My weekly reading round-up
Meta is adding ad options to Threads, possibly to woo advertisers given recent changes. Also, Penguin Random House has acquired Text, Spotify’s music royalties have decreased and Creative Commons has introduced a new strategy.
WTF now?! picks up from last week with Meta actively canvassing advertisers in an attempt to keep them spending ad dollars across its platforms. In fact, they are rolling out ad options on Threads. It may be circumstantial but with all the changes at Meta it seems they are worried advertisers are spooked. We will wait and see if audiences and advertisers abandon the Meta platforms.
Also, Text has been bought by Penguin Random House, music royalties from Spotify are down and it is unclear why and Creative Commons has a new strategy for these troubled times.
What’s going on?
Here’s what I’ve noticed this week:
Penguin Random House has acquired Text
Text says it will keep creative control but past mergers in book publishing cast doubt.
Text, one of Australia’s leading independent publishers, has been acquired by Penguin Random House.
The publisher has seen foreign ownership in its past, but this brings it into one of the Big Four publishers. Text reportedly will maintain its independence and creative control, and will maintain current staff at its Melbourne office. Penguin Random House’s longstanding exclusive distribution of Text titles in Australia and New Zealand will continue.
Despite the upbeat media release from Text, “history shows that mergers often result in the dissolution of the smaller imprint,” says Alice Grundy on The Conversation, “It is precisely the question of which readerships the merged version of Text will cater to that will worry Australian readers and supporters of independent publishing.” Grundy’s analysis looks at the wider publishing ecology in Australia and is worth reading.
In August last year Affirm Press, another Melbourne-based independent publisher, was acquired by Simon & Schuster. Relatedly, in September last year Hardie Grant, an Australian independent publisher, bought out fellow publisher Pantera Press.
What’s worth reading on the Text acquisition:
Text Publishing joins Penguin Random House
Wednesday 22 January 2025
Text Publishing
Australian independent publishing stalwart Text acquired by global giant Penguin Random House
Kelly Burke – Wednesday 22 January 2025
The Guardian
Alice Grundy – Thursday 23 January 2025
The Conversation
Is national security really behind the US TikTok ban?
The tumultuous TikTok ban could be motivated by geopolitics more than national security.
TikTok was gone in the US for a day and then it was back. TikTok praised Trump for the second coming of its platform for Americans. There’s a lot of complexity and politics around the ban. Congress cites national security for the ban but Dan Sabbagh suggests that, for Trump, it is not national security at the heart of the issue, rather it is Trumpian geopolitics: “his focus is to force at least a partial divestment of TikTok US to a tame American owner”. As the article’s subtitle says, “Washington looks happy for the video app to harvest users’ data – as long as China does not reap the rewards”.
And as I noted last week, the idea of banning TikTok in Australia has been mooted before. It hasn’t been ruled out but it not being actively pursued by the government. We’ll see what happens after the next federal election. On the other hand, the UK has actively dismissed the idea of a wholesale ban on TikTok. In fact, it seems their tech policy approach is swinging more favourably towards Big Tech with the appointment of former Amazon UK head to chair of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) (although it is an interim appointment at the moment).
What’s worth reading on now TikTok is back in the US:
Is TikTok a national security threat – or is the ban a smokescreen for superpower rivalry?
Dan Sabbagh – Thursday 23 January 2025
The Guardian
Britain appeals to Big Tech with change of regulatory guard
Paul Sandle, Kate Holton and Andres Gonzalez – Friday 24 January 2025
Reuters
Meta wooing advertisers could hint at a drop in ad spend
We don’t know what Meta’s recent changes will mean in terms of active users or advertisers, but Meta reassuring advertisers at least indicates they know their moves could impact income.
There is no published data on whether audiences are abandoning Facebook, Instgram and Threads yet. Likewise, we are yet to see if ad spend on the Meta platforms will also dip since it announced its raft of changes including dropping fact-checking and softening hate speech rules a fortnight ago. Regardless, the company has been on the offensive trying to reassure advertisers and keep their money flowing into ads on Facebook and Instagram. Advertising is a major income source for Meta. If users leave the platforms, or even reduce their usage, this could further spook advertisers. Meta’s move seems to indicate they know there is a risk ad spend could decline.
Relatedly, ads are coming to Threads.
View on Threads
I am sure they have been readying ads on Threads for awhile, but the timing of the announcement that they are starting a limited, early test of ads on Threads with a select group of advertisers could be part of their wooing of advertisers. Ads on Threads will be integrated into Meta’s existing ad systems and will show as posts labelled ‘Sponsored’ in users’ feeds.
Apparently Elon Musk sent an all staff email saying X’s “user growth is stagnant, revenue is unimpressive, and we’re barely breaking even”. Given advertising is a big part of how the platform makes money, they must be struggling to keep advertisers spending too, even if the platform has the power to shape “national conversations and outcomes”.
What’s worth reading on the potential for ad spend on social media platforms to decline:
Meta executives try to reassure advertisers after CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s free-speech makeover [paywalled]
Hugh Langley – Wednesday 22 January 2025
Business Insider
Elon Musk email to X staff: ‘we’re barely breaking even’
Richard Lawler – Saturday 25 January 2025
The Verge
What’s worth reading on the ads being added to Threads:
Introducing Ads in Threads: Extend Your Campaigns to a Rapidly Growing Community
Friday 24 January 2025
Meta
Meta ties up loose ends on Threads
A range of talked about features for Threads are available now or rolling out soon.
While we’re on Meta, they announced a raft of new features on Threads this week. Users can now schedule posts and Insights now shows you some data for individual posts and more sophisticated analytics. But both of these are just playing catch up with other social media tools.
View on Threads
View on Threads
We also know they are readying Community Notes for Threads, as part of Meta’s company-wide more away from fact-checking.
View on Threads
The interesting new feature announced is marking up reshared posts.
View on Threads
It seems they way it works is that the original post you want to share is screenshoted and you can then add highlights, arrows or doodle on it to add emphasis and other context. These kinds of actions have been possible when editing an image in most social media tools so it has long been possible for a user to do this if they took a screenshot and uploaded it in the same way you add photos, then edited the screenshot. The key difference here is that it simplifies the process by bringing it all within post sharing. I don’t know if it will take off, but it’s interesting.
For context, the idea of markup as far as I know goes back to marking up a PDF using Acrobat Acrobat, which itself is an attempt to do digital what people have done on printed copies of content for eons. But as far as I know it’s the first time this kind of thing has been built into a social media platform directly.
What’s worth reading on the new Threads features:
Threads now lets you schedule posts
Emma Roth – Friday 24 January 2025
The Verge
Meta is already working on Community Notes for Threads
Jay Peters – Tuesday 14 January 2025
The Verge
What’s worth reading on marking up reshared posts on Threads:
Threads now lets you scribble on top of other users’ posts
Karissa Bell – Friday 24 January 2025
Engadget
Mechanical rights royalties from Spotify for US music publishers have dropped dramatically
Reportedly something weird is going on with Spotify’s mechanical rights royalties calculations for US music publishers.
Digital Music News is reporting that “Spotify’s mechanical publishing royalties took a sudden-and-sizable dip this month for many US-based publishers and songwriters” with “multiple reports of 30-40% drops compared to previous months”. Yet, over the same period, “For currently unclear reasons, performance royalties jumped dramatically … for these same publishers.” DMN attributes the drop to “Spotify’s extreme shift towards bundled subscription options in 2024” because “publishers and songwriters … receive substantially lowered mechanical royalties on bundled plans.”
I have done some searching but this story doesn’t seem to be widely reported so we will wait to see exactly what is going on. Shifting subscription packages are likely part of the puzzle and continue the unquestionable impact Spotify and the other music streaming services have had on the music industry. Low income flowback to artists, streaming thresholds before royalties are paid and the playlist push to keep users listening (but not choosing what they listen to) are all part of criticisms of music streaming. Given this, is it any wonder Björk said in an interview on Swedish television this week that “Spotify is probably the worst thing that has happened to musicians”?
Björk talked about the importance of live music for her: “The live part is, and always will be, a big part of what I do … I’m lucky because I no longer have to raise money on touring, which younger musicians are often forced to do.” Yet live music in Australia continues to struggle. Some states are appointing nighttime economy commissioners and expert panels and The Australia Institute has suggested this week that the Australian government establish a youth cultural pass that could make live music more accessible for young people and boost the live music sector, but no one seems to have worked out how to revive live under the post-COVID-19 pressures of dual cost-of-living and housing affordability crises.
What’s worth reading on this anomaly in Spotify’s streaming music royalties calculations:
Paul Resnikoff – Thursday 23 January 2025
Digital Music News
Bjork Slams Spotify and Streaming as ‘Probably the Worst Thing That Has Happened to Musicians’
Jem Aswad – Friday 24 January 2025
Variety
Spotify’s playlists have altered the music industry in unexpected ways
Liz Pelly – Thursday 23 January 2025
The Economist
What’s worth reading on Australia’s live music scene:
Expert panel to revitalise Queensland’s night-life economy
Friday 17 January 2025
Queensland Government
Night time is the right time for new Queensland Commissioner
Tuesday 24 September 2024
Queensland Government
Youth Cultural Passes Could Revive Australian Live Music Industry
Thursday 23 January 2025
The Australia Institute
Creative Commons’ new strategy considers the commons in a complex world
CC’s new four-year strategy acknowledges the licences as core infrastructure, the need to defend the commons and the importance of the community.
What does Creative Commons mean in the complex world we live in? This quandary is are the core of the organisation’s new strategy. It orients around “a strong and resilient open infrastructure of sharing, and enabling a healthy and thriving creative commons powered by reciprocity and community in the public interest.” This particularly resonates with me:
“At a time when there are increasing concentrations of power online, and when monopolization of knowledge is amplified exponentially through technology such as artificial intelligenceAI is tech and marketing speak for a range of technology that imitates human intellect. Learn more → (AIAI is tech and marketing speak for a range of technology that imitates human intellect. Learn more →), CC has been called upon to intervene with the same creativity and collective action as we did with the CC licenses over 20 years ago.”
The strategy has three interconnected goals:
- Strengthen the open infrastructure of sharing – By seeing and funding CC as foundational open infrastructure we can ensure give creators agency and ensure a viable public interest alternative to the concentrations of power and knowledge occurring elsewhere online.
- Defend and advocate for a thriving creative commons – A thriving creative commons built on that strong open infrastructure and where knowledge is accessible, discoverable, and reusable can address global challenges, holds at its heart a “worldview of knowledge as a public good and a human right” and “redistributes power from the hands of the few to the minds of the many”.
- Center community – CC’s community of open advocates built the commons. The strategy recognises and centres the community – in all its generational and geographical diversity.
It is bold and ambitious and optimistic which frankly is refreshing given everything going on in the world at the moment.
What’s worth reading on the new CC strategy:
CC Launches its 2025-2028 Strategic Plan
Anna Tumadóttir – Wednesday 22 January 2025
Creative Commons
Creative Commons 2025-2028 strategy [PDF]
Released Wednesday 22 January 2025
Creative Commons
A bit on the side
Other tasty tidbits this week:
- Another IT incident – this time at the British Museum – serves as an important reminder to the GLAMA common term used to describe galleries, libraries, archives, museums and other cultural heritage organisations. Learn more → sector that cultural heritage organisations are not immune from being the target of malicious cybersecurity attacks.
- Last week I mentioned Meta, Amazon, McDonald’s and Walmart had all ended or wound back their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs – one of Trump’s many executive orders after inauguration was to roll back DEI in the US federal government and this week Target announced it will also end its DEI program but Costco doubled down on DEI. In December their board unanimously rejected a proposal for a report into the risks associated with keeping its DEI program and this week 98% of Costco shareholders voted against the proposal as well.
- OpenAI has launched Operator, an independent AIAI is tech and marketing speak for a range of technology that imitates human intellect. Learn more → agent that can use an in-app browser to view a webpage and interact with it by typing, clicking, and scrolling on behalf of a user. It is available in a research preview to Pro users in the United States.
- Some changes to the security of your online accounts were announced this week. Microsoft’s decision to automatically keep users signed into their accounts could be an issue if you use shared or public computers (and you forget to sign out), while a new feature in Android 15 called Identity Check will require biometric authentication to access some of your accounts and device settings.
- As many household are getting ready for kids going back to school tomorrow some interesting data has come out showing that a record number of Australian children are being homeschooled. The cost of schooling and changing attitudes towards education and parenting are both attributed the shift.
- In one of the most epic instances of political trolling I’ve ever seen, Democratic Mississippi state Senator Bradford Blackmon has introduced the Contraception Begins at Erection Act that would make it unlawful for “a person to discharge genetic material without the intent to fertilize an embryo.” The bill is simple and it has no chance of passing, but that’s not the point. It is a critique of the number of bills in the US focused on women’s access to reproductive health care, including abortion and contraception.
More to read
I use Are.na to gather and organise links about things I am interested in. If you are interested in any of the topics in this weekly roundup too, take a look at these channels:
Topics: Artificial intelligence ⌇ Arts & culture ⌇ Copyright ⌇ Cybersecurity ⌇ Education & learning ⌇ Marketing communications ⌇ Open movements ⌇ Social media ⌇ Technology & the internet
Players: Creative Commons ⌇ Google ⌇ Meta ⌇ Spotify ⌇ TikTok ⌇ X (formerly Twitter)
Tools: Operator ⌇ Threads
If you are on Are.na too you can even add links to those channels.
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Disclosure
Conflict of interest
I am the Copyright Officer (part-time) at the Australian Digital Alliance (ADA) and at the Australian Libraries and Archives Copyright Coalition (ALACC). The views expressed in this blog post are my own and do not express the views of the ADA or the ALACC.
I am the Co-lead of Creative Commons Australia (CC AU), I am an individual member of the Creative Commons Global Network and I have been involved with the TAROCH (Towards a Recommendation on Open Culture) project which is led by CC. The views expressed in this blog post are my own and do not express the views of CC AU or the Creative Commons Corporation.
AI use
This blog post was drafted using Google Docs. No part of the text of this blog post was generated using AIAI is tech and marketing speak for a range of technology that imitates human intellect. Learn more →. The original text was not modified or improved using AIAI is tech and marketing speak for a range of technology that imitates human intellect. Learn more →. No text suggested by AIAI is tech and marketing speak for a range of technology that imitates human intellect. Learn more → was incorporated. If spelling or grammar corrections were suggested by AIAI is tech and marketing speak for a range of technology that imitates human intellect. Learn more → they were accepted or rejected based on my discretion (however, sometimes spelling, grammar and corrections of typos may have occurred automatically in Google Docs).
The icon in the banner image (i.e. the first image at the top of the blog post) was generated by AIAI is tech and marketing speak for a range of technology that imitates human intellect. Learn more → using Text to Vector Graphic (BetaBeta is an early release of software or some other product or service to see how users use it to inform further development of it…. Learn more →) in AdobeSoz! @elliottbledsoe hasn’t gotten to this term yet!
Illustrator. Prompt: ‘An outlined question mark and exclamation mark’.
Credits

Image: A colourful icon of a question mark and exclamation mark. The question mark is in two shades of orange and the exclamation mark is in two shades of purple. Both sit on a green background. The icon is an adaptation of an vector graphic generated by Elliott Bledsoe using the AIAI is tech and marketing speak for a range of technology that imitates human intellect. Learn more → tool Text to Vector Graphic (BetaBeta is an early release of software or some other product or service to see how users use it to inform further development of it…. Learn more →) in AdobeSoz! @elliottbledsoe hasn’t gotten to this term yet!
Illustrator.
Provenance
This blog post was produced by Elliott Bledsoe from Agentry, an arts marketing micro-consultancy. It was first published on 26 Jan 2025. I have updated the blog post since it was first published (see Changelog below). This is version 1.2. Questions, comments and corrections are welcome – get in touch any time.
Changelog
v 1.2: Fixed minor typos – 28 Jan 2025.
v 1.1: Added embedded social media posts and fixed error in title of listing 1 – 27 Jan 2025.
Reuse
Good ideas shouldn’t be kept to yourself. I believe in the power of open access to information and creativity and a thriving commons of shared knowledge and culture. That’s why this blog post is licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence.
Unless otherwise stated or indicated, this blog post – WTF now?: Monday 20–Sunday 26 January 2025 – is licensed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0). Please attribute Elliott Bledsoe as the original creator. View the full copyright licensing information for clarification.
Under the licence, you are free to copy, share and adapt this blog post, or any modified version you create from it, even commercially, as long as you give credit to Elliott Bledsoe as the original creator of it. So please make use of this blog post as you see fit.
Please note: Whether AI-generated outputs are protected by copyright remains contested. To the extent that copyright exists, if at all, in the icon I generated using AIAI is tech and marketing speak for a range of technology that imitates human intellect. Learn more → or the banner image I compiled using that icon for this blog post (i.e. the first image at the top of the blog post), I also license it for reuse under the terms of the Creative Commons licence (CC BY 4.0).
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