1. AI Transforms the Music Industry
“Every ten years something kills the music industry. If you want to know what’s next look at the tech world.” Artificial Intelligence never ceases to impress with its versatility and power, it’s no wonder that it has already made its way to the music industry. AI has already taken over how people produce and put out music, it’s only a matter of time before it phases out real artists altogether.
AI has not only proven itself to be useful in audio mastering, it has become relevant in marketing music. AI is already present in the music industry— in places like Spotify’s Discover Weekly where is curates a playlist specific to each user to help them discover new music. They have even gone as far as creating an algorithm to help find the next big star.
What does this mean for the music industry?
AI seems to be the future of the music industry. It’s always been challenging to comb through music and find promising artists that haven’t signed to a label, but it’s even more overwhelming with the deluge of streaming music today. Companies like Warner Music Group and even Apple are turning to AI to get ahead in the industry.
(Source: Forbes)
2. Will TikTok Overthrow YouTube?
Since 2009, VidCon — the premiere convention for online creators — has revolved around the whos-who of YouTube. This year, YouTubers took a backseat to the creator scene’s new rockstars: TikTokers. TikTok has recently risen as a new social media platform where users can create playful videos using audio bits from famous media. The platform has steadily become a new trend and has allowed a lot of people to gain millions of followers. So at this year’s VidCon, the spotlight was taken off of Youtubers and put onto TikTokers.
What does this mean for YouTubers?
Much like Vine, TikTok has taken the social media world by storm as people flock to use the short-form video app and gave people the chance to become overnight celebrities. But there is a catch—the more influential people became on these apps, the more vocal they became about getting paid. That is where YouTube has always been able to stand out. In the end, YouTube will continue to be a safe space for creators because YouTube offers what TikTok doesn’t—stability.
(Source: The Verge)
3. Publisher Phases out Print Textbooks
The world’s largest education publisher has taken the first step towards phasing out print books by making all its learning resources “digital first.” Pearson textbooks has decided to surrender to the digital age and phase out their print textbooks in favor of eText that would allow students to rent and access the books via the internet. After noting that over half of their annual sales came from digital sales, they realized they must move the company in that direction. This means that they will stop updating the print textbooks every three years and instead will opt to regularly update the digital versions.
What does this mean for students?
Students don’t have to lug around those huge textbooks anymore. The boss, John Fallon, says “For the Netflix and Spotify generation, they expect to rent not own.” Today’s students are leaning heavily on the digital environment and Pearson is adapting however, authors fear that a subscription-based textbook might cause them to lose out like music artists do to streaming services.
(Source: BBC News)
