Mediagazer: Spotify launches Creator Milestone Awards, saying the Joe Rogan and Crime Junkie podcasts are the first to reach gold status, or 500M+ all-time global streams (Todd Spangler/Variety)

8:35 AM ET, January 27, 2025

Top News:

Jem Aswad / Variety:

Sources: the new Spotify-UMG deal reduces, but does not fully ameliorate, the payment cuts from Spotify music-audiobooks bundling deal from last year — Universal Music Group, the world's largest music company, and Spotify, the world's largest paid streaming service, announced on Sunday new …

Discussion: Music Business Worldwide, Agence France-Presse, Digital Music News, Reuters, The Japan Times, Bloomberg and Consequence

Tim Ingham / Music Business Worldwide:

Spotify and UMG announce a new multiyear deal, establishing a direct license between Spotify and Universal Music Publishing Group in the US and other countries — It's official: as MBW reported earlier, Spotify and Universal Music Group have inked a new multi-year licensing agreement.

Discussion: UMG, Fortune, Music Week, Music Ally, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap and Deadline, more at Techmeme »

Reuters:

Trump denies talks with Oracle about a TikTok deal, saying “I have spoken to many people about TikTok” and he expects a decision in the next 30 days — ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, Jan 25 (Reuters) - (This Jan. 25 story has been refiled to add the missing words ‘some of’ in paragraph 9)

Leo Lewis / Financial Times:

Japanese broadcaster Fuji TV's chair and TV head resign after criticism over their handling of a sexual misconduct investigation into an ex-entertainment star — Japanese media company has not gone far enough to resolve governance issues, say shareholders — The chair and head of television …

Discussion: Variety, Associated Press, Reuters, Al Jazeera, Deadline, @mrjeffu, @mrjeffu, The Japan Times, Bloomberg, Bloomberg, DNyuz and Kyodo News+

Wall Street Journal:

Despite assurances, advertisers worry Meta's tools may not prevent ads from appearing near offensive content as the new content moderation approach takes effect — Social-media giant's loosening of speech restrictions is unsettling advertisers, who say a decade of efforts to protect their reputations is at risk

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, Todd Irwin on LinkedIn, The Verge, @kevinbriody.bsky.social, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, @dannygroner.bsky.social, @annmlipton@esq.social and Hindustan Times, more at Techmeme »

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Spotify launches Creator Milestone Awards, saying the Joe Rogan and Crime Junkie podcasts are the first to reach gold status, or 500M+ all-time global streams — Spotify has set up a velvet-roped VIP section for its most listened to podcasters — with Joe Rogan and Audiochuck's “Crime Junkie” …

The Associated Press:

The AP disputes allegations made in The Stringer's documentary, which questions if AP photographer Nick Ut took the famous Vietnam War photo “The Terror of War” — The Associated Press issued this statement after a representative was able to view the film “The Stringer” …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Independent, The Wrap, Poynter, @sharonwaxman, @christogrozev, Amantha Perera on LinkedIn, @maxwelltani, @benmullin, Raw Story, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter, @newsguy.bsky.social, The Guardian, Vanity Fair and Le Monde, more at Techmeme »

Ben Smith / Semafor:

The Guardian says fundraising last week rose 250% YoY to $4M; Substack says the week of Jan. 13 was its biggest ever for new paid subs and app DAUs are spiking — In today's edition: The future of the LA Times.

Lucy Clarke-Billings / BBC:

Dark Horse Comics cancels Neil Gaiman's upcoming work after sexual misconduct allegations were made against him — A publisher of Neil Gaiman's graphic novels and comic books has cancelled his upcoming work after sexual misconduct allegations were made against him.

Discussion: @darkhorsecomics, Deadline, NME, @conversecomics, WFAA-TV, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Oregonian, AV Club, Rolling Stone, The Wrap, @darkhorse.com, Screen Rant and Gizmodo

Tim Adams / The Guardian:

A profile of and an interview with Christiane Amanpour on Donald Trump's second term, Mark Zuckerberg removing fact-checking, threats to women, and more — Christiane Amanpour has spent four decades as a celebrated journalist and war reporter. With disinformation rampaging through the media …

Discussion: @cnnipr, @rationaldoge@hachyderm.io, @chrishendel.bsky.social and Raw Story

Ian Wylie / Index on Censorship:

An interview with Kyaw Min Swe, a newspaper editor from Myanmar who faced torture and imprisonment under the military junta before escaping to Germany in June — Index travels to Germany to meet exiled newspaper editor Kyaw Min Swe, who faced torture and imprisonment at the hands of the military junta

Discussion: @ianwylie.bsky.social, New York Times and Global Voices

Reuters:

Court filing: Indian digital news firms, including NDTV, Network18, and Hindustan Times, join a copyright lawsuit against OpenAI, first filed by ANI in 2024 — Digital news units of Indian billionaires Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, and other outlets like the Indian Express and the Hindustan Times …

Discussion: Daily Sabah, @adityakalra and @orderwithchaos@mastodon …, more at Techmeme »

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