July 25, 2022, 5:46 p.m.
How artists get paid from streaming, Aztec gods, and more
Projects from The Pudding about TikTok musicians, Aztec gods, streaming royalties, and Air Jordans
The Pudding
The Pudding is a digital publication for visual essays. You may have stumbled upon some of our projects like How Ali Wong Structures Stand-Up, How Bad is Your Spotify?, or Women’s Pockets are Inferior.
This issue is devoted to the gods of different arenas, including music industry overlords, TikTok idols, sneakerhead icons and the Aztec pantheon.
We’ll also introduce you to our latest team member and celebrate a recent win.
Our work, as ever, is brought to you in part by our faithful Patreon supporters. Thanks patrons!
A Visual Guide to the Aztec Pantheon
When you were in school, did the Aztec gods get the same attention as Greek, Egyptian and Norse ones? Spurred by his curiosity for this often overlooked subject, writer and artist Gwendal Uguen created this illustrated guide to 137 Aztec gods. Coded by Luc Guillemot, this reverential introduction will help you better understand the intricate artwork and the lasting legacy of this society.
How Artists Get Paid from Streaming
In this interactive explainer, contributing myth buster Elio Quinton dispels some of the most pervasive fictions about making money from streaming platforms. If you thought it was all down to fixed rates, think again!
The Unlikely Odds of Making it Big on TikTok
With success stories like Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” and 24kGoldn’s “Mood,” TikTok seems to rocket artists to stardom. But how often does virality lead to a full-blown music career?
In this latest essay from Matt Daniels, we show you the bottlenecks between TikTok artists and traditional success. We also ask, “Why can’t ‘TikTok musician’ be its own legitimate career?”
If you liked the video we made with Vox on the same topic, you might be surprised by our contrasting take on the data.
A Visual History of Every Air Jordan (Updated)
You have just over a month to make room in your walk-in shoe closet for the next Air Jordan release. That’s enough time to reacquaint yourself with our visual evolution of this iconic sneaker, and place an order for our poster, both now featuring the 37s.
Welcome Jane to the team
We’re excited to welcome Jane Collier to The Pudding! Jane joins us as our Audience Engagement Manager. She advocated for community mental health before discovering her passion for design. She loves art-activism, queer films, and late night conversations. If you follow us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, or have read this newsletter, you’ve already seen some of their contributions. Show them some love and keep an eye out for more from Jane!
2022 Excellence in Journalism Awards
Our 2021 piece “‘I Kissed a Girl’ to ‘Call Me by Your Name’” by Jan Diehm was awarded the Excellence in Multimedia Award by NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists. What an honor!
Watercooler moments at The Pudding
Here are some stories and projects that our team can’t stop talking about. Join the chat in realtime on our patron-only Slack channel #stuff-we-love:
Facebook’s Broken Promises — Tech Transparency Project
How Football Shirts Chart the Rise and Fall of Tech Giants — Rest of World
Why So Many Children of Immigrants Rise to the Top - NY Times
That was a lot! Thanks for taking it all in and for continuing to subscribe. ❤️❤️❤️
P.S. questions? comments? email us at sup@pudding.cool
P.P.S. have a cool essay idea that you want to make? Check out our pitch guidelines and email us at pitches@pudding.cool
P.P.P.S. Want to hire our team to produce data-led, visual stories? Check out our sister studio, Polygraph.