It is no longer a question of if artists will adopt AI, but how thoroughly it has already permeated the creative process. A new survey reveals that a staggering 87 percent of musicians are now using AI tools in their work, powering a new era of “self-sufficient” production (Hypebot). Yet as The New York Times argues, the existential threat here isn’t to human creativity itself, but to the basic ability to make a living from creative endeavor (The New York Times).
That fragility is being mirrored by institutional retreat. The Poetry Foundation has announced it will discontinue all public programming (Publishers Weekly), shifting its focus entirely to grantmaking. Across the Atlantic, the pressure is top-down: a new government report calls for a “thorough reform” of Arts Council England (The Guardian), demanding the agency cut bureaucracy and scrap its controversial “Let’s Create” strategy.
At the top of the food chain, the battle for scale continues. Warner Bros. Discovery has officially rejected Paramount’s $108 billion hostile takeover bid (The Hollywood Reporter), leaving the media landscape in a tense stalemate. For others, the stakes are far higher than corporate control: the Russian government has officially labeled Pussy Riot an “extremist organization”, effectively banning the group’s activities and threatening prosecution for anyone who even supports them online (ARTnews).
