?? The Creativ Brief: Myth

Myths are the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of the world.?

I write this from Mykonos, Greece, where for the past week I’ve been reliving the ancient myths that I read when I was a boy. Myths that speak to unspeakable grief, warnings on excessive pride, and how the world came to be.?

The myths a society holds reflects the cultural values it exposes. For the Greeks, the ancient myths told stories that valued honor, education, and hospitality while decrying their opposites. Their stories tell of Gods, demigods, and mortals in the world in which the ancient people’s lived.?

A particular myth that struck me this week was the founding of Delphi, the center of the Greek world. The god Zues, in an effort to find the center of the world, released two eagles in opposite directions into the sky. The two eagles met at Delphi, at which point Zues threw down a mighty boulder, the Omphalos stone, otherwise known as the navel of the world. Ironically, the Omphalos stone is also the stone that Zues’ mother gave to Cronos to devour instead of her son.?

On this site, the ancient Greeks built Delphi, the center of the ancient Greek world, the Greek capital city of treasure, the birthplace of the first city-state athletic Pythian games, and the home to the Oracle of Apollo, the Pythia. Kings, Heroes, and Alexander the Great would visit the Oracle for divine wisdom and guidance for hundreds of years.?

Today, we worship a new set of myths - the myths of manifest destiny, that America is the beacon of democracy, that we live in a meritocracy, that capitalism is the path to wealth and abundance, that America is the leader of the free world.?

How true are the myths we tell ourselves? The only difference between myth and reality is our belief.?

3 Stories Dominating Media and Tech Headlines

Major record labels Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Warner Records have sued AI companies Suno and Udio for mass copyright infringement, accusing them of using the labels' recordings to train music-generating AI systems without permission. The lawsuits claim that Suno and Udio's technology can recreate elements of famous songs and generate vocals indistinguishable from well-known artists, seeking up to $150,000 per infringed song.

Why it matters: This case highlights a growing conflict between the music industry and AI developers, raising important questions about the use of copyrighted material for AI training and its implications for intellectual property and the future of creative industries.

A union representing Hollywood film and television crews has reached a tentative three-year deal with major studios, which includes agreed-upon pay hikes and safeguards against the use of AI. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) will ratify the agreement, which outlines pay increases of 7%, 4%, and 3.5% over the term and ensures employees are not displaced by AI.

Why it matters: This deal is significant as it addresses the growing concerns about AI's impact on employment in the media industry and follows a recent labor agreement with similar AI protections for actors.

Time magazine has signed a multi-year content deal with OpenAI, granting the AI company access to its news archive for use in ChatGPT, which will cite and link back to Time.com. In addition to using Time's content for AI training, the partnership allows Time to leverage OpenAI's technology for developing new products, marking a collaborative effort to integrate AI in media.

Why it matters: This deal highlights the growing trend of AI firms partnering with media companies, addressing concerns about content use and offering publishers new revenue opportunities, amidst a backdrop of legal disputes over AI's use of journalistic content.

Creativ Spotlight - CMR-M1

The Camera Model 1 continues to make headlines, this time in a feature in Ad Age and several YouTube videos. We showcased it live for the Ad Age editorial staff at the festival.?

Read their review here.

Stat of the Week - Gen Zers Watch Long-Form Social Videos

53.1% of US Gen Zers consume long-form videos on social media. That said, short-form content is still more slightly more popular at 61.6%, according to our October 2023 survey.

Because longer videos are easier to monetize due to the ability to accommodate more ads, expect to see social platforms embracing this format.

The rise in Gen Z's long-form video consumption signals a shift in media strategies, as platforms adapt to maximize monetization through more ad opportunities.

One Fun Thing - Exploring the Ancient Greek World

Below me to the right sits the ancient Temple of Apollo at Delphi. A Unesco world heritage site and one of the largest active archeological sites in the world, the city was the religious and political center of the ancient Greeks beginning in the 6th Century BCE.?

The Pythia was the voice of Apollo, speaking the God's prophecies to mortals. Perikles asked the Oracle how to defend Athens against the Persians. King Archimedes of Sparta sought the Oracle’s council on whether to war with Athens. Alexander the Great questioned the Oracle what his destiny was to be if he invaded Persia.?

I sat among the ancient stones as well, musing if my life was headed in the right direction. After several hours walking amongst the footsteps of the ancient Greeks, the wind winding its way through the Marble seemed to whisper ‘forward’.?

Ancient processes were never decisive or obvious. Much like myth, their meaning is what you make of it.?