Welcome to the Weekly Wrap-up, a review of the week’s culture-tech coverage here on Cybercultural. 

A Peek Behind The Paywall 🔓

First up, a list of news stories I wrote about this past week for paying subscribers. I’ve included some choice quotes from my takes.

• Facebook unveils new Portal video chat, TV streaming devices 📹

  • “I’m also dubious about how many people will want to watch shows like Mindhunter or Succession live with their friends. Most prestige streaming TV is a lean-back experience […]”

• Wattpad gets into print 📚

• Pop's need for speed: 'You have to drop new stuff constantly' 🎹

  • “This is all part of the ‘feed’ era of cultural content, where new content must be injected into the feed on a regular basis in order to keep your profile up.”

• Jack Conte, Patreon, and the plight of the creative class 💰

• Spotify revamps app for artists; adds real-time listener stats 🎹

• ESPN inks Facebook deal to bring exclusive content to Watch 📹

  • “Perhaps shifting this from the ESPN app to Facebook Watch will help with the interactivity part, since there’s no question Facebook is an expert in creating two-way engagement. But ESPN’s content will need a big improvement too.”

• NYT calls for more fact-checking in books 📚

• Google launches mobile gaming subscription service, Play Pass 🎮

  • “Google’s value proposition is that for $4.99 a month (matching Apple’s price), users can avoid per-game upfront costs, intrusive ads and in-app purchases in the 350 games available. Given these are factors that easily turn off casual gamers, this seems like a pretty good deal.”

Best Reader Feedback 🗣️

This week's free Cybercultural analysis looked at why audio formats (e.g. podcasts & audiobooks) are more popular in our culture today than text formats (e.g. blogs & print books).

One thing I didn’t note is that Amazon-owned Audible holds a dominant position in the audiobook market. And as Steven on Twitter pointed out, this means their prices are too darn high:

steven @weblivz

@ricmac @Gladwell @BillSimmons @BretEastonEllis i'd love to listen to more audio books and regularly listen to podcasts. My kids want more audio books, but the cost at @audible_com (£15/month for 2 book) etc is far too high.

9:29 AM ∙ Sep 26, 2019

Weekend reads 🍹

A selection of culture-tech stories that are worth perusing on your smartphone this weekend, while you lean back and binge Netflix:

• Why I Think Netflix Will End Up with 70 Million US Subscribers; EntertainmentStrategyGuy runs an excellent blog about the business of entertainment (he’s on Substack too), and I recommend you sign up. 📺

• Journey Of A Track: Navigating The Playlist Ecosystem; Nuttiiya Seekhao of Chartmetric takes a close look at the mechanics of music streaming playlists. 🎹

• What exactly is a newspaper edition in today’s digital age?; Twipe’s Mary-Katharine Phillips has a great analysis of “digital editions.” 🗞️

• Cloud Gaming Is Positioned to Change the Games Business; Newzoo says that cloud gaming will be as disruptive as mobile gaming was. 🎮

• A Need For A New Definition Of Museums; Apollo Magazine (via ArtsJournal) says that “museums are networks.” 🖼️

One More Thing 🙋

One of the big news stories of the week was digital media whippersnapper Vox acquiring the middle-aged New York Magazine. As a Succession fan, I was tickled by this tweet in response:

E. Alex Jung @e_alexjung

vox this morning:

1:15 AM ∙ Sep 25, 2019

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4,714Likes494Retweets

That’s a wrap for this week on Cybercultural. If you want culture-tech news and analysis in your inbox four times a week, please consider subscribing (if you haven’t already). It’s just $7 per month or $70 per year. In addition to the extra content, you’ll become a valued member of a growing community of culture-tech fans.