration between the two, though both sides were clear at the time that Bandcamp would continue to operate as a standalone entity. But this announcement also offers a clue as to how the two can be seamlessly brought together, giving Epic easily-licensable music that it can bring to its Fortnite gaming experience while offering another opportunity for Bandcamp artists to get their music heard and, more importantly to Bandcamp’s mission, get those musicians paid for the use of their music online.
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Source: Anadolu Agency / Getty / Meta Verified
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Mark Zuckerberg has been catching nothing but Ls since he announced he was changing the name of Facebook to Meta and was going all in on the VR market. Now he’s taking a page out of Elon Musk’s book with his latest move.
Rumors began circulating on Elon Musk’s Twitter and Beyoncé’s internet that Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta would unveil its own Twitter Blue clone to give Facebook and Instagram users verification badges for a price.
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That rumor was accurate, and the new subscription service is called Meta Verified Engadget reports. Mark Zuckerberg announced his new broadcast channel (Instagram’s latest feature) that Meta Verified is coming whether we care for it or not.
According to Zuckerberg, those who cough up the money will get a verification badge, increased profile visibility, additional impersonation protection, and direct access to customer support.
“This feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services,” Zuck said in his post. He also revealed that Meta Verified would be tested in Australia and New Zealand before the company rolls it out to other countries.
The service will also cost iOS and Android users $15 and $12 on the web minus the app store commission fees.
Unlike Twitter Blue’s sloppy rollout, Meta hopes to curb people from making fake accounts for notable companies. Potential Meta Verified users must be 18 or older and present a valid government-issued ID matching their name and profile photo on their Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Once you get verified, you can’t change your profile name, username, date of birth, or photo and must repeat the verification process.
Already verified accounts before the announcement will keep their status due to their notability.
Some Other Ridiculous Meta Verified Perks
Engadget also reports subscribers will receive 100 free stars, a digital currency we have never heard of, to tip content creators on Facebook.
Meta Verified subscribers could access exclusive stickers and reels for their Instagram Stories and Reels.
Will you sign up? Or is this a hard pass?
It sounds like another bad idea from the mind of Mark Zuckerberg.
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Photo: Anadolu Agency / Getty
Meta Platforms Inc. is launching a “Meta Verified” subscription service on Facebook and Instagram that allows users to verify their accounts with a government ID.
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The company’s chief executive Mark Zuckerberg revealed Sunday (Feb. 19) on social media that the platform will begin testing the service in Australia and New Zealand. The authentication will also include proactive account monitoring for account impersonation, direct access to customer support and increased account visibility and reach.
The monthly subscription-based plan can be purchased on Instagram or Facebook for $11.99 on the web and $14.99 on iOS and Android. According to a news release, for users to be eligible, accounts must meet minimum activity requirements and submit a government ID.
Meta clarified that there will be no changes to already verified accounts as they test the new plan.
The news release said that the “Meta Verified” service was developed after the platform received an abundance of requests from creators for broader access to verification and account support. The release explained that the service’s goal is “to help up-and-coming creators grow their presence and build community faster.”
The company added that it hopes to expand the service globally soon.
Meta isn’t the first social platform to introduce a paid verified subscription plan. When Elon Musk took over Twitter in October 2022, he re-vamped Twitter Blue, with a paid plan for users to sign up for $8 a month on the web and $11 a month for iOS. He also replaced the “official” label with a gold or gray checkmark, depending on the account.
This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.
Two more senators are calling for restrictions on TikTok’s operations in the U.S., citing alleged risks to national security and consumer privacy presented by the Chinese-owned platform.
In the letter sent Thursday, U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) called on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which is currently investigating TikTok’s 2017 merger with Musical.ly, “to swiftly conclude its investigation and impose strict structural restrictions” between the platform and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance — including by “potentially separating” the two companies. The letter was addressed to U.S. Treasury Secretary and CFIUS chair Janet Yellen.
In the letter, Blumenthal and Moran cite a December disclosure by ByteDance — reported by The New York Times — that four of its employees obtained the data of several TikTok users, including two journalists, in an effort to locate the sources of suspected leaks to journalists of internal company conversations and documents.
Despite ByteDance’s assertion that it fired the employees involved, Blumenthal and Moran allege that the scheme was in fact perpetrated by a “formal ‘Internal Audit and Risk Control’ team” directed by senior executives, including TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.
“The incident also occurred while TikTok’s executives had repeatedly promised that Americans’ personal data was secure against such spying,” the letter reads, citing testimony given by TikTok’s vp/head of public policy, Michael Beckerman, to the Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Consumer Protection in October 2021.
The letter goes on to claim that TikTok company engineers “continue to have dangerous access to Americans’ personal data and control over its algorithmic recommendation systems, access that continues enable this spying on journalists.”
The senators cite several more reports to bolster their case, including a December article in The Wall Street Journal reporting that TikTok’s product development and management — including oversight of its algorithmic recommendation system — remains based in China. Another article published by Forbes in August, which reported that roughly 300 current employees at TikTok and ByteDance work or have worked for Chinese propaganda outlets including Xinhua News Agency and China Global Television, is also held up as evidence to support restrictions.
Elsewhere, Blumenthal and Moran cite an October investigation by Consumer Reports that found TikTok tracks Americans — including those who don’t use the platform — by embedding “a tracking technology” on partner websites. “While this collection effort is ostensibly an advertising effort by the company, the transmission to TikTok of non-user IP addresses, a unique ID number, and information about what an individual is doing on a site provides a deep understanding of those individuals’ interests, behaviors, and other sensitive matters,” the letter adds.
Despite TikTok’s assurance that it no longer censors videos critical of the Chinese government and other authoritarian regimes, the senators additionally allege that the platform “continues to opaquely demote or remove certain content, including blocking LGBTQ accounts.”
TikTok “is clearly, inextricably dependent on ByteDance for its operations,” the letter concludes, “and therefore beholden to the government of China.”
Thursday’s letter is just the latest in a string of recent condemnations of TikTok by U.S. lawmakers. In December, President Joe Biden signed a bill that prohibits use of the platform by nearly 4 million government employees on devices owned by its agencies, joining at least 27 state governments and several universities that have passed similar measures. The same month, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Flor.), Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) introduced a bill that would effectively ban TikTok and any other China-based social media platform from operating in the United States. And earlier this month, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Col.), pushed Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores over national security concerns, claiming the Chinese Communist Party could “weaponize” the platform against the United States by forcing ByteDance to “surrender Americans’ sensitive data or manipulate the content Americans receive to advance China’s interests.”
These lawmakers clearly weren’t assuaged by TikTok’s announcement in June that it had started routing U.S. user data to Oracle cloud servers located in the U.S., instituted audits of its algorithms and established a new department to solely manage U.S. user data for the platform.
Concerns about TikTok have been prevalent in other corners of the West, most prominently in Europe. In January, Zi Chew met with European Union officials over concerns about child safety and data privacy, among other matters. On Friday, TikTok’s general manager of operations in Europe, Rich Waterworth, attempted to allay some of those concerns in a blog post where he noted that the company plans to establish two additional European data centers, citing a commitment “to keeping our European community and their data safe and secure.” He added that the company is “continuing to deliver against” a data governance strategy they set out for Europe last year, which includes plans to further reduce employee access to European data, minimize data flows outside Europe and store European user data locally.
Zi Chew is slated to appear before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on March 23, when he’s expected to comment on TikTok’s data security and user privacy policies, the app’s impact on children and ties with the Chinese Communist Party.
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Looking to save money this Presidents’ Day? The holiday weekend gives you plenty of time to score discounts on items that you may have been eyeing for months. To make things easier, we collected a list of over a dozen of the best deals that you can shop online — or pick-up in store, in some cases. Find markdowns on clothing, shoes, accessories, beauty items and much more. And if you’re more of a techie than a fashionista, our list includes sales on headphones and earbuds, laptops, TVs, furniture and more from Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon and other retailers.
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Keep reading for a roundup of sales to shop over Presidents’ Day weekend and click here to shop deals on cookware and other home goods.
Adidas – Save up to 30% off full-priced Adidas gear and up to 65% off sale styles with promo code: SCORE.
Ashley Furniture — Up to 50% off select deals.
Amazon – The mega-retailer is rolling back prices for Presidents’ Day. Shoppers will score deals of up to 80% off select items. Find discounts on apparel, books, beauty and personal care items, clothing, mattresses, electronics, jewelry, furniture, household supplies, musical instruments, toys and more.
Best Buy – If you need to stock up on electronics and appliances, Best Buy is serving up loads of discounts. Find deals on refrigerators, washer and dryer sets, microwaves, tablets, sound bars and other speakers, cameras, streaming players, and more. Some of the can’t miss deals include these $79 Samsung Galaxy Buds, this Lenovo laptop on sale for $299.99 (regular $499.99) and smart TVs starting at $79.
Coach Outlet — Save up to 70% off until Feb. 21; Save 30-50% off plush free shipping at Coach with code: FREESHIP (offer ends Feb. 28).
Cozy Earth — Save 20-20% off sitewide (sale ends 2/24).
Dyson — The bestselling Dyson Airwrap isn’t on sale but shoppers can save $100 on the Dyson V12 Defect Absolute cordless vacuum. Offer ends Feb. 26.
Free People – While there’s no official President’s Day sales extravaganza at Free People the fashion brand has a lot of great sales right now. For example, this denim skirt, long sleeve shirt and other items on sale for $19.95 and up.
Forever 21 — Up to 70% on select styles during the President’s Day Sale.
G-Shock — Save up to 50% off sale items at G-Shock. Click here to shop watches starting at $69.99.
GameStop – Save on Anime collectibles including GameStop exclusives and take an extra 30% off clearance items. The holiday weekend coincides with this year’s NBA All-Star Weekend and GameStop shoppers cop NBA 2K23 on sale.
J Crew — Extra 60% off select styles + 40% off almost everything (use code: WEEKEND).
Macy’s — Save 20-60% off and free shipping on purchases of $25. Shop the Macy’s lingerie sale and save 50% off bras, pajamas, underwear and more (ends 2/20).
Net-a-Porter – You won’t find a designated sale for President’s Day, but Net-A-Porter has amazing markdowns of up to 80% off clothing, shoes, accessories and beauty products. Some of the deals include this Christopher Esber Cutout Halterneck Swimsuit marked down 60%, these distressed jeans by Nili Lotan are 70% off and these Sablyn stretch jersey shorts are 60% off.
New Balance — Take 20% off select styles. Sale ends 2/24.
Nike — Whether you’re updating your sneaker collection or shopping for activewear, there’s a good chance that you can find what you need on sale at Nike. Nike app members save 25% off select styles (use code: MEMBERS25). If you’re not a member use code: JOIN20 for an extra 20% off and clearance deals up to 40% off .
Nordstrom – Save up to 50% off select items during the Nordstrom winter sale. Some of the hot deals include these UGG Maxi Curly Slippers which are on sale for $71.50. Shoppers can also save up to 60% off Zella High Waist Studio Lite Pocket 7/8 Leggings and Mac Lip Primer and up to 80% off men’s jackets. Visit the Nordstrom website for more deals on apparel, beauty products and jewelry and other best-sellers.
Purple Mattress — Save up to $900 on mattress sets and up to 25% off sleep accessories.
Reebok — Get 40% off sitewide with code: OHYEAH.
Saatva — Get up to $500 off during Saavta’s biggest Presidents Day discount ever. Sale ends 2/20.
Sephora — Save up to 50% off select beauty at Sephora during the Long Weekend Sale. Offer ends 2/20.
ShopDisney — 30% off toys, clothing and more with code: SAVE30. Free shipping on order $75+ with code: SHIPMAGIC.
Target – Shop four days of deals at Target. Bargain hunters will save up to 50% off headphones and earbuds, up to to 30% off gaming accessories, up to 20% off clothing, mattresses and bedding, floor care items (such as vacuum cleaners) and up to 30% off furniture, rugs and other home décor items.
Timberland — Save 40% off these Tree Vault Boots (on sale for $159.99) and more during Timberland’s end-of-season sale.
The North Face — Up to 30% off select styles during The North Face’s end-of-season sale.
Tory Burch — Up to 50% off hundreds of sale items.
Tuft & Needle — Save up to $625 on mattresses, plus up to 30% off bedding, furniture and more.
Ulta Beauty – Get a free 10-piece makeup bag when you spend $19.50+ on select items; plus free shipping on purchases of $35+.
Urban Outfitters — Save an extra 40% off sale styles.
Quay Australia — 30% off sitewide (offer valid from 2/17-2/20).
Walmart– When it comes to Walmart, you don’t necessarily have to wait for a holiday weekend to find great deals. Nonetheless, the retailer is offering sales on all kinds of items — laptops, TVs, car seats, earbuds, clothing, makeup, movies and more.