Weekly Roundup – July 8th, 2025
Roundup Links
AI-Generated Music Is Starting to Crowd Out the Real Stuff on Streaming Platforms
"Though platforms like Spotify and Apple Music make it easier for audiences to access their favorite bands than ever before, the algorithms and contracts behind those apps are ruthless, paying artists fractions of pennies for their work. Though companies like Spotify have tripled their value during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of artists who are even eligible for royalties, regardless of the paltry amount, continues to shrink.
Now, the rising tide of generative AI is boxing out real artists as those same music algorithms become infested with gobs of computer-generated slop.
As Pitchfork's Kieran Press-Reynolds explored in his latest column, the "lo-fi" genre — which emerged in the 2010s in an earlier, though less overt era of algorithmic chaos — is fast becoming a wasteland of unchecked beatspam thanks to the rise of AI bots."
Our Take: Streaming essentially hollowed out the middle class of musicians. Reams of AI generated music clogging up streaming services effectively means that lesser known artists will not make money off music they upload to the internet. The only way for these artists to make money is through physical sales and touring.
How Brands Are Taking Back Social Media From Influencers
"Instead of relying on celebrities, brands are controlling the message by making their own social media videos. You may not even realize they’re selling you something.
Sarah Tang records social media videos for the homeware brand Dusen Dusen out of the company’s studio in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn.
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Ms. Tang is what some in the fashion and lifestyle industries call a brand or in-house content creator. Unlike influencers, who are typically paid to promote products on their own channels, Ms. Tang’s job is to produce short-form videos that emulate influencer-style content like room tours, vlogs and get-ready-with-me snippets on brands’ own social accounts. Her videos can generate thousands of views."
Our Take: This has been common for quite some time. Brands are creating advertisements in-house using rudimentary production tools (like a mere smartphone) to replicate the vibe and ethos of influencer-created content. The ads thus look a little crappy on purpose for this reason. It’s cheap to have someone on the company’s payroll whose fulltime job is making these ‘DIY’ advertisements that resemble influencer-sponsored content.
US news consumers are turning to podcaster Joe Rogan and away from traditional sources, report shows
"Prominent podcasters like Joe Rogan are playing a bigger role in news dissemination in the United States, as are AI chatbots, contributing to the further erosion of traditional media, according to a report released on Tuesday.
In the week following the January 2025 U.S. presidential inauguration, more Americans said they got their news from social and video networks than from TV and news websites and apps - the first time that shift has occurred, the report said.
Traditional U.S. news media increasingly risks being eclipsed by online personalities and creators, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism said in its annual Digital News Report, which is based on an online survey of almost 100,000 people in 48 markets, including the United States.
The trend is particularly acute among young Americans. Over half of people under age 35 in the U.S. are relying on social media and video networks as their main source for news, the report found. Across the countries that the report surveyed, 44% of people aged 18 to 24 said these networks are their main source of news."
Our Take: Young Americans do not have loyalty to legacy media in the same way older generations do. Older folks were reared with the centrality of the major networks (NBC, CBS, and ABC) and major newspapers as media disseminators. Americans were drinking from the same well. Today, individual feeds are hyper personalized and curated by complex algorithms. No two social media feeds are exactly alike, even if they follow the same accounts. There is something about Joe Rogan where he keeps popping up on people’s feeds. Instead of interested political and media parties focusing on his supposed spreading of ‘misinformation’, perhaps the better course of action would be to study his raw appeal.
‘You can’t pause the internet’: social media creators hit by burnout
"The life of a social media creator can be high in glamour and status. The well-paid endorsement deals, the online followers and proximity to the celebrity establishment are all perks of the industry.
But one hidden cost will be familiar to anyone coping with the 21st-century economy: burnout. The Guardian has spoken to five creators with a combined audience of millions who have all experienced degrees of workplace stress or fatigue.
“There’s no off button in this job,” says Melanie Murphy, 35, who has been a social media creator since 2013. “The algorithms never stop. You can’t pause the internet because you get sick. If you vanish for two or three months completely you know the algorithms will bring your followers to new accounts who are being active.”"
Our Take: Being an influencer with a sizable following means that a creator can quit their day-job. However, influencers are beholden to their audience in a way that salaried employees are not. The overcrowding of the influencer space means that creators must put out more and more content to stay afloat in this ecosystem, where an audience’s loyalty to individual creators is fickle at best. The algorithm will replace you with others eager to claim your spot if you take even the smallest of breaks. This leads to churn and burnout and a gradual devaluing of programmatic ads by platforms themselves.
How Podcasts Became Hollywood’s Next Retention Strategy | Charts
"Last month, the HFPA announced a new Golden Globe category dedicated exclusively to podcasts, starting in 2026. In recent years, podcasts have firmly established themselves within the Creator Economy. From journalists and comedians to athletes and actors, creators from diverse backgrounds are utilizing the format to create a community by cultivating their own loyal audiences.
Major media companies have taken note. Spotify and Amazon Music have built out their libraries with exclusive content, while Netflix is showing early signs of investing more heavily in the space. These strategic moves are far from incidental; the podcast format has proven effective at both attracting brand partnerships and elevating visibility, especially among talent.
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Shows like “The Office,” “Glee,” “One Tree Hill” and “The O.C.” are examples of this format, serving as the central theme for podcasts hosted by their original cast members. “Office Ladies,” for instance, is hosted by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, who played Pam and Angela on “The Office.”
According to Parrot Analytics’ Streaming Economics model, the TV show generated more than an estimated $120 million in streaming revenue contribution only in the UCAN (United States and Canada) region over the past five years, a notable figure considering its final episode aired in 2013. This sustained value highlights the wide range of opportunities that a multi-million-dollar IP can continue to unlock over time."
Our Take: Studios are discovering that having a companion podcast tied to specific intellectual property redirects audiences back to the original IP, padding view counts and ensuring that major streaming platforms retain sizable subscriber numbers. The Office (US) is compulsively watched and rewatched by a committed (read; cultic) audience. “Office Ladies”, a companion podcast, regularly popping up at the top of someone’s podcast queue keeps the show “The Office” top-of-mind. Essentially every major franchise at this point is adopting the companion/behind-the-scenes podcast strategy to boost retention and viewership.
