Links of Interest: Nov. 5, 2025

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Audio

  • Is two-tier audio imminent? Especially with AI narration growing, one author predicts that the market will bifurcate into standard, single-voice recordings and premium productions. “We see Foley and sound design on higher-budgeted works, and occasionally we may get a score. Dolby Atmos is now gradually (and finally) being adopted more widely than by Audible alone, with Storytel recently announcing a collaboration. I sense that in the mature markets, the consumer expectation of an audiobook as an entertainment format is growing. The very concept of the listening experience is morphing.” Read Nathan Hull at The Bookseller (may require subscription).

Creator Economy

  • Some major Substack writers leave for Patreon. They include Anne Helen Petersen and Lyz Lenz. Their reasons for leaving are a bit varied, but Petersen points to the new “trending topics” box on Substack Notes as one of the drivers for her. Customer service and IT problems (issues with email deliverability) are also mentioned. However, will Patreon be any better? Media observer Simon Owens writes in his own Substack newsletter, “It’s a bit ironic that some writers who left Substack for Patreon say they did so because Substack is becoming a ‘walled garden.’ In reality, Patreon is far more restrictive—you can’t take your paid subscribers with you if you ever decide to leave the platform. Substack, by contrast, processes payments through your own Stripe account, which means you can easily migrate your subscribers to other platforms like Beehiiv or Ghost.” Patreon does feel like a curious choice—until you find out that Patreon made overtures to specific people to get them to switch. They are developing a newsletter product for “early adopters.” That sounds like a painful transition to me. Read Sarah Scire at Nieman Lab.

AI

  • Arcadia Publishing licenses books for AI training. Arcadia is best known for publishing local and regional history titles; its contracts typically retain most rights for the publisher and offer little remuneration for authors. During the summer, Arcadia asked its authors if they wanted to opt their titles out of an AI licensing deal, even though it contractually has rights to license works for training without author permission. Those who opted in received a modest amount—in the low hundreds—per title. Arcadia told Slate, “Any Arcadia licensing arrangements in this area will reflect our position: Authors will have a choice, and all participating authors will be compensated. We’ll pursue opportunities that align with our position.” The following article from Slate ends up being a helpful encapsulation of all AI licensing deals by traditional publishers, if you need or want an overview. Read Nitish Pahwa.
  • Record labels on the verge of striking landmark AI licensing deals. The Financial Times reports that negotiations center on licensing music for the creation of AI-generated tracks and allowing the music to train large-language models. Read Mandy Dalugdug at Music Business Worldwide.
  • Reddit sues Perplexity, among others, for scraping its content. Reddit has blocked data scrapers from its site, but some companies still find ways to use Reddit comments for AI training. Read Matt O’Brien at the AP.
  • YouTube allows you to search its content for your face so you can take copyright action. For years, it’s allowed music and video rightsholders to search for their content, so consider this a necessary expansion in the AI era. Learn about facial likeness detection at YouTube.
  • Wiley releases ethical guidelines for academic researchers. All publishers should follow suit; ethical guidelines and transparency aren’t just for academics. Read at Wiley’s site.
  • OpenAI and Amazon sign cloud-computing deal. OpenAI has already signed agreements to use computing power from Nvidia, AMD and Oracle, but Amazon is the largest cloud-computing company. Read Cade Metz at the New York Times (gift link).