Tech

When Verzuz announced on March 9 that it had left Apple Music for a new partnership with the social video platform Triller, the relationship seemed like an incongruous one. While there is tons of music on Triller, there wasn’t anything really like Verzuz, which pits classic hip-hop and R&B artists and producers against each other

UPDATED: YouTube, locked in a fight with Roku, is doing an end-around to let customers access YouTube TV from its main app on connected-TV platforms. YouTube says it is launching a new feature that will let users access to YouTube TV from within the YouTube app, starting with Roku devices. The move comes after Roku

More than 20 years after embarking on an ambitious authorized bootleg program that has seen the release of nearly 500 complete concerts, Pearl Jam today released 186 shows from its 2000, 2003, 2008 and 2013 tours to DSPs — including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and Tidal — encompassing a mind-boggling 5,404 songs. Originally made

Twitter has soft-launched Tip Jar, a new feature to make it easier for power users to earn money from their followers. Starting Thursday, anyone using Twitter in English can send tips using the iOS and Android app to eligible accounts. On Twitter’s Android app, users can also send tips from within the Spaces live audio-chat

Oscar winner Helen Mirren is helping Italy’s COVID-19 vaccination effort by appearing in a side-splitting video titled “La Vacinada,” shot with top comic Checco Zalone, that has gone viral, scoring more than 2.7 million views. In the video, Mirren is doing some gardening on a roadside in Southern Italy, when Zalone, playing a Spaniard, stops

Roku gained 2.4 million new active accounts for the first quarter of 2021, showing that the pandemic-driven streaming momentum that buoyed its results in 2020 has slowed down. Meanwhile, the company smashed analyst expectations for Q1, including posting an unexpected profit. The streaming platform reported revenue of $574.2 million, up 79% year over year, and

BuzzFeed hired Litty Samuel, previously director of development for video at Meredith, as executive director of editorial video for BuzzFeed content. She takes over the role from Maycie Timpone, formerly BuzzFeed’s head of video and social media, who left last September to join Instagram as U.S. lead for short-form video curation. In the role Samuel

Twitter is no longer cropping images with standard aspect ratios, after the company’s auto-cropping algorithms were criticized for displaying racial bias. After launching a beta test of the uncropped images in March for a limited number of users, Twitter is now supporting uncropped photos for everyone. “No bird too tall, no crop too short,” the

XXXTentacion’s estate will release a series of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) containing five tracks that have never been commercially released, as well as previously uncirculated video footage from his only tour in 2017, according to a report in Rolling Stone. The late rapper’s former manager Solomon “Sounds” Sobande — who announced a new job as an A&R

Twitter, at its virtual NewFronts presentation Wednesday for marketers, unveiled an expanded lineup of new and renewed premium video content deals, spanning entertainment, gaming, lifestyle, and news and sports. The social media company, which has nearly 200 million daily active users, announced partnerships with NBC, Tastemade, WNBA, MLB, NHL, Vice Media Group’s Refinery29, Riot Gams

Last year, shortly after the pandemic hit the U.S., WarnerMedia’s TCM — with about three weeks notice — shifted its annual in-person TCM Classic Film Festival to a hybrid online/network experience. When the TCM team determined they were not going to be able to hold the fest in-person again in 2021, they made an even

After spending two months in rehab, John Mulaney is back on the stand-up scene — and his first five comedy shows are already sold out. The comedian, who checked out of rehab in February, is doing a residency at Manhattan’s City Winery called “John Mulaney: From Scratch” from May 10-14. While tickets are currently unavailable,

Facebook’s decision to suspend Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts was upheld by the company’s Overnight Board. But Trump could get a rehearing in the case later this year. Facebook’s Oversight Board, the independent body established by the social giant to review content-policy decisions, on Wednesday issued a ruling upholding Facebook’s January decision to suspend

UPDATED: Reddit, the popular internet discussion site, encountered broad technical issues Tuesday, as thousands of users worldwide reported problems accessing pages for about an hour. Problem reports for Reddit began to spike just before 2 p.m. ET, according to uptime-tracking service DownDetector.com. More than 40,000 users in the U.S. alone had submitted error reports to

Meghan Markle has written her first children’s book called “The Bench,” which will be published on June 8. The book will explore the special bond between a father and son, as seen through a mother’s eyes. Said to be inspired by the relationship between her husband Prince Harry and their son Archie, Markle’s publishing debut

The new Wasserman Music agency and livestreaming service Twitch have partnered to launch “There is Light,” an indie-centric channel and concert series. The series will present 20 live concerts from independent music venues in the U.S. and U.K., starting with a May 4 — tonight — performance by Perfume Genius at the Lodge Room in

Twitter is continuing down the path of looking to add new subscription services to diversify its revenue beyond ads. On Tuesday, the social network announced that it has acquired Scroll, a company that has sold a $5-per-month subscription that lets users read articles on participating news sites without ads — and shares some of that

Now hear this: The 2021 Tribeca Festival announced its inaugural official podcast selections and special events, the first time a major fest is welcoming podcasts into its lineup. The first Tribeca Podcasts lineup features world premieres of 12 fiction and nonfiction podcasts from emerging creators (listed below), as well as panel discussions and other special

After 27 years of marriage, venture philanthropist leaders Bill and Melinda Gates are getting divorced. In a joint statement released on their personal Twitter accounts on Monday, the former couple said they “no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives.” Given that, they will still continue to work

Amazon’s IMDb TV free, ad-supported streaming service is bulking up its originals lineup — announcing five new series in development, including a comedy from “The Good Place” creator Michael Schur and author Shea Serrano. The projects are part of Amazon’s first-ever NewFronts presentation to advertisers on Monday. “Primo,” from Serrano and Schur, is billed as

Warner Music Group has announced a partnership with and investment in virtual entertainment company Wave, which has hosted livestreams by the Weekend, John Legend, Tinashe and others. According to the announcement, Wave will develop virtual performances, experiences, and monetization opportunities for WMG’s global roster of emerging and established artists. This includes new forms of ticketing,

Verizon is throwing in the towel on its content business, announcing plans to sell Verizon Media — which compasses the AOL and Yahoo brands it acquired several years ago — in a $5 billion deal. The telco on Monday announced a deal with private-equity firm Apollo Global Management to sell Verizon Media. Verizon will retain

France’s Atlas V and British banner No Ghost have unveiled the trailer and poster for “Madrid Noir,” James Castillo’s VR animated short, which is set to world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival then play at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June. The 40-minute, interactive VR caper is a spinoff of the 2018

TikTok announced a new CEO and COO, in what its Chinese parent company ByteDance said was “a strategic reorganization” to optimize the popular short-form video app’s global teams and support its continued growth. Shou Zi Chew, who joined ByteDance last month as CFO, will now also become CEO of TikTok. Vanessa Pappas, who has served

UPDATED: Roku’s deal to distribute YouTube TV expired Friday — and amid its standoff with Google, Roku pulled YouTube TV from its channel store. For now, however Roku said it is continuing to provide access to YouTube TV for existing subscribers, “unless Google takes actions that require the full removal of the channel.” Roku had

One Million Truths is an interactive platform that allows Black Americans to share their own personal experiences and ongoing struggles with racism. An online community dedicated to truth and reconciliation, Common CEO Mark Eckhardt launched One Million Truths on April 26. On that same day, he published an article on Time where he laid out

Joe Rogan attempted to clear the air over his controversial statements suggesting that young people should not get vaccinated for COVID-19. In Thursday’s episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” on Spotify, the hugely popular podcaster maintained that he is not an anti-vaxxer — and he admitted that it “makes sense” for even young, healthy people

Amazon knocked the cover off the ball again in the first quarter of 2021 — and released a new data point: More than 175 million Prime members have streamed TV shows and movies in the past year. Founder Jeff Bezos revealed the new figure in announcing the Q1 results, adding that Prime Video streaming hours

Snap released its second annual diversity report — overall, showing marginal change in the makeup of its leadership ranks in 2020 compared with the year before. But the company is touting one standout metric: At least 53% of Snap Originals series included leads or hosts who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and/or

Netflix has launched a Nordic office in Sweden to continue ramping up production of original local content across Europe. The news was unveiled in a blog post penned by Lina Brouneus, the director of co-production and film acquisition at Netflix for the EMEA. Set to bow during the second half of 2021, the office will