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 …
Discussion:
Taylor Swift, Big Machine Label Group, @halsey, Lefsetz Letter, New York Times, VICE, @marthahunt, @yashar, @allisonkaye, @josephkahn, @nprmusic, @gretchenpeters, @todrick, Washington Post, CBS News, Billboard and hypebot
Todd Spangler / Variety:
NBC News Now hires former Fox and WSJ reporter Alison Morris as its first full-time anchor, after launching the free streaming service in May — NBC News Now, five weeks after the free streaming service's launch, has a full-time anchor: Alison Morris, who most recently was with Fox Corp.'s Fox 5 in New York.
Discussion:
TVWeek.com, Deadline, Talking Biz News and TVNewser
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:
@elienyc, @cd_hooks, @kileykroh, @zackford, @mattyglesias, @willmenaker, @jbenton, @igorvolsky, @thedailybeast, @joesudbay, @asymmetricinfo, @waywardwinifred, @celisa_mia, @jamessurowiecki, @fshakir, @chrisbangsdc, @lhfang, @rebleber, @rebekahentralgo, @annaholmes, @ddayen, @daniellebmclean, @davidsirota, @shortformernie, @josephsreed, @alyssarosenberg, @lauraolin, CNN and Mediaite
Brian Barrett / Wired:
Loss of ebooks bought in Microsoft's book section is a reminder that digital rights management is defective by design as goods don't really belong to the buyer — YOUR ITUNES MOVIES, your Kindle books—they're not really yours. You don't own them. You've just bought a license that allows …
Discussion:
@michellemanafy, BGR, @williambibbiani, VICE, Gizmodo and CNET
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, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, Bloomberg, RAIN News, Engadget, Variety and Music Business Worldwide, more at Techmeme »
Erik Hayden / Hollywood Reporter:
Simon and Schuster to publish a book by CNN's Brian Stelter on the relationship between Trump and Fox News, in 2020 — The ‘Reliable Sources’ anchor will pen an untitled book looking at the network's relationship with the president, set to publish in 2020.
Discussion:
The Hill
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Epidemic Sound, a search engine for video producers looking to license music for soundtracks, raises $20M at a reported $370M valuation — The rise of streamed video has seen the market for licensing streamed music boom in the last few years, with not only consumers using video as a medium …
Discussion:
hypebot, more at Techmeme »
Patricia Nilsson / Financial Times:
Women comprise 40% of BBC's presenters making over £150K, up from 24% two years ago; media pay gap between men and women drops to 6.7% from 9.3% in 2017 — The BBC has significantly increased the amount it pays its most popular presenters, benefiting a record number of women …
Discussion:
Press Gazette and The Guardian
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Oscars Academy invites 842 new members, of which 50% are women and 29% are minorities; if all accept, composition will be 32% female and remain 16% POC — LOS ANGELES — Racing to make good on a 2016 pledge to double female and minority membership by the end of next year …
Discussion:
CNN, Vanity Fair and The Guardian
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Sony's PlayStation Vue raises prices by $5/month for all tiers, bringing the cheapest plan to $50/month, following YouTube TV, which raised prices in April — Sony's PlayStation Vue live TV streaming service is joining its rivals with the roll out another price increase.
Discussion:
Multichannel News, Engadget, The Verge, The Streamable and The Streamable, more at Techmeme »
Bloomberg:
Bain Capital is in exclusive talks to buy a majority stake in ad giant WPP's Kantar unit in a deal valuing Kantar at about $4B, including debt — - Negotiations value Kantar research unit at about $4 billion — Advertising giant confirms talks reported by Bloomberg earlier
Discussion:
Reuters, MediaPost, Wall Street Journal and Ad Age
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
Discussion:
@skooks, Poynter, American Press Institute, Miami New Times, @tmorris504, @jameskarst, @yatpundit, @lhcbmatt, @lamarwhitejr, @poynter, @bpwarsh, @jbenton, @poynter and @jbenton
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