Cultural trends

AI will transform music; the question is how?

Cover image for AI will transform music; the question is how?
Mark Mulligan
AI music
Paid Content
Artifical Intelligence
Every new technology goes through a period of being overhyped before the dust settles, and that technology either fades or builds steadily thereafter. Think 3D printing, VR, NFTs. In my 20+ years as a media and tech analyst, only three technologies have had a level of hype that felt like it was going to live up to expectations: 1) the internet (which was already in full swing by the time I started out – I’m not that old); 2) smartphones / apps; and 3) AI.
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The industry’s narrative is not always the same as the artist's narrative: Redefining success for independent artists

Cover image for The industry’s narrative is not always the same as the artist's narrative: Redefining success for independent artists
Keith Jopling
Streaming
Creator economy
Marketing
Last weekend, there was a fascinating quote from Maseo of hip hop legends De La Soul in the UK Guardian: “On our second album, we learned the importance of controlling the narrative. I learned early on that a hit record can hurt your entire body of work if you let the industry control your narrative”.
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Authenticity in the West versus artificiality in the East

Cover image for Authenticity in the West versus artificiality in the East
Ashleigh Millar
AI
artificial intelligence
virtual reality
You might have heard the term “deinfluencing” floating around the internet recently. For context, earlier this year, a popular American TikTok beauty influencer, Mikayla Nogueira, took to the app to promote L’Oréal’s new ‘Telescopic Lift’ mascara , a brand with which she is a paid partner (although this detail was conveniently placed in a hard-to-read area of the video).
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Reintroducing scarcity
How entertainment can find value amid the growing digital clutter

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Hanna Kahlert
Apple TV
Disney
Instagram
Games, sports, music, video, audio, and social content all compete not only for consumers’ attention (and money), but also their fandom. However, the oversaturation of content is devaluing entertainment itself, by overly commodifying it. Entertainment businesses and content providers will need to rethink how to generate better value for audiences, especially if they want to make true fans of those audiences – especially in an environment of recession (both in the global economy and consumer attention).
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Social 2.0
Social media’s survival of the fittest, and how marketers fit in

Cover image for Social 2.0
Ashleigh Millar
YouTube
Netflix
Facebook
The history of social media has long been defined by continual evolution and iteration, but now shifts across the value chain are becoming more substantive, heralding a new era. Social platforms themselves are changing, and so too are the attitudes, expectations, and behaviours of their users, with audiences’ appetites for carefully curated, heavily edited posts turning sour, and their thirst for authentic, participatory content growing stronger.
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The future lies beyond tech – a long(er) read

Cover image for The future lies beyond tech – a long(er) read
Hanna Kahlert
metaverse
NFTs
VR
As entertainment companies start planning their next big steps for the coming year, the success and failure of their strategic decisions will hinge on one big, and perhaps surprising, existential question : is this it for the tech industry? Planning for 2023 seems to mean planning for disruption, and this is no easy thing to do – especially given the changes already wrought by the last three years of predominately virtual working.
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The economic crunch will reorient consumption around reasons, not ways, to spend attention

Cover image for The economic crunch will reorient consumption around reasons, not ways, to spend attention
Hanna Kahlert
Media and Marketing
Cultural trends
The past few weeks have demonstrated that the economic downturn is not only affecting consumer spending, but corporate strategy as well. Venture capital investors are rethinking red flags , Amazon is rethinking its long-term bets , Facebook has acknowledged a downturn in consumer reach, and Twitter is, well, Twitter-ing .
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Lean-through listening: how does context impact consumption?

Cover image for Lean-through listening: how does context impact consumption?
Hanna Kahlert
Media and Marketing
Cultural trends
Streaming has changed music listening dramatically, turning what was once a thoughtful, attention-intensive activity to a primarily ambient background media format. Or has it? Elevator jazz is far older than YouTube’s ‘lo-fi playlist to chill / elevator to’, and the invention of headphones and cassette players spurred the 80’s trope of angst-ridden teens escaping into their favourite mixtape long before the iPod.
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