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 …
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Axios, @froomkin, Newser, @jayrosen_nyu, @jordannovet, @jragazzo, @scottnover, @ryangrim, @nohodge, @theakglassman, The Daily Beast, Variety, The Wrap and Deadline
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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.
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
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UMG, Fast Company, Digital Music News, Music Business Worldwide, The Verge, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Wired, Lefsetz Letter, Reuters, New York Times, The A.V. Club, New York Daily News, VIBE.com, Geoffrey Colon on LinkedIn, Tubefilter, Fox News, The Hill, USA Today, @simondowens@threads.net, Billboard, Gizmodo, Variety, Wall Street Journal, UPROXX, Courthouse News Service, Consequence, CNN, New York Times, Rolling Stone, Music Ally, @carnage4life@mas.to, TechNode, Forbes, The Music Network, Deadline, Polygon, Us Weekly, RAIN News, New York Post, Associated Press, Ars Technica and Axios, more at Techmeme »
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:
@jayshams and @leomschwartz
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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 …
Chris Willman / Variety:
Chuck Philips, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles Times journalist known for his investigative reporting on the music industry, died in January at age 71 — Chuck Philips, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist renowned for his reporting on dark corners of the music industry, died in January at age 71.
Discussion:
The Wrap, @hearinladotcom, @khal, The Daily Beast and Media Moves
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, @meltzersaidwhat, Deadline, Deadline, Variety, The Playlist and POST Wrestling
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 »
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.
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]
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:
NBC 7 San Diego, GeekWire, Search Engine Land, @ericjhonsa, @lucas_shaw, CNN and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
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