Mediagazer: Spotify expands Podcast Subscriptions globally with 20 price points from $0.50 to $150 and will let creators download subscribers' contact info (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)

12:10 PM ET, November 18, 2021

Top News:

Rupert Murdoch accuses Google and Facebook of trying to silence conservative voices and cites a lawsuit claiming they colluded on digital ad market manipulation — Rupert Murdoch renewed his attacks on Google and Facebook during News Corp's annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday …

Discussion: The Guardian, Newser, Axios, Vanity Fair, Insider, @martysilkhack, @thetowncrier, Press Gazette, @jonkudelka, New York Post, @mrkrudd, Bloomberg, Mumbrella, The Hill, Mediaite and The Wrap

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Spotify expands real-time lyrics to all users globally in partnership with Musixmatch, after initially launching in 26 markets — After years of ignoring consumer demand for in-app lyrics, particularly in the U.S., Spotify announced today it will make a new Lyrics feature available to all global users …

Discussion: Spotify, CNET, Variety, Fast Company, @eldsjal, Trusted Reviews, Digital Trends, XDA Developers, The Verge, 9to5Mac, @spotifynews and @richlightshed, more at Techmeme »

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

Axios Local expands to 11 new cities for a total of 25, with plans for 25 more cities in 2022; CFO says it is on pace to earn $5M in revenue by year end — Axios Local is going bicoastal. The city-based network of free, local newsletters announced Thursday morning that it is expanding to 11 new locations …

Discussion: @jonathanvswan, @djtweets, @russcontreras, @markstenberg3, @jimvandehei, @ssavitsky, @adweek and @adamwren

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Spotify expands Podcast Subscriptions globally with 20 price points from $0.50 to $150 and will let creators download subscribers' contact info — Just a few months after launching support for podcast subscriptions to U.S. creators, Spotify today is making the service available to creators in global markets.

Discussion: Fast Company, RAIN News, Podcast Movement, Variety, What's New in Publishing, Music Ally and XDA Developers

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Hulu launches Shop Hulu, a site selling limited-edition collections of clothes and lifestyle products related to its content library — This summer, Netflix launched its own shopping site that allowed fans to purchase apparel, accessories and other lifestyle products from their favorite shows, like “Stranger Things.”

The Marshall Project:

The Marshall Project is launching a newsroom in Cleveland in 2022, which will collaborate with local outlets and is partially funded by a Gund Foundation grant — New support from the Gund Foundation to drive expansion of local investigative reporting — The Marshall Project …

Discussion: Scene and Heard, @danmoulthrop, @schwartzapfel, @marshallproj, @geraldinesealey, @racheldissell and @davidfolkenflik

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

As well-written obituaries of prominent figures attract large online readership, outlets are bolstering their pre-written obituaries, including 1,850 at NYT — When Rush Limbaugh died this year, the mainstream media he had so long railed against gave him the kind of immaculately choreographed send-off …

Discussion: Editor and Publisher, @risenc, @katierosman, @john_p_carvalho, @richardjustice, @davidmaraniss, @ashkan, @ktumulty, @alexvadukul, @raju, @dlippman, @dlippman, @ironicsans, @oknox, @paulschwartzman and @amyargetsinger

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Russian tech exec Aleksej Gubarev drops his defamation lawsuit against BuzzFeed over its publication of Steele dossier — A Russian internet entrepreneur has dropped a four-year legal battle against BuzzFeed over its publication of the so-called Steele dossier, a politically charged compendium …

Discussion: emptywheel, @emptywheel, @joshgerstein and TK News

Agence France-Presse:

Google will begin paying Agence France-Presse for content in Europe as part of a five-year partnership, the first with a news agency under a 2019 EU directive — Under the agreement with Google, AFP will also offer fact-checking training on several continents (AFP/Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD)

Discussion: Reuters and @risj_oxford

Peter White / Deadline:

Bad Robot launches a podcast division, to be led by former Audible and Spotify exec Christina Choi, and strikes a multiyear first-look deal with Spotify — JJ Abrams' Bad Robot is moving into the audio space. — The production company is launching its own podcast division …

Discussion: @baekdal, Spotify, Engadget and Los Angeles Times

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:

Fourthwall, an all-in-one creator commerce service that provides tools to set up merch stores, membership programs, tipping, and more, raises $17M — Let's say you're a YouTube star — honestly, it's not impossible, given that now, some estimate that over 20,000 YouTubers have at least 1 million subscribers.

Discussion: Fast Company, Fourthwall and @fourthwallhq

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Daily Mail editor Geordie Greig steps down; Ted Verity will become Mail Newspapers editor overseeing Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, and You magazine — Daily Mail editor Geordie Greig is leaving his role this week, with the Mail on Sunday's Ted Verity stepping up to take charge of a new seven-day operation.

Discussion: The Guardian, The Guardian, Spectator, @domponsford, @johayeslibdem, @brexit_sham, @jolyonmaugham, @hautepop, @warrenmorgan, @andrew_adonis, @brokenbottleboy, @pressgazette, @jimwaterson, @jimwaterson, Vanity Fair and The Independent

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More News:

Chrissy Towle / The Keyword:
Google selects 25 projects from local news outlets to receive a share of $3.2M+ in the North America Innovation Challenge to build ties to their communities

Discussion: @jkealing, Google News Initiative, @raju, @pennyriordan1, @ncnewsworks, @nicdawes, @localmediaassoc, @reillykneedler, @eugwklycamilla, @ncnewsworks, @localmediaassoc, Editor and Publisher and Local Media Association …

Patrick Hipes / Deadline:
National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences says the Children's & Family Emmy Awards will be a standalone show starting in 2022

Discussion: Variety, nexttv.com, The Wrap and Hollywood Reporter

Antoinette Siu / The Wrap:
Substack expands its health insurance program to all US writers making over $5,000 in gross annualized revenue on the service

Discussion: Substack and @caseymlewis

Micah Singleton / Billboard:
Tidal launches a free tier in the US and direct-to-artist payments with fan-centered royalties based on HiFi Plus subscribers' streaming activity

Discussion: @tidal, PR Newswire, @mqamusic, @tidal, @tidal, @micahsingleton, @alex, CNET, @aaronesilvers, @jack, CelebrityAccess, Variety, Gizmodo, Digital Trends, Engadget, 9to5Mac, Music Business Worldwide, Music Ally and The Verge

The Hollywood Reporter:
Sources: Disney held talks with betting operators about an ESPN partnership, with BetMGM, Caesars, and DraftKings seen as frontrunners

Discussion: @brianroemmele, @erik_hayden, @stearnsseattle, @news_maker and @mediaevan

Steve Inskeep / @nprinskeep:
[Thread] Complaints that journalists should have published Trump info sooner rather than holding it for books is mistaken, as reporting with context takes time

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, @scarylawyerguy, @owillis, @norsemythnews, @dangillmor, @ericboehlert, @nprinskeep, @digiphile, @nprinskeep, @digiphile, @nprinskeep, @nprinskeep, @nprinskeep, @nprinskeep and @brianstelter

Earlier Picks:

Giving Compass:
Institute for Nonprofit News Index finds 90%+ of ~400 nonprofit newsrooms tracked over the past 12 years are operating; ~70% have at least four revenue sources

Discussion: @michellemanafy

Rebecca Davis / Variety:
In a five-year plan, China wants domestic films to make up 55% of box office, encourages film companies to invest abroad, plans for 100K movie screens, and more

Discussion: Insider, @zeeshanaleem, @mattzeitlin, @comfortablysmug and Deadline

USAGM:
USAGM reports that it reached 394M people in 62 languages each week in 2021, up 42% since 2017, with top audiences in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:
US agrees to provide renewable yearlong visas to Chinese journalists, while China lets WSJ, WaPo, and NYT reporters return

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Netflix expands its Top 10 lists to display the most-viewed shows and movies, for English and non-English titles, ranked by aggregate viewing hours

From Techmeme:

Financial Times:
Microsoft invests $1.5B in Abu Dhabi-based AI startup G42 for a minority stake, after G42 severed ties with Chinese suppliers; Brad Smith will join G42's board

Connor Jones / The Register:
UnitedHealth says the February ransomware attack on Change Healthcare cost the company $872M in Q1; another ransomware group appears to be extorting the company

Raphael Satter / Reuters:
The Open Source Security Foundation and the OpenJS Foundation say the attempt to insert a secret backdoor into XZ Utils “may not be an isolated incident”

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