Top News:
Glenn Peoples / Billboard:
Apple Music's Goal: Some Subscribers Now, Lots of Hardware Sales Later — Will Apple Music turn around the record business? Will Apple Music help Apple sell more iPhones and laptops? There are some guesses but little certainty to both questions. — While the music industry …
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Bob Lefsetz / The Lefsetz Letter:
Apple Music: too much hype, not enough focus on usability, and requires a credit card up front — Apple Music — Botched launch. Terminal? Probably not, but we expect so much of Apple. We had to listen to Jimmy and Drake testify, but no one focused on usability …
Micah Singleton / The Verge:
Facebook has held early talks with the major music labels, future plans may involve the company's video platform — Facebook is talking with music labels, but why? — Facebook has held talks with the major labels about “getting into music,” multiple sources tell The Verge.
Damaris Colhoun / Columbia Journalism Review:
Inside the tensions at Bloomberg News, facing several recent high-level departures and rumors that Mike Bloomberg wants to scale back some enterprise reporting — Bloomberg's new regime and tensions over the editorial vision — In April, Zachary Mider's groundbreaking story …
Discussion:
@sohrabahmari, @louwhiteman, @kenli729, @cjr, Poynter and Politico
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Scribd found that paying publishers based on how much readers read is too expensive in genres like romance — What Scribd's growing pains mean for the future of digital content subscription models — Netflix earned more than $5 billion in 2014. No wonder companies want to be …
Discussion:
@niemanlab, @ylichterman, @laurahazardowen, Bookseller News, Engadget, Publishers Weekly, The Scribd Blog, Guardian and Smashwords
Ricardo Bilton / Digiday:
Microsoft's ad business withered because it tried to beat Google in search, overspent on aQuantive, and had warring factions in its organization — Autopsy: Why Microsoft's ad business withered — On Tuesday, Microsoft said that it was handing over its ad sales business to AOL …
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
VR startup Jaunt unveils 360-degree Neo camera for high-end VR movie production, will lease the device to partners starting in August — Jaunt unveils a high-end camera setup for virtual reality movies — Virtual reality games might have taken the center stage at E3 earlier this month …
Russell Brandom / The Verge:
Chicago's 9% cloud tax now applies to “electronically delivered amusements” like Netflix — Chicago's ‘cloud tax’ makes Netflix and other streaming services more expensive — The past five years have seen a huge shift in the way we consume media, as brick-and-mortar stores shift to digital subscriptions.
Discussion:
Fortune, @reckless, Consumerist, The Next Web and Chicago
Reuters:
Sources: FCC to approve AT&T's $48.5B DirecTV acquisition with conditions as soon as next week — U.S. approval of AT&T-DirecTV deal expected as soon as next week: sources — AT&T Inc's (T.N) proposed $48.5 billion acquisition of DirecTV (DTV.O) is expected to get U.S. regulatory approval …
Discussion:
@alinaselyukh
Milton Kent / Washington Post:
Keith Olbermann and ESPN may be heading for another breakup — Stop us if you've heard this before: ESPN and Keith Olbermann may be on the outs. — The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that, as a condition for Olbermann's two-year contract to be renewed, the erstwhile commentator can't do commentary on his ESPN2 show.
Discussion:
TVNewser, Variety, Deadspin, The Big Lead, Deadline, Mediaite and The Daily Caller
Daniel Frankel / FierceCable:
Cable One, a Phoenix-based cable and Internet provider, spins off from Graham Holdings — Cable One officially spins off, enjoys strong first day as M&A target — Cable One has officially spun off from Graham Holdings, with the Phoenix-based MSO's stock spiking as much as 6 percent …
Discussion:
Multichannel News and bizjournals
Dylan Byers / Politico:
Released State Department email says Pulitzer winner Leslie Gelb promised Hillary Clinton a “veto” over profile of her — Leslie Gelb admits to giving Hillary Clinton advance read on 2009 profile — Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Leslie Gelb says he did not give Hillary Clinton …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Mother Jones, @jrubinblogger, @jpodhoretz, @kerpen, @dylanbyers and Bloomberg Business