While the subscription model rules the culture-tech world right now, companies like Plex, Tubi and Kinzen are showing there are alternatives. Read on for my takes… What You Need To Know 👀 The rise of ad-supported video streaming services 🎥 I noticed three different news stories today about ad-supported video streaming, an alternative to the…
Read More Alternatives to ‘Spotify for x’ subscription modelsToday’s newsletter focuses on the challenges of earning revenue in the digital subscription and streaming era. Ironically though, DVDs remain a strong business for Netflix. Un-ironic plug: this week’s free edition of Cybercultural is a taste of what paid subscribers get three times a week. If you like this format, please consider upgrading: Subscribe now…
Read More Revenue challenges in subscription era; + books & DVDs not dead yetCan Tupac transition from hologram to a kids cartoon? We may soon find out, after toy company Hasbro acquired the rights to the back catalog of Tupac and other rappers. Read on for my takes on this and other culture-tech news… What You Need To Know 👀 Netflix tests human-driven curation with launch of ‘Collections’…
Read More Hasbro + Tupac, Netflix human curators, Audible sued, & moreThe Matrix 4 was announced this week. Whoa! While we eagerly wait for that, let’s immerse ourselves in the latest culture-tech news… What You Need To Know 👀 Universal Music Group (UMG) to develop immersive music experiences 🎸 Music Business Worldwide reports: Universal Music Group (UMG) has entered into a partnership with Dakia Global Enterprise…
Read More Immersive music, future of movie-making, digitising books, & moreOnline gaming, virtual reality experiences and mixed reality apps are among the fastest growing parts of the digital economy. But are they what we’d traditionally label as “culture”? A new report argues that not only should these “interactive media” be talked about in the same breath as movies, music and books, they’re also essential to…
Read More How interactive media fits into the cultural landscape 🎮Turns out magazines of the future may be edited by robots. But rest assured Cybercultural subscribers, you’ll always get the human experience with this editor… What You Need To Know 👀 Condé Nast VP of product on AI use in magazines 🤖 Lindsay Silver, VP of product at Condé Nast, tells FIPP that “AI 2.0”…
Read More AI in magazines, YouTube copyright news, streaming games, & moreWelcome Cybercultural subscribers. The acquisition of Tumblr by WordPress this week raised hopes that blogging is back. I’ll stick with email newsletters for now, but read on for my takes… What You Need To Know 👀 Verizon sells Tumblr to Automattic Inc, owner of WordPress ✏️ It was the big news of the week, although…
Read More Tumblr thoughts, the future of social, Spotify for Podcasters, & moreIn this week’s free weekly Cybercultural newsletter, I look at the problem of archiving cultural content from magazines, blogs, musicians and video gamers – and why it matters. Have you ever had any of these issues lately while trying to access content? You wrote a blog in the early to late 2000s, but it’s long…
Read More Are we doing enough to archive digital culture? 🗄️Welcome Cybercultural subscribers! Like chiselled Jeff Bezos, I’m ready to get straight down to the business of the day… 💪 What You Need To Know 👀 Amazon’s Plan to Conquer the World of Publishing 📚 Fascinating analysis of Amazon Publishing, the retail giant’s book publishing subsidiary, by The Atlantic: “As Amazon Studios does with movies,…
Read More Amazon Publishing muscle, Netflix interactive tv, Spotify tipping, & moreWelcome to the first subscriber-only edition of Cybercultural! First a quick note about how I intend to format these emails… You’ll notice some familiar sections – Data Points will now be exclusive to subscribers, for example. The main new thing in subscriber-only emails will be a What You Need To Know section, at the top.…
Read More Facebook SVOD, Google podcast search, Apple Music analytics, & more