Streaming
Daniel Ek, Defense Tech and Why Some Artists Have Joined a Call to ‘Boycott Spotify’
With his 2,141 SoundCloud followers, veteran U.K. psychedelic-music producer Darren Sangita didn’t exactly wound Spotify when he pulled his music from the streaming service last month. “I’m a zed-list music celebrity,” he says. But he couldn’t support a company whose founder, Daniel Ek, invested more than $114 million in Helsing, a European security startup that manufactures artificial-intelligence software to “keep liberal democracies from harm.” “The circumstantial evidence points to a massive investment in military/AI tech,” says Sangita, who runs indie label Sangita Sounds. “I was just enormously disappointed. Are there not any other alternatives that Mr. Ek could have possibly thought about investing in to make the world...
Lil Wayne Updates ‘Sorry 4 The Wait’ Mixtape For Streaming Services, Features 4 New Tracks
HipHopWired Featured Video CLOSE Source: Prince Williams / Getty Lil Wayne continues to bring his vaunted mixtape discography into the modern age and his latest offering to the masses comes with the perks of a handful of new tracks. In 2011, Lil Tunechi dropped off his acclaimed Sorry 4 The Wait mixtape ahead of Tha Carter IV album drop, but this version includes additional tracks. The mixtape opens up with “Cameras,” one of the new songs, and finds Wayne employing a busy flow over a Pi’erre Bourne beat with vocal assistance from Allan Cubas. The following track, “Lil Romeo” is another of the new offerings and followed by “Anti-Hero” with Lil Tecca, and “Bleu Snappin’.” The mixtape definitely holds up with the Young Money honcho sounding at home over tracks that ran 2011. Hopefully, other ...
Netflix is Once Again Raising Its Prices
Netflix and chill just got a little more expensive. Today, the streaming giant announced it will be raising prices across all of its plans in the US. The most basic tier is going from $8.99 to $9.99 per month, while the price of the most popular, standard tier will rise by more than a dollar from $13.99 monthly to $15.49 and the premium tier climbs a full two dollars from $15.99 to $17.99. The pricing change immediately impacts new subscribers, while rolling out “gradually” to current subscribers. The company promises to email members 30 days before the hike goes into effect. Advertisement Related Video Basically, no matter which plan you subscribe to, you’ll be paying a little more to binge Emily in Paris, Cheer, and Cobra Kai, or watch a shirtless Antoni Porowski give his dog an inexplic...
Where Podcast Producers May Turn for Deals in 2022
If 2020 and 2021 were the years Hollywood stars proved their mettle in podcasting, 2022 could be the year top influencers find their stride in audio. A survey of U.S. listeners by Acast and Nielsen finds nearly 40 percent of respondents said they wanted podcasts from YouTubers and influencers, outranking interest in shows from music and TV personalities. “We anticipate that this consumer desire will drive content creators who are looking to please their fans to pick up microphones and test the waters in podcasting this year,” Tommy Walters, Acast’s North America Commercial Insights Manager, said in an email to The Hollywood Reporter, noting that “smart content creators” understand the potential of podcast advertising will be able to carry their followings over to t...
Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ Is the First Song to Reach 3 Billion Streams on Spotify
Ed Sheeran is closing out 2021 with a major achievement under his belt. On Wednesday (Dec. 22), the singer posted a video to his Instagram announcing that his 2017 hit “Shape of You” has become the first song in Spotify’s history to reach 3 billion streams. Explore Explore Ed Sheeran See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “I’ve just heard ‘Shape of You’ has reached 3 billion streams on Spotify, which is absolutely insane. I remember this song hitting a billion and thinking that that was weird,” Sheeran said. “The first song to hit 3 billion streams and I’m really, really chuffed with it. Thank you, Spotify, for your support over the years. We’ve had a great 10 years together and hopefully, we have a great 10 years more.” The 30-year-old also took a brief mome...
Disney Taps Spotify Exec Horacio Gutierrez as General Counsel
Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Chapek has found the successor to longtime Disney executive and general counsel Alan Braverman. Disney has named Horacio Gutierrez senior executive vp, general counsel and secretary for the company, succeeding Braverman, who is retiring at the end of the year. Guttierez joins from streaming audio giant Spotify, where he was head of global affairs and chief legal officer. The executive, who starts at Disney Feb. 1, previously served as general counsel at Microsoft. “Horacio is an incredibly skilled attorney and dynamic leader who comes to Disney with 35 years of legal experience in markets around the globe. Having spent more than two decades working for premier technology companies, he has an extensive understanding of the complex legal questions that come with techn...
Lewis Black Calls for Spotify to Remove His Content Until Comedy Licensing Dispute Is Resolved
Comedian Lewis Black is calling for Spotify to remove his content amid a licensing dispute between the streaming service and hundreds of comics. Black’s request comes in response to Spotify’s removal on Nov. 24 of numerous comedy recordings it offers, including work from major comedy stars like Mike Birbiglia, John Mulaney and Jeff Foxworthy. The streaming giant is currently battling with collection agencies Spoken Giants and Word Collections over whether comedians and spoken word artists should receive royalties for their underlying works, as well as their recordings. “I believe that the written words that go into making songs or comedy should be valued equally,” Black said in a statement to Billboard. “Comedy is an art form that starts on the page before it moves to the stage. Just as in...
Metallica to Stream 40th Anniversary Concerts on Prime Video and Amazon Music
Rejoice, metal fans! Metallica will be streaming their 40th anniversary concerts, taking place December 17th and 19th, via Prime Video and Amazon Music. As previously reported, the legendary thrash metal band will mark 40 years together with two shows at the Chase Center in San Francisco. The concerts are essentially sold out, although limited seats are popping up on Ticketmaster. However, fans all over the world will now be able to tune in to the historic gigs via Amazon’s streaming services. You can stream both performances from home devices or on mobile via Amazon Music, Amazon Music’s Twitch channel, and Prime Video (with or without Prime on-demand viewing Membership) beginning at 9 p.m. PT each night. The shows will then be available on-demand exclusively via The Coda Collection/Prime...
UK Streaming Reform Bill Put On Ice After House of Commons Debate
LONDON – The British government said Friday that it recognizes there is a problem around the low rates of pay some artists and performers receive from music streaming — and refused to rule out legislating change if the industry can’t work together to find its own solutions. “We want a fair streaming environment in which the U.K. music industry can thrive and artists are properly rewarded,” George Freeman, a Conservative government minister, said during a four-hour debate in the House of Commons over a bill that seeks to reform music streaming payouts. The Copyright (Rights and Remuneration of Musicians) Bill failed Friday to progress to the next stage of the legislative process as proceedings overran. That means the bill remains on the agenda of Private Members’ bills to be debated by MPs ...
Netease Cloud Village Stock Slips 2.5% Following Hong Kong IPO
Chinese music streaming company Cloud Village finally had its initial public stock offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday (Dec. 2) after postponing its plans in August amid a Chinese regulatory crackdown. Investors’ initial reaction was underwhelming as Cloud Village’s share price closed at 199.90 Hong Kong dollars ($25.66), about 2.5% below the 205.00 Hong Kong dollars ($26.31) IPO price. Tech giant Netease spun off the company, which runs NetEase Cloud Music, in an offering of 16 million shares — 7.7% of the outstanding shares — that raised 41.5 billion Hong Kong dollars ($421 million). NetEase gained approval for the spin-off on Aug. 2 but delayed the listing indefinitely about a week later after Beijing’s tightening regulations brought attention to publicly traded Chinese...
UK Proposes Law Demanding Record Labels Pay Artists More for Streams
LONDON – The U.K. government has proposed a law requiring record companies to pay musicians and songwriters a bigger cut of revenue from music streams on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, a move that would bring streaming closer in line with radio and television broadcasts in the country. The Copyright (Rights and Remuneration of Musicians) Bill was published Wednesday (Nov. 24) and will be presented to Parliament on Dec. 3. The Bill would obligate record companies to pay performers ‘equitable remuneration’ when music is streamed. A similar statutory right already exists in the U.K. for TV and radio broadcasts, where performers receive 50% of the revenues distributed by the collecting society PPL, with the rest going to record labels and publishers. If a version of equitable remunera...
Lily James and Sebastian Stan Bring ‘Pam & Tommy’ to Life in First Hulu Series Trailer
Lily James and Sebastian Stan have come to life as Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee in the first trailer for Hulu’s highly anticipated limited series Pam & Tommy. Picked up to series in December, the eight-episode dramedy tracks the relationship between then-Baywatch star Anderson and Mötley Crüe drummer Lee, who married less than a week after they met in 1995. A sex tape they made during their honeymoon was stolen from their home and distributed online. Anderson and Lee sued the distributor, Internet Entertainment Group, and eventually reached a settlement under which the tape became public again. Explore See latest videos, charts and news The trailer follows first-look photos released in May of Stan and James in character as Pam and Tommy Lee that quic...
