Indie Artists May Soon Negotiate Directly With AI, Streamers
The Protect Working Musicians Act (PWMA), re‑introduced by Rep. Deborah Ross, has secured backing from a wide coalition of music‑industry groups. The bill would grant independent artists and labels the right to collectively negotiate licensing terms with AI developers and digital streaming platforms without antitrust liability. It creates a voluntary, market‑based pathway for AI use of copyrighted music and dovetails with transparency measures like the TRAIN and CLEAR Acts. If passed, the legislation would give indie musicians a formal seat at the negotiating table for AI and streaming revenues.
Meta Tests a Reels “Series” Feature Letting Creators Turn One-Off Videos Into Followable Episodic Collections Viewers Can Return To
Meta is piloting a new “Series” feature on Instagram and Facebook Reels that lets creators bundle related short videos into a single, followable collection. Each episode links directly in the playback interface and appears on the creator’s profile, making it...
How a Niche Newsletter Turned Its Reporting Into a Data Product
Will Richards launched Overnight Success, a newsletter that began as an internal email tracking Australian startup activity. The publication expanded to thousands of subscribers and generated a six‑figure sponsorship business, eventually evolving into a data product that competes with larger...
Cracking The Instagram Algorithm: A 2026 Guide for Musicians
A recent Podswap study of 2,500+ niches reveals Instagram’s 2026 algorithm now rewards shares, raw video aesthetics, and keyword‑rich captions over traditional likes and hashtags. Musicians who create "bridge" content that fans quickly share to DMs see a four‑fold boost...
I Analyzed 100 Top Substacks. Almost None Make Money the Way You Think.
An analysis of the 100 most successful Substack newsletters reveals that revenue rarely comes from a single source. Most creators combine recurring paid subscriptions with premium community tiers, format expansions like podcasts, and high‑ticket offerings such as sponsorships or consulting....
Netflix Podcast Sellers' Guide: What They Want — and How Much They’re Paying
Netflix has teamed with Spotify to secure semi‑exclusive video rights to Jay Shetty’s *On Purpose* podcast in a multi‑year deal valued at up to $100 million. The move follows Netflix’s earlier licensing of podcasts such as *The Breakfast Club* and *Bill...
Newsletter Ads Have a Click Problem. Workweek Has a Solution
Workweek unveiled its Partner Platform to bring verifiable click data to newsletter advertising. The system filters out non‑credible clicks, matches only verified subscriber actions to company‑level accounts, and pushes that activity directly into advertisers' CRMs. Early adopters reported up to...
ICYMI: May’s Biggest Headlines + Bonus Insights
May’s ICYMI recap spotlights 11 platform updates reshaping social media, from Instagram’s new Instants feature to Meta’s Forum app targeting Reddit‑style communities. TikTok GO expands commerce by letting U.S. users book local services directly in the app, while YouTube adds...
Why Creators Are Switching to Google Omni for AI Video Editing
Google Omni is Google’s multimodal video‑creation platform that unifies text, images, audio and video into a single workflow. Its flagship Omni Flash model automatically adjusts camera angles across multiple scenes, cutting manual editing time. The system runs on a credit‑based...
How to Get Your Podcast TV-Ready
YouTube remains the leading platform for podcast consumption and the second‑most popular among creators, with the majority of its video views now occurring on television sets. The service recently added TV‑style ratings to quantify audience size for video podcasts. As...
The Podcast Show 2026: The Signals Worth Paying Attention To
The Podcast Show 2026 marked a turning point as the industry moved into a mature, commercially sophisticated phase. Organizers highlighted a shift from pure audio to a multi‑format ecosystem, with video podcasts gaining traction alongside traditional audio‑only shows. Discussions emphasized...
OffBall, Substack Partner for ‘OffBallFC’ Brand in Partnership with USMNT Star Folarin Balogun
OffBall, the sports‑culture studio, has teamed with Substack to launch OffBallFC, a new soccer‑focused brand aimed at American fans. The venture will deliver two newsletters per week, social content and live events, beginning this week ahead of the 2026 World...
Top Podcast Trends 2026: AI, Video, & Monetization
Podcasting has become a mainstream media habit, with 40% of U.S. adults listening weekly and total listening time up 355% since 2015. Brands now face three operational decisions—budget allocation, workflow design, and measurement discipline—as audio merges with video, niche targeting,...
How a Teenage Gamer Built a 60-Million-Reader Media Empire
Riad Chikhani turned a teenage RuneScape forum into the GAMURS Group, a portfolio of 17 gaming publications that now attracts roughly 60 million monthly users. After selling his first community at 17, he learned that audience culture must be preserved, prompting...
How Brad Hargreaves Turned a Real Estate Newsletter Into a Six-Figure Media and Data Business
Brad Hargreaves launched the paid newsletter Thesis Driven in 2022 to stay connected to real‑estate development after exiting General Assembly and scaling Common. Within months the newsletter generated meaningful revenue, and by 2023 it surpassed six‑figure (≈$100,000) annualized revenue and...