business
‘Anything is possible’ — John McAfee’s former wife responds to faked death claims
The former wife of crypto evangelist and computer programmer John McAfee has responded to a claim made by his ex-girlfriend that he faked his death and was currently in hiding. John McAfee died in a Spanish prison cell in June 2021 while awaiting extradition to the United States on charges of failing to submit tax returns from 2014 to 2018 and not reporting income related to pushing crypto projects and consulting work. He was 75 years old when he passed, and many in and out of the crypto space quickly developed conspiracy theories around his detainment and death. In a Netflix documentary on McAfee’s life and death released on Wednesday titled Running with the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee, ex-girlfriend named Samantha Herrera claimed to have received a phone call from the computer p...
Bandcamp Fridays to Return in September
Bandcamp Fridays are making a return. The popular monthly promotion, during which the platform waives its usual revenue share and gives all proceeds straight to artists and labels, is making a comeback on September 2 after a several-month hiatus following the company’s acquisition by Epic Games in March. Historically, Bandcamp Fridays have taken place on the first Friday of every month, and, according to a blog post from Bandcamp co-founder and CEO Ethan Diamond, the promotion will resume this fall. In addition to the September date, Bandcamp Fridays are scheduled for October 7, November 4 and December 2. Since launching Bandcamp Fridays, the company claims the promotion has ceded more than $78 million from over 800,000 fans to artists and their teams over a total of 21 days. On promotion ...
Twitter Adds Podcasts to Live Audio Tab
Twitter will start recommending and streaming podcasts directly to users as part of a redesigned hub that groups live and recorded audio content by category. The podcast integration, which signals Twitter’s continued expansions into audio, launched Thursday to a select group of English-speaking iOS and Android users via the Spaces tab on Twitter’s mobile app. Categories in the redesigned tab include news, sports and music; each category will include live audio rooms, replays of recorded rooms and popular podcast episodes from those categories that will be personalized based on user interests. To bring the podcast episodes onto the platform, a Twitter spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter that the company is pulling from existing RSS feeds and will tailor the recommendations based on the...
Coinbase says it will ‘evaluate any potential forks’ following the Merge
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has updated its information related to Ethereum transitioning to proof-of-stake to include forks that could arise. In a Thursday update to an Aug. 16 blog post, Coinbase said it would evaluate any potential forks in the Ethereum blockchain on a “case by case basis.” The crypto exchange previously said it planned to ‘briefly pause’ Ether (ETH) and ERC-20 token deposits and withdrawals during the Merge, expected to occur between Sept. 10 and 20. “Should an ETH PoW fork arise following The Merge, this asset will be reviewed with the same rigor as any other asset that is listed on our exchange,” said Coinbase. Rest assured, all potential forked tokens of Ethereum, including PoW forks, will go through the same strict listing review process that is do...
Executive Turntable: Warner Records Names A&R VP; Exceleration Music Taps Legal Head
Sean Stevens was promoted to vp of A&R and head of research & analytics at Warner Records in Los Angeles; he was previously senior director. Exceleration Music named Jennifer Newman Sharpe as the company’s head of legal & business affairs and general counsel. Based in New York, Newman Sharpe will oversee the process of developing agreements and negotiating contracts across all areas of the business. Raoul Chatterjee, SoundCloud‘s vp of content partnerships and operations, announced he will exit the streaming platform effective Aug. 31 after more than 6 years with the company. His departure follows SoundCloud CEO Michael Weissman‘s announcement earlier this month that the company would be cutting “up to 20%” of staff. The Blues Foundation named Kimberly Horton interim president ...
Prince Philip of Serbia suggests bringing Bitcoin into the classroom
Speaking to Cointelegraph over sandcastles at the Surfin’ Bitcoin 2022 event at Casino de Biarritz in France on Thursday, Prince Philip said he was “bullish on Bitcoin” in part because of the impact it could have on children’s education around the world. The prince, a self-described Bitcoin (BTC) maximalist, hinted that part of his keynote address at the crypto conference — only the second one for which he was a speaker — will focus on informing those in and out of the space of the potential benefits of Bitcoin. “Kids need to understand what Bitcoin is about,” said Prince Philip. “The main thing is the history of money — this is something that we weren’t taught in schools […] Education is getting worse as I can see it.” Citing an example from his own family, Prince Philip said his fo...
Alameda Research and FTX merge VC operations: Report
Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange FTX’s investment arm has reportedly absorbed the venture capital operations of Alameda Research in response to the ongoing crypto bear market. According to a Thursday Bloomberg report, Alameda’s Caroline Ellison said in an interview that the merger had happened prior to former co-CEO Sam Trabucco announcing his resignation on Wednesday, leaving Ellison as the firm’s sole CEO. The investment arm of the crypto exchange, FTX Ventures launched in January — when the absorption of Alameda reportedly began — with $2 billion in assets under management. BREAKING: Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX and Alameda merged their VC operations as the billionaire copes with a prolonged crypto winter https://t.co/5bXiTHphzs pic.twitter.com/EYUSa2bItG — Bloomberg Crypto ...
Siam Commercial Bank abandons plans to purchase $500M stake in crypto exchange Bitkub
Thailand’s oldest bank has scrapped plans it first announced in November 2021 to become the majority shareholder of crypto exchange Bitkub. In a Thursday announcement, Siam Commercial Bank’s SCB X Group said it would no longer be paying 17,850 million Baht — roughly $536 million in November and $497 million at the time of publication — to acquire a 51% stake in the Thailand-based crypto exchange. The bank cited concerns with Bitkub “resolving various issues” according to recommendations from the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission without a definite timeline. According to the SCB, the company conducted a due diligence exercise on Bitkub following the November 2021 announcement it planned to become a majority shareholder, resulting in “many opportunities for cooperation in various ...
Publishing Briefs: Reservoir Signs ‘Industry Baby’ Writer; SMP Pairs With Taiko
Reservoir Media has signed a go-forward publishing deal with Grammy-nominated producer, songwriter, and trombonist Nick Lee. Perhaps best known for composing the horn melody for Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby,” featuring Jack Harlow, Lee has also become a go-to collaborator for artists like Megan Thee Stallion, Vince Staples, Dillon Francis, Mustard, Stray Kids, CL, JJ Lin, and more. In addition to working with some of the industry’s coolest stars, Lee also scores network TV shows like NBC’s Grand Crew and Fox’s Welcome to Flatch. Up next, he will be co-composing the Netflix drama The Brothers Sun. Sony Music Publishing announced a worldwide publishing agreement with songwriter and producer, Nicolas Jaña, artistically known as Taiko. The artist began creating beats at the age of...
Deezer Lost Subscribers, Added Revenue in First Half of 2022
With a newfound focus on a small number of lucrative, established markets, music streaming company Deezer reported revenue of 219 million euros ($218 million) in the first half of 2022, up 12.1% as reported (+9.9% at constant currency) versus the prior-year period. The Paris-based company received 132.4 million euros ($131.9 million), or 60.3% of its revenue, in its home country of France, up 11.1% year-over-year. Revenue from the rest of the world improved to 87 million euros ($86.7 million), up 13.6% from the prior-year period, and accounted for 39.7% of revenue, up from 39.1% a year ago. In Brazil, Deezer’s second-largest market, revenues improved 25% at constant currency. Other revenue — advertising and ancillary revenue — grew 58.3% (50.3% at constant currency) to 6.8 million euros ($...
Bug bounty quadruples for Ethereum network — Up to $1M payouts ahead of Merge
The Ethereum Foundation has announced it will be increasing the network’s bug bounty payouts fourfold ahead of the blockchain’s transition to proof-of-stake. In a Wednesday blog post, the Ethereum Foundation said between Aug. 24 and Sept. 8, all “Merge-related bounties for vulnerabilities” will be quadrupled for white hats testing the network. According to the foundation, identifying “critical bugs” — those that have a high impact or likelihood of a high impact on the blockchain — will be worth up to $1 million. The bounty program also allows submissions for low, medium and high-risk bugs. • Merge Bug Bounty Bonus: There is a 4X MULTIPLIER between now and 08 September on all bounties and vulnerabilities, with critical bugs worth up to $1mm USD • See full post for updated Execution Layer (E...
George Lopez Sues Pandora Over ‘Brazen’ Failure to Pay Comedy Royalties
Comedian George Lopez has joined the chorus of comedians suing Pandora over its failure to pay royalties on spoken-word compositions, according to documents filed in California federal court on Tuesday (Aug. 23). In the copyright infringement suit, filed by attorney Richard Busch of King & Ballow, Lopez accuses Pandora of failing to obtain either public performance or mechanical reproduction licenses for – or pay royalties on – the spoken-word compositions for 37 works contained on his albums Right Now Right Now and Team Leader. “The end result is Pandora took the Works, gained listeners, subscribers and market share with full knowledge it did not have licenses and made no royalty payments for the Works,” the complaint reads. Lopez further alleges that Pandora exploited the works witho...
