As the podcast investment boom slows down, it is time for platforms to shift their focus to innovation — both in the listener experience and the format as a whole. Currently, Apple Podcasts is the third most-used podcast listening platform, behind Spotify and YouTube.

Wizards of the Coast (Wizards), the creator of the trading card game Magic: The Gathering (MTG ), have recently dropped an MTG card set partnered with The Lord of the Rings . Expanding from players to collectors The current The Lord of the Rings inspired set sees MTG for the first time in history to release a serialised 1/1 card – The One Ring.

2023 is already shaping up to be another big year for music artists in Hollywood. Late last month, Jack Harlow made his acting debut in a Hulu remake of 1992 basketball comedy White Men Can’t Jump . The Weeknd (who is now going by Abel Tesfaye) stars in Max’s controversial new series, The Idol , in which BLACKPINK's Jennie also makes her acting debut.

On Monday, Apple unveiled the Vision Pro, a VR device positioned as a blended VR and augmented reality (AR) experience. With true AR still on the horizon, the Vison Pro uses an ultra-high-resolution display system that packs 23 million pixels across two displays to digitally replicate the user’s field of vision.

In the past six months, many major platforms made cuts to their audio departments. Spotify has announced a new round of layoffs in its podcast division, eliminating 200 jobs from Gimlet and Parcast Studios.

Virtual Reality has been ‘just around the corner’ for more than a decade. Any day now, it would seem, it must finally have its moment. So far it has been held back by high cost, little to offer on the headsets, and somewhat janky lag and resolution tendencies.

Apple’s long anticipated VR move finally saw daylight in the shape of Vision Pro . What is particularly interesting about the launch and its subsequent coverage is that the conversation is more about what Vision Pro enables rather than what it actually is.

Since the beginning of 2023, NetEase has been rapidly announcing new studios, averaging one per month. These have either been established internally, or acquired. - It acquired SkyBox Labs (Canadian games studio) in January - It announced Spliced in February (a global remote-first studio with offices in the UK, but employees in US, Canada, UK, and ‘beyond’) - It took a short break in March but announced two new studios in May - In April, it announced Anchor Point Studios (based in Spain) - In May, it announced Bad Brain Studios (based in Canada) - Most recently announced PinCool Inc (based in Japan) The cadence of these announcements has positioned NetEase as one of the world’s most active companies in terms of 2023 studio expansion.

Netflix finds itself at yet another inflection point as it rolls out its paid sharing plan in the US. With a saturated domestic market (32% of paid members in Q1 2023 were from North America), finding additional subscribers means pushing subscription dodgers onto the recently launched basic with ads tier (note that this equates to the monthly subscription cost of Disney+ when it launched as an ad-free service in 2019).

The flood of new music created using artificial intelligence (AI) will further erode major label market share, and some label executives’ recent comments about the value of human-made music seem to put those fears in plain sight.

Digital entertainment, despite its mild correction from the lockdown-boom period, is still at record levels of engagement. More content is being created than ever before, more efficiently and cost-effectively, across games, music, and video.

Video and audio platforms have been equally aggressive when treading upon each others’ turf. The platform flexibility of smartphones and smart TVs has created the opportunity for entertainment companies to extend audience engagement outside their core areas of expertise.

The BBC has traditionally stuck to public programming for its radio arm. However, BBC Radio is now shifting some of its programming to BBC Studios, meaning it can now be offered for global distribution on major podcast platforms, like Spotify.

During Sony’s Showcase event last night, Sony unveiled Project Q – a handheld gaming device. It will come to the market later this year, though Sony did not specify the exact date or price yet. Project Q will enable the user to stream the games that are installed on their PS5 device over wi-fi.

Unlike most new technology hype cycles, the impact of AI on the world is already surpassing expectations. The current hype around AI far exceeds that of more recent tech, such as VR, NFTs, and 3D printing.

Rarely does a new product manage to redefine its market. In 2007, the launch of the iPhone caused a seismic shift when Apple transformed the mobile phone from a device for calls and texts to an entertainment hub with the computing power of a small laptop.

Last week, The New York Times (NYT) debuted their official audio app, NYT Audio . NYT produces many popular podcasts, including The Daily and This American Life , utilising multiple streaming platforms to grow their audiences.

Last week, the US state of Montana banned (new downloads of) TikTok within its borders. This week, the US surgeon general has issued an official advisory about the negative mental health impacts of social media on young people.