Decode #19 Community Building, AI Design Trends, The Rise of Self Branding and an X for Elon Musk
Helloooo and good afternoon!
As we said last month, we’re changing the format slightly and whilst you can always expect our monthly downloads - we’ll also be sending a couple of extra bits throughout the month to add some 🔋 to your inboxes.
This month it’s been Olivia Dean blessing our ears 🎧 and The Bear on Disney+ keeping us hoooooked.
Let’s get in to it and as always, remember to click through to the zine ❤️🔥
From Streaming to Stanning: Artist Community Building in a Peak-Streaming Era
By Ruby Ktori
When that £10.99 subscription email from Spotify hit my inbox, I was a little bit fuming. Until I realised that I’m paying 11 quid a month for almost all the music that has ever and will ever exist… and I piped down immediately. It’s important to remember how spoiled listeners are when it comes to streaming platforms. For the last 14 years, since 2009, we’ve paid a fee of £9.99 and have had unlimited access to the artists we love. Plus we’ve seen Spotify bring us plenty of additional features to enrich and enhance our listening experience. Accounting for inflation, 2009’s £9.99 is worth more than £15 today, so the increase to £10.99 a month is still an incredible deal for the everyday listener. But what does it mean for those artists we claim to love so much?
Stans don’t manifest out of nowhere, so how can artists take fans on that journey from discovery through to standom? It’s all about creating thoughtful touchpoints on that journey for fans to interact with their craft and their brand. Read full article here.
The Design Trends Forged by AI
By Jordan Dale and Ed Hallam
We’re exploring trends that are emerging from the next-gen AI content creators and how they’ll represent a moment in time for the history books. As AI technology is ever-evolving, so are the visuals. We’re not just talking about the fidelity of the imagery (we’re currently on Mid-journey 5.2 and the system still struggles with the hands and digits appearing and disappearing, creating trippy snapshots…). But we’re also talking about the way the image is made – the processing, it’s this stable diffusion mist and morphing that we think will become symbolic of this era in the same way that a VHS tape noise and glitch capture the sense of the 80s and 90s. Or Super 8’s (the 8mm film camcorder) evokes the 60’s and 70’s. The way technology processes imagery will often be the lens we revisit memories – the sun-faded disposable photos may be how we recall a childhood.
So as new technologies allow us to experience, create and remember new moments, we want to look at the aesthetics that will forever be a calling card to 2023 in our minds. Read full article here.
The Rise of Individualism and Self Branding in the Digital Age
By Luke Hodson
The waves of the digital revolution, supercharged by rapid advances in artificial intelligence, are reshaping not only our world but also the very essence of our individual identities. Today, as we stand amongst boundless technological breakthroughs, we are on the edge of a technological lift-off. This lift-off promises to introduce change at an unmanageable exponential speed, enough to give even the most tech-savvy among us vertigo.
This new technological environment has sparked an increased hunger: the craving for authenticity, for a unique stamp of identity amidst a sea of digital sameness. It's especially apparent in Gen Z, a generation captivated by the need for terminal uniqueness.
Look around. Everywhere you go, screens light up with curated images, stories, and personalities. These aren't just images; they are statements, declarations of who we are or who we aspire to be. In this digital age of the aspiration economy, young people's identity is intertwined with their online personas, making personal branding not just an influencer strategy but a life strategy employed by most young people. Read full article here.
TWITTER’S REBRAND IS AN X FROM ME
By Rosie Copland
I want to say I was shocked when I woke up to articles about Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg challenging one another to a cage fight, but I wasn’t. I had been worried there would be no drama when Love Island finished but I think it’s safe to say Musk has been providing continuous soap opera energy. His latest? Rebranding Twitter - to X.
Musk has been heavily influenced by WeChat and wants to build a super app that will allow users to do everything from share social media posts, order dinner and transfer money. It's true that we are definitely seeing big companies diversifying and growing their offering - for example Amazon’s platform offering pharmacy services, medical consultations, grocery delivery and content streaming. But whether people want to have their banking in the same place they share photos is undecided.
Part of me thinks we’re creatures of habit and people want autonomy over what they are doing and where. China, for example, has become completely accustomed to WeChat (which realistically is more like an operating system than an app) as it's what they have always known. But in the West, we have have never had this model. So we've had time to trial thousands of different apps - developing our preferences and switching from destination to destination. I think people appreciate dedicated and specialised apps for different purposes. We see users holding preference between Uber and Bolt or Monzo to Revolut, and we know the behaviours across platforms like Tiktok, Twitter, Instagram and BeReel are diverse and ever-changing. And whilst there would be utility in being able to use a single, integrated payment system everywhere - we basically have that with Apple Pay and Google Pay. Read full article here.
Thank you!
Decode x