Top News:


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
Discussion:
UMG, Reuters, The Verge, Billboard, Fox News, New York Times, Lefsetz Letter, Geoffrey Colon on LinkedIn, VIBE.com, New York Daily News, Gizmodo, @simondowens@threads.net, UPROXX, The A.V. Club, Wired, Courthouse News Service, CNN, New York Times, Variety, Digital Music News, Tubefilter, Rolling Stone, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, Music Business Worldwide, Music Ally, @carnage4life@mas.to, TechNode, Forbes, Consequence, The Music Network, Associated Press, Polygon, Us Weekly, Deadline, RAIN News, New York Post, Ars Technica, Axios, The Sun, TikTok, Engadget, The i Paper, City A.M., The Guardian and The Register, more at Techmeme »


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.

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]


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


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:
Wall Street Journal, AppleInsider, @neilcybart, Apple, Media Play News and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »


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, @meltzersaidwhat, Deadline, Deadline, The Playlist, Variety and POST Wrestling


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:
@pressgazette, Poynter, The Drum and The Register, more at Techmeme »


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.


Companies representing 300 TV stations, including CBS and Gray Television, plan to launch Zeam, a free local news streaming service, an evolution of VUit — Gray Television is teaming up with other TV stations to launch a free, local-news streamer, and running Super Bowl ads starring John Stamos to get the word out.
Discussion:
Lucia Moses on LinkedIn, TVNewsCheck, Media Play News, Radio & Television … and Cord Cutters News


Gamma, which creates, distributes, and markets music, podcasts and films, raised $100M+ led by Alpha Wave Global, sources say at a $400M valuation — - Alpha Wave Global leads round valuing company at $400 million — Former Apple executive Larry Jackson launched company in 2023


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 — The publisher of Sports Illustrated called for the removal of a story about transgender boxing from an upcoming issue of the print magazine …
Discussion:
MediaPost, @benjstrauss, New York Magazine and @jmkliegman


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 — - Primary Wave invests in the Brazilian company Nas Nuvens — Funding round values Nas Nuvens at around $100 million
Discussion:
Music Business Worldwide