Content, Culture & the Bottom Line: How Finance is Killing the Avant-Garde

The David McWilliams Podcast

David McWilliams

News & Politics

4.6 • 643 Ratings

🗓️ 1 July 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Are we living through the death of innovation? We’re back in HQ asking a tough question: has culture stagnated, and if so, is economics to blame? We explore the twin juggernauts of our age: financialisation and tech. From Florence under the Medicis to Hollywood in 2023, we trace how once-risky bets on the new have been replaced by spreadsheets and streaming algorithms. In 2023, all of the top 10 highest-grossing global films were sequels, spin-offs, or remakes. Back in 2005, 40% of top films had original scripts; now it's less than 10%. Meanwhile, only 27% of all streamed music is new, and catalogue music made up 70% of US consumption by 2021. We ask: who owns culture now? What happens when Spotify, Marvel, and private equity become the A&R men of our era? And could the rise of AI, which looks backwards by design, make this even worse? Join us as we unravel how economics may be drowning out the avant-garde.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	How are you doing there just before we start money?
0:03.0	A Story of Humanity is out in paperback now.
0:07.0	It is Waterstone's book of the month for July.
0:11.4	It is a fascinating...
0:13.0	Well, I would say that, John, wouldn't I?
0:15.0	Well, that's fair enough, you know.
0:17.4	Fascinating read, your summer read, your beach read,
0:20.7	Money, a Story of Humanity humanity out in paperback now.
0:23.9	It's a blockbuster.
0:25.2	It is.
0:30.3	Hey, it's Adam Grant from Worklife, a podcast from TED.
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	...

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