The Reading Garden: 5/2/25
What We’re Reading, and Why It Matters to Legacy Media
Welcome back to the Reading Garden, where every Friday we spotlight three must-read pieces we're paying attention to and explore what they mean for legacy media.
Let’s dive in…
As a direct challenge to last week’s study on how humans perceive AI-stories , Jon Stahl offers a thoughtful counterpoint to the Hollywood doomsayers. But it’s not the argument you might expect…
Drawing on anthropology and evolution, he explains that our brains are wired to favor generalizations and binary thinking because nuance creates cognitive friction.
And yes, all of us who care about legacy media have been battered down by the arguments of how the entertainment industry is going through profound change. But what Jon is saying is that whatever comes next won’t be permanent. It won’t fulfill the darkest fears of the pessimists nor the wildest hopes of the optimists. And it definitely won’t be a “new normal.” It’ll just be the next chapter in an ever-evolving story.
In other words, he’s asking us to get real. Do we really think any version of the future stays one way forever?
Everyone’s talking about Ryan Coogler’s deal on Sinners and what it means for the studios. If you haven’t been following along, Coogler was able to negotiate a rare rights reversion on a studio-financed film—something almost unheard of in Hollywood.
But that’s only half the story.
The bigger shift? Technology is making it easier for creatives to do the things Studios did themselves; this is what the entire creator economy is built upon. As tech lowers the barriers to financing, distribution, and audience-building, top creators are quietly negotiating better terms behind closed doors.
In the spirit of Jon Stahl, this doesn’t mean that studios are dead, it just means that their relationship with creatives must evolve into partnerships, rather than employer/employee. Is that such a bad thing?
Creator Economy: Framing Market Opportunity, Drivers of Content Creation/Distribution & Ads/Commerce
Don’t worry, this won’t be as boring as the title (sorry, Goldman Sachs).
The GS bankers are back with a deep-dive report on the creator economy. It's packed with finance-speak, but we’ll spare you the spreadsheets and break down what actually matters.
Most of it echoes themes we’ve covered here, but two takeaways are worth flagging:
First, Goldman estimates there are around 67 million creators globally in 2025, and they expect this to hit 107 million by 2030. But here’s the kicker: most of that growth is coming from “amateur” creators. As a result, we’re seeing a classic barbell effect: a small percentage of creators earning the lion’s share of the money. According to Zippia, 3% of YouTubers capture 90% of the revenue. And that imbalance is only widening…
Second, while short-form video continues to dominate, the suits see major upside in long-form content. Think episodic series, podcasts, and livestreams, especially on YouTube and streaming platforms. As creators continue expanding into these formats, the line between creator and traditional celebrity keeps getting harder to draw.
See you next week.
I needed to read this today, Fernando. "Profound change" is always scary and always necessary. Plus, as you say, nothing is permanent. Onwards!