Culture-Tech

Today’s newsletter has a revenue focus. Here’s the latest news on how cultural organisations are making money in the digital era, or are trying to at least. What You Need To Know 👀 The Atlantic (re)joins the metered paywall club 💵 Nieman Lab reports: “More than a decade after it dropped its paywall, The Atlantic…

The following post is my argument for a new type of social networking built around cultural content. While blogs, Tumblr and email newsletters cannot compete with social media for popular attention, we can build an alternative, more thoughtful, world with these tools. Tumblr was founded early 2007, around the same time Twitter was spun off…

  Welcome Cybercultural subscribers. Today’s edition has a virtual human vibe, with a dash of AI “creativity.” But amidst all the digital wizardry, let’s not forget the next generation of human cultural creators… What You Need To Know 👀 The rise of virtual beings to preserve your legacy online 👻 Fascinating story in The Washington…

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…

Today’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…

Can 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’…

The 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…

Online 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…

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”…

Welcome 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…