The right value in the right place

People, content, and publics are like chess pieces, their value changes when they move. And spotify found out about this the hard way.

In 2019, Spotify acquired the podcast creation app Anchor with the aim of fostering a new generation of the genre. By July 2022, 44% of all podcasts were hosted on Anchor. Interestingly, a unique group emerged as significant earners on Spotify: white noise creators, who produce content like repetitive sounds of waves or birds. Last year, these podcasters were believed to earn up to $18,000 a month from Spotify ads. Documentation later confirmed that Spotify’s algorithm unintentionally promoted white noise content, leading to 3 million daily consumption hours by January. Upon discovering this, Spotify contemplated removing such content, believing it could enhance their annual gross profit by $38 million. However, this decision wasn’t implemented, as affirmed by a Spotify spokesperson.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-08-17/white-noise-podcasters-are-costing-spotify-38-million-a-year

How do conspiracy theories work online?

And why aren’t we using the same tactics to spread facts and science?

These were my questions when coming across an article posted on “The Conversation”

Conspiracy theories: how social mediacan help them sprean and even spark violence

Cool people to know

João Almeida is one of the best photographers I know, and his work while travelling and documenting Portuguese rituals is outstanding.

He’s also quite creative in how he built his photo editing workflow. He uses a game controller to make sorting and selecting photos much faster.

Photography Portfolio for João Almeida, aka t3mujin.

Tools for this week

https://fliki.ai/ Video creation made simpler and faster with AI.

https://pictory.ai/ Also a video creation tool that turns any content into a video.

Unsplash Logomaite tiscar

Bruno Amaral

I am a Digital Strategist, divided between tech and creativity, working for the Lisbon Collective and teaching in the Masters Course of …

Select one of the pages in this story Weekly Journal

Some things are just too big to toot about.

When to pull a MacGyver
Week 36

The regular topic on my mind these last two weeks is how some details ammount for nothing towards a certain goal. And it’s not about the size of …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 12 September, 2023
Not the rule
Week 34

The right value in the right place People, content, and publics are like chess pieces, their value changes when they move. And spotify found out about this …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 25 August, 2023
How to make your own luck
Week 33

Sometimes life is just a bit too heavy. Long story short, I have Multiple Sclerosis, hence why https://gregory-ms.com/ is such a dear project to me. And …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 16 August, 2023
Knowledge management and robber barons
Week 32

Information is ammunition, data is the new gold. This is true since the time of Sun Tzu, and we still haven’t figured it out. A lot of time and money …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 15 August, 2023
PR isn't just about relationships and gurus aren't cool
Week 31

On my mind lately, Public Relations exists as a profession because organisations can’t be trusted to be ethical and responsible on their own. Psychology …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 2 August, 2023
Week 30

The people don't come because you grandiose motherfuckers don't play shit that they like. If you played the shit that they like, then people would come. …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 30 July, 2023
Tarot readings on TikTok and the tech Wizard of Oz
Week 29

I don’t know why, but lately I have been seeing Tarot readings using TikTok’s Live Video. While I tend to respect other’s beliefs, this one is something I …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 24 July, 2023
Everything is a network
Week 28

A graph, a process, a mind map or a collection of notes, everything can be seen as a network of sorts. I have been coming across the concept of network in …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 12 July, 2023
Week 27

AI is generating some interesting work but still isn’t able to understand the complex context required for effective communication. It may never do so in …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 2 July, 2023
Tools for branding and tools for the mind
Week 26

The unbiased and dispassionate approach can be the best thing an agency brings to a business or brand, as long as their method is solid and the results …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 28 June, 2023
New tools and same thoughts
Week 25

“Think Different” used to be Apple’s motto. Lately I wonder where that motto is in the way they run their business, and how much we are …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 27 June, 2023
Week 24

Been trying to catch up with, well, life. Work wise, at the Lisbon Collective we have built an extensive in depth audit for websites of any size. Given a …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 13 June, 2023
Week 23

This is going to be a shorter newsletter than usual. “Life is what happens when you’re busy making plans” was a very true statement last week. I had the …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 5 June, 2023
Week 22

There is something on my mind lately, have you noticed LinkedIn is filled with answers to questions nobody asked? Other social media channels are filled …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 4 June, 2023
Week 21

Some quick news, about GregoryAI) and what me an António Lopes have been up to. Last week we registered a Non Profit after an epic battle against …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 29 May, 2023
Week 20

This Friday 26 I will be participating in a live radio show to talk about what we are doing with GregoryAI to push Multiple Sclerosis Research further. …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 21 May, 2023
Week 19

Where’s my Web? After this week’s major win, I have been searching for that feeling of community we had online. I found only a box of …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 9 May, 2023
Week 18

Ok this one is a bit different, come here. The GregoryMS project received a fantastic spotlight by the Público newspaper, “Bruno e os amigos criaram …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 1 May, 2023
Week 17

My latest endeavour, writing a paper on the impact of AI for PR. It will include a Case Study for Gregory, the Multiple Sclerosis research assistant and …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 24 April, 2023
Week 16

Writing these weekly notes is an exercise in memory. What did I do this last week? Am I on track for what I want to achieve? After the tribulations, this …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 23 April, 2023
Week 15

You’d think coming back to my routine would be easy, no? I did too, but it wasn’t. Between clients, school and life as we know it, I barely …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 10 April, 2023
Week 14

Still here, still standing. Last two weeks, I’ve been in the hospital (nothing serious) and only returned to my routine Friday 7^th. This meant …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 8 April, 2023
Week 13

Week 13 comes with little in terms of thrills. I’ve been out of commission, sort of. Which is not to say that I haven’t been scheming and …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 26 March, 2023
Week 12

Oh what a week! I had the opportunity to chat with third year PR students about what AI means to them and the Future of their discipline. If you are …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 20 March, 2023
Week 11

Not much this week, work as been demanding. On a personal note, I’ve been looking into finding a path to get the autologous hematopoietic stem cell …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 13 March, 2023
Week 10

Lately my friends hear me say this a lot, “I know it’s not meant to be easy, but why does it always have to be a struggle?”. …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 10 March, 2023
week 9

Things haven’t been easy lately. I’ve been working in growing the Lisbon Collective agency, and focusing on my health. Also, Gregory AI was …

Bruno Amaral
Bruno Amaral
Posted on 3 March, 2023
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