Mediagazer: French music streaming service Deezer plans to go public via a SPAC merger at a €1.05B valuation and says it has 9.6M subscribers and had €400M in 2021 revenue (Nick Kostov/Wall Street Journal)

6:40 AM ET, April 19, 2022

Top News:

Filings: three Alex Jones companies, including Infowars, filed for bankruptcy protection in Texas on Sunday, after they were found liable in Sandy Hook lawsuits — Companies owned by far-right radio host Alex Jones filed for bankruptcy after being hit by a flurry of lawsuits.

Emma Roth / The Verge:

Report: Microsoft is working on a program to let select brands advertise within free-to-play Xbox games, such as on a billboard, and won't take a revenue cut — The ads supposedly wouldn't disrupt gameplay — Microsoft is reportedly working on a program that will let brands showcase …

Discussion: Insider, @seyitaylor, TechCrunch, The GameDiscoverCo newsletter, @patrickcoffee, @swodinsky, ScreenRant, I have some questions and CNET, more at Techmeme »

Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:

A US appeals court reaffirms that scraping publicly accessible content on the internet is legal, ending a landmark case LinkedIn brought against rival Hiq Labs — Good news for archivists, academics, researchers and journalists: Scraping publicly accessible data is legal, according to a U.S. appeals court ruling.

Discussion: @seldo, @chrismessina, @adamsinger, @nicoaferr, @jhong, @themarkup, Protocol, @jbenton, MediaPost, @zackwhittaker, @alexmleo, Transistori and @johnmaeda, more at Techmeme »

Alistair Gray / Financial Times:

Kantar: UK users canceled ~1.5M subscriptions to Disney+, Apple TV+, Now, and others in Q1 2022, due to inflation; 58% of households kept at least one service — About 1.5mn accounts terminated within three months as inflation squeezes finances — British households have cancelled video subscriptions …

Discussion: @unloveablesteve, @simonjharris, @john_stepek, @carlquintanilla and @avasantina

Nick Kostov / Wall Street Journal:

French music streaming service Deezer plans to go public via a SPAC merger at a €1.05B valuation and says it has 9.6M subscribers and had €400M in 2021 revenue — French music streaming service is merging with a special-purpose acquisition company, aiming to go public

Discussion: Music Ally, Financial Times, SiliconANGLE, PYMNTS.com, Channel News, Variety, TechCrunch and Digital Music News, more at Techmeme »

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Stem, which offers music rights management software for independent artists, raises $20M from QED Investors and Block, bringing its total funding to nearly $40M — Jordan Higa was waiting for her flight when she stopped to ask her travel companion how much they would spend on tickets to see BTS perform live.

Discussion: Axios, @lucas_shaw, @qedinvestors, Variety, Music Business Worldwide and @stem

Richard J. Tofel / Second Rough Draft:

Legacy local newspapers should eliminate national news and use the freed-up money and space to produce more local content, making themselves more distinctive — Thinking about the problem of local news from the supply side — Welcome to Second Rough Draft, a newsletter about journalism in our time …

Discussion: @mike_canan, @jamcnn, @jere_hester and Nieman Lab

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

Spotify says it may restrict and limit the reach of content that comes close to the line under its Platform Rules but doesn't meet the threshold of removal — After Spotify's Joe Rogan Experience released a widely derided episode that made covid vaccines sound as safe as Russian roulette …

Discussion: @janinezacharia, @jbenton, @jbenton, @blackamazon, @tiagodf, @niemanlab and @joefav

Michael Grothaus / Fast Company:

Netflix debuts the Exploding Kittens animated comedy series and a game for Android and iOS, launching a series and a game across a single IP for the first time — The streaming industry has grown exponentially in the past several years. Where there was once only Netflix, now there's Disney Plus …

Discussion: TechCrunch, The Wrap, The Verge, SlashFilm, Variety, 9to5Mac, Engadget and The Streamable

Elizabeth A. Harris / New York Times:

How Barnes & Noble, with book sales up 14% from pre-pandemic, went from a threat to industry anchor by letting store managers choose books to promote and more — To independent booksellers, the enormous chain was once a threat. Now it's vital to their survival. And it's doing well.

Daniel Wiessner / Reuters:

Paramount agrees to pay $14.75M to CBS shareholders in a lawsuit claiming CBS misled investors by not disclosing sexual misconduct allegations against Moonves — Paramount Global (PARA.O) has agreed to pay $14.75 million to shareholders of the former CBS Corp in a proposed class action claiming …

Discussion: FTVLive, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Variety and New York Post

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Reuters says it had its biggest month ever for client use of its video content in March, with 4.5M+ uses on TV across the world, driven by interest in Ukraine — International news agency Reuters' extensive on the ground coverage from Ukraine has seen record-breaking use of its pictures …

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More News:

LSM:
Q&A with the editor of Novaya Gazeta Europe, based partially in Latvia, as the Russian newspaper launches a European edition to dodge Russian censorship

Discussion: @lsm_eng

Nancy Tartaglione / Deadline:
Netflix partners with the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture to provide a one-time, $250,000 grant to support five Arab female film producers and directors

Mia Sato / The Verge:
The Parcast union details its new three-year Spotify contract, including 10% to 25% pay raises for the lowest-paid employees, diversity promises, and more

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter and @wgaeast

David Hume Kennerly / New York Times:
Photojournalist David Hume Kennerly on the power of graphic images in Ukraine and other conflicts: “The best photographs of war might make us want to look away”

Discussion: @anncurry, @peterbakernyt, @natashakhanhk, @kennerly, @cliffordlevy, @dabeard and @nickkristof

Ian Johnston / Financial Times:
Ukrainian independent media is finding success on Patreon; The Kyiv Independent, which raised $1.5M on GoFundMe, making $73K+/month from almost 7,000 patrons

Discussion: @mroliverbarnes, @shashj and @w_kononczuk

Earlier Picks:

Alyssa Meyers / Morning Brew:
Spotify's recent Podsights and Chartable acquisitions are raising concerns over the availability of third-party podcast metrics for advertisers and publishers

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Most broadcasts on BBC Three, which relaunched as a live TV channel in February to focus on young viewers, are failing to attract more than 100K viewers

Discussion: @jamin2g and @cameronyardejnr

Natalia Antelava / Coda Story:
Independent reporters and outlets covering Afghanistan, Ukraine, and other regions say Meta's overly broad content moderation policies are limiting their reach

Discussion: @codastory and @mediaborscht

Ken Doctor / Nieman Lab:
Ken Doctor reflects on the first 18 months of local digital outlet Lookout Santa Cruz, which has 13 employees and a revenue mix of 60% ads and 40% membership

Discussion: What's New in Publishing, American Press Institute, @niemanlab, @jayrosen_nyu and @alanmillernlp

Tom Hals / Reuters:
The New York Times sues an anti-immigration author for the cost to defend itself against his 2020 defamation lawsuit, a first under NY's expanded anti-SLAPP law

Discussion: @lawsuitsdevin, @ericowensdc, @mmasnick and @michaelehayden

From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: the new iPad Pro may launch with an M4 chip, kicking off Apple's AI strategy that will be expanded at WWDC; the new Pencil will have haptic feedback

Eugen Rochko / Mastodon Blog:
Mastodon forms a new US non-profit, to receive tax-deductible US donations and in-kind support, with Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and others on its board

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Some founders say TikTok ban won't impact creator economy startups much, as they have diversified across multiple platforms after Trump tried banning it in 2020

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