Mediagazer: Warner Music's CEO advocates for paid services as streaming revenue rises 74% in last 12 months while download sales dropped by 12% (Peter Kafka/Re/code)

8:00 AM ET, December 16, 2014

Top News:

Bruce Houghton / hypebot:

Bose Is Building Their Own Streaming Music Service — Audio manufacturer Bose is hiring staff and moving “quickly” to build and launch its own “next generation streaming music platform”. While Bose could integrate their music service within their own audio products, the company still faces very steep competition.

Discussion: Guardian, App Advice, AppleInsider, Electronista, 9to5Mac, Engadget, Music Week, The Next Web, The Verge, VentureBeat and Digital Spy

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Warner Music's CEO advocates for paid services as streaming revenue rises 74% in last 12 months while download sales dropped by 12% — Warner Music Says it Loves Streaming Music - As Long as Listeners are Paying for it — Like other music labels, Warner Music Group thinks the boom in streaming music services is a good thing.

Mat Honan / Wired:

An inside look at First Look Media's The Racket before it collapsed — The Guerrilla Tactics of The Racket, and How It Almost Upended Journalism — In September, when it wasn't quite autumn in New York but after the long hot summer had ended, I rode up an elevator in New York's Flat Iron district …

Eugene Volokh / Washington Post:

Sony unlikely to prevail in court if it sues media organizations for publishing stolen data — Can Sony sue media outlets who publish the stolen Sony documents? — David Boies, representing Sony, has written a letter to various media outlets, demanding that they not publish or otherwise use …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Gawker, Poynter, CNNMoney.com, Wall Street Journal, Variety, @awallenstein, Gigaom, Krebs on Security and New York Times

Ryan Faughnder / Los Angeles Times:
Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton to staff: Hackers 'won't take us down'

Discussion: Deadline, Reuters, Los Angeles Business Journal, Hollywood Reporter and The Hill

James Bradshaw / Globe and Mail:

David Carr: All the views he's fit to print — “'Hey boss.” — This is the first time I've met David Carr, the weathered and worn, witty and sometimes caustic media critic for The New York Times. But he greets me like an old pal as he slides into a corner table at Casa Nonna …

Discussion: @jembradshaw

Alexandra Steigrad / WWD:
NYT Executive Editor Dean Banquet on coverage after buyouts, native ads, and turmoil at TNR

Discussion: FishbowlNY, @jeremymbarr, @mccollumashley and @cliffordlevy

Tom Huddleston Jr. / Fortune:

Vice Media sees ‘deal spree’, possible IPO on horizon — CEO Shane Smith says his company “would be stupid” to not consider an IPO. Vice Media CEO Shane Smith says the millennial-focused digital news company is eyeing a “deal spree” next year in prelude to an eventual IPO, according to the Financial Times.

Discussion: Financial Times, Politico, New York Post, Reuters, Hollywood Reporter, Digital TV Europe, The Drum and VideoInk

David Roman / Wall Street Journal:

Spain's Publishers Brace for Google News Shutdown — MADRID—Spain's government said Monday there are no ongoing talks to avoid a planned shutdown tomorrow of the Spanish version of Google Inc.'s news service, even as local media frets over the effect of a potential loss of Internet traffic.

Discussion: The Drum

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:

There's never been a better time to run a niche media business — As new-media players like BuzzFeed, Vox Media and VICE raise huge sums of money that value their companies in the billion-dollar-plus range, it's easy to see the media landscape as one in which the big get bigger and the small fry get annihilated.

Discussion: USA Today, NetNewsCheck Latest, @mathewi, @cdixon, @michaelwolffnyc, @cdixon, @simonowens, @monkbent and @rafat

Kevin M. Gallagher / The Daily Beast:

After over two years in jail, journalist and Anonymous advocate Barrett Brown faces sentencing Tuesday on charges stemming from Stratfor hack — Sentencing Looms for Barrett Brown, Advocate for “Anonymous” — Barrett Brown could face almost 10 years in prison on criminal hacking charges …

Discussion: Crime Blog, Courthouse News Service, FrontBurner, @denniscearl and RT

Nate Raymond / Reuters:

Apple e-book case enters appeals court; some judges seem sympathetic, citing Amazon dominance — U.S. faces tough questions in Apple e-books antitrust appeal — (Reuters) - A U.S. government lawyer faced tough questioning in an appeals court on Monday as he sought to defend a judge's ruling …

Discussion: Fortune, Gigaom, The Mac Observer, Consumerist and Wall Street Journal

Thomas Heath / Washington Post:

Time Inc.'s Norman Pearlstine, an old-media lion, drives magazines into the digital age — Norman Pearlstine can no longer peel a banana with his bare foot. — “I lost my fastball,” said the chief content officer of Time Inc. — Not really. — I read about the banana stunt …

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Ben Frumin / The Week:

TheWeek.com announces that it is closing its comments section before the end of the year — Why TheWeek.com is closing the comments section — In the age of social media, the smartest and most vibrant reader conversations have moved off of news sites and onto Facebook and Twitter

Discussion: Gigaom, Medium, Poynter, @mathewi, FishbowlNY, @theseantcollins, @samantharollins and @megangarber

Jacob Fischler / BuzzFeed:

Uber responds to Sen. Al Franken, says it accessed reporters' account because she was late, scales back access to God View; senator still dissatisfied — Uber Said It Accessed BuzzFeed News Reporter's Information Because She Was “Late” — The company, responding to Sen. Al Franken …