Top News:
Andrew Flanagan / NPR:
Big Machine Label Group, Taylor Swift's old label, was sold to a company owned by the manager of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande; source: deal valued at $300M+ — The country-pop record company Big Machine Label Group, one of the most successful independent labels in the country …
Sam Stein / The Daily Beast:
Progressive news site ThinkProgress, launched 14 years ago, is put up for sale by the Center for American Progress as it faces falling ad revenue and donations — News site launched during the Bush years is running millions of dollars short. Its parent think tank says it will consider the editorial leanings of prospective owners.
Discussion:
CNN, @rebleber, @elienyc, @zackford, @willmenaker, @asymmetricinfo, @jamessurowiecki, @rebekahentralgo, @ddayen, @davidsirota, @lauraolin, @josephsreed, @mattyglesias, @fshakir, @annaholmes and @alyssarosenberg
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Spotify ends its direct music upload beta program for artists after debuting it last year, saying it would rather focus on features unique to the platform — Spotify is shutting down a program that allowed indie artists to upload their own music to the streaming service, the company announced today.
Discussion:
artists.spotify.com, RAIN News, Variety, Music Business Worldwide and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Samantha Sunne / Poynter:
Of the 65 journalists laid off at New Orleans' Times-Picayune, 19 plan to remain as journalists in the city; The Advocate hired 10, 3 with grant-funded salaries — Less than a third of the former Times-Picayune staffers are staying in New Orleans journalism
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Poynter, @skooks, @yatpundit, @lhcbmatt, @jameskarst, @tmorris504, @poynter, @poynter, @bpwarsh, @marshallramsey and Marshall Ramsey Fan …
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Nielsen Total Audience Report: 21% of SVOD users give up watching if they can't decide what to watch; the average adult takes 7.4 minutes to make a selection — The proliferation of streaming and the novelty of the subscription video on demand interface are contributing …
Discussion:
Broadcasting & Cable, MediaPost, Adweek and New York Post
Alyssa Bereznak / The Ringer:
How TikTok users are supplanting the traditional functions of record labels, like talent scouting and publicity, for new artists — Lil Nas X's ‘Old Town Road’ is both a chart-topping phenomenon and a turning point for the music business. Here's what happens when a social media platform becomes a label.
Discussion:
@mediasmarts
Stephania Taladrid / Columbia Journalism Review:
Profile of Marcela Turati, a Mexican reporter covering the effects of the drug war and a press freedom advocate in a country whose institutions don't defend it — In Mexico, a journalist learns to cope with the drug war's horror and heartbreak — Marcela Turati drove to Villa Ahumada …
Discussion:
@madeleinewhat
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Pluto TV launches Pluto TV Latino, 11 free linear channels, which it says is the biggest collection of Hispanic programming on an ad-supported streaming service — Pluto TV is targeting Hispanic audiences — long underserved in the streaming space — with Pluto TV Latino …
Discussion:
Broadcasting & Cable and The Streamable
Sara Jerde / Adweek:
Hearst enters the streaming market with All Out Studio, a fitness app available on Apple TV and mobile on July 11, priced at $100/year or $15/month — Hearst Magazines is getting into the SVOD (subscription video on demand) space with a new fitness app, called “All Out Studio.”
Hannah Knowles / Washington Post:
New WH press secretary Stephanie Grisham was bruised in a scuffle with N. Korean security while helping US media gain access to Trump's meeting with Kim Jong Un — New White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham was bruised Sunday in a scuffle between North Korean security and members …
Discussion:
Poynter, @jenniferjjacobs, @klasfeldreports, Media Matters for America, @yashar, @bradmossesq, @boutrousted, The Week and Quartz
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
MobiTV, which enables pay-TV companies to provide streaming video services without a set-top box, raises $50M in funding — MobiTV has raised $50 million in funding to expand its pay TV delivery system internationally. — Emeryville, California-based MobiTV sells its platform to providers of pay TV …
Discussion:
Radio & Television …, TechCrunch, Multichannel News and Variety
Rita Liao / TechCrunch:
China ordered suspension or termination of 26 audio-focused apps on Friday; Apple restricted access to podcasts not hosted by Chinese partners in June — Audio apps are flying high in China. In 2018, online listeners in the country grew 22.1% to surpass 400 million, at a rate far exceeding …
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