: Their viral collaboration "Guess featuring Billie Eilish" continued to climb global charts after its early August release. Sabrina Carpenter

Why does matter? Because it represents the last moment of the old Hollywood and the old music industry before two seismic shifts:

August 8 marked the peak of Jools Lebron’s “very demure, very mindful” satirical makeup tutorials. The phrase — mocking overly precious influencer energy — was suddenly everywhere. Brands (including Wendy’s and the Metropolitan Museum of Art) scrambled to post demure-themed ads. Media critics called it the last genuine “non-AI, low-stakes” viral moment of the summer.

On this day, Variety ran a think-piece titled “Why Gen Z is Buying CD-Rs on Etsy.” The answer: scarcity-driven aesthetics. Bootleg DVDs of movies “not streaming anywhere” (like Dogma or The Fall ) were selling for $40+. Vinyl’s growth had plateaued, but custom VHS tapes — especially of 2024’s I Saw the TV Glow — became the ultimate online status symbol.