Mediagazer: Gamma, which creates, distributes, and markets music, podcasts and films, raised $100M+ led by Alpha Wave Global, sources say at a $400M valuation (Lucas Shaw/Bloomberg)

11:15 PM ET, February 1, 2024

Top News:

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

The Messenger's flop was the result of Jimmy Finkelstein's blindness to bad ideas, like its traffic-chasing strategy, not a consequence of economic headwinds — The flaws in the site's strategy were highly predictable (and repeatedly predicted). But Jimmy Finkelstein's muddled nostalgia …

Discussion: Axios, @froomkin, Newser, @jayrosen_nyu, @jordannovet, @jragazzo, @scottnover, @ryangrim, @nohodge, @theakglassman, The Daily Beast, Variety, The Wrap and Deadline

The Daily Beast:

Ex-employees of The Messenger file a class-action lawsuit against the shuttered outlet, alleging that it failed to give them proper notice ahead of their firing — The class-action lawsuit comes just a day after The Messenger closed up shop for good, firing its hundreds of staff without offering them severance.

Discussion: The Hill, The Wrap, Axios, Politico, Deadline, @benmullin, Hollywood Reporter, @juliareinstein, @willsommer, @ellefs0n and @juliareinstein

Jordan Hoffman / New York Magazine:

A Messenger journalist describes his time working for the outlet, where the expensive offices were empty and reporters were instructed to chase trending topics — A text time-stamped 1:19 a.m. early Wednesday read, “I think it's over, man.” It was a Los Angeles-based colleague at The Messenger.

Discussion: Observer, @ishaantharoor, @carolynmichelle, @bgrueskin, @asilbwrites, @jakeswearingen, @mattzeitlin, Defector, Slate, @caroletarrant, @zzzzaaaacccchhh, Semafor, The Wrap, New York Post and Columbia Journalism Review

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:

UMG begins pulling its artists' music from TikTok after negotiations failed; videos featuring UMG-owned songs will be muted, and users can pick a new soundtrack — - Publisher behind Drake and Taylor Swift pushes for better pay — Videos featuring Universal Music-owned songs will be muted

Kevin T. Dugan / New York Magazine:

Interviews with shareholders and current and ex-employees suggest that SI's publisher Arena missed the licensing payment by choice, not because it lacked money — At about 4 p.m. on Thursday, January 25, the board of the media conglomerate the Arena Group met after the company had blown up its license to publish Sports Illustrated.

Discussion: @leomschwartz

Ben Strauss / Washington Post:
Sources: an Arena executive ordered SI to remove a transgender boxing story from a print issue; SI says the story was no longer newsy and will be posted online

Discussion: Awful Announcing, MediaPost, @benjstrauss and @jmkliegman

Salvador Rodriguez / Wall Street Journal:

Meta reports Q4 revenue up 25% YoY to $40.1B, with ad revenue of $38.7B, ad impressions delivered across its Family of Apps up 21%, and average ad price up 2% — Company posts biggest quarterly revenue gains in two years — Facebook parent Meta Platforms posted its fourth consecutive quarter …

Discussion: Meta Investor Relations, The Information, TVNewsCheck, @alexeheath, @alexeheath, @kantrowitz, MacStories, Variety, @alexeheath, @alecmacgillis, Search Engine Land, The Wrap and Music Ally, more at Techmeme »

Lesley Goldberg / The Hollywood Reporter:

Highlights from Netflix's press event: a push for live programming, no planned theatrical releases, licensing content from others won't impact originals, more — A greater push for live programming, no theatrical releases and much more from content chief Bela Bajaria.

Discussion: @thr, @ryansatin, Deadline, @meltzersaidwhat, Deadline, Variety, The Playlist and POST Wrestling

Richard Nieva / Forbes:

YouTube says YouTube Premium and Music have a combined 100M subscribers; CEO Neal Mohan says subscriptions have become a “meaningful part” of YouTube's business — YouTube CEO Neal Mohan told Forbes the subscription services are now a “meaningful part” of the business.

Discussion: YouTube Official Blog, The Verge, Variety, Tubefilter, Music Business Worldwide, Rob Bolton on LinkedIn, @petergyang, 9to5Google, Music Ally, Engadget, @joshuaogundu, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Jim Edwards / Press Gazette:

Google plans to limit news publishers to tracking users across five of their own websites under its Privacy Sandbox, which is set to replace third-party cookies — Details have emerged of how Google's Privacy Sandbox could strengthen its online monopoly. — Google plans to limit the sharing …

Discussion: The Drum, @pressgazette, Paweł Nowacki on LinkedIn, Poynter and The Register, more at Techmeme »

Max Tani / @maxwelltani:

Memo: The Wall Street Journal EIC Emma Tucker restructures its DC bureau, shutters the DC-based Business and US-China teams, and lays off “a number” of staffers — Note from WSJ EIC Emma Tucker to Journal staff about today's layoffs changes to the paper's DC bureau. The business team and Washington-based China team are both shuttering. [image]

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Talking Biz News, @katie_robertson, @bgrueskin, @corbinbolies, @azambelich, @samro, @theamarareport, @theamarareport, @katie_robertson, @katie_robertson, @kaivanshroff, @feliciasonmez and @bgrueskin

Annie Palmer / CNBC:

Amazon Q4: ad revenue up 27% YoY to $14.7B, vs. $14.2B est., subscription revenue up 14% YoY to $10.5B, and North America segment sales up 13% YoY to $105.5B — - Amazon reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue on Thursday that sailed past analysts' estimates.

Discussion: GeekWire, NBC 7 San Diego, Search Engine Land, @ericjhonsa, @lucas_shaw, CNN and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Apple Q1: revenue of Services, which includes Apple TV+ and Apple Music, rose 11% YoY to a record $23.1B, and installed base crossed 2.2B active devices — Apple turned in another record quarter in its services business, as strong iPhone 15 sales boosted total revenue in the last three months of 2023.

Discussion: Engadget, AppleInsider, Apple, @neilcybart, Media Play News and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

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More News:

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Primary Wave Music acquires a 50% stake in the Brazilian company Nas Nuvens, which holds music catalogs of about 40 artists, valuing Nas Nuvens at ~$100M

Discussion: Music Business Worldwide

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Gamma, which creates, distributes, and markets music, podcasts and films, raised $100M+ led by Alpha Wave Global, sources say at a $400M valuation

Discussion: Music Business Worldwide

Lucia Moses / Business Insider:
Companies representing 300 TV stations, including CBS and Gray Television, plan to launch Zeam, a free local news streaming service, an evolution of VUit

Discussion: Lucia Moses on LinkedIn, Media Play News, TVNewsCheck, Radio & Television … and Cord Cutters News

The NewsGuild:
More than 200 unionized Tribune journalists, designers, and production workers across seven newsrooms are staging a 24-hour strike today

Discussion: Bloomberg, @ctguild, @chinewsguild, Associated Press, Courthouse News Service, @newsguild, @ctguild, MediaPost, The Wrap, WAVY-TV, Axios, Chicago Sun Times and Washington Post

Nqobile Dludla / Reuters:
NBCU and South African pay TV company MultiChoice plan to invest $177M in Showmax, MultiChoice's streamer built on Peacock; NBCU gets a 30% stake in Showmax

Discussion: Financial Times and Deadline

Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
SiriusXM reports a Q4 net drop of 94K subscribers and 109K Pandora subs, net income down 4% YoY to $352M, revenue of $2.29B, and eyes “cost efficiencies”

Discussion: Inside Radio

Earlier Picks:

Reuters:
A Russian court extends the pre-trial detention of Russian-American RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, in custody since October 18, to April 5

Discussion: Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Courthouse News Service, Committee to Protect … and USAGM

The Hollywood Reporter:
As Amazon becomes the latest streamer to push an ad-supported tier, TV writers react with frustration to the move away from the original promise of streaming

Discussion: TechHive, @tvgrimreaper, Jeremiah McMillan on LinkedIn, Sean Redlitz on LinkedIn, Fast Company, Front Office Sports and UPROXX

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
Politico redesigns its Europe, German, and French websites to have simpler homepages than the UK and US versions, to improve readability for AI web crawlers

Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:
A look at press freedoms in Guatemala, as pro-press freedom and anti-corruption activist Bernardo Arévalo becomes the country's new president

Discussion: @normajtorres, @jon_allsop and @sheilacoronel

Christina Couch / Nieman Lab:
How some small media outlets are trying to prevent reporter burnout by adopting work models that reduce workloads and prioritize time outside the office

From Techmeme:

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Anthropic raised another $4B from Amazon, will make AWS its primary training partner, and is working with Annapurna Labs to develop new Trainium accelerators

Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Researchers detail a “nearest neighbor attack” by Russia's APT28, which remotely breached a target's Wi-Fi by hijacking a laptop in a building across the street

Tim Hardwick / MacRumors:
A UK CMA report finds that Apple's policies hold back innovation in mobile browsers and recommends investigating Apple and Google's mobile ecosystem activities

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