Top News:


TikTok says it plans to shut down TikTok Music on November 28 and will delete customer data; the app, originally called Resso, first launched in 2019 — TikTok Music will go offline on Nov. 28 and customer data will be deleted, the music division said in a post on its website.


The NYT aims to sell podcast subscriptions via Apple Podcasts and Spotify, requiring users to pay to access older episodes, starting Oct. for $6/mo. or $50/year — - “A big part of our strategy is building direct relationships with our customers,” said Ben Cotton, The Times' head of subscription growth.
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg, The New York Times Company, 9to5Mac and @sarafischer


Paramount's Pluto TV and M6+ strike a partnership that includes content channels and ad sales in France; French TV company M6 launched the AVOD platform in May — The strategic commercial and editorial partnership is designed to “scale and expand their free streaming and digital businesses in France.”
Discussion:
Advanced Television, Variety, Broadband TV News, WORLD SCREEN, TVNewsCheck, Deadline and TVBEurope


Reach CEO Jim Mullen says there is “too much power in the hands of platforms and their algorithms” and calls for regulation to make platforms pay for content — The chief executive of the UK's biggest commercial news publisher has called for big tech regulation so the platforms pay …
Discussion:
Liverpool Echo and HoldtheFrontPage


How WhatsApp Channels, launched in late 2023, are driving traffic to digital news outlets, especially readers from outside the US, as social media traffic falls — An illustration of a man sitting on a green chair reading a newspaper called “World News” as he looks at his phone behind it.Jackson Gibbs
Discussion:
@simondowens@threads.net, @mikeisaac, @mikeisaac and @hanaatameez


Warner Bros. Discovery partners with Google to add its “caption AI” tool built on Vertex AI to Max to automatically generate captions for unscripted programming — Warner Bros. Discovery is partnering with Google to integrate the internet giant's AI technology …
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Variety, Quartz, @dfwsam.bsky.social, The Keyword and Google Cloud, more at Techmeme »


Memo: Paramount unveils “phase two” of layoffs and says 90% of them will be complete after this round, following its August plan to cut 15% of its US workforce — Paramount Global unveiled a second wave of staff cuts Tuesday morning, part of a larger bid by the owner of CBS …
Discussion:
The Wrap, TVNewsCheck, Advanced Television, Bloomberg, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and Next TV


Roku unveils the $100 Roku Ultra, which is 30% faster than its other streaming players and has Wi-Fi 6, HDMI 2.1, Dolby Atmos, the Voice Remote Pro, and more — One day after the Google TV Streamer hit stores, Roku is announcing its own latest streaming player.
Discussion:
The Streamable, Bloomberg, Engadget, Streaming Better, MobileSyrup, Business Insider, CNN, TechRadar, Engadget, CNET, Tom's Guide, Next TV, Roku on YouTube, @roku, TechHive, How-To Geek, Digital Trends, The Nerdy, CNET on YouTube, The Shortcut, 9to5Google and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »


TikTok permanently removes accounts associated with the parent organizations of Russian state media outlets RT and Sputnik, citing “covert influence operations” — Social media rivals Meta and YouTube have announced similar suspensions of Russian state media accounts this month.
Discussion:
CNN, KSTP-TV, Engadget, Adweek, The Hill, @alenapopova and @beefeater_fella, more at Techmeme »


Sources: UK's Evening Standard has made plans to use AI to write reviews under the name of its former art critic of 30 years Brian Sewell, who died in 2015 — Deadline understands that London's historic Evening Standard newspaper has been making plans to revive its former writer using artificial intelligence.
Discussion:
@jscalzi@threads.net, @siddhantadlakha, @eddiehenryjames, @chrismoranuk, @_zeets, @sturgios, @wendyide, @willardfoxton and @nina_metz


WP Engine sends a cease-and-desist letter to Automattic to “retract false, harmful, and disparaging statements”, after Matt Mullenweg called it a “cancer” — WordPress hosting service WP Engine on Monday sent a cease-and-desist letter to Automattic …
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Trending Now, which offers AI-powered B2B newsletters, changes its logo after BuzzFeed sent a cease-and-desist letter over alleged copyright infringement — What happened next after Buzzfeed sent copyright warning letter to AI newsletter start-up Trending Now.


Spotify rolls out its AI Playlist feature in beta to Premium subscribers in the US, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand, after launching in the UK and Australia — Spotify is expanding an AI feature that creates customized playlists from your text descriptions to additional English-speaking regions.
Discussion:
Reuters, TechCrunch, Spotify, 9to5Mac, MobileSyrup, Engadget, @spotifynews, Mashable, iPhone in Canada Blog and MSPoweruser, more at Techmeme »