Top News:
Jane Friedman:
An author finds multiple “garbage books” uploaded to Amazon under her name, most likely AI-generated, and on Goodreads, which removed them after her complaint — Update (afternoon of Aug. 7): Hours after this post was published, my Goodreads profile was cleaned of the offending titles.
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Alex Webb / Bloomberg:
How Lionel Messi coming to MLS may help Apple attract international TV+ subscribers, as the service has almost no content made for non-English-speaking markets — Lionel Messi may be just what Apple TV+ needed. But first... Apple TV+ has come a long way in a relatively short period of time.
Discussion:
@karissabe, @fos, @messiquote, @pkedrosky and The Athletic
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Chris Lee / Vulture:
A group of 50+ Marvel VFX employees votes to be represented by IATSE, marking the first time VFX professionals have banded together to form a union — Call it the Hollywood-labor-organizing version of Avengers Assemble! On the heels of more than a year's worth of damning disclosures around …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Semafor, @stevie_mat, @darren_mooney, @parismarx, @__chrislee, @henrytcasey, Collider, Bloomberg, Los Angeles Times, IndieWire, SlashFilm, Deadline, The Wrap, @elenaperez@mastodon.social, The A.V. Club, Gizmodo, @rocketdyke@yellowmustard.club, @glennf@twit.social, @oweeeeendennis.bsky.social, @labuzamovies.bsky.social, @rodhilton@mastodon.social, @hypercubexl.bsky.social, CNN, Screen Rant and ET Canada
New York Times:
Paramount reaches a $1.62B deal to sell Simon & Schuster to private equity firm KKR; the prestigious US publisher was first put up for sale in March 2020 — The deal, for $1.62 billion, will put control of a cultural touchstone in the hands of a financial buyer.
Discussion:
Fast Company, Wall Street Journal, Variety, NPR, @mariskreizman, @mike_jung, CNN, TechCrunch, Associated Press, Business Wire, ScheerPost.com, @thewrap, @danprimack, @benmullin, @harikunzru, UPI, @kerrymflynn, @mariskreizman, @annaknicolaou, @kwharrison13, New York Daily News, Graphic Policy, Publishers Weekly, MediaPost, Publishing Perspectives, Los Angeles Times, CNBC, Bloomberg, @samhainnight@mstdn.social, Forbes, CBS News, @sarangshah@mastodon.social, The Wrap, @mattlibrarian.bsky.social, The Hollywood Reporter, The Bookseller, @maris.bsky.social, Financial Times, The Wrap and New York Times
Natalie Korach / The Wrap:
Fox Corp reports $3.03B in Q4 revenue and a $369M net income; full-year revenue rose 7% YoY to $14.91B and net income hit $1.25B, up from $1.23B the prior year — The media company reports 74 cents in earnings per share for its fourth quarter as it moves past Dominion lawsuit
Discussion:
The Desk, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, PR Newswire, Deadline, @bristei, @bristei and @bristei
Wesley Hilliard / AppleInsider:
Apple Music launches Discovery Station, akin to Spotify's algorithmic suggestions, available via the Listen Now tab in the Stations for You category — Discovery and Personal Stations on Apple Music — Apple Music users hoping for more algorithmic discovery options akin to Spotify …
Discussion:
The Verge, Music Ally and TechCrunch
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Sources: WBD is targeting the beginning of the MLB playoffs to debut a sports tier for Max, planning to use the Bleacher Report brand to target young audiences — - Warner Bros. Discovery plans to simulcast live games on cable TV and Max streaming in October.
Paul Sawers / TechCrunch:
Spotify expands its AI-powered DJ globally to ~50 markets, six months after its North American launch, available via the Music tab; the feature is English-only — Spotify is expanding its AI-powered “DJ” to dozens of markets globally, six months after debuting the feature in North America.
Casey Newton / Platformer:
After the countless times Elon Musk has walked back announcements, the business media must rethink its coverage of X, Musk, and the fight with Mark Zuckerberg — After a weekend of whoppers about X and fighting Mark Zuckerberg, the press should take a more skeptical approach
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, The Guardian, Insider, ET Canada, Android Police, Techlusive, New York Magazine, Mediaite, New York Daily News, The Wrap, Variety, CBS News, Associated Press, The Hill, Gizmodo, New York Post, Fortune, Fox News, Digital Journal, Comic Book, Forbes, Deadline, Politico, abc7NY, New York Times, The Verge, UPI, CNN, NPR and TMZ.com, more at Techmeme »
Killian Faith-Kelly / Press Gazette:
An interview with The Times obituary writer Damian Arnold on his workday, stock obituaries, the right way to die, writing his first obituary in 2008, and more — “The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is check to see who's dead.” — Imagine that, over the course of your life …
Mia Sato / The Verge:
TikTok unveils Gimme the Mic, a music competition hosted on livestreams where the US winner receives 50K Diamonds, the USD conversion rate for which is unclear — TikTok will host a music contest similar to popular talent shows like The Voice, the company announced today.
Discussion:
TikTok, Music Ally, Tubefilter and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
The NYT reports Q2 revenue up 6.3% YoY to $590.9M, adjusted operating profit of $92.2M, 9.88M subscribers, and $409.6M in subscription revenue — The company added 180,000 new digital subscribers in the latest quarter, and now has nearly 10 million subscribers in total.
Discussion:
Yahoo Finance, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia and @newspaperworld
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