Top News:
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Email: The Messenger shuts down, effective immediately, citing economic headwinds; Jimmy Finkelstein launched the outlet in May 2023 and hired about 300 people — By closing less than a year after it launched, The Messenger is now one of the biggest busts in the annals of online news.
Discussion:
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Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
UMG begins pulling its artists' music from TikTok after contract talks failed; videos featuring UMG artists 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:
UPROXX, Wired, Associated Press, The Music Network, Semafor, Forbes, Polygon, Deadline, Ars Technica, CNN, Agence France-Presse, Music Ally, The Guardian, TechCrunch, Los Angeles Times and Billboard, more at Techmeme »
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
UMG plans to stop licensing content to TikTok after their deal expires on January 31, saying they didn't reach terms over issues like artist compensation and AI
Discussion:
CNN, UMG, New York Times, Rolling Stone, Music Ally, Boing Boing, @carnage4life@mas.to, TechNode, Forbes, @tiktokcomms, Us Weekly, Drew Thurlow on LinkedIn, NPR, TikTok, Wired, Music Technology Policy, The Drum, RAIN News, New York Post, WHDH-TV, @russdiemon, @mikeisaac, @mikeisaac, New York Daily News, @lucas_shaw, Vibe, @annaknicolaou, @jamesrbuk, @broderick, @broderick, @umg, @runciedan, @xpangler, Consequence, Axios, The Sun, Engadget, The i Paper, City A.M., The Register, Second Hand Songs …, Financial Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg, The Messenger, Wall Street Journal, The Information, 9to5Mac, Reuters, The Music Network, PR Newswire and The Wrap
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Disney has reached a preliminary agreement to sell 60% of its Indian media business to Reliance-backed Viacom18 at a $3.9B valuation — Viacom18's purchase of 60% of Disney's India business reunites the company with two executives who built it — Disney has reached a preliminary agreement …
Discussion:
@adityakalra, TechCrunch, Reuters, MediaNama, Livemint and The Wrap
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 — South African pay TV company MultiChoice Group (MCGJ.J) and U.S. media conglomerate Comcast's (CMCSA.O) NBCUniversal Media will invest …
Discussion:
Deadline
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 — As Amazon becomes the latest platform to push an ad-supported tier, TV writers greet this retro model with frustration and …
Discussion:
Fast Company, Sean Redlitz on LinkedIn, Front Office Sports and UPROXX
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” — The audio entertainment giant, the home of Howard Stern, is led by CEO Jennifer Witz whose team sees opportunities …
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 — A Russian court on Thursday extended the pre-trial detention of Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist who is accused of violating a law on “foreign agents”.
Discussion:
USAGM
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 — In the summer of 2022, a unit of armed police officers in Guatemala raided the home of José Rubén Zamora …
Discussion:
@normajtorres, @jon_allsop and @sheilacoronel
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 — Politico has given its Europe, German and French websites a redesign which improves readability for the web crawlers that feed into generative AI large language models (LLMs).
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 — Keeping reporters healthy over the long term often requires both systemic and behavioral changes, and getting buy-in often isn't easy.
Katie Campione / Deadline:
The Onion Union reaches a tentative agreement with G/O Media, with the negotiating committee making “important gains in wages and workplace protections” — The Onion Union employees have narrowly avoided a strike, reaching a tentative agreement with G/O Media just hours …
Discussion:
@wgaeast, @onionincunion and Hollywood Reporter
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Audacy plans to cut a number of positions in its Pineapple Street podcast division; a source says the layoff will affect 12 positions, or ~25% of the staff — Audacy Inc., a radio broadcaster reorganizing in US bankruptcy court, announced plans to cut a number of positions in its Pineapple Street podcast division.
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