Day 17 | Toys and Beats Morning Report — October 17, 2026

Good morning, creators. Day 17 is here, and today we are looking at four signals worth watching — a Nashville-and-LA songwriter betting her catalog and future songs on a global publishing team, a legendary fighting game stepping off the screen and onto collector shelves the same week its new movie lands, a pop catalog turning into an immersive entertainment property, and a first-ever featured release for one of our own cover artists. Let's get into it.

1. Reservoir Media Signs Singer-Songwriter Riley Biederer for Her Catalog and Future Works

What happened: Announced October 16, Reservoir Media (NASDAQ: RSVR) signed a new publishing deal with singer-songwriter Riley Biederer covering her catalog and future works. She joins through Reservoir's joint venture with independent publisher superreal, which has represented her since 2024. Based between Los Angeles and Nashville, Biederer first caught Elton John's attention as a teenager, reached the Top 20 on The Voice, and broke through with "Heartbreak Back" with Frank Walker — and this year she was named a 2026 AIMP Songwriter Series winner, with recent cuts for Lily Meola and Willie Nelson, Lanie Gardner, Danielle Bradbery and Priscilla Block. (Source: Reservoir Media / MusicRow)

Why it matters: This is the modern songwriter play — keep writing across genres and cities, and let a global publishing team turn every cut, collab and future song into collected revenue everywhere it lands.

The ETS/Zillion angle: Publishing is the quiet engine of this whole business, and it is why every Epic Toy Sound release gets registered before it goes live — writer, publisher and masters aligned at 100% under our own roof, so the songs our community creates keep paying the people who made them. Browse the catalog those registrations protect in our digital audio packs.

2. Hasbro and Legendary Entertainment Reveal Street Fighter Movie Wave 2 Figures as the Film Hits Theaters

What happened: Hasbro, together with Legendary Entertainment, revealed Wave 2 of its 6-inch Street Fighter movie figures — Guile, M. Bison, Dark Ryu and Blanka — each with articulated builds, character-specific accessories and swappable parts for signature moves like Guile's Flash Kick and Bison's Psycho Power. Pre-orders opened October 8 exclusively through Walmart at $27.99 (Blanka is a deluxe at $39.97), with the wave due December 1 — timed to the live-action Street Fighter film, which arrived in theaters October 16. Wave 1 and the 2-inch Mystery Warriors blind boxes are already at retail. (Source: FromPage2Screen / Toys n Tat)

Why it matters: Film, figures and blind boxes landing in the same window is licensing done right — every ticket sold becomes a shelf moment, and every figure on a desk keeps marketing the movie for years.

The ETS/Zillion angle: This is our lane in miniature: characters, photography and sound moving together. Our community of toy photographers turns figures like these into cover art and stories every day — find your next shoot star in our action figures collection, and see photographer features over at zillionmarketplace.com.

3. Pophouse Takes a 50% Stake in Sia's Publishing and Masters — and Plans an Immersive Production

What happened: Announced October 1, Stockholm-based Pophouse Entertainment acquired a 50% stake in Sia's publishing and master recording rights — a deal reported at $180 million, implying a $360 million valuation for the full catalog, though Pophouse did not disclose the price. The agreement does not include her name, image or likeness rights. Beyond the royalties — the catalog reportedly generates around $18 million a year, with nine songs over a billion Spotify streams — the partners are developing an immersive digital performance built around her music and vocals, including songs she wrote for other artists like Rihanna's "Diamonds." It is Pophouse's third artist partnership of 2026, after Iron Maiden and Tina Turner. (Source: Digital Music News)

Why it matters: Catalogs are no longer just royalty streams — in the right hands they become stages, shows and entirely new entertainment properties. Half a catalog, shared control, and a plan to build worlds on top of the songs.

The ETS/Zillion angle: We are building that same logic at independent scale: own the masters and publishing, register everything, and let every track live many lives — visualizers, Shorts, toy photography covers, creator licenses and sync-ready packs at toysandbeats.com. A catalog with clean rights is a catalog that can go anywhere.

4. House Spotlight: "Not Alone (feat. Skull Boy)" — Epic Toy Sound feat. Skull Boy Is Out Now

What happened: Released October 16, "Not Alone (feat. Skull Boy)" is the newest Epic Toy Sound single on Zillion Records — and a first: cover-art collaborator Skull Boy's first featured release, credited name-only as he steps from behind the artwork and onto the record itself. Written and produced by Ronald Steven Desiderio, the hip-hop/electronic single has delivered to 25 streaming platforms and stores, with UPC 700364070878 and ISRC QTA7Y2664577. Listen and save it here: distrokid.com/hyperfollow/epictoysound1/not-alone-feat-skull-boy. (Source: DistroKid / Epic Toy Sound)

Why it matters: This is the platform promise in action — a visual collaborator from our community becoming a featured artist on a worldwide release. The toy photographers and cover artists around this label are not decoration; they are the roster.

The ETS/Zillion angle: Every new song in this catalog arrives with its rights registered, its artwork credited, and a home at toysandbeats.com — and "Not Alone" joins this week's other fresh drops, "Get Poppin" feat. KIDULT and the Silence Is Golden EP feat. Darc Reign, in the rotation. One family, one catalog, everybody eats.

Thank you for starting your Saturday with us — four signals, one community, and a catalog that grows every single week because creators like you keep showing up. Go make something beautiful today. One love.