For our latest season of the Media Voices Podcast, kindly sponsored by Poool, we’ll be publishing ten episodes exploring the biggest trends of 2022 and how they affect publishers; from podcasts and newsletters to advertising, subscriptions, trust and more. Our ninth episode looks at how the bubble has burst around many of the emerging technologies that had previously excited the industry, and where publishers are looking now for innovation.
The 'crypto winter' has set back many of the projects we saw begin in last year's exploration of emerging technology. The crash began early in 2022 due to rising interest rates and macroeconomic factors, and as even supposedly 'stable' cryptocurrencies hit problems, confidence in the market plummeted. This in turn hit the NFT market, with trading volumes collapsing 97% in September from a peak in January 2022.
Although many publishers aren't forthcoming with less positive updates about NFT and Web3 projects, the closure of CNN's Vault by CNN - a marketplace selling collectible NFT 'moments' tied to major news events - is likely a good indicator of how others are faring. Crucially, this has raised issues of trust with audiences who believed NFT projects from publishers to be a safer bet than those touted by so-called 'crypto bros'.
Facebook's all-in bet on the metaverse certainly put AR and VR experiences at the top of the agenda for brands this year. Publishers have rightly been much more cautious, waiting to see a solid commercial proposition before jumping in. But some have taken the opportunity to experiment early, from Vogue's Business and Yahoo Metaverse Experience to B2B magazines like Management Today. However, user numbers for even the most well-known metaverse platforms are still far below what is needed to justify longer-term plans.
It's not all doom and gloom for emerging technology though. AI imagery and video has taken great leaps forward this year, with projects like Dall-E showing early promise to transform visual content creation. This tech may not be as sexy as the metaverse and Web3, but is more likely to make a tangible difference to how publishers work in the next few years.
Our guest expert this week is Simon Owens. Simon is a media industry journalist who edits an industry newsletter that covers everything from the Creator Economy to traditional media. He also hosts The Business of Content, a podcast about how publishers create, distribute, and monetise digital content.
This topic will be one of the chapters we explore in detail as part of our Media Moments 2022 report, launching on November 30th. Find out more and pre-register here to receive the report.
This season of Media Voices is sponsored by Poool, the Membership and Subscription Suite used by over 120 publishers from around the world. The team behind Poool are industry experts who have put everything they know into the product, ready to respond to your ‘how’ of launching & developing a reader revenue strategy.
poool.tech | @PooolTech
Project 23’s Elaine dela Cruz on creating DE&I programmes in media
The Addition’s Charlotte Henry on changing TV consumption habits
Reuters Institute’s Dr Amy Ross Arguedas on studying trust
Newsrewired special with Journalism.co.uk: leadership, AI and business models
WalesOnline’s Jillian MacMath on transforming a portfolio of newsletters
Media Briefs: Yes, you can use Apple News to build first-party data
Motor Sport Magazine’s Zamir Walimohamed on making subscriptions work
LADbible Group’s Jake Strong-Jones on the best use of social platforms
MyLocal’s Daniel Ionescu on platforms for sustainable local news
The New Statesman’s Chris Stone on podcast and platform experiments
The Happy Journalist’s Jacqui Merrington on why she’s optimistic about AI and journalism
Grub Street’s Jo Cummings and Peter Houston: What kind of idiots still make magazines?
Big Noises: Stuart Forrest on clickability vs clickbait
Big Noises: Rafat Ali on choosing the slow path to growth
Big Noises: Ricky Sutton on publisher valuations, AI, and platform frenemies
Big Noises: Mpho Raborife on keeping Gen Z engaged
Big Noises: Michelle Manafy on the media’s universal problems
Big Noises: Shirish Kulkarni on why there are no quick fixes in media
Media Voices at FIPP Congress 2023: Resilience in the face of disruption
Big Noises: Jacob Donnelly on why publishers can’t resist the pursuit of scale
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Commercial Edge: Unleash the Power of People
The emPOWERed Half Hour
NABOR® TALKS
U.S Property Podcast
Aligned Money Show
The Ramsey Show
Planet Money