How Reviews Of Books, Movies, TV, Music Are Morphing Into A Strange Commodity

“Movie reviewing has been reduced, largely, to data production for Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes. Song and album reviews rarely precede the actual release of the music, so they’re treated as broad cultural writing prompts. Five or so years ago TV writing split into reviewing and recapping, which in the last couple years have merged into a strange hybrid, one which talks casually about what has happened, and which signals fandom along the way just enough to let the reader know that he has tastes in common with the writer (and that whatever recommendations might follow are worth hearing).”

On YouTube: A Battle Over Fair Use And Superfans

“If you’re video maker who’s had a video flagged and you want to dispute it, the process is Kafkaesque. The copyright holder alone decides the outcome: It can uphold its claim. It can agree that your video does not infringe its copyright. Or it can do nothing at all for 30 days, during which time all advertising is suspended. Most likely, your video eventually is returned to you—but by that point, the damage is done.”