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5:20 AM ET, February 2, 2024

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 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 …
RELATED:
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.
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.
RELATED:
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
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
RELATED:
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
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 …
Anna Nicolaou / Financial Times:
Sources: some independent record labels are pushing back on Apple's plans to pay more for spatial audio tracks, saying it benefits larger record companies  —  Groups behind Adele and Phoebe Bridgers among those against songs recorded in higher-quality audio receiving more money
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]
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.
 
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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
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
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
 Earlier Picks: 
The NewsGuild:
More than 200 unionized Tribune journalists, designers, and production workers across seven newsrooms are staging a 24-hour strike today
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
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
 

 
From Techmeme:

Forbes:
AI startup founders and VCs hope that a Trump administration will lead to lighter regulations and the return of real acquisitions, not “contorted” ones

Financial Times:
Sources: TSMC told Chinese customers it would no longer manufacture AI chips at advanced process nodes of 7nm or smaller as of this coming Monday

Ming-Chi Kuo:
Kuo: Apple plans to upgrade the high-end iPhone 18's wide-angle lens in 2026 to a variable aperture camera; Sunny Optical will be the primary shutter supplier
 
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