Top News:
Chris Eggertsen / Billboard:
Joni Mitchell pulls her music from Spotify in solidarity with Neil Young, saying “irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives” — “Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives,” Mitchell wrote on her official website Friday.
Discussion:
Joni Mitchell, Variety, @thedavidcrosby, New York Times, New York Post, The Wrap, The Guardian, @brianstelter, UPI, Deadline, Los Angeles Times, NME, Stereogum, @frankconniff, UPROXX, @farhip, @adriennelaw, The Daily Beast, @stevesmithffx, @louispeitzman, Top Celebrity News …, @rollingstone, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, @ericboehlert, The Hollywood Reporter and @shannonrwatts
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Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Internal messages detail Spotify's lax health content policy; the company told staff multiple Joe Rogan podcast episodes “didn't meet the threshold for removal” — Leaked messages reveal the company has reviewed every Rogan episode and none ‘meet the threshold for removal’
Discussion:
Deadline, @reckless, @reckless, @natjarv, @reckless, @ericgeller, @mattdpearce, @datadrivenmd, @mickpuck, @dylanreeve, @evoterra, @mmasnick, The A.V. Club, @caseynewton, @themadstone, @robaeprice, @joshsternberg, @kimzetter, @caseynewton, @subjectburst, @doctorkarl, @ashleyrcarman and Los Angeles Times, more at Techmeme »
Randall Roberts / Los Angeles Times:
A look at Neil Young's history of feuding with corporations and big institutions, from MTV to Spotify, and his digital music startup Pono that shut down in 2017 — When Neil Young announced he was pulling his entire discography from music streaming giant Spotify over the platform's alliance …
Discussion:
Variety, The Verge, @latimes, The Verge, Engadget, Ars Technica, @liledit, @rverrier and Music Ally
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Stephen Hayes, The Weekly Standard's former EIC who broke ties with Fox to protest Tucker Carlson's January 6 special, joins NBC News — Stephen Hayes, the conservative political analyst who raised eyebrows in November when he took to The New York Times to announce his breaking ties …
James Hale / Tubefilter:
YouTuber Hank Green compares TikTok's creator fund, which pays creators less as more creators join, unfavorably to YouTube, which pays 55% of ad revenue — In 2020, TikTok established a creator fund that distributes $200 million annually to creators based in the U.S.
Discussion:
Platformer, @caseynewton, @martinsfp, @theblakeguidry, @yoda, @mvzelenks, @shiraovide, @carnage4life, @hankgreen, NBC News, TechCrunch and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Joanne Kenen / Politico:
Some experts say David Leonhardt, author of the influential NYT newsletter “The Morning” underestimates and underplays COVID-19's risks by cherry-picking data — THE NIGHTLY READS ‘THE MORNING’ — With 5 million readers, David Leonhardt, the author of The New York Times …
Discussion:
New Republic, @froomkin, @alexanderrusso, @lpdonovan, @demfromct, @rameshponnuru, @michaelkruse, @dankennedy_nu, @thrasherxy, @jayrosen_nyu, @garettjones, @abbydphillip, @alexanderrusso, @alexthomp, @froomkin, @jbarro, @michaelbd, @joannekenen, @eggerdc, @coreypein, @awinston, @jlcroner, @joannekenen, @joannekenen, @zackstanton, @whstancil, @yeselson, @mikiebarb, @evanmcmurry, @mdaware, @conorpwilliams, @joannekenen and @zackstanton
Rick Edmonds / Poynter:
Hearst Newspapers claims 300K digital-only subscribers, up 50% YoY, of which 140K are the San Francisco Chronicle's, as it plans a shared product and data hub — Heart's newspapers represent a sort of counterpoint to the perception that the industry is all about financial distress and contraction.
Discussion:
@risj_oxford, @medici1, @timafranklin, @timothyorourke, @poynter, @caseyseiler and American Press Institute
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
The Salt Lake Tribune tells staffers to hire and expense services to scrub their personal info from the internet, after threats followed a pandemic editorial — The Salt Lake Tribune alerted police to threats that the newspaper received after publishing a Jan. 15 editorial that ripped state leaders …
Discussion:
@dabeard, @nickparkerstet, @deborahblum and @oliverdarcy
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
A US judge refuses to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought by a Georgian chess master against Netflix over a mention of her in an episode of The Queen's Gambit — A judge on Thursday refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a Georgian chess master who alleged that she was defamed in an episode of the Netflix series “The Queen's Gambit.”
Discussion:
New York Post, @jenshahade, Engadget, The Guardian, SlashFilm, The A.V. Club, Hollywood Reporter and The Wrap
Vipal Monga / Wall Street Journal:
Shopify denies copyright infringement claims from publishers and says court is the wrong venue to force changes in copyright laws that shield tech companies — E-commerce company says it isn't liable for copyright infringement by sellers; has responded to takedown requests
Anna Nicolaou / Financial Times:
Netflix's results suggest streaming television is going to make entertainment companies less money than cable did because it demands high capital investment — Share price collapse points to worries over the streaming business model — The corporate narrative on Netflix has always been high drama.
Zachary Petrizzo / The Daily Beast:
Google suspends Dan Bongino's website from monetizing with ads for “persistently” breaching guidelines about COVID-19 pandemic and election misinformation — ‘DEMONSTRABLY FALSE’ — Fox News host Dan Bongino's website has been temporarily suspended from monetizing with Google ads over …
Discussion:
NBC News, @checkmyadshq, Engadget, @mhbergen and Mashable
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Apple had 785M paying subs globally across all services in Q1, up 27% YoY; Cook says Apple doesn't make “purely financial decisions” about Apple TV+ content — And CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that it isn't necessarily looking for a financial payback on that investment.
Discussion:
The Streamable, @stevesi, MediaPost and @xpangler
RELATED:
J. Clara Chan / The Hollywood Reporter:
Services revenue for Apple, which includes Apple TV+, Apple Music, the App Store, and iCloud, brought in $19.5B in Q1, up from $15.8B a year ago
Discussion:
Light Reading, SlashFilm, Billboard, Apple, The Register, Music Ally and Apple Inc., more at Techmeme »
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