BuzzFeed loses its star talent to Substack
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A BuzzFeed writer defects to Substack
Why it’s interesting: Defections like this are only going to become more common as star journalists realize they’re not benefiting from all the wealth they create for publishers.
Publishers are bypassing Amazon completely
Why it’s interesting: This has to be a pretty encouraging sign for those publishers that worry about Amazon’s control over affiliate fees. It’s becoming common to go around Amazon and forge direct relationships with product makers.
Medium launches newsletter functionality
Why it’s interesting: Definitely an interesting move from Medium, though I’m left with several questions, the chief one being what control I have over my email list. Currently with Substack I can leave with my list if I want. Can I do the same with Medium?
A first look at the new Apple News text-to-audio product
Why it’s interesting: I think this has the potential of becoming a very popular feature within Apple News.
The limits of scaling a celebrity-dependent business
Why it’s interesting: Online influencers sometimes do a good job of developing their own merchandise products to sell to their followers. But they shouldn’t delude themselves into thinking they’re the next Steve Jobs.
How TikTokers collaborate with music labels
Why it’s interesting: A cool article about how music labels will hire TikTok influencers to help their new songs go viral on the app.
A cool profile of a famous YouTuber
Why it’s interesting: It explains how a DIY YouTuber landed her own show on HBO Max.
How a personal finance YouTuber generates revenue
Why it’s interesting: A cool case study in how a personal finance YouTuber built a following and then diversified his revenue beyond his YouTube channel.
TikTok takes creator relations seriously
An interesting quote from the piece: “Of the 602 job vacancies at TikTok, nearly 10% (55 of the roles) are focused on talent management, per LinkedIn”
Taking theSkimm’s media model and applying it to local journalism
Why it’s interesting: 6AM City has grown its local newsletters to over 230,000 subscribers and 12 million monthly impressions. Here’s how the company did it.
Virtual events can be a major subscription perk
Why it’s interesting: Publishers are finding that virtual events can be an effective selling point for paid subscriptions.
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