Good morning. OpenAI just announced Sora, its new text-to-video AI model, and creators are already imagining what the generative tool could make possible. “I’m a video creator, so an AI that’s actually doing my job…that feels a little more threatening, [which is why] I’m particularly impressed by it,” Marques Brownlee said in an upload.

— Hannah Doyle & Nate Graber-Lipperman

Podcast Creators Weigh in on Spotify’s Big Change

Last week, Spotify announced a one-two punch of podcast production changes for its creators:

1. Spotify is expanding its partnership with video and podcast recording tool Riverside, integrating the service into its podcast creation platform, Spotify for Podcasters.

2. Come June, Spotify will sunset its in-house features to record on desktop and mobile as well as its Music+Talk feature, which allows creators to plug licensed, full-length tracks into their podcast.

Creators have responded strongly, with mixed reviews:

The positive read: Riverside’s integration allows creators to record video within Spotify (instead of using an extension like Zoom) and generate vertical video clips for TikTok and Reels.

“Now I won’t have to host my podcast on one platform and record [video] on another,” social strategy podcaster Sarah Weiss told us. “Even if you’re both using great mics, when you download it then upload to another platform the audio can get a little iffy.”

The less positive read: Creators who use Spotify’s native production tools to edit and manage music and transitions now have to 1) learn new audio editing tools and 2) source music separately. Olivia Dreizen Howell, who uses Riverside for recording and Spotify for everything else, said these new changes make episode production less accessible.

“By eliminating the music library, transitions library, and the editing component, it feels like gaslighting,” Dreizen Howell told us. “Hey, we’re going to make this easier for you, but actually eliminate tools and not make it easier for you…I’m not an audio editor.”

Zoom out: Riverside has long been a favorite among podcasting professionals, and Spotify’s integration reflects the platform’s commitment to using creators’ preferred tools. But that may introduce a high learning curve for some. 

The bright side? Podcast creators are gaining more production options from platforms by the week. Apple recently added automated transcripts to podcast episodes, and YouTube added an RSS feed to let creators auto-upload shows.

Most EU Creators Don’t Disclose Brand Deals

While 97% of Europe’s professional creators post monetizable content, only 20% of them correctly disclose when they’re being compensated to advertise a product or service, the European Union (EU) found in a new study.

Why it matters: By labeling brand deals with alternative wording such as “partnership” or “collaboration” (instead of #advertising) some creators are 1) misleading consumers, according to EU law and 2) skirting rules that require them to register and pay taxes as businesses.

EU officials have threatened creators with million-euro fines (or even prosecution) for improper ad disclosures in the past. Regulators said they’d further investigate 358 of the 576 creators included in the recent study.

Zoom out: Legislators around the globe are ramping up their efforts to regulate content and digital advertising practices they consider problematic (see also: the recent U.S. Senate hearing on social media child protections).

“Influencers hold considerable sway over their followers, many of which are minors,” EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders said in a statement. “I call on them to be much more transparent to their audience.”

Reels, Shorts Winning in TikTok vs. UMG

Marketers are increasingly pushing creators and brands to focus their short-form content efforts on Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts as the standoff between TikTok and Universal Music Group (UMG) heats up, according to Business Insider.

Context: UMG pulled its vast artist catalog (which includes big names like Taylor Swift and Drake) from TikTok on February 2 after failing to reach an agreement with the platform on compensation practices and AI protections.

This means that most TikTok videos that feature UMG songs are now playing on mute.

Big picture: Digital agency Round Group recently found that Instagram added 400 million monthly active Reels users in 2023, roughly double TikTok’s user growth over the same time period.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Skibidi Toilet airs its series finale.

• The Sidemen’s documentary is the #1 most watched film on Netflix in the U.K.

• TikTok launches on the Apple Vision Pro.

• Comedy creator Brooke Averick starts her own podcast with TMG Studios.

• YouTube now lets users integrate music videos into Shorts.

• Liza Koshy acts in the new Netflix rom com, Players.

• MrBeast makes the cover of Time magazine.

📚️ Thank You For Pressing Publish

The content we’re looking forward to reading, watching, and listening to this weekend.

• Read: The New Yorker profiles Lucian Grainge, the longtime chairman of Universal Music Group, to offer a look into how the world’s largest music company is adapting to rapid advancements in AI. 

• Watch: Jack Gordon explores whether the Apple Vision Pro is good for society in a social experiment with people ages 1–100.

• Listen: Cooking creator Alison Roman teams up with comedy creator Delaney Rowe to give advice on everything from how to host a good dinner party to cooking with preserved lemons.

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