| Last year, a media mogul told me that movies had peaked creatively 20 years ago. The industry was in decline and it's not clear how – or if – it will bounce back. This is someone who loves movies. But if you asked this person in public whether streaming has had a negative impact on the art of filmmaking, they would say no. No executive wants to publicly trash their own product or creative partners. And yet at Screentime not one but two speakers suggested that streaming has had a negative impact on pop culture – specifically music and TV. Rob Stringer, the chief executive officer of Sony Music, said the lean years of piracy and iTunes – when industry sales were shrinking – produced great art. The last decade of growth has been less creative. Stringer stopped short of criticizing the current level of artistic achievement; that was implied. But he did say that algorithms have warped musicians and listeners. Matt Stone, the co-creator of South Park, was a little more damning. There is too much TV being made today, a lot of it funded by technology companies that fail to appreciate the difficulty of making great art. "There's just not that much good stuff out there," Stone said. Creators will make a second season of a show because they get paid to do it, not because they have a great idea. The misunderstanding cuts both ways. Hollywood companies have failed to appreciate just how hard it is to develop great technology. Consider how much better Netflix's product is than the other streaming services. Yet while many people are currently down on the quality of output across music, film and TV, business challenges may actually be good for creativity. "The whole music industry is about to reset itself," Snoop Dogg said. "It usually happens like that. You know, repetition, repetition, breakthrough, originality." Netflix says it isn't changing how it pays partners.Streaming services are looking to pay talent less up front and reward their successes. This is an unassailable fact. Yet while Amazon, Apple and Netflix are all experimenting with different versions of this concept, Netflix is adamant that it is not going to do so at scale. "We are not changing our compensation model," Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria told me. "There have been a few bespoke deals on a couple of movies." Netflix hasn't tested this new model out with any TV shows, nor does it plan to. Of course, as Bajaria acknowledged on stage, Netflix changes its mind all the time. That is one of its virtues. It is a confident company but not a stubborn one. It is happy to change when a policy – like no ads, or no live programming – no longer suits its interests. You can watch our full interview here. Scooter Braun wants to be done talking about Taylor Swift – and managing artists.Braun has spent the last five years as one of the internet's favorite villains. Taylor Swift bashed him for buying her masters, turning an army of fans against him. Then Braun started to transition out of managing – he made a killing selling his company – and the press framed it as though all his clients were firing him. The reality in both situations is a little more complicated, as I've covered here. Braun, who runs the Americas operation for South Korea's largest music company, would like to stop talking about Swift. "Look, it's five years later," Braun said. "I think everyone, it's time to move on." (The room gasped when he said he'd want to work with Swift if he were starting a new entertainment company.) Yet when asked to look into the future, Braun demurred. He's not ready to talk about what he wants to do next. You can catch our full interview here. Apple is asking Amazon for help.Amazon is adding Apple's streaming service to its channels store, which will allow the internet retailer's customers to buy TV+ and then watch shows like Ted Lasso from within Prime Video. Apple's decision to join channels says a lot about the state of play in Cupertino, where the iPhone maker's top executives are pushing for its Hollywood business to spend a little less and deliver more cultural hits. While Apple has produced lots of critically acclaimed programming, it has had a hard time getting many people to watch. "What we offer channel partners is hundreds of millions of subscribers around the world," Amazon's Mike Hopkins told my colleague Caroline Hyde. "Having this engagement around the world with Prime members accessing Prime Video is a really great platform for other partners to be able to reach them." This pitch has worked with smaller streaming services, who are happy to let Amazon do what it does best: sell people stuff. Amazon has also convinced other major services with relatively small audiences, such as Paramount+ and Max. Amazon's two biggest competitors in paid streaming, Netflix and Disney, don't sell via channels. They want to own the relationship with customers and see no reason to give Amazon more quality programming to lure viewers onto its platform. Apple is one of the biggest companies in the world and a competitor to Amazon in more ways than one. But when it comes to Hollywood, it's clear Amazon has the upper hand. You can watch the full interview with Hopkins here. The biggest tour of next year will be... - Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino called on the government to do a better job regulating his industry and blamed bots for the recent difficulties with an Oasis ticket sale. While Rapino's company is being sued by the Justice Department – a suit he expects to win – he believes the real problem remains the secondary ticket market.
- Rapino also predicted Oasis would be the biggest tour of 2025, at least among those artists who've already announced their plans. You can watch our full conversation here.
- Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said Peacock's losses have peaked and explained why his company – one of the largest pay-TV distributors in the world – isn't worried about cord cutting. The company makes as much, if not more, from customers who just pay for internet access. Check out the full interview.
- OnlyFans must have the highest revenue per employee of any company. The platform generates more than $1 billion in sales and has fewer than 50 full-time employees. It has paid creators more than $20 billion over the last decade.
- Sony finally acknowledged it's buying Queen and Pink Floyd catalogs, the latter of which Stringer compared to Picasso.
A Netflix talk show and a Snoop-Dre reunion - Netflix ordered a live talk variety show from John Mulaney, its latest swing at the talk format. It also announced new seasons of Nobody Wants This and The Diplomat.
- Snoop Dogg teased two special collaborators on his upcoming album, the first full-length record to be produced by Dr. Dre since Doggystyle. Snoop crip walked and set a Screentime record for applause. You can see the full interview here.
- Kerry Washington said Scandal wouldn't get made today.
- Stephen A. Smith predicted a big comeback for baseball, but isn't as high on golf or boxing. He also offered his perspective on the recent layoffs at ESPN and his goals for his next contract. Smith is a professional entertainer, so I would suggest watching the full interview (if only for his fit).
- South Park will not be making fun of David Ellison (or his father Larry). Matt Stone sounded genuinely excited about having Ellison as the owner of Paramount. He was less excited about Sam Altman.
One of the downsides of hosting a conference: There was a lot I didn't get to see. I missed all of our panel on the WNBA, as well as most of a couple AI demos on our studio stage. I will catch up with them over the next few weeks, and I hope you do too. This playlist has most of the videos, though some are repeated. While we can't offer the full video of Jason Blum eating hot wings, trust me when I tell you that it was my personal highlight of the conference. Thanks to Jason and the Hot Ones crew for making it happen. I am going to see Michael Kiwanuka and Brittany Howard at the Greek Theatre on Oct. 18. Can't wait. And if you liked Screentime, my colleague Ashley Carman is helping to put together a podcast event early next year. You should reach out to her about attending. Now, some rest. Go Dodgers. | 
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