Tech

In an understated, very Swedish way, ABBA co-founder and CISAC president Bjorn Ulvaeus is apoplectic. We’re talking about the soaring value of song catalogs — a boom that has seen Bob Dylan sell his catalog for nearly $400 million, and Hipgnosis Songs spending more than $2 billion on acquisitions in just over three years, with

WWE is the latest entertainment company to catch NFT fever. The wrestling entertainment producer inked an exclusive, multiyear deal with Fox Entertainment’s Blockchain Creative Labs to launch an NFT marketplace for licensed digital WWE tokens and collectibles. Under the pact, WWE said it will create “authentic NFTs that celebrate the company’s entire catalog of digital

Pokimane, the popular Twitch gaming livestreamer, has announced a new entrepreneurial gig: She’s co-founder and chief creative officer of RTS, a talent management and brand consulting firm that spun out of Endeavor’s esports business. Imane Anys, known as Pokimane among her more than 30 million online followers, told Variety that RTS was formed to solve

SPOILER WARNING: This article discusses the plot of “Squid Game” and its ending. Hwang Dong-hyuk, creator, writer and director of Netflix’s global smash “Squid Game,” is a bit rankled by NBA superstar LeBron James’ comments about disliking the violent show’s ending. Hwang, in an interview with the Guardian published Tuesday, asked rhetorically, “Have you seen

Global royalties collections for music creators dropped 10.7% during 2020 due to the pandemic, declining by nearly €1 billion (approximately $1.16 billion) to a pre-2017 level of €8.12 billion (approximately $9.3 billion), according to the 2020 Global Collections Report published Wednesday by CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers. The collections were a

Spotify posted double-digit gains for overall monthly users and paid subscribers for the third quarter of 2021, in line with expectations, while its advertising revenue — fueled by its growing podcast slate — outperformed with with a 75% year-over-year increase. The company’s total monthly active users grew 19% year over year, to 381 million in

Twitter touted user gains in the third quarter of 2021 and reported healthy revenue growth but it dramatically missed Wall Street earnings estimates. The company said average monetizable DAUs reached 211 million in the quarter, up 13% year over year, a net gain of 5 million in the period. Average U.S. mDAUs were 37 million

YouTube kept raking in huge ad bucks in the third quarter of 2021 and now counts more than 50 million subscribers worldwide for its music and YouTube Premium services. The world’s largest video platform generated $7.205 billion in advertising revenue for the period, an annual increase of 43%. That’s a new quarterly record for YouTube,

In today’s podcast news roundup, Ashley Flowers and Audiochuck (“Crime Junkie”) ink an advertising and content deal with SiriusXM; Slate’s “Slow Burn” returns next month with an examination of the L.A. riots; NBA star Fred VanVleet sets the launch of his interview podcast; and more. DEALS Media and podcast company Audiochuck and its founder Ashley

Splice, a leading marketplace for music creators, and streaming platform SoundCloud have partnered to launch a new program designed to promote emerging music creators. Dubbed Nova, its aim is to “elevate” unsigned Splice and SoundCloud music creators, beginning with a series of contests across both communities. Splice has committed to releasing 12 Nova “artist packs,” a

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg insisted that misinformation and political polarization are not “primarily about social media” — and he complained about a raft of critical articles released in recent days based on internal documents leaked by ex-employees. On the social giant’s third-quarter earnings call, Zuckerberg claimed he welcomed scrutiny of Facebook. “But my view is

Facebook’s torrid revenue growth was tempered by Apple’s new ad-tracking opt-in requirement in iOS 14.5 — but the social giant still raked in a ton of money and posted profits that topped Wall Street expectations. For the third quarter of 2021, Facebook reported $29.01 billion in revenue, up 35% year-over-year. Net profit rose 17%, to

After a decade at YouTube, Malik Ducard is moving on: He’s been hired by Pinterest as the image-sharing and social media company’s first chief content officer. For the last two years, Ducard has been VP of content partnerships at YouTube, in charge of business development for the platform’s partnerships on film, TV, social impact, family

Cameo, the startup that has built a fast-growing business selling video shout-outs from celebrities (and others), is extending into a new line of fandom business. In its first acquisition, Cameo bought L.A.-based Represent, a marketing and merchandising platform that develops and operates direct-to-fan ecommerce sites for celeb clients including Jennifer Lopez, Ed Sheeran, Leonardo DiCaprio,

FaZe Clan says it’s about to become a unicorn. The esports and gaming media company announced plans Monday to combine with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in a deal to become a publicly traded entity — giving it an implied value of $1 billion. FaZe Clan, founded in 2010, said it combine with B.

Ed Sheeran has given fans a preview of each song on his forthcoming album, “=” (Equals) via 14 YouTube Shorts ahead of its official release this Friday. According to the announcement, the 14 Shorts “encapsulate the very personal journey of Sheeran’s album – four-years-in-the-making – with each one bringing to life the intimate and everyday

Facebook executives routinely dismissed or downplayed employee concerns about the spread of misinformation on its platform, both before and after the 2020 presidential election, according to a wave of coordinated articles published Friday citing newly leaked internal documents. The dismissive attitude among the company’s higher-ups left Facebook unprepared to deal with the events of Jan.

Redbox is about to hit the public markets. The DVD rental kiosk operator, which has been expanding into digital entertainment, announced that it completed its previously announced merger with Seaport Global Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company. The newly merged entity will be known as “Redbox Entertainment Inc.” Redbox’s common stock and

A test version of Donald Trump’s Twitter-like social network violated open-source software licensing terms, according to the not-for-profit Software Freedom Conservancy. The Software Freedom Conservancy, which enforces open-source software agreements, said Trump’s Truth Social website — launched by the newly formed Trump Media & Technology Group — failed to provide the source code to users,

Issa Rae, a self-described “major music fan,” provides new insights about the creation of the soundtrack for her HBO comedy “Insecure” in a new playlist on Spotify. “Insecure Interludes” combines music from the series with a discussion of its most memorable songs, the scoring process and the cultural impact of “Insecure’s” music. In addition to

Snapchat packed on more daily users than expected in the third quarter of 2021, adding 13 million in the period to reach an average of 306 million. But Snap’s stock was down 22% in after-hours trading — and plunged as much as 30% — after the company missed Q3 revenue expectations and CEO Evan Spiegel

Facebook Watch has greenlit talk show “Face to Face With Becky G” starring the global singer, actor and activist. On the weekly show, slated to premiere sometime next month on Facebook Watch, Becky G will invite her favorite artists, celebrities and friends for “unfiltered” conversations that cover issues relevant to her generation, the Latino community

Google Play, the internet giant’s Android app store, will reduce the fee it charges developers who sell subscriptions to 15%, starting when customers sign up for a recurring service plan. The change takes effect Jan. 1, 2022. Currently, Google Play — like Apple’s App Store — charges apps with subscriptions 30% in the first year,

In today’s podcast news roundup, Crooked Media’s “Offline With Jon Favreau” sets its premiere date and releases a preview, true-crime podcaster Daryn Carp dives into love gone wrong; Gina Rodriguez is among the cast joining Spotify and DC’s “Batman: Unburied”; Lemonada Media debuts true-crime podcast “Believe Her” about a woman sentenced to prison for killing

Spotify is encouraging all podcasters to add video to their shows on the platform — but some creators will have to wait before they can get access to “vodcasts.” Starting Thursday, anyone will be able to apply for access to video uploading features in Anchor, Spotify’s free self-publishing podcast division, which will distribute the episodes

There’s a new wind blowing through the building that houses Fox News Channel. Amy Freeze and Craig Herrera spent a recent weekday afternoon in a TV studio at the company’s New York headquarters rehearsing, but not for a new opinion program or roundtable show, but for a streamcast focused on the most-up-to-date news about the

Roku wants its customers to know: The streaming platform company is still battling Google over what it alleges are the internet giant’s anticompetitive demands for carrying YouTube. Back in April, Roku’s deal to distribute YouTube TV expired and Roku removed the app from its channel store. That came after the two sides failed to reach a renewal,

As the Netflix walkout in response to the company’s continued support of Dave Chappelle’s special “The Closer” is underway at the streamer’s Los Angeles headquarters, a new video that includes activists and Netflix talent alike has been released. “Stand Up in Solidarity With Team Trans* at Netflix!” includes appearances by Ashlee Marie Preston, Jonathan Van

This year’s YouTube Streamy Awards nominations are out, honoring 2021’s best internet video creators, shows and marketing campaigns across 47 categories. MrBeast, aka Jimmy Donaldson, is the top nominee this year. The popular YouTuber famous for his big-money giveaways, stunts and charitable initiatives, garnered seven nods including Creator of the Year, collaboration, live show and

Netflix, addressing an employee walkout Wednesday protesting the streamer’s defense of Dave Chappelle’s stand-up special rife with transphobic and homophobic commentary, issued a statement acknowledging “deep hurt” the controversy has caused. In a statement, Netflix said, “We value our trans colleagues and allies, and understand the deep hurt that’s been caused. We respect the decision