Tech

Facebook is hoping users will be all ears for its new push into podcasts and social audio. Starting Monday (June 21), select podcasts will be available to Facebook users in the U.S. In addition, Facebook’s Live Audio Rooms feature — a copycat of Clubhouse’s live audio-chat app — will be available to public figures and

BTS, record-breaking K-pop sensations, have claimed another title: The group’s appearance in Hyundai Motor Co.’s Earth Day-themed ad last year is No. 1 on YouTube’s latest global advertising leaderboard. The minimalist Hyundai spot, released in celebration of Earth Day 2020, features BTS members in natural settings, as part of the Korean automaker’s global hydrogen campaign.

Shazam has crossed a major milestone. According to Apple, the song recognition app has surpassed 1 billion song matches per month, bringing its total to 50 billion tags since its inception in 2002. Since Shazam’s start as a text message service, its number of song matches per month has continued to grow, reaching exponential heights

After WarnerMedia blamed an unnamed intern for an errant test email message sent to HBO Max subscribers this week, the internet responded with a flood of good vibes for the gaffester. On Thursday, June 17, HBO Max “mistakenly sent out an empty test email to a portion of our HBO Max mailing list,” according to

Amid Chrissy Teigen’s apology and exit from Netflix’s “Never Have I Ever” and her Safely brand due to resurfaced tweets, she and husband John Legend have taken to Twitter, claiming that a publicized direct message exchange between Teigen and fashion designer Michael Costello is “completely fake.” On June 14, fashion designer and “Project Runway” alum

UPDATED: Users of HBO Max reported widespread issues in trying to access the WarnerMedia streaming service Friday, with the technical problems lasting about an hour. According to uptime-monitoring site DownDetector, user reports of problems with HBO Max spiked around 2:15 p.m. ET. Among the most-reported problems, about 39% were related to log-in, with server connections

Roku says its pickup of the 75-plus shows from Quibi, the short-lived premium mobile entertainment startup that went belly-up last year, has paid off beyond its expectations. But as with other streaming companies, Roku isn’t divulging specific metrics for the Quibi programming, which it rebranded as Roku Originals. According to Roku, more active accounts streamed

Back in the day, one of the great perks of being a music writer was “Free CDs and Tees” (t-shirts). In recent years, it’s been other forms of swag — far beyond just t-shirts and hoodies, we’ve gotten everything from booze and blankets to coasters and cakes. And although last week’s George Harrison promotional gnomes

UTA has signed Emmy-nominated host, writer, creator and author Baratunde Thurston for representation in all areas. Thurston, best known as the executive producer and host of the hit podcast “How to Citizen With Baratunde,” as well as the author of the New York Times bestseller “How to Be Black” will work with the agency to

Add “podcast host” to Elizabeth Banks’ multihyphenate résumé. Banks has inked a multi-project development and first-look deal with Audible. The actor-producer-writer-director has set up two exclusive podcast projects with Audible under the pact: “My Body, My Podcast,” hosted by Banks, above sex, motherhood and more; and “Fugly,” a scripted ensemble comedy. The six-episode “My Body,

“Evolver-Prologue,” a music-filled immersive film executive produced by Edward R. Pressman (“The Crow”) and Oscar-nominated Terrence Malick (“The Tree of Life”), is set to be partly unveiled at Cannes by France’s Orange. The first nine minutes of “Evolver – Prologue” will be teased on July 8 during a private screening hosted by Orange at their

Bloomberg Media has tapped British broadcaster and journalist Emma Barnett for a new weekly interview show on their social news network Bloomberg Quicktake. Barnett is currently the host of BBC Radio 4 show “Woman’s Hour” and presents the BBC’s flagship current affairs programme “Newsnight”. She will continue to work on both shows in addition to

Starlight Media, a Chinese-owned film financier, will leverage its growing Hollywood connections and partner with a group of leading Chinese entertainment firms to launch global streaming service SYSM. The platform, whose initials stand for See You See Me, will combine film, TV and user-generated content as well as e-commerce, digital asset trading and social media.

Will the next big advance in VR be… virtual-reality commercials? Facebook announced that it is kicking off a “small test” of in-headset ads for Oculus VR devices. The ads will first appear in “Blaston,” a dueling-shooter VR game from Resolution Games, as well as titles from a few other developers rolling out over the coming

No conversation is complete in the upfront marketplace this year without mention of addressable TV. Addressable TV is maturing as the go-to technology for matching marketing messages with the right audience segments. That has implications for not only advertising agencies and marketers but also consumers, according to Seema Patel, ViacomCBS’ vice president of partnership development.

Vice World News is launching a news series about trans issues from around the world. “Transnational” will feature trans correspondents reporting stories from Mexico, the United States and the United Kingdom. The show will premiere on June 24 on Vice’s YouTube channel and social platforms. “When trans people watch this show, we want them to

Sony Music Entertainment has acquired Somethin’ Else, which touts itself as the U.K.’s largest independent podcast and audio producer, and one of the BBC’s biggest independent producers of programs. Terms of the acquisition are not being disclosed. With the deal, Sony Music is creating a newly expanded global podcast division, headed by Somethin’ Else’s two

Spotify is giving creators a new way to connect with their audience using live audio — borrowing a page from popular audio-chat app Clubhouse. In addition, Spotify announced plans to launch a Spotify Creator Fund to pay live audio creators for their work. The audio-streaming giant said it will open the Creator Fund later this

“The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” has gained a reputation for addressing sensitive political topics and then incorporating those discussions with elements of comedy. Noah compared this to “juggling little bombs” that could explode any moment, but believes he has a responsibility to talk about the topics that others are afraid to approach. “If we’re

Will podcast listeners shell out a couple of bucks per month to avoid ads — or to simply support their favorite podcasters? Apple is about to find out: The tech giant on Tuesday launched Apple Podcasts Subscriptions to customers worldwide, available for thousands of participating shows, offering a new way for creators and media companies

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VidCon was first held in 2010, and in its earliest years it was closely aligned with YouTube. And YouTube, looking to support the event for digital video creators, has been the lead sponsor for the confab’s events going back to 2013. This year, it’s different: TikTok has signed on as the title sponsor for VidCon

UPDATED: Alex Cooper and her sex-positive podcast “Call Her Daddy” are leaving Barstool Sports — coming to Spotify exclusively starting next month under a multiyear deal. All existing and new episodes of “Call Her Daddy” will remain free and, starting July 21, will available only on Spotify. In addition to bringing the podcast to Spotify

Discovery CEO David Zaslav, one month after the blockbuster announcement with AT&T of the deal to merge his company with WarnerMedia, acknowledged that he still has work to do to win hearts and minds of the people he expects to bring under one big content umbrella in 2022. “We’re going to have to earn the

YouTube will no longer sell ads for certain categories — including politics and alcohol — on its homepage, which Google says it the internet giant’s highest profile advertising real estate. YouTube’s “masthead” ads appear at the top of the YouTube homepage — which is “the most prominent Google advertising placement available to advertisers,” according to

Virtual reality, for all its hype and hope, hasn’t exactly taken the entertainment world by storm. Now a new venture is looking to deliver on VR’s promise of virtually transporting you to another time and place — but without the awkward headset, so you can have a shared, communal experience. The company, Illuminarium Experiences, is

Chrissy Teigen has posted a lengthy apology online after previous tweets of hers resurfaced in which she participated in online bullying and targeted Courtney Stodden, a model and reality TV personality. “Not a day, not a single moment has passed where I haven’t felt the crushing weight of regret for the things I’ve said in

BuzzFeed wants to spark a summer wave of viral quizzes, listicles and more — created by its own fans — by offering, for the first time, to pay them for their content submissions. And the more viral contributors’ articles are, the more they’ll get paid. The BuzzFeed Community team is launching the Summer Writers’ Challenge,

Amid the struggle by major media companies to attract consumers to their premium streaming video services, there’s a fight on another over-the-top front — for the screens in business locations like bars and restaurants. Austin, Texas-based startup Atmosphere has been quietly ramping up its B2B streaming business over the past two years, aggregating content from

Since “In the Heights,” a lauded adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical, fell short of box office expectations, it would be easy to point to its hybrid debut on HBO Max as the culprit. But streaming isn’t necessarily to blame for the movie’s lackluster $11.4 million four-day opening weekend. Yes, it’s possible that some HBO