YouTube secretly used AI to edit people’s videos. The results could bend reality by Thomas Germain
BBC coverage of a long-developing story involving unexpected changes to YouTube Shorts. Since June, various content creators have started noticing some of their Shorts look different than the raw file, or the same file uploaded to Instagram Reels or TikTok. Now a YouTube spokesperson has confirmed these unexpected changes, ranging from increased contrast to artifacts resembling AI upscale glitches, are intentional. The company has been testing out an LLM-powered upscaler to add more contrast and clarity to Shorts. As James Cridland has pointed out on LinkedIn, YouTube’s terms of service agreed to whenever uploading a video has always given them the ability to tweak videos, and indeed a lower-tech version of this has always been the case, given every YouTube video is compressed, upscaled, and downscaled upon upload. For years, quality-focused YouTubers have changed how they create content to ensure their video plays nice with the platform’s various visual tweaks that happen during upload. Still, as a recent clip from The WAN Show highlights, this LLM meant to clean up poor-quality phone footage tends to over-sharpen and create new artifacts when applied to already high-quality clips like one Linus Torvald posted to Instagram and Shorts.
Spotify launches a messaging feature in a bid to become more social by Ivan Mehta
The new chat feature allows one-on-one messaging within Spotify with someone the user has previously shared content with, such as being in a collaborative playlist, joining a Jam with, or accounts also in a Family or Duo plan with them. Users can also copy a link that acts as a request to chat and share it on other platforms. While the messaging is intended to compliment collaborative playlist building and music discussion, having more communication/fan engagement in one of the bigger podcast apps has to be a net positive for podcasting
The Ads Academy is a new learning platform Acast has launched. Currently the Academy offers two on-demand courses (Podcast Advertising 101 and Podcast Advertising 102) that are built to give marketers the knowledge and skills needed to plan and implement podcast advertising campaigns. The former covers the basics of podcast ads, campaign planning, measurement, and suggestions for good creative. The latter, for more experienced advertisers, focuses advanced targeting strategies, programmatic buying, and omnichannel campaign optimization. Free educational resources are a big step towards making the podcast world more scrutable for those in the wider advertising world.
Upcoming Webinars
Occasionally there’s enough upcoming live events I break them out into a mini-segment before we get into Quick Hits proper. Today I’ve got two free events for you to mark on your calendar:
What Listeners Remember vs. What Platforms Report – Fairing – Wednesday, August 27th at 1:00 p.m. EST
The Q3 2025 Podscribe Performance Benchmark Webinar – Thursday, August 28th, 1:00 p.m. EST
As for the rest of the news…
- Spotify has a new Back to School report compiling data showing daily rituals of Gen Z students, including a trend of morning listening increasing in September when Gen Z goes back to school vs. a decline of listening during June and July summer break.
- The Alliance for Women in Media continues its ongoing Media Masterclass series with a session focusing on how audiences discover, consume, and stay loyal to a podcast, featuring Sony Music Entertainment SVP of Strategy & Operations, Podcast Division Emily Rasekh.
- SBS Audio is currently taking pitches for new podcasts to build out their slate featuring diverse Australian voices. Submissions are now open through September 14th.
- Noel Miller’s TMG Studios has added five podcasts to the network, building it up as a hub for Gen Z comedy.
- The newest season of Gamut Podcast Network’s true crime series American Nightmares revisits the case that made the show a chart-topper back in 2019 with 22 Hours: A Second Look.
- Captivate has unveiled a new ad marketplace, online podcast recording platform, and integrated audio editing tools, with plans to roll out new features like AMIE Campaign Management and paid feed drops throughout October and December.
