Top News:
Dylan Byers / NBC News:
Spotify launches Renegades: Born in the USA, an exclusive, eight-episode podcast with Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen as co-hosts — Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen are making a podcast. — Spotify on Monday announced the launch of “Renegades: Born in the USA,” …
Discussion:
Variety, CNN, @dylanbyers, The Verge, Mediaite, The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, Vanity Fair, CNBC, Los Angeles Times, @johnlevenstein, @timothys, @danfostertype, @dylanbyers, @heminator, @heminator, @sethamandel, @jonallendc, @brendelbored, @anthony, @barackobama, @lucas_shaw, @nickriccardi, @edglavin, @benlabolt, @mikedelmoro, Spotify and The Verge
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Spotify says it will launch in 80+ new markets in the coming days, expanding from 93 markets, making the service available to 1B potential new users — Spotify unveiled plans to launch in 85 new markets over the next few days, areas that represent more than 1 billion potential new listeners, according the company.
Discussion:
@eldsjal, CNET, @dbricej and @kerrymflynn, more at Techmeme »
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Spotify debuts features for creators like polls and Q&A tools to make podcasts interactive, partners with Wordpress to turn text into podcasts using Anchor — Spotify on Monday announced a slew of new tools to help podcast creators on its platform develop more interactive shows.
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Spotify says it will launch a subscription later this year called HiFi that will offer “CD-quality, lossless audio”; Spotify currently tops out at 320kbps audio
Discussion:
TechCrunch, CNET, Variety, XDA Developers, Spotify, @lucas_shaw, @chriswelch, Music Business Worldwide, @iamkory, @stevekopack, @varadmehta, @chriswelch, 9to5Google, @spotify and Spotify, more at Techmeme »
Ben Smith / New York Times:
Russian investigative journalism is flourishing alongside “probiv”, the buying of data on phone calls, cell location, or air travel off Telegram or the dark web — A new wave of news outlets has used conventional, and unconventional, methods to pierce the veil of Putin's power.
Discussion:
@eliothiggins, @kenroth, @michaelsderby, @benweinthal, @andrew__roth, @atanessi, @rasmus_kleis, @elimeixler, @felixsalmon, @nprkelly, @lionelbarber, @sulliview, @samanthajpower, @hatr, @cliffordlevy, @maxseddon, @anthony, @crtejada, @kenroth, @christopherjm, @hshaban, @kenroth, @mattzeitlin and @paulmozur, more at Techmeme »
Alex Barker / Financial Times:
Microsoft says it will work with Europe's four largest news publishing lobbying groups to “mandate payments” for content used by “gatekeepers” — Seattle-based company aligns with press industry and exploits rivals' difficulties — Microsoft has joined forces …
Los Angeles Times:
Investigation finds non-profit HFPA, which runs Golden Globes, makes substantial payments to members, as questions persist about its ethics and legitimacy — It appeared to be a moment of triumph in the long, tumultuous story of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.
Discussion:
@juliaturner, Los Angeles Times, @jackshafer, @franklinleonard, @bendreyfuss, Insider, @jacoboller, Hollywood Reporter, @piyasroy, @markharrisnyc, @dangillmor, @farhip, @nancywyuen, @latimes, @juliaturner, @juliaturner, @juliaturner, @mchenryjd, @juliaturner, @meredithblake, @hannaflint, @joshuahorowitz, @sarafischer, The Week, @davidfolkenflik, @markharrisnyc, @lalehkhalili, The Wrap, Variety, Always Be Watching, IndieWire and The A.V. Club
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Google tells ad partners that it will lift its ban on all political ads starting Wednesday, after banning them following the Capitol riot — Google informed its advertising partners Monday that its platforms will resume accepting all political ads starting Wednesday, after banning them following …
Discussion:
Gizmodo, @ericwilson, @russcontreras, @authentic_hq, CNBC and @alaynatreene, more at Techmeme »
Elaine Low / Variety:
Discovery reports Q4: revenue of $2.9B, beating estimates, and Discovery+ has 11M subscribers after launching in January — The company reported earnings of 76 cents per share and revenue of $2.889 billion, vs. Street projections for per-share earnings of 72 cents on revenue of $2.83 billion.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Discovery Communications, MediaPost, The Wrap, The Wrap, The Streamable and New York Post
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Defector, the employee-owned site that began after a staff walkout at Deadspin, is doing surprisingly well and is financially self-sustaining six months in — Mahatma Gandhi didn't actually say “Be the change you want to see in the world,” but if he had, he probably wouldn't have been thinking …
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, @sulliview, @ashleyfeinberg, @drewmagary, @emmabaccellieri, @sulliview and The Muffin por Mauricio …
Rachel Abrams / New York Times:
Ahead of a hearing on Wednesday, Congressional Democrats ask cable and tech companies how they combatted misinformation from Fox News, OANN, and Newsmax — Before a hearing scheduled for Wednesday, Democratic members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked cable companies what they did to combat …
Discussion:
Politico, @rachelabramsny, The Hill, @oliverdarcy, CNBC, @dylanbyers, @pkafka and @ggreenwald
Brendan Brady / ANTENNA:
Analysis: The Office drove 3.9x sign-ups to Peacock vs average December weekend; Netflix churn rate was not impacted as <1% of Netflix subs signed-up to Peacock — After finding a second life as a cultural phenomenon on Netflix, The Office returned home to NBCU's Peacock on January 1, 2021.
Discussion:
The Streamable and Observer
Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
Soon-Shiong family denies WSJ reports about plans to sell LA Times, and both Union-Tribune's COO and publisher say no plans exist to sell the San Diego paper — Los Angeles Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong on Friday reaffirmed his commitment to the news organization.
Discussion:
@drpatsoonshiong, @timcarman, @jayrosen_nyu, @brittny_mejia, @latlands, @408nate, @drpatsoonshiong, @steffdaz, @ckrewson, @busblog, @gerrickkennedy, @melissamdaniels and New York Post
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Lukas I. Alpert / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Patrick Soon-Shiong is exploring a sale of LA Times and considered transferring management of The San Diego Union-Tribune to Alden's MediaNews Group
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, @katie_robertson, @latguild, @rasmus_kleis, Insider, @brenden_tucc, @maxwelltani, @jacobrubashkin, @robenfarzad, @daviddebolt, @kenbensinger, @drpatsoonshiong, Los Angeles Magazine, @edmundlee, @sewellchan, @chaykak, @katie_robertson, @brooklynmarie, Media Nation, @suhaunah, @doree, @bigblackjacobin, @edmundlee, @edmundlee, @anniesciacca, @elanazak, @jimfriedlich, @sewellchan, @ckrewson, @pottsmark, @mattdpearce, @marcosantana, @petersterne, @edmundlee, @jeffjarvis, @pauledroberts, @ggreeneva, @timmarchman, @seungminkim, @bobshrum, @johnjcook, @alex_roarty, @loisbeckett, @mollymotoole, @johnmyers, @froomkin, @benfritz, @benfritz, @karavoght, @jbenton, @sarahsholder, @hshaban, @nycsouthpaw, @kenli729, @jbflint, @jbenton, @maxwelltani, @mikeisaac and Esotouric's Secret Los Angeles
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