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Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Audio: Daniel Ek says Spotify needs exclusives for leverage to land deals with Amazon, Google, and others, and that Spotify is a platform, not a publisher — He says Spotify is a platform, not a publisher — Spotify CEO Daniel Ek addressed employees about the Joe Rogan controversy …
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Christi Carras / Los Angeles Times:
Neil Young's former bandmates, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash, ask their music labels to remove their collective recordings from Spotify
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@lucas_shaw, UPROXX, NPR, @mmasnick, @brianna_ashby, @kennethcolereal, @forbes, @dcseifert, @willmcavoyacn, The Daily Beast, Variety, Pitchfork, Breitbart and Music Business Worldwide
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Spotify reports Q4 revenue of €2.69B, up 24% YoY, 406M MAUs, up 18% YoY, and ad-supported revenue of €394M, up 40% YoY and a record 15% of total revenue
Discussion:
Protocol, Spotify, The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, @accessnow, @chriswelch, ZDNet, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw and @kerrymflynn, more at Techmeme »
Rebecca Klar / The Hill:
Wikimedia Foundation and other media groups say a proposed bill that would let news publishers negotiate with tech platforms would hurt small and local outlets — A proposal aimed at giving news publishers the power to bargain with dominant tech platforms over the distribution of their content …
Discussion:
American Press Institute, The Rural Blog, insideradio.com and Washington Post
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Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
UK and Canada draft laws similar to Australia's news bargaining code, which basically determines how much money outlets need to stop complaining about Google — The U.K. and Canada look ready to copy Australia's idea to force Google and Facebook to give publishers money.
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@emilybell, @chrismsutcliffe, @dangillmor, @pilhofer, @damiencave, @rasmus_kleis, @corinne_podger, @jayrosen_nyu and @mattnavarra
Shawn McCreesh / New York Magazine:
CNN staffers puzzle over Jeff Zucker's sudden move as his relationship was an “open secret”: “this is Kilar taking his succession swipe back at Jeff” — At first, it seemed like Jeff Zucker was just another piece of collateral damage from Andrew Cuomo's demise …
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Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Jeff Zucker's tenure at CNN is defined by his pursuit of ratings, which guided his relationship with Donald Trump, whose persona he helped create and burnish — Many questions still swirl around Wednesday's startling announcement that, after nine years, Jeff Zucker's reign as CNN president was over.
Discussion:
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Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Jeff Zucker resigns as CNN president and chair of WarnerMedia's news and sports division, saying he didn't disclose a relationship with a senior CNN executive
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Brian Stelter / CNN:
CNN's chief marketing officer Allison Gollust says she and Jeff Zucker started a relationship “during COVID”; Gollust will remain at CNN
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Rick Edmonds / Poynter:
Alden's effort to take over Lee Enterprises heats up, with a court hearing on February 7 and competing proposals for Lee's board ahead of a meeting on March 10 — Four recent developments in the hedge fund's attempt to take over the owner of St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Omaha World-Herald, The Buffalo News and more.
Discussion:
Lee Enterprises, Inc., @spj_tweets and Business Wire
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Lee Enterprises, Inc.:
Lee Enterprises reports $13.2M net income on $202.3M revenue for the quarter ending in December; digital subscriptions rose 57% during the quarter to 450K — Digital-only subscribers grew 57%; exceeds halfway mark to 2026 target of 900K Digital Advertising Revenue totaled $43M in the quarter (+19% YOY)
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Poynter
BBC:
Meta reports Q4 ad revenue of $32.6B, up 20% YoY, but warns sales growth could be 3%-11% in Q1 2022 due to iOS changes, inflation, and supply chain disruptions — Facebook-owner Meta has warned of slowing growth, as audiences flock to competitors like TikTok and the businesses that advertise on its platforms cut marketing budgets.
Discussion:
Facebook, CNBC, CNBC, Variety, Reclaim The Net, Variety, @eric_seufert, @aparanjape, @ashkan, @corymillsfl, @hotlinejosh, @xpangler, Reuters, Sky News, Ad Age, Hollywood Reporter and Deadline, more at Techmeme »
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Anna Gross / Financial Times:
BT says it has started exclusive discussions with Discovery over forming a joint venture for BT Sport, deciding against a sale to DAZN — UK telecoms group considers 50/50 alliance with Eurosport UK after deciding against sale to DAZN — BT has started exclusive discussions …
Discussion:
Next TV, The Drum, Daily Mail, Bloomberg, Sky News, @tariqpanja, @chrisrobwill, @tariqpanja, Broadband TV News, @tariqpanja, @tw_seal, BT plc, The Independent, @tariqpanja, Digital TV Europe, @tariqpanja, Deadline, @martingrantross, Advanced Television, @tw_seal, @frankdunnetvsm, @cg_williams, The Guardian and Sportico
Sarah Ellison / Washington Post:
Sarah Palin's libel case against NYT begins, with the potential to alter precedent granting broad protections to news outlets writing about public figures — The former Alaska governor claims the paper defamed her with a 2017 editorial that was later corrected, in a case that tests long-standing protections for publishers
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera, MSNBC, Associated Press, @sarahellison, @erikwemple, @erikwemple, @erikwemple, Law & Crime, Page Six and New York Post
DW.COM:
Russia closes DW's Moscow bureau, revokes accreditations, terminates broadcasting, and plans to label it a “foreign agent” after Germany banned RT-DE — Russia has withdrawn the press credentials of all Deutsche Welle staff and is shutting down the organization's studio in Moscow.
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
NBC says its Super Bowl ad inventory is sold out across NBC, Telemundo, and Peacock, with some 30-second units selling for $7M — Kickoff for Super Bowl LVI is still days away, but NBC has scored at least one touchdown. — NBC has sold out all of its inventory for the Big Game …
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