Cultural trends

Chinese limits on gaming are more about the long-term, rather than short-term impacts

Cover image for Chinese limits on gaming are more about the long-term, rather than short-term impacts
Karol Severin
A new regulation announced by the National Press and Publication Administration issues new rules around games engagement of under 18s. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the new rules will allow no online video games to be played during the school week, and only permits one hour of play per day on Fridays, weekends and public holidays.
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Facebook just got into social music; the industry should take note

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Hanna Kahlert
Facebook has just rolled out a new option to share clips of music videos to its Stories , which will be fully available to users by August 16th. The move has two main sets of implications. On the music side, we (should) have known that social music will be the next stage of innovation for the industry essentially since TikTok started rocketing users to stardom overnight, as meanwhile young people – digital natives who tend to be hyper-social – started to pick up instruments at unprecedented rates .
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Fandom’s Icarus phenomenon: The hype cycle of the attention economy

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Hanna Kahlert
Fandom is now entrenched as the success determinator of the saturated attention economy. With so much entertainment competing at all times, it is sentiment which draws audiences back for more. Rather than purely “I like this” – there is, after all, so much to like – fandom is more than the substantive quality of productions or storytelling.
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The paradox of small

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Mark Mulligan
When the history books are written about our current times, the rise of creator culture will likely go down as one of the most impactful paradigm shifts. It is a dynamic that extends far beyond music, but it is impacting the music industry more directly than it is other entertainment industries – in large part because the music business is not yet set up for the economies of micro audiences.
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The reign of the superstar is over

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Hanna Kahlert
It is growing ever-more difficult to generate a singular ‘big hit’. Awards shows have always had their issues with keeping relevant, but with streaming for both music and video exponentially increasing the amount of content released while simultaneously diluting the social context around big releases, a saturated attention environment makes it increasingly difficult to judge just what is ‘award worthy’ – and who it is that will care.
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The first virtual Oscars makes the Academy Awards look a lot like the real world

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Tim Mulligan
Yesterday saw the 93rdAcademy Awards take place. Better known to the movie-consuming public as the Oscars, the 2021 ceremony was ground breaking in a number of crucial ways. Despite being held (as ever) in LA, the twin venues of Union Station and Dolby Theatre were the COVID-complaint hubs of the first ever virtual Academy Awards ceremony, making the prestigious Oscars join the long list of live events which are now performed primarily in the digital ether.
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Social media reboot
The rise of social 2.0 and the emancipation of the digital native

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Hanna Kahlert
Social media is entering a new phase of innovation. Facebook’s trio of applications, alongside Snapchat, Twitter and other incumbents, still have market dominance. However, the rapid growth of TikTok, Discord and Clubhouse since the coronavirus-prompted lockdowns, alongside a migration to digital-first life, are early indicators of demand for – and adoption of – social platforms that lend themselves to lean-in entertainment behaviours.
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