That’s nice. You wrote a book based on decades of professional experience? Big whoop. Because, I hate to say it, but no one cares. That is, unless you have 1.3 million followers on TikTok. Then (and only then) do you have any chance of succeeding. Because these days, your craft is secondary. What really matters is if you have a marketing team building an audience on social media. The good news is we’ve democratised reach. The bad news is art is now just another commodity.

- Charlotte Ellis, Editor ♡

(btw - If you’re already using Claude Code or Cowork daily, scroll on by bc this isn’t for you)

But if you’ve just dabbled in using AI, maybe you’re using ChatGPT to help you look up recipes, write basic emails, or attempt to diagnose that insect bite you just got, stay with me for a sec.

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It’s a 4-week cohort where you learn how to go from using AI as a glorified Google to getting it to actually help you with the sh*tty admin (life or work) you hate doing every day.

We kick off on 18 May, so if you want to go from feeling behind to using AI to make your life better, this is for you 👇

Starting off, I’ve seen a lot of posts recently about “blue dot fever” – referring to the swath of artists having to cancel their tours as of late due to weak demand, named after the blue clusters that indicate empty seats on venue ticketing maps. It’s always “Gen Z aren’t going to concerts anymore” or “Zillennials don’t like going out and artists are paying the price.”

Bruh. Be so for real. This isn’t anybody’s fault but the ECONOMY’S. If you really think Gen Z and Zillennials wouldn’t rather be SHAKING ASS on the dance floor or rocking OUT in a mosh you are actually stupid. We WANT TO but we CANT because we have to focus on SURVIVING and not crying every time we go to the grocery store. With the cost of everything from gas to food going up, so has the cost of concert tickets. Pollstar reported that the average ticket price for the top 100 North American tours was $134.23 in 2025. This is actually slightly lower than 2024, but still waaaay above pre-pandemic levels. So yeah, idk. Maybe lower those and we’ll go from there?

Next! Charli XCX just released a new song on Instagram only? Well, and vinyl. But that’s still kind of crazy. A very internet move from the chronically and culturally online Brat artist. The track, "I Keep On Thinking Bout You Every Single Day and Night," was posted on her secondary Instagram account b.sides, alongside a video shot in Kyoto, Japan, by The Moment director Aidan Zamiri. Ripping a song from an artists insta feels soooo Limewire Y2K. But I like the secret song vibes it gives off. I’ll be interested to see how this format develops as other artists take it on.

And finally, Spotify’s latest "Wrapped" covers your entire music history. Which, for one of the first times ever, makes me soooooo pissed to be an Apple Music listener. The company will allegedly include "never before shared data" as part of its 20th anniversary, including insights from when users FIRST JOINED THE SERVICE. Imagine knowing what the first album you listened to on repeat was and how many times???? So cool. So jealous. 

-Sophie Randell, Writer

Between the aesthetic hauls of BookTok and the rise of annotated-chic, books have been rebranded as the ultimate lifestyle accessory. But look closer at the spine, and you’ll see the cost.

We used to call them authors. Now, they’re individual brand units tasked with feeding a 24/7 content cycle just to keep their titles on the shelves.

This isn't just about books.

It’s everything from the recording studio to the potter’s wheel. The creative world is undergoing a forced metamorphosis. We are witnessing the death of the artist as a dedicated vocation and the birth of the creative-as-creator, a role where the primary product isn't the art itself, but the performance of making it.

To survive, authors must become main characters themselves. Success today looks less like a Pulitzer and more like a perfectly curated writing featuring a $40 candle and a specific brand of mechanical keyboard.

The TikTok-ification of literature has turned authors into their own marketing departments. We see the day in the life reels and the emotional reaction videos to their own plot twists. It’s effective, sure, but it’s an extraction. Every hour spent editing a 15-second transition is an hour stolen from the prose.

The music industry serves as the canary in this particular coal mine. Labels used to sign talent, now they sign data. If you aren't already viral-ready, you’re a liability.

Songs are now engineered for the snip. Musicians are incentivised to bury the melody in favour of a 15-second hook that functions as background noise for a GRWM or makeup transition video.

We’re seeing a generation of artists who are influencers who sing, where a relatable personality is a prerequisite for a record deal, and holding a song hostage until it reaches a certain number of TikTok creates is standard operating procedure.

The traditional gallery, once the gatekeeper of prestige, has been bypassed by the digital gallery, which is far more democratic and far more exhausting.

To stay relevant in a feed that refreshes every millisecond, artists have become "aesthletes." The goal isn't necessarily to produce a masterpiece, but to produce volume. The work in progress video is now almost more valuable than the finished canvas because it provides sticky content for the algorithm. I can’t tell you how many Reels I’ve seen recently with the OST “show you working, not your work.”

The artist is no longer a craftsman, but now a curator of their own identity, selling the behind-the-scenes vulnerability, because that’s what the metrics reward.

While social media has allowed independent creators to bypass the old-school gatekeepers, it has replaced them with a far more demanding boss: the algorithm.

This is the new survival contract for the creative class. You can be an artist, but only if you’re a content creator first.

You can have the career, but only if you’re willing to turn your internal life into a public-facing brand. The danger is that art may become a secondary byproduct of the grind. In the race for attention, the creator survives, but the artist might just get lost in the feed.

My question is: what more precious parts of humanity will the algorithm take from us? Only time will tell.

-Sophie Randell, Writer

It captures that exact moment of dramatic realisation when you think something good is happening, only for it to be instantly ruined. Creators are pairing it with captions about false hope, misunderstandings, or moments where they got ahead of themselves too quickly. It’s very expressive, a bit unhinged, and super relatable.

The format is simple: creators film themselves reacting (usually dramatic, shocked, or devastated) while the on-screen text sets up a situation where they thought they had a win… but they very much did not. The humour comes from the build-up vs. the harsh reality check.

Use the audio and film a reaction-style clip, think dramatic head turn, face grab, or full disbelief. Add on-screen text that sets up a situation where you thought something was going your way, then flip it. Keep it specific to your niche or audience.

A few ideas to get you started:

-Georgia Russell, Intern

😂Yap’s funniest home videos: "Well that's my life"
❤How wholesome: "There's people out there working harder"
🎧Soooo tingly: Clunky keyboard worker
🍝What you should make for dinner tonight: Honey Chicken Potato Bake

Hey Dan,

Totally get where you're coming from. It can be hard to keep posting when you aren't getting much engagement. But the only way to improve your content is to keep posting. I'd encourage you to keep posting every day, paying attention to your analytics. Experiment by changing up your hook, images, and post style. Don’t be afraid to change up your format and see how it lands with your audience. The bottom line is, you'll figure out what works way faster by continuing to post than stopping

- Charlotte Ellis, Editor ♡

We get it. Creating content that does numbers is harder than it looks. But doing those big numbers is the fastest way to grow your brand. So if you’re tired of throwing sh*t at the wall and seeing what sticks, you’re in luck. Because making our clients go viral is kinda what we do every single day.