What happens when content collaborators divorce?
PLUS: Conde Nast gets into the drop shipping game.
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Conde Nast gets into the drop shipping game
Conde Nast soft launched an online retail platform that allows pre-approved influencers to essentially set up their own online storefronts — basically an upscale version of drop shipping. Because sales go through these storefronts, there’s no ambiguity over attribution, and the creator gets a 20% commission. To make the site even more differentiated, the items for sale are curated by Vogue’s fashion director. [Puck] (I used a gift link so you can access that article for free.)
Honestly, I don’t know why more publishers aren’t setting up their own drop shipping store fronts. Over the past year or two we’ve seen a number of scandals where browser shopping plugins like Honey and Phia have stripped attribution from publisher affiliate links, thereby depriving those publishers of their commissions. A dedicated drop-shipping site is the only way to ensure you get 100% attribution for the sales you drive. Yes, it takes a little extra work than simply grabbing an affiliate link, but the effort is probably worth it for any media outlet that has sufficient scale.
ICYMI: How a former 60 Minutes producer raised six figures to launch a LGBTQ-focused media outlet
Spencer Macnaughton doesn’t believe there’s a lack of LGBTQ-focused journalism in the mainstream media; as a former producer for both 60 Minutes and the Wall Street Journal, he saw a willingness from these outlets to cover anti gay and trans hate movements. He launched Uncloseted Media last year, though, because he thinks there’s a need for more concentrated, investigative reporting on this type of discrimination, and he convinced several wealthy donors to contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars to help him get it off the ground. Today, it publishes up to two investigative articles per week and has been syndicated by some of the world’s largest media outlets.
The acquisition that fueled Disney’s 21st-century expansion
This piece argues that Disney’s acquisition of ESPN in the 1990s laid the groundwork for it becoming the media behemoth it is today. Basically, ESPN was so profitable at its peak that it allowed Disney to not only acquire Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Marvel, but also expand its theme park operations. [WSJ] (I used a gift link so you can access that article for free.)
Can AI make music creation more accessible?
Bloomberg went deep on Suno, the AI music creation app that already has 2 million subscribers paying $30 a month. Just as the iPhone made photography and filmmaking accessible to the masses, Suno is trying to do the same for music. [Bloomberg] (I used a gift link so you can access that article for free.)
As always with these kinds of tools, there’s a raging debate as to whether they hurt a particular industry or aid in its expansion. Suno believes that putting music-making tools in the hands of everyday creators will trigger an explosion of artistic expression. “It’s not going to be AI artists,” said founder Mikey Shulman. “It’s going to be artists who use AI among other things to make their art and reach their fans. There’s going to be people behind everything. I’m quite certain of that.”
Is Axios going all-in on AI?
Among media industry executives, few are more bullish on AI than Axios CEO Jim VandeHei. Not only has Axios signed a licensing deal with OpenAI, but VandeHei is also effusive in his insistence that AI will revolutionize the media industry for the better. “We were early to basically telling our staff that you don’t have a choice. If you’re scared, if you don’t like it, we don’t care—you have to embrace it.” [CJR]
Here’s the thing though: in all my reading on this subject, I haven’t come across many concrete examples of how Axios is using AI at scale. There are references to its reporters getting access to ChatGPT enterprise accounts and being encouraged to use them, but nothing to suggest that the company has been able to 10X its reporting output or anything like that. Earlier this year I interviewed the Axios Local executive editor about the OpenAI investment, and while she listed a few examples of AI use cases — basic copyediting, surfacing potential story ideas — it didn’t seem to me that any of it was particularly game changing.
Behind the paywall
Here’s what I have on deck for paid subscribers:
What happens when content collaborators divorce?
Why Netflix is investing in so much non-exclusive content
The art of the news scoop
Let’s jump into it…