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O-1B visas are for immigrants of extraordinary ability,” originally designed for acclaimed artists, musicians, athletes, and scholars, But increasingly they’re being handed out to people with a more modern definition of “extraordinary ability”: influencers and OnlyFans creators. Immigration lawyers say social media influencers now make up more than half of their O-1 visa applicants, according to a recent report by the Financial Times. These visas are intended for an individual who possesses “extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or those who have a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry,” according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). What defines extraordinary ability,” though, is open to interpretation. To qualify for an O-1B visa type applicants must submit evidence of at least three of the six regulatory criteria. These include, but are not limited to, performing a leading or starring role in a distinguished production or event, national or international recognition for achievements, and a high salary compared to others in the field. USCIS regulations do not prescribe limits over what falls under the umbrella term the arts. While traditionally this might have been singers and actors, these days content creators are dominating new forms of media as cultural influence has shifted online. The annual number of O-1 visas approved rose by more than 50% between 2014 and 2024, far outpacing the roughly 10% growth in nonimmigrant visas overall. Still, O-1s make up only a small fraction of the system: Fewer than 20,000 were issued in 2024, versus the hundreds of thousands of H-1B work visas granted. OnlyFans creators and influencers may have an advantage over other creatives when it comes to the application process. Their influence is easily quantifiable in terms of likes and follower counts, numbers that fit neatly into the O-1B framework. An artist or scientist, meanwhile, whose work is predominantly offline and less easily quantified, may find making their case of extraordinary ability more complicated. The growing number of content creators seeking visas reserved for those with extraordinary ability has sparked mixed reactions online. On X, political analyst and writer Dominic Michael Tripi described the trend as a sign of end-stage empire conditions. Others suggested the administration was taking immigration advice from fictional character Ali G. Trump is literally doing the Ali G ‘let the fit ones in’ policy.” one X user joked. But the backlash against influencers applying for O-1 visas shows how little attitudes have shifted when it comes to recognizing influencing and content creation as legitimate work. And, when it comes to OnlyFans creators, one immigration lawyer told Fox News, acting is acting.
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E-Commerce
Putting yourself out there is difficult. Rejection is tough. And feeling like youve gotten the rug pulled out from under you is the worst. When youre in charge of business development, where youre responsible for growing your revenue within your current client portfolio as well as seeking out new potential opportunities, you can easily vacillate from feeling like a hero to feeling like a zero, depending on what kind of results youre getting from your efforts. As a time management coach for 17 years, Ive learned how to summon the inner resolve to continue forward with business development even when it feels difficult, and Ive coached many clients on how to do the same. Here are three of the biggest challenges you may face with staying consistent with business development, and solutions for moving forward with tenacity no matter how vulnerable and overwhelming it may feel. 1. Youre So Busy with Current Clients That Youre Not Investing in Future Ones One of the hardest parts of success is maintaining that success, particularly if youre not solely devoted to business development. I often have individuals come to me because theyre taking care of their current portfolio but keep pushing off the activities that will help them sustain and grow their business in the future. In these situations, I find this two-prong strategy works best: The first prong is to clearly define quantifiable actions that will support your goals. For example: I will make 10 follow-up calls to strong leads per day, or I will have five business development meetings booked each week. These concrete objectives help you to more clearly know what to do and to honestly assess whether youre doing enough. The second prong is to decide on a timing strategy so you dont keep putting off the business development tasks. Here are a few examples: I dont look at email until Ive made five prospecting calls, or before I eat lunch, I do all the needed follow-ups on outstanding proposals. Ive found that doing business development activities earlier in the day and before a habitual activity you really want or need to do helps them to happen much more frequently. 2. Youre Getting Too Many Noes, So You Shy Away From the Ask Experiencing noes is a natural part of the sales process. But in most instances, theres a typical close rate that you expect. When you hit a long series of deals that dont work out beyond what you were used to experiencing, doubt can creep in: What if other deals dont close? What if I dont hit my targets? What if I dont get my bonus? What if I lose my job? What if other people lose their jobs? Even with a long history of success, this negative spiral can happen pretty quickly, and you need to catch yourself before your doubts and fears keep you from the actions that will move you into a more positive place. There are two powerful actions you can take in this scenario: First, think about what you can learnif anythingfrom the deals that didnt happen. Was it the wrong type of client? Could you have presented the benefits in a different way? Was there something about the financial structure that needed to change? Second, let go of the past and create as many opportunities as possible to get in front of other potential clients in the present and future. The only way to get out of a slump is to double down on the potential for people to say yes. 3. Youre Reeling From Market Changes, So Youre Uncertain About What Will Work Most of the time, effective business development requires a greater level of commitment to the strategies you know work. But sometimes broader circumstances have had an impact on your business, and you need to completely change direction. It could be that a platform that has been a wonderful source of leads no longer provides them. It could be that the industry youve typically served has contracted, and you need to pivot to a new one. Or it could be that AI has changed how people view the value of your business. These shifts can make business development even more overwhelming because you no longer have a repeatable, predictable strategy for your sales process. To keep moving forward when you face this dilemma, you need to shift your definition of success from closing deals to systematically testing strategies to learn what does or doesnt work in this new environment. For example, you might decide that youll run a new ad campaign and see whether it generates the type of leads youre hoping to attract. Or you might work with a consultant on tactics for breaking into a new industry. Or you might work on a new presentation strategy to help people understand the unique value of your company within the context of AI and test the response you receive. In these circumstances, it’s too vulnerable to base success on what revenue you do or dont generate as a result of trying new things. That can leave you feeling frustrated, angry, and demoralized, thinking you would have been better off not even attempting a certain experiment if it doesnt work out the way you hoped. Instead, youll want to count it as success that you tried something new, and then understand theres valuable learning in every attempt. As you persistently try new strategies, youll eventually land on what works. Business development in the face of disappointing results requires enormous inner courage to not give up. But by following these strategies mixed with a strong dose of resolve, you can not only survive whatever difficulty you may face but also thrive.
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E-Commerce
When the NFL and Apple Music announced Bad Bunny as the 2026 Super Bowl half-time show headliner, the choice surprised some. But to anyone tracking the data over the past few years, it was inevitable. In 2022, Bad Bunnys Un Verano Sin Ti redefined the market, driving Latin musics streaming growth to new heights. It later became the first Spanish-language album nominated for Grammy Album of the Year. The takeaway is simple: When you have accurate, real-time data, you dont guess where culture is going, you know. That kind of foresight is exactly what industries need now, especially as AI accelerates change at a pace that demands evidence, not instinct. In real time, we’re watching AI fundamentally reshape the economics of music, and much of the industry is still arguing that maybe it shouldnt exist at all. The discourse surrounding AI and music is filled with necessary debates, from copyright infringement and artist compensation to vocal cloning and authenticity. These concerns are valid and must be addressed. But while the industry argues about whether AI should change music, our data shows it already is. Some of the resulting evolution has relevant precedent for reference. Some of it requires urgent action. Reliable information, detection, and measurement is required to make sense of it all. Here to stay Whether we like it or not, AI music is here to stay, and rather than fighting it, we should understand its benefits as a tool for artistseither to amplify existing production processes or to introduce new ways of designing music. Recent data from Luminates consumer research shows that 44% of U.S. music listeners say they’re uncomfortable with AI-created songs. But discomfort doesn’t predict behavior. The AI artist Xania Monet (created by Music Designer Telisha Jones) averaged 8 million weekly global on-demand audio streams in October, following her debut on multiple Billboard charts, including Hot Gospel Songs with Let Go, Let Go and Hot R&B Songs with How Was I Supposed to Know? Monets songs touch on emotional healing, life lessons, and heartbreak, pointing to the argument that music at its essence is how it makes you feel and not how its made. This conflicting tension between initial consumer attitudes and actual listening habits is not new. Consider what happened with auto-tune. In 2009, Jay-Z released “D.O.A (Death of Auto-Tune),” declaring war on the technology. That same year, The Black Eyed Peas released “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling, both anchored by auto-tune production. Today, each of those Black Eyed Peas songs has hundreds of millions of streams in the U.S. Jay-Z’s protest anthem? Less than 40 million. The market spoke. Technological evolution won. Infrastructure evolves If AI continues to earn its place in music productionand all signs point to that inevitable realityit doesnt mean that artists or rights holders have to lose. This is where foresight becomes essential. The sampler wars of the late 1980s offer an instructive parallel. When Biz Markie was sued in 1991 for sampling Gilbert O’Sullivan, the industry faced an existential crisis. The outcome wasn’t suppression of the technology, it was the creation of an entire licensing and clearance infrastructure. Detection and attribution became the foundation of a functioning market. That infrastructure has continued to evolve in the era of streaming and transmedia discovery. Millions are being spent on legacy music catalogs, and those high valuations are proving to be valid. At the midpoint of this year, Becoming Led Zeppelin was the most-viewed new music documentary in the U.S., and its high viewership drove a sustained 23% increase in streams for the bands catalog. Notably, the documentarys release drove Led Zeppelin to its highest-ever weekly total for global on-demand audio streams: 40.4 million in late February. But what happens if AI-generated music infringes on Led Zeppelins copyright during the creation process? I think we can all agree that no one should get away with stealing others creative IP for financial gain. The industry needs to move fast and policy needs to be implemented so that artists and rights holders continue to be paid fairly and rightfully as AIs presence in music expands. At Luminate, our mission is to provide the entertainment industry with essential, objective, and trustworthy data. When it comes to AI, that mission has only become more critical. Our data shows not just what happened, but what’s happening now, and increasingly, what’s about to happen. That visibility is what enables stakeholders across the industry, everyone from labels and publishers to platforms and policymakers, to make informed decisions rather than reactive ones. AI-generated artists designed for scale and low-cost delivery will proliferate. Online and live performance environments will be filled with algorithmically-optimized content. The technology will become more sophisticated, more accessible, and harder to detect without proper infrastructure. We all need to work with the same objective information to navigate these advancements.
Category:
E-Commerce
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