Dear Creatives,

I went to instagram and asked if the platform was built for creatives. Is it requirement nowadays? My poll results had a small sample size so I’ll be taking these questions to our table at Austin Studio Tours Nov. 14 & 15. 

When I scroll, many posts I see aren’t from accounts I follow. I’d like to see what my artist friends are making, but their work doesn’t reach me. At the Texas Tribune fest, I met ProPublica visuals editor Cengiz Yar who said newsletters were his preferred way of keeping in touch with creatives. I think I agree. 

Can inboxes be the new social media? 

There were a few panels at the Texas Tribune Festival on the future of the news industry. They echoed questions and perspectives I’ve heard at other discussions: 

Society of Professional Journalists ethics committee member Eric Deggans led the conversation and dropped insider info that a new SPJ code of ethics is in the works. It’ll include standards with LLMs in the newsroom. Observe the Work follows the SPJ code and the Trust Project 8 trust indicators.

I definitely read of news with skepticism — but I’m not exactly deciding what to believe. I’m questioning what information is left out. Here’s what caught my attention the past few weeks:

Sincerely,

Shunya

Dutch police arrested Benjamin Korper of Amsterdam as part of an investigation into the hacker group ShinyHunters. The group says it breached the FBI and released data on about 5,000 current and former FBI agents, employees and applicants (Reuters). The FBI is investigating the breach, but has not confirmed the culprit. ShinyHunters drew mainstream attention this year during final exam season by hacking the education platform Canvas. The breach exposed information across 8,000 K-12 and university institutions CNN.  

Separately, Madison Square Garden is suing Wired Magazine over its coverage of the venue’s VIP data breach by ShinyHunters (WORK). 

Universal Music Group's complaint alleges the music distributor DistroKid uploaded copyrighted AI generated music to streaming platforms, citing an account “Lofi Chill” as an example. The account released 4,562 tracks in 12 months, according to the complaint.

UMG alleges DistroKid knowingly uploads copyrighted tracks that are remixed or speed-altered versions with titles identical to the original recordings. Read the case here. 

AEG Presents purchased Emo’s over the summer and renamed it Moonline. The Live Nation competitor is also building a new music venue plaza at 4700 East Riverside that will carry the Emo’s name. 

Match Group announced a $100 million minority investment in Sniffies, a GBTQ mens hookup app. Sniffies CEO Blake Gallagher said the partnership supports what makes the app different and that the company will remain independent.

Match Group owns Tinder, Hinge, Match, OkCupid, HER, Plenty of Fish, BLK and other international dating apps.