The sides will be negotiating in a Hollywood far different from 2023. Production has slowed significantly industrywide, as many entertainment companies struggle to adjust to the streaming world. Work has dried up for many actors, writers and directors. At the same time, the rise of generative artificial intelligence has become more central.
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ElevenLabs, Valued at $11 Billion, ‘Doubles Down’ on Audiobooks
ElevenLabs, the company that offers automated AI-voice generated audiobook production, has consolidated their services under the brand Audiobooks in ElevenCreative. The move signals the well-funded company’s commitment to the sector, or what Madeline Shue, head of growth and publisher partnerships at ElevenLabs, called a “doubling-down on audiobooks.”
Source: ElevenLabs, Valued at $11 Billion, ‘Doubles Down’ on Audiobooks
The New Fabio Is Claude
The genre may be especially vulnerable to disruption by A.I., for all the reasons that readers love it. Romance relies on familiar narrative formulas, like the guarantee of an “H.E.A.” or “happily ever after.” And romance novels are often built around popular plot tropes — like enemies-to-lovers or forced proximity — that can be fed into a chatbot.
Source: The New Fabio Is Claude
Christopher Nolan Wants to Know Where All the Hollywood Jobs Are, Too
During Nolan’s first interview about the role, he shed light on his approach to labor negotiations, AI and corporate consolidation, all while emphasizing that one of his top focus areas is boosting employment in the industry. Nolan said early on that he wants to explore the gap between consumer spending on entertainment and industry jobs with employers.
Source: Christopher Nolan Wants to Know Where All the Hollywood Jobs Are, Too
Adobe’s Hollywood Strategy Comes Into Focus
This week, Adobe confirmed a slate of partnerships tying its generative AI platform — Firefly and the Firefly Foundry initiative — directly into entertainment and advertising workflows, including collaborations with major talent agencies and production entities. The message was subtle but unmistakable: Adobe doesn’t want to disrupt Hollywood. It wants to supply it.
Source: Adobe’s Hollywood Strategy Comes Into Focus — AI In Hollywood
Apple says it demonetised 2bn fraudulent music streams in 2025
Apple Music identified and demonetised up to 2bn fraudulent streams last year according to longtime exec Oliver Schusser. “Streaming manipulation on our platform is already incredibly low. We literally have systems where we check and validate every single play on Apple Music,” claimed Schusser. “When we find fraud we remove the stream counts, we remove from the charts, and we take the money and put it back into the pool so that it goes to honourable artists.
Source: Apple says it demonetised 2bn fraudulent music streams in 2025
AI ‘slop’ is transforming social media – and there’s a backlash
Meta, which runs social media sites Facebook, Instagram and Threads, is not only allowing people to post AI generated content – it’s launched products to enable more of it to be made. “Soon we’ll see an explosion of new media formats that are more immersive and interactive, and only possible because of advances in AI,” Zuckerberg said.
Source: AI ‘slop’ is transforming social media – and there’s a backlash
Publishers fear AI search summaries and chatbots mean ‘end of traffic era’
Media companies expect web traffic to their sites from online searches to plummet over the next three years, as AI summaries and chatbots change the way consumers use the internet. An overwhelming majority are also planning to encourage their journalists to behave more like YouTube and TikTok content creators this year, as short-form video and audio content continues to boom.
Source: Publishers fear AI search summaries and chatbots mean ‘end of traffic era’
Spotify Releases ‘Prompted Playlists’ in the US and Canada
On Thursday, Spotify announced the beta rollout of its new AI-powered Prompted Playlist feature for Premium subscribers in the United States and Canada. The company first tested the feature in New Zealand last month, building on an earlier AI playlist feature launched in 2024. Now, users can request what they want to hear in much more detail compared to the earlier version.
Source: Spotify Releases ‘Prompted Playlists’ in the US and Canada
How Vox is using Patreon to grow reader revenue and interaction
Explainer journalism brand Vox is using creator platform Patreon to help build a “two-way relationship” with its audience. US-based Vox expanded its existing paid memberships onto Patreon in November, providing subscribers with additional video content, ad-free video and podcast libraries, livestreams and chats with Vox journalists, and unlimited access to the main Vox website.
Source: How Vox is using Patreon to grow reader revenue and interaction