CEOs Go to War Against Creatives

Here's my latest briefing paper on arts, media, tech, and culture

Every so often, I share a briefing paper on what’s happening in the culture right now.

I try to dig beneath the surface hype, and reveal stuff you might not hear about elsewhere. Sometimes it’s gloomy. Sometimes it’s surprising. Sometimes it’s even fun (or at least a source of dark humor).

Below is my latest briefing paper. I’m assessing more than a dozen recent developments—and you will probably notice a recurring theme.

---

If you want to support my work, please take out a premium subscription (just $6 per month).

---

Spotify’s CEO believes that making music is just “creating content” and costs “close to zero.”

How can you tell if somebody in the music business wants to replace musicians with AI?

The first clue is that they describe music as content (ugh!). The second is that they’re delighted that millions of tracks are now generated—the bosses no longer use the word composed—for next to nothing.

Here’s what Spotify’s CEO announced in a recent tweet:

I note that this man has more control over music than almost anybody on the planet. So be prepared.

---

Sony Pictures CEO is more blunt—and just announces that AI will be used to cut costs.

According to The Hollywood Reporter:

Sony Pictures is embracing generative artificial intelligence to cut costs.

Chief executive Tony Vinciquerra, at an investor conference in Japan, said on Thursday that the company is “very focused on AI”…..We’ll be looking at ways to use AI to produce films for theaters and television in more efficient ways, using AI primarily,” Vinciquerra said.

The only reason he said this openly is because he was talking to investors in Japan, not movie people in Hollywood.

---

Are tiny movie theaters really a thing?

Many of you know that I put my faith in the microculture—and I see it blossoming everywhere. Even while creativity is under attack by media CEOs, it’s booming at the grass roots level.

So I’m excited about the rise of the microplex—a hot new cinema trend in the UK. There are 1,500 of these tiny movie theaters now. Many have 50 seats or fewer.

Here’s what an 18-seat movie theater in Bristol looks like.

Source

The Guardian shares the story of Tony Mundin, who operates micro theaters in Cumbria, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Greater Manchester:

He is currently in negotiation for a new venue in the Manchester area that will be his smallest yet, with three screens, none with more than 50 seats. All of his cinemas, he says, are in market towns or urban villages, where regulars can walk in for a film and also have a drink. The new venue will have staggered screenings administered by a staff of three….“There’s no doubt that relatively small cinemas appeal to people because they get proper attention.”

This is how to operate outside the blockbuster mentality that’s killed risk-taking in movies (and other fields). If it looks and feels like an underground movement, it’s because it is one.

---

Professor quits after learning that her teaching assistant makes more money than she does.

Academia now resembles a feudal kingdom, where serfs teach while the nobility sit back in their admin offices.

The latest example: Dr. Amanda Reiterman gets hired to teach two 120-student lecture classes at the University of California. But she earns less than the TA.

When she saw the numbers, she wrote to the administration, saying there must be some mistake. Nope—that’s how the hierarchy works on campus.

Grad students are enticed into enrolling with perks—including paid TA jobs. They only learn the savage reality after they earn their PhD.

By the way, there are now more than twice as many non-teaching employees as faculty at the University of California—and the gap gets wider each year.

---

The Department of Justice’s antitrust case against Ticketmaster shows how broken the music economy really is.

This 124-page lawsuit is filled with gruesome details.