No one makes stars any more

Plus: The resurgence of the English seaside, and rising vacation inflation ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

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Welcome back to Pursuits Weekly, our look at the world’s biggest culture stories, as well as ideas and recommendations around travel, dining and art. Sign up here to get this newsletter every Saturday in your inbox. The death of the hitmaker Whether Clive Davis “discovered” Whitney Houston was always a matter for debate. Photographer: Suzie Gibbons via Redferns Clive Davis, who died on Monday at the age of 94, was known as “the man with golden ears.” He was the apotheosis of the celebrity record executive; as Gladys Knight said in a Facebook post, there will never be another. That’s not because he was uniquely talented. Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records and Mo Ostin of Warner Brothers were just as important and influential, if not as prone to self-promotion and personal myth-making. But all of them were instrumental in shaping and even creating household-name artists. Davis, for instance, spent two years putting together Whitney Houston’s first album under his Arista banner, looking for the perfect combination of songwriters and producers — and was rewarded with one of the biggest-selling debuts of all time, a record that sold more than 25 million copies. Rod Stewart went platinum after Davis persuaded him to record well-known songs by other songwriters. Photographer: Gary Gershoff via Archive Photos It’s been many years since record labels worked that way. Davis, along with Ertegun, Ostin and others including David Geffen and Interscope’s Jimmy Iovine, made their names in a world where the record labels dominated everything from manufacturing and distributing physical discs to getting artists radio airplay. In a very real sense, they decided what we would all listen to. Since then, the way in which A-listers are created has become more public and transparent. Simon Cowell perfected the art of turning the process into reality TV shows like The X Factor and American Idol, which acted as self-fulfilling prophecies of stardom; Bang Si-hyuk (“Hitman Bang”) created a factory where the output was K-Pop supergroups. Eventually, however, the platforms that host and create culture ended up in a place where no individual executive has that kind of power any more. Perhaps the key date was July 25, 2024. That was the day music streaming platform Spotify became worth more than Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group combined, a status it has held ever since. We’re now in a world where success lives downstream of software, and hitmaking is increasingly indistinguishable from algorithm hacking. The days of the visionary and all-powerful record-company executive are gone, replaced by the era of viral TikTok background music. As ever, we like the music we hear the most. It’s just that today, for better or for worse, no one human gets to decide who that’s going to be. Fly like a pro Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg From miles to lounges, what are the best travel hacks to know before you fly? Bloomberg reporters answered audience questions about all things air travel in a Live Q&A on Friday. You can listen to the recording here. Other pertinent questions: Can Dulles rival Doha? Just how do you feed 100,000 passengers a day? By the numbers 1 The sales rank of Communion, by bell hooks, on the Bookshop.org list of the bestselling titles of 2026 so far. The book, which was published in 2002, has the same title as the new book by JD Vance — causing readers to remember that the vice president’s first book, Hillbilly Elegy, echoed hooks’s Appalachian Elegy. The campaign to buy hooks’s book in protest seems to have worked. $390 The per-person cost of the set menu at Californios in San Francisco, the world’s first three-Michelin-star Mexican restaurant. 13,450 The number of Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking points that Jannik Sinner currently has; only Carlos Alcaraz even comes close. The two men, writes Giri Nathan, are dominating their sport “to an extent that’s left some fans and pundits asking existential questions.” Among those questions: Are Sincaraz just too good? $24,950 The starting price of the Slate truck. That’s half the price of the average new vehicle, and less than half the price of the average new EV. After driving it, The Verge’s Rani Molla says that “rather than feeling cheap, it feels intentionally minimal.” The OG seaside resorts are back, baby Deal, in Kent, lies where the North Sea and the English Channel meet. Photographer: Krisztian Elek via LightRocket The UK is the birthplace of the modern seaside resort. Scarborough, in Yorkshire, has attracted bathers since the late 1600s, and spots all along the English coast saw visitor numbers unparalleled elsewhere in Europe until the late 20th century. Then, with the advent of jet travel, chilly British destinations declined into shabbiness. Now these towns, especially a chain of eight municipalities on England’s southeastern coastline running from Whitstable around to Eastbourne, are seeing a resurgence. Madonna, earlier this year, said that Margate, in Kent, was her “idea of heaven.” About 30 miles south, Folkestone now boasts splashy public artworks from the likes of Anthony Gormley and Yoko Ono. Feargus O’Sullivan reports that Hastings, Whitstable and Broadstairs have all likewise been experiencing dramatic revivals after years of decline. That’s not great for lower-income locals facing rising housing costs, displacement or even homelessness. As O’Sullivan writes, the South East has become “a potent place to catch the flavor of contemporary Britain: its pleasure-loving sophistication and widening social gulfs, its ever-clearer displays of both affluence and its absence, its mix of elegance and rot.” Summer gets more expensive Inflation is now at a three-year high, with energy prices up 24% from a year ago, airline fares up 27%, and gasoline up 40%, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s enough to make the 5% rise in hotel prices seem relatively modest. What’s clear is that the cost of going on a summer vacation has never been higher. At insurance broker Squaremouth, the average comprehensive policy for summer trips recently hit a high of $9,688, up $2,000 from the summer of 2025. The numbers reflect prepaid, nonrefundable expenses, such as flights and hotel bookings made before departure — but not things like restaurants once you get to your destination. As such, the actual cost of a vacation is even higher still. Insured trip costs are likely to come down a bit as cheaper last-minute bookings come in, Chief Marketing Officer Jacqueline Mondelli said in an email, but even so, “this summer is tracking well above any previous year in our dataset, including pre-pandemic years.” Maybe you should cancel those travel plans and just stay home playing video games? Ha! Microsoft just raised the price of its Xbox console for the third time in 13 months. Under the new pricing, the regular Xbox Series X will sell for $800 — a jump of $300, or 60% — compared to its original cost in 2020. Thank the AI industry’s insatiable demand for computing power. One Very Specific Recommendation: ShowerSpa Spritz Source: European Spa Source Sometimes on a stressful day, all you need is a spritz — and no, not one made with Aperol. Spritzing essential oils in the shower, it turns out, is more calming and won’t lead you to a headache or hangover. It’s a trick I first picked up at the Pendry Natirar resort in Somerset County, New Jersey, which itself may be one of the most underrated escapes in the tristate area. At the hotel’s excellent spa, locker room shower stalls get a fancy upgrade with fresh eucalyptus bouquets and mini spray bottles of ShowerSpa Mist, a generically named product that the hotel has white-labeled and sells in its boutique. The shower spray is a real winner. Not only does it last forever — my 4-ounce bottle still looks full after several months of use — but it’s the kind of little luxury that almost anyone can embrace. (Which makes it a fantastic hostess gift, if you’re staying with friends anywhere this summer.) Two pumps pointed downward in the shower create a mist that rises and lingers in the steam; it’s like being on vacation without leaving your house. I’m partial to the eucalyptus-lemongrass-infused variety you can buy online from Pendry’s supplier, European Spa Source. At $29 for a bottle, it costs only slightly more than one of those Italian aperitifs. —Nikki Ekstein More from Bloomberg Ideas & Culture Bloomberg Weekend for big ideas and open questions in the fascinating places where finance, life and culture meet Watch Club for exclusive horology news, access to launch parties, collector meet-ups and brand showcases On Books for reviews and recommendations to expand your thinking The Forecast for thinking about what’s ahead CityLab Weekly for thought-provoking stories, ideas and analysis New for subscribers: Free article gifting. Bloomberg.com subscribers can now gift up to five free articles a month to anyone you want. Just look for the “Gift this article” button on stories. (Not a subscriber? Unlock unlimited access and sign up here.) We’re improving your newsletter experience and we’d love your feedback. If something looks off, help us fine-tune your experience by reporting it here. 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