| Innovation |
| Water & Music 5-part report on Web3, NFTs, DAOs, and Social TokensAs a follow-up to our myriad studies of fan sentiment around music/Web3 projects in Season 1, we embarked on a survey analysis of how artists and music-industry professionals were feeling about Web3 across its numerous forms, including NFTs, DAOs and social tokens.www.waterandmusic.com • Share |
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| How we can imagine a better future + innovate to get therePer Jane McGonigal, at ABA’s Keynote: ‘Ridiculous at first futures’ are the kind of futures that we might hope for, that we might work for, or pray for, or mobilize for even as so many other people tell us that the kind of positive change we want to achieve is impossible, the transformation is unimaginable.www.shelf-awareness.com • Share |
| The 5 Elements of Blockchain that are the Underpinnings of Web3 and the MetaverseHT @ValaAfsharwww.gartner.com • Share |
| Bob Dylan goes meta as Sony and Universal partner with Snowcrash NFT platformSony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group have partnered with Solana-based NFT marketplace Snowcrash to release NFT collections featuring Bob Dylan. #NFTscointelegraph.com • Share |
| Technology |
| NFTs: One year after Beeple sale, non-fungible tokens have become mainstreamHT @davepecktechxplore.com • Share |
| An NFT Bubble Is Taking Over the Gig EconomyTwo-thirds of freelancers on Fiverr say they’re servicing the NFT industry. But is it sustainable?www.wired.com • Share |
| CVS files to trademark its pharmacy and health clinics in the metaverseCVS Health looks to patent its stores as well as sales of virtual goods including prescription drugs, wellness, beauty and personal care products.www.cnbc.com • Share |
| Amazon, Teladoc to deliver doctor consultations via AlexaAmazon partners with Teladoc Health to provide doctor consultations via the Alexa voice assistant on Echo devices, in another signs of Amazon’s push into healthcare. #Amazonpharmaphorum.com • Share |
| Amazon launches live audio app that makes DJs of users’ own radio showsThe app comes as the live audio space continues to heat up, with companies like Twitter and Spotify featuring new content. #audiowww.cnbc.com • Share |
| Radio Drama for a Podcast Age: How Amazon’s Audible Moved Into TheaterAudible, a subsidiary of Amazon, is making a push into theater. They created its theater division 5 years ago, already released 93 audio theater works, + added a theater tab to its app. #Audiblewww.nytimes.com • Share |
| YouTube is offering podcasters $50K and networks up to $300K to make video versions of their shows. Yet another move suggesting the company is interested in becoming a podcast destinationHT @ashleyrcarman YouTube is reaching out to podcasters and podcast networks, offering “grants” of up to $300,000 to entice them to create video versions of their shows, according to people with knowledge of the matter.www.bloomberg.com • Share |
| MTV is teaming with TikTok and Pepsi on a first-of-its-kind music series that showcases artists originally discovered on TikTok.MTV has teamed with Pepsi and TikTok on a first-of-its-kind music competition series that showcases artists originally discovered on TikTok. #TikTokdeadline.com • Share |
| Amazon Prime Video exclusively streamed Country Music Awards, an awards-show first; Amazon Live will carry a “shoppable” version of the red carpetAwards shows like the Oscar and the Emmys seem to be struggling to stay relevant and keep TV ratings up. The ACM Awards are trying something different: streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime.www.vulture.com • Share |
| Pinterest looks to prove it can drive brand sales with new checkout featureSocial platforms have ramped up efforts around commerce amid the pandemic, as more shoppers turned to e-commerce to make purchases. Pinterest is finally adding checkout functionality.adage.com • Share |
| Publishing & Media |
| McClatchy Tries Out Robots to Produce News: McClatchy is working with a vendor to generate real-estate stories. “The top ten most expensive list is done by the bot.”“Robots produce the information, journalists do the journalism.” U.S. local media group McClatchy has signed an agreement with automated journalism provider United Robots for a pilot partnership to deliver home sales news in Sacramento County, CA, and nine other locations. The partnership, which is now live, sees content delivered automatically to McClatchy end points, including sites, apps and the publisher’s CMS.whatsnewinpublishing.com • Share |
| How book lovers on TikTok are changing the publishing industry#BookTok led to major sales—of both old and new titles—in publishing last year. Here’s why.www.fastcompany.com • Share |
| Disney Publishing Teams with ESPN for New Publishing ImprintAndscape: Disney and ESPN teamed up to create a new imprint that is “dedicated to creating, highlighting, and uplifting the diverse stories of Black identity.”www.publishersweekly.com • Share |
| Pearson rejects $8.5 billion approach from ApolloPearson said it had rejected two takeover approaches from investment firm Apollo , saying its latest $8.5 billion possible cash offer undervalued the global education group, which was confident in its own strategy.www.reuters.com • Share |
| Sixteen Years After ‘The Road,’ Cormac McCarthy Is Publishing Two New NovelsThis fall, Knopf will publish two interlinked books that are a thematic and stylistic departure for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist. #teamPRHwww.nytimes.com • Share |
| NCTE Creates Book Rationale Database With PRH Education GrantNational Council of Teachers of English and announced a new initiative to digitize the Book Rationale Database on NCTE’s Intellectual Freedom Center website. When censorship claims have been filed or when the competence of a teacher is questioned, book rationales serve to document and confirm why a book was selected for classroom use. #teamPRHglobal.penguinrandomhouse.com • Share |
| Celebrating LGBTQ+ Children’s BooksAs Florida moves to ban discussions of LGBTQ+ identities in schools, and books about LGBTQ+ lives are being removed from Florida’s school library shelves, we share our list of forthcoming and backlist LGBTQ+ Children’s books for your consideration. #teamPRHwww.penguinrandomhouseretail.com • Share |
| Again and Again, Literature Provides an Outlet for the Upended Lives of RefugeesThe current flood of refugees from Ukraine is a reminder of how much of literature is fueled by such crises and their aftermaths.www.nytimes.com • Share |
| ABC’s ‘Abbott Elementary’ and Scholastic bringing free book fairs to two L.A. schoolsABC, home of freshman comedy ‘Abbott Elementary,’ has partnered with Scholastic to host free book fairs at seven Title 1 schools in LA between March 14-18.www.latimes.com • Share |
| WNDB Launches Virtual Community for Mid-Level Diverse Publishing ProfessionalsThe We Need Diverse Books nonprofit organization advocating for more inclusion in the industry is launching a virtual community platform for mid-level diverse publishing professionals in an effort to improve retention rates.www.publishersweekly.com • Share |
| Texas Library Association Forms Coalition to Battle Book BansThe new coalition aims to inform and organize Texans who oppose efforts to ban books.www.publishersweekly.com • Share |
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| MT @debreese “In the wake of countless book bans, curriculum censorship legislation, and increasing politicization of knowledge…” Our publisher is offering free copies of these books.www.beacon.org • Share |
| Substack launches an iOS app for reading; Android users can sign up for a waiting liston.substack.com • Share |
| Google is releasing an open source harassment filter for journalistsGoogle is releasing the code for an open source tool called Harassment Manager that will help bulk filter and report potentially toxic comments. Thomson Reuters Foundation journalists will begin using a version of the tool in June. #journalismwww.theverge.com • Share |
| NPR announces Network Growth teamMT @michellemanafy NPR is announcing a new Network Growth team that will focus on growing collective audience and revenue support for @NPR and its network of Member stations through podcasts and on-demand audio and other revenue-generating concepts. They will oversee the business strategies for expanding the NPR+ podcast subscription service and the NPR+ Bundle to grow station membership and revenue.www.npr.org • Share |
| USA Today Owner Gannett Co. Gave Advertisers Inaccurate Information for Nine MonthsGannett is said to have provided inaccurate data to advertisers, misrepresenting where billions of ads were placed.www.wsj.com • Share |
| Resources & Opportunities |
| Writers: Get Help with CompsRT @TSNOTYAW Struggling to find comps? Leave a message for us, giving a bit of info on your plot and genre, and we’ll have an indie bookseller suggest comps for you!telbee.io • Share |
| Hurston/Wright Writer’s RetreatRT @pubdeets Sweet Retreat: Applications are open for Black emerging and midcareer writers for Hurston Wright’s annual writer’s retreat. @HurstonWright #writingretreat #writers #blackwriters #blackauthors #writingtips #writingadvicewww.hurstonwright.org • Share |
| Accessible Publishing Summit SchoolMT @LauraB7 The National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS) in Canada is running a FREE Accessible Publishing School starting for about 2 hours a day on 3 consecutive Thursdays, starting 3/17. The training will be aimed at publishers who are beginning to learn about #a11y. #eprdctnnnels.ca • Share |
| We Need Diverse Books and Penguin Random House Launch Second-Annual Black Creatives Fund Revisions WorkshopMT @diversebooks We’re excited to announce with @penguinrandom that applications for the Black Creatives Revisions Workshop are now open! Twelve writers, including six Middle Grade/Young Adult and six adult writers, will be selected for the workshop. Deadline to apply 4/1. #teamPRHdiversebooks.org • Share |
| Ideas in Action Classes: Poetic Writing/Editing with Yanyi SurveyMT @AnnieAHwang Calling all Asian American poets who are putting together their debut poetry collection and could use a bit of guidance! Poet @yanyi___ is hosting a poetry workshop via @OneWorldLit‘s Ideas in Action Workshop. Deadline is 4/15! #teamPRHwww.surveymonkey.com • Share |
| Maynard 200 Fellowship 2022 Call for Applications Now OpenHT @michellemanafy Maynard 200 is the cornerstone program advancing the Maynard Institute’s efforts to expand the diversity pipeline in news media and dismantle structural racism in its newsrooms. Since 2018, the Maynard Institute has trained over 90 media leaders, storytellers, and entrepreneurs through the fellowship program. Deadline 3/21.mije.org • Share |