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- Culture Gets Its Nutrition Label
Good Morning,
Two companies started labeling their own output today, which tells you where the pressure is. Spotify will tag AI-generated “performers” as “AI Personas” and pull them from editorial and algorithmic recommendations (TechCrunch). Anthropic says every model released after August 2 will watermark generated text and files using the C2PA standard (TechCrunch). Neither is altruism. The harder version of that question is proving you’re human when the good bots and the bad bots look identical (The New Yorker). That’s the fascinating question Jill Lepore ponders.
Ownership, meanwhile, is consolidating faster than authorship. Ari Emanuel’s Mari, which already owns Frieze, is now buying ATG — seven Broadway houses, ten London venues, and TodayTix — for a rumored $6 billion (The Hollywood Reporter). Theatre and the art fair now have the same owner with a huge bet on culture.
The money underneath is shifting too. Public media booked $290 million from 66,000 new donors after federal funding tanked (Greater Public), and a family foundation put $5 million CDN into the Giller Prize after its bank sponsor walked (The Canadian Press). Sponsorship out, patronage in.
And front-of-house staff would like you to know that phones are the least of it (The Guardian).
All of our stories below.
- Front-Of-House Theatre Staffers Describe The Terrible Audience Behavior They Deal With
Cell phones are the least of it. Yes, of course they occasionally find people having sex in the auditorium or restrooms, but they’ve encountered things even worse. – The Guardian
- Unlocking The Mysteries Of Hegel
In both its depth and breadth, Hegel’s philosophy is perhaps rivalled only by that of Aristotle. – Psyche
- Germany’s Resurgent Far-Right Party Threatens To Defund “Anti-German” Culture
Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD) stands a good chance of winning a majority in the state legislature of Saxony-Anhalt, home to the birthplaces of Martin Luther and George Frideric Handel as well as the Bauhaus. The latter is a particular target of AfD, which says it will refuse to fund “anti-German art.” – Deutsche Welle
- What The Outpouring Of Donor Support Says About The Future Of Public Media
The American public responded with an outpouring of support—contributing a jaw-dropping $290 million in new revenue. Now, we have the research to understand why that happened and, more importantly, how we turn this historic moment into a permanent foundation for public media’s future. – Greater Public
- When Is Stereotyping Useful?
Generalising comes so naturally that few of us are at any risk of undergeneralising, so we give it little thought. The focus on overgeneralising is understandable given its potential costs, such as the child assuming that a dangerous dog is just like the friendly dogs they’ve encountered to date. – Aeon
- American Universities Are In Parlous Shape. Here’s Why
Though elite colleges profess a faith in meritocracy and insist that they are engines of class mobility, in practice they reward the already rewarded. – The Nation
- Actress Siân Phillips, 93, Is (Mostly) Retiring From The Stage
After having memory issues while rehearsing a production at Chichester Festival Theatre earlier this year, the revered star is stepping away from full-scale work. She will continue giving performances of a two-person show which she’s been doing for many years and will do a short Beckett play next year. – The Times (UK)
- Why Is The New George Lucas Museum In LA Trying To Raise Money?
It is not a good look to say the least, for a billionaire museum founder to be hustling for visitors’ money. Why would Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson, a successful executive in her own right who runs a large investment company, ask for any support beyond admission? – The Art Newspaper
- With Its Season In Doubt, Washington’s National Symphony Faces Existential Crisis
The orchestra’s audiences have diminished sharply since Trump took over the Kennedy Center. Those righteous liberals who think they are somehow striking back at Bad Orange Man by staying away are actually only hurting the musicians and other artists for whom the Center is a lifeline. – DC Citycast
- The Mysterious Art Of Conducting
The very act of conducting—waving a wand to summon ravishing or ethereal or earsplitting sounds—can look like either inexplicable magic or embarrassing nonsense, a kind of tuxedoed air guitar. – The Atlantic
- Looking Closely At The Original Manuscript Of A Mahler Symphony With Franz Welser-Möst
The composer’s handwritten score of his Symphony No. 2 (“Resurrection”) was donated to the Cleveland Orchestra a few years ago, a gift which brought Welser-Möst, the organization’s longtime music director, to tears. He leads a reporter (and readers) through three pages of the manuscript which he finds especially fascinating. – The New York Times
- Spotify Will Begin Labeling AI “Personas”
Spotify will begin labeling AI-generated artists with “AI Persona” profile tags and ban their music from its editorial and algorithmic recommendations, the company announced on Tuesday. – TechCrunch
- The Complications Of Proving You’re Human
Now the problem is how to let in the good bots (like the avatar you send to the Gap to buy you a new pair of pants) and keep out the bad bots (like the thief trying to scrape the data of every Gap customer). The rest of us have to be our own bot detectors. – The New Yorker
- Anthropic Says It Will Watermark All Text And Files Created In Claude
Anthropic said that all models released after August 2 will automatically have tech to watermark both computer-generated text and files. For files, the company is using the C2PA open standard. – TechCrunch
- The Long, Delicate Process Of Getting The Bayeux Tapestry To London
The extremely careful handling of the fragile cloth and the custom-made equipment to protect the piece from vibrations while in transit weren’t the only part of the process: it was almost as complicated a project to get France to agree to the Tapestry being moved in the first place. – The Times (UK)
- ATG, Major Broadway And West End Theatre Owner, Bought By Hollywood Superagent Ari Emanuel
ATG Entertainment (originally Ambassador Theatre Group) owns seven Broadway houses, ten London venues, numerous theatres in Europe, and the discount app TodayTix. Now Emanuel’s company Mari, which owns Frieze art fairs and two large pro tennis tournaments, has agreed to acquire ATG for a rumored $6 billion. – The Hollywood Reporter
- Paramount Boss Threatens To Pull Out Of California Unless State Settles Lawsuit Against Warner Bros. Merger
“David Ellison is eager to reach a swift resolution in the antitrust case filed by 12 states seeking to block the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. And he’s prepared start moving Paramount out of California as soon as October unless the state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, agrees to settlement talks.” – Variety
- A Look At 75 Years Of History In The Juilliard Dance Division’s Archives
“A perusal of the archives shows how rich the Dance Division’s history has been, with a roster of teachers and students that reflects the arc of American dance in the 20th century. And the curriculum, a mix of ballet and modern dance, once seen as eccentric, now is the norm.” – The New York Times
- Matthias Pintscher Appointed Music Director Of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
The German-born, New York-based composer-conductor, who is also music director of the Kansas City Symphony, succeeds Jamie Martín at the helm of the LACO as of the 2027-28 season. – Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
- Canada’s Top Literary Award Broke With Its Sponsor. Now A Foundation Has Come To Its Rescue.
Early last year the Giller Prize broke ties with its longtime sponsor Scotiabank — leaving it without the means to support the C$100,000 award and other programs. Now the foundation which stepped up with C$! million in bridge funding has made a C$4 million donation to keep the Giller going longer-term. – The Canadian Press (MSN)
- Former Exec Accuses Smithsonian’s National Gallery Of “Soft Censorship” Of Symposium
A May 2025 symposium about race issues in the art of the US and Mexico, created and organized by the National Gallery, was abruptly moved offsite and scrubbed from the museum’s website — a decision made, says a former executive, after a visit from Trump’s DOGE. – The New York Times
- This AI Moment Could Be Clarifying For How We Think About Culture. Or…
“Our contention is that, if we fail to think through and delimit the role of AI in our lives, we risk undermining the intelligibility of our own guiding cultural concepts, and thus initiating a period in our own society of which it may someday be possible to say that “nothing happened.” – The Point
- Why Are America’s Houses Turning Gray?
Today, almost no one seems to be looking to the hues of jelly beans for inspiration for their home—or car or couch or fridge or practically anything else. Since the late 2000s, essentially colorless colors—think white, beige, gray—have taken over. – The Atlantic
- Trump Arch “Horribly Flawed” Says Cultural Landscape Foundation
“The process for the selection and siting of the Triumphal Arch has been horrifically flawed from the outset. Remarkably, there was no design competition, which is a dangerous and radical decision for what would be the second largest monument in the Monumental Core after the Washington Monument.” – Los Angeles Times
- Uffizi Unveils Its Most Extensive Renovation Plans Ever
Described as one of the Uffizi’s most ambitious projects to date, the nearly $58-million effort will leave virtually every space with new infrastructure or a fresh look. – Smithsonian
- FCC Scraps Local Broadcast TV Ownership Limits
In a 2-1 vote, the FCC repealed a 22-year-old rule holding that a company cannot own stations that reach more than a combined 39% of the U.S. television audience. The ownership limit will be replaced by a case-by-case approach. – NBC
- Suno Says It Will Let Users Watermark Their AI Music
Suno, the service that allows users to create AI-generated songs, today announced new tools to mark tracks made on its platform, limit downloads, and update community guidelines to prevent copycat songs. The changes come as Suno faces numerous lawsuits from labels and artist bodies. – TechCrunch
- Oh My: A New Service To Put Your AI-Created Songs On Vinyl Records
The company, which raised over $400 million in a Series D round in June that valued it at $5.4 billion, has opened a waitlist for Suno Vinyl, a service that turns songs made on its platform into physical records. – MusicBusinessWorldwide
- Stolen Picasso Suddenly Turns Up
The Spanish artist’s 1949 etching — “Torero,” or “Bullfighter” — was hanging in the lobby of DeLind Fine Art Appraisals in downtown Milwaukee when it vanished in February 2018. – Washington Post
- As ‘Jellicle Ball’ Closes, Andrew Lloyd Webber Has Some Choice Thoughts For Broadway
On Instagram, the composer wrote, “Maybe the show’s closing just might be remembered as the moment that caused everyone involved with Broadway to come to their senses and address the unsustainable cost of producing and running any new show now.” – Variety
- The Psychology Of Why We Rewatch Movies
What their interviews turned up was that people were not doing this out of habit. They were doing it with intent. They knew precisely which emotion they were shopping for, and they knew the film would hand it over. No browsing. No twenty minutes of scrolling before giving up. – Silicon Canals
- Judging Books By Their Covers
We can thank the Preraphaelite coterie for this tendency. ” – LitHub
- Performing artists: share how GenAI is affecting your work
If you work in theater, dance, or live music, researchers want to hear from you. The Material Impacts of GenAI in the Performing Arts Survey, administered by SMU DataArts in partnership with artist Annie Dorsen, is the first survey of its kind to examine how generative AI is affecting artists’ income, career opportunities, and creative practices — an area with lots of discussion but little hard data.
The survey is open to anyone in the performing arts at any career stage: performers, directors, choreographers, composers, designers, and technicians. Responses are anonymous and confidential, and no personally identifiable information is collected. Results will inform policy discussions, funding priorities, and advocacy efforts across the field.
The survey is open through September 8, 2026.
Take the survey: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8855295/3102026
Questions? See the FAQ or contact research@anniedorsen.com
This research is part of Artists Make Technology, a collaborative initiative anchored by the Mozilla Foundation and the Doris Duke Foundation, in partnership with the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, with additional support from the Ford Foundation.
- Companies Using AI To Create Writing Are Missing The Entire Point Of Books
“It speaks about the creative process as though it were something getting in the way of our creativity, slowing us down, rather than being the path that leads us to it. Then again, it’s no surprise that a capitalist venture focuses on the product and speed to market.” – Irish Times