A new Spotify puts video at the forefront of user experience.

Earlier today Spotify announced a major overhaul of its app, placing discovery at the center of the platform. What this means is Spotify embracing a TikTok-style vertical scroll interface and more autoplay functionality. What this also means is a greater emphasis of video on the platform.

Audio-only content will continue to work, but as the platform leans further and further towards visual cues in discovering new songs/albums/podcasts/audiobooks, there is going to be greater pressure on artists, producers, and distributors to incorporate more video into their releases.

For songs, expect to see more and more releases using Spotify's 'Canvas' function, which is the short looping video you see on some artists music. But for podcasts, you are about to see an explosion in the number of producers releasing video versions of their shows.

Spotify's Head of Global Podcast Studios Julie McNamara:

Video podcasting is one of the fastest growing areas of podcasting, and we expect that growth to continue. Right now, we have 70,000 video creators on the platform and with a lot more on the way.”

Already podcasts are already making TV talk shows and news opinion channels feel redundant, with that compounding as we start seeing more and more interview/conversation podcasts embrace video.

Netflix edited the botched Chris Rock joke

Watch Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, the live broadcasted comedy special from the weekend and you'll see a note from Netflix that the special was "streamed live and edited." What does that mean? Well, among the edits made was correcting the flubbed line by Chris Rock where he incorrectly called the film Concussion 'Emancipation'.

You can see the correction at about the 1 hour and 06 minute mark.

they fixed the Concussion-Emancipation slip up in the version that's now on Netflix
— Jesse David Fox (@JesseDavidFox) March 8, 2023

Time for a rethink

I'm beginning to feel that Bluey viewers are losing perspective. It is a kids cartoon show - Bandit and Chilli are not supposed to be parental role models for adult viewers at home.

Similarly, here's Julia Glassman at The Mary Sue talking about the "unattainable ideal" set by these two cartoon dogs who star in the TV show made for children.

In some episodes, like “Taxi,” Bandit and Chilli represent a kind of unattainable ideal. When my husband and I are stuck at home on a rainy day with our kids, we usually spend it huddled in the corner of our bedroom with our phones, blocking out the screaming fights erupting over plastic toys in the other room. When Bandit and Chilli are in the same position, they throw themselves into a rousing game of taxi driver. Does dinner need to be cooked? Do chores need to be done? It’s unclear. They’re all just playing taxi.

Enough already. I can't believe *I* am saying this, but TV doesn't have the answers for how you should live your life. It is a reflection of reality - not reality itself. This goes double for reality shows. And triple for kids cartoons about talking dogs.

Speaking of cartoon characters living beyond their means and viewers taking the reality of cartoons just a bit too seriously...

Can we put a stop to folks on Twitter constantly going on about how Homer Simpson is wealthy when considered against modern standards. Here's an example of the sort of tweet I see variations of regularly on my Twitter timeline:

Always missing the joke that it was a fantasy back in the early 90s to an extent. That said, even if taken at face value, the money for the house was gifted to him by Abe Simpson.

Also, at one point Homer was gifted the Denver Broncos. Selling the team has surely got to get a second vehicle in that car hold.

Expect more franchise spin-offs from your favourite Showtime series, including Ray Donovan. Read: Deadline
Nothing, Forever was the AI generated Seinfeld show running 24/7 on Twitch that got banned after a transphobic joke was made. That ban comes to an end later today. Read: The Verge
The success of Yellowstone has competing networks all seeking pitches from creatives that feature the Wild West. Of course, what these execs are missing isn't that viewers want more cowboy hats on screen - they want stories that reflect middle America and not just coastal cities. Read: THR
The Sopranos creator David Chase and A Teacher creator Hannah Fidell are co-writing and co-creating a drama for FX - weird as Chase was announced to be under a 5 year deal with Warner Bros. Read: THR
Shetland writer David Kane is working on an adaptation of Denise Mina’s Morrow book series as an ongoing. Read: Deadline
Paramount is launching Golazo Network, a 24-hour direct-to-consumer digital network devoted solely to coverage of international soccer in the United States. It'll be available on Pluto TV andParamount+. Read: The Streamable
Being Mary Tyler Moore is an HBO Max original documentary that charts the 60 year-career of the actor. Read: thefutoncritic