Research
Around the web
“Adaptation comes out of encounters with novelty that may seem chaotic… Ambiguity is the warp of life, not something to be eliminated. Learning to savour the vertigo of doing without answers, or… making do with fragmentary ones, opens up the pleasures of recognising and playing with pattern, finding coherence within complexity, sharing within multiplicity.” - Mary Catherine Bateson
Every thing is complex: "Some things are simple. Some things are complicated. Every single thing in the universe is complex. Complexity is part of the equation. We don’t get to choose our way out of it.” - Abby Covert
At the Barbican in London from 22 May - Sun 31 August: Feel the Sound
Indie rockers of the 2000s shift to film [Archive Link]
Copenhagen’s Rhythmic Music Conservatory has become a hotbed for alt-pop stars [Archive Link]
Sony Music Publishing is acquiring Hipgnosis Songs Group
unrealtime by URTEX: software for sonic improvisation
Voce - a space dedicated to sound and music
arboreus.earth - a growing collection of “sonic portraits” from trees around the world
Listening and watching
Things we’re interested in
“A small, flat voice can be souped up by emphasizing the low frequencies and piping the result through an echo chamber. A slight speeding up of the recording tape can bring a brighter, happier sound to a naturally drab singer or clean the weariness out of a tired voice. Wrong notes can be snipped out of the tape and replaced by notes from other parts of the tape.” - John S. Wilson, 1959
“of course birdsong is music” - Annie Mac
Research: An anthropological approach to bird sounds
Yuri Suzuki creates acoustic playground: “The sculpture invites people to gather, explore and engage with sound naturally and intuitively.”
Useful: Eponymous rules, maxims and dictates to inspire creativity
"The forgetting curve demonstrates the exponential rate at which information is forgotten over time when no effort is made to retain it. It is based on a psychological theory (and later mathematical formula) originated in 1885 by German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus. It showed learners forget information almost immediately and can overcome knowledge loss by practicing spaced learning and knowledge recall exercises. Ebbinghaus tested his memory over various periods and came up with a visual representation of how the learned information fades over time." - Disha Gupta
New research underlines a misunderstanding of how memory works. When we outsource basic operations to external systems, we do not develop the procedural fluency to enable genuine thinking. Knowing becomes surface level only.
“…the who doing the thinking is the one learning.” - Peps Mccrea
Bryan Johnson, Head of Artist & Industry Partnerships at Spotify, insists “there is no dilution of the royalty pool by AI music.”
“Adoption of “AI” during a bubble, without extensive study as to the large-scale impact of adoption, is the cognitive, productive, and creative equivalent to adopting a new wonder drug at scale without testing for side effects, complications, or adverse drug interactions.” - Baldur Bjarnason
“LLMs don’t get better over time the way a human would. The lack of continual learning is a huge huge problem.” - Dwarkesh Patel
GenAI undermines intrinsic motivation. Then again, motivation at work has been falling for years.
Mark Meeker’s (lengthy) Artificial Intelligence Trends 2025: “One thing is certain – it’s gametime for AI, and it’s only getting more intense… and the genie is not going back in the bottle.”
“A useful mental exercise: when people say “AI isn’t going anywhere” or “AI is here to stay,” substitute for “AI” the word “cancer.” A great many things that are here to stay are really bad and should be resisted as energetically as possible. Maybe AI isn't as bad as many fear. But the not-going-anywhere assertion is a way to avoid asking the key questions.” - Alan Jacobs
For contrast, a report by Gartner suggests half of the organisations it surveyed indicated their plans to significantly reduce their customer service workforce would be abandoned by 2027, "highlighting the complexities or challenges of transitioning to AI-driven customer service models."
Universal and Disney file suit against the generative-AI platform Midjourney for committing copyright infringement on a mass scale. The lawsuit says the company is a “quintessential copyright free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism.”
Historical Tech Tree: An interactive visualisation of technological history from 3 million years ago to today
Social media creators to overtake traditional media in ad revenue this year: Content creators are expected to see their revenue through ads, brand deals and sponsorships increase by 20% this year, according to an assessment by WPP Media. It is expected to more than double to $376.6bn (£278.3bn) by 2030.
YouTube report finds 57% of 14 to 44-year-olds have watched a virtual creator in the last year: "Many find that adopting an alter ego allows them to express their talents and creativity more fully… This virtual persona helps alleviate the anxieties of creators who may hesitate to share their passions or their person.”
UK-focused report from Foresight Lab on AI in the screen sector: “The stakes are high. Without strategic planning, the UK screen sector may find itself outpaced by global competitors and new AI-native studios. Generative AI could democratise content creation and empower new voices, but it could also erode traditional business models, displace skilled workers, and undermine public trust in content. The sector’s future may depend on its ability to harness AI’s benefits while mitigating its risks.”
“A Bectu (Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union) survey of a small sampling of its members in February 2024 indicated that 68% of film and TV workers were, at the time, “not currently working” (only a slight improvement from September 2023 when the writers and actors strikes were raging). More than a third also said they were “planning to leave the industry” in the next five years.” - Alex Ritman
Scenes from books, movies and games sometimes carry as much weight as events from people’s own lives
I couldn’t agree more: Netflix isn’t worth the subscription
Question
Why are artists rethinking touring?
Closing notes
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Until next week…