Top News:
Andrew Flanagan / NPR:
Big Machine Label Group, Taylor Swift's old label, was sold to a company owned by the manager of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande; source: deal valued at $300M+ — The country-pop record company Big Machine Label Group, one of the most successful independent labels in the country …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Spotify ends its direct music upload beta program for artists after debuting it last year, saying it would rather focus on features unique to the platform — Spotify is shutting down a program that allowed indie artists to upload their own music to the streaming service, the company announced today.
Discussion:
artists.spotify.com, Variety, Music Business Worldwide, Bloomberg, Engadget, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw and RAIN News, more at Techmeme »
Sam Stein / The Daily Beast:
Progressive news site ThinkProgress, launched 14 years ago, is put up for sale by the Center for American Progress as it faces falling ad revenue and donations — News site launched during the Bush years is running millions of dollars short. Its parent think tank says it will consider the editorial leanings of prospective owners.
Discussion:
@elienyc, @cd_hooks, @kileykroh, @zackford, @mattyglesias, @willmenaker, CNN, @jbenton, @igorvolsky, @thedailybeast, @joesudbay, @asymmetricinfo, @waywardwinifred, @celisa_mia, @jamessurowiecki, @fshakir, @chrisbangsdc, @lhfang, @rebleber, @rebekahentralgo, @annaholmes, @ddayen, @daniellebmclean, @davidsirota, @shortformernie, @josephsreed, @alyssarosenberg, @lauraolin and Mediaite
Hannah Knowles / Washington Post:
New WH press secretary Stephanie Grisham was bruised in a scuffle with N. Korean security while helping US media gain access to Trump's meeting with Kim Jong Un — New White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham was bruised Sunday in a scuffle between North Korean security and members …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
NBC News Now hires former Fox and WSJ reporter Alison Morris as its first full-time anchor, after launching the free streaming service in May — NBC News Now, five weeks after the free streaming service's launch, has a full-time anchor: Alison Morris, who most recently was with Fox Corp.'s Fox 5 in New York.
Discussion:
TVWeek.com, Deadline, Talking Biz News and TVNewser
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Nielsen Total Audience Report: 21% of SVOD users give up watching if they can't decide what to watch; the average adult takes 7.4 minutes to make a selection — The proliferation of streaming and the novelty of the subscription video on demand interface are contributing …
Discussion:
Broadcasting & Cable, MediaPost, Adweek and New York Post
Nathan Francis / The Inquisitr:
Canadian political cartoonist Michael de Adder dropped from a series of newspapers after his cartoon depicting Donald Trump and dead migrants went viral — Political cartoonist Michael de Adder has been dropped from a series of newspapers after his cartoon depicting Donald Trump stepping …
Discussion:
@deadder, @jason_chatfield, Washington Post, Politico, The Post Millennial, @rubenbolling, @amstanley, @conor64 and @mehdirhasan
Samantha Sunne / Poynter:
Of the 65 journalists laid off at New Orleans' Times-Picayune, 19 plan to remain as journalists in the city; The Advocate hired 10, 3 with grant-funded salaries — Less than a third of the former Times-Picayune staffers are staying in New Orleans journalism
Discussion:
Poynter, @skooks, @poynter, @tmorris504, @jameskarst, @yatpundit, @jbenton, @poynter, @lhcbmatt, @jbenton, @bpwarsh, @lamarwhitejr, @marshallramsey and Marshall Ramsey Fan …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Epidemic Sound, a search engine for video producers looking to license music for soundtracks, raises $20M at a reported $370M valuation — The rise of streamed video has seen the market for licensing streamed music boom in the last few years, with not only consumers using video as a medium …
Discussion:
hypebot, more at Techmeme »
Bloomberg:
Bain Capital is in exclusive talks to buy a majority stake in ad giant WPP's Kantar unit in a deal valuing Kantar at about $4B, including debt — - Negotiations value Kantar research unit at about $4 billion — Advertising giant confirms talks reported by Bloomberg earlier
Discussion:
MediaPost, Reuters, Wall Street Journal and Ad Age
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Sony's PlayStation Vue raises prices by $5/month for all tiers, bringing the cheapest plan to $50/month, following YouTube TV, which raised prices in April — Sony's PlayStation Vue live TV streaming service is joining its rivals with the roll out another price increase.
Discussion:
The Streamable, Engadget, The Streamable, Multichannel News and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Erik Hayden / Hollywood Reporter:
Simon and Schuster to publish a book by CNN's Brian Stelter on the relationship between Trump and Fox News, in 2020 — The ‘Reliable Sources’ anchor will pen an untitled book looking at the network's relationship with the president, set to publish in 2020.
Discussion:
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