Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Is Gen Z Falling In Love With CDs?
Gen Z has decided CDs are cool again, sending sales wobbling upward before promptly wobbling back down. It’s mostly about vibes, nostalgia, and proving...
Shutdown Of Book Distributor Leaves Libraries Hanging
Public libraries are struggling to get new books after major distributor Baker & Taylor abruptly shut down. Many now rely on Ingram, but scaling...
2025 Was The Year Of AI Slop
In 2025, slop is everywhere. Low-effort, low-quality, AI-generated nonsense is polluting our social media feeds, search engine results, scientific journals, music streaming services, eBook marketplaces, universities, legal filings, and more. - Mother...
The Louvre Is Astonishingly Popular. It’s Facing Collapse From All Sides
Over time, this popularity has become both a blessing and a terrible burden, and daring jewel heists are only the most eye-catching of the...
How Architecture Shapes/Frames Politics
While it’s easy to see buildings and public spaces as somewhat neutral or superficial, it’s not. Like the frame of a painting, it frames...
How The Trump Administration Is (Mis)Appropriating Norman Rockwell
“They used . . . as though his work aligned with their values, i.e., promoting this segregationist vision of America. And so of...
Beyonce Becomes The Fifth Musician To Become A Millionaire
The pop singer joins her husband, Jay-Z, along with Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen and Rihanna, in the billionaire club. - Variety
New York Public Library’s Most-Borrowed Books Of 2025
At the very top of the list is James by Percival Everett, the Pulitzer Prize–winning retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from Jim’s perspective. Close behind...
So You Thought Rock Music Was Dead? The Evidence Suggests Otherwise
The limited expectations for 21st-century rock may just have turned out to be freeing. For songwriters, musicians and — with luck — enough fans...
It’s Shocking How Radical Right Extremism Has Crept Into Mainstream Culture
Extremist messaging is now woven into music and YouTube videos, with one expert saying: ‘You can be radicalised sitting on your couch.’ - The...
Study: How AI Spurs Creativity In Humans
“People think of AI as something that speeds up tasks or improves efficiency, but our findings suggest something far more interesting. When people were...
Study: 20 Percent Of Videos Shown On YouTube Are AI
Together, these AI slop channels have amassed more than 63bn views and 221 million subscribers, generating about $117m (£90m) in revenue each year, according...
Study: Musical Expertise Relates To Other Cognitive Traits
Experienced musicians tend to possess an advantage in short-term memory for musical patterns and a small advantage for visual information, according to a large-scale...
Movie Theatres Turn To VIP Experiences To Lure Back Audiences
“We are rolling out 200 of our Ultra Lux seats, which have a built-in champagne or wine cooler, each day across Europe,” says Tim...
A Biennale That Wants To Make The World A Better Place
There are more than 1,200 works by 125 artists and collectives in the exhibit, titled “Not All Travelers Walk Roads,” with many of them...
Fascinating List: Here Are The Most-Borrowed Library Books Of 2025
The Women was among the most checked-out books in U.S. public libraries this year, making top 10 lists in library systems as far-flung as those...
AI that turns Museums into Conversations: The Digital Twin
Museums still operate as if interpretation is a one-way stream, produced by experts and consumed by the public. Instead, imagine an exhibition that doesn't just speak, but listens and responds.
How Hallmark Movies Impact British Columbia’s Economy
Love it or hate it, Hallmark movies are big business in B.C., where the company films the about 40 per cent of its content — Christmas...
Why Canadian Fiction Needs To Stop Talking To Itself
In Canada, the literary world tends to be inward-looking. It’s obvious why. For three-quarters of a century, the official position has been that if...
Broadway’s Greatest Season: 1957-58
The last hurrah of these bygone performers was the Broadway season of 1957–58, arguably the greatest season on Broadway of the last 75 years....
The Market Fantasy That Has Undermined The Art World From Within
The current erosion of the art market is not a cyclical contraction; it is the result of oversaturation and a speculative economy in which...
Is The Music Of The Future One Unencumbered By Structures Of The Past?
Busoni proposed the notion of “Ur-Musik.” It is an elemental realm of absolute music in which composers have approached the “true nature of music”...
The Film Buffs Preserving Classic Movies
The artifacts of 20th-century cinema are being preserved in museums, archives and other august institutions. But they are surviving, too, in the care of...
Your Spotify Wrapped Doesn’t Really Know You. But Your Reading Does
Listening to music can be a passive experience — one enjoyed in tandem with folding laundry, or driving a car. To really learn about...
The Books, Recordings, Culture Entering Public Domain January 1
Under U.S. law, the copyright on thousands of creations from 1930 — including films, books, musical compositions and more — will expire at the...
