Mediagazer: Spotify paid out $9B to music rights holders in 2023, a “figure that has tripled over the past six years”, and more than $48B since its founding (Jem Aswad/Variety)

2:45 PM ET, February 8, 2024

Top News:

Thomas Barrabi / New York Post:

News Corp CEO says it is in advanced talks with major AI companies to license its content and that Sam Altman understands “the social importance of journalism” — News Corp — the media giant that owns The Post and the Wall Street Journal — is in “advanced” …

Discussion: @johnbuckley_, @katie_robertson, The Guardian and The Wrap

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Dow Jones CEO Almar Latour says the company had 3.17M digital-only subscriptions in Q4 2023, up 60% on Q3 2019, and 80% of its revenue comes from subscriptions — Dow Jones, the parent company to the Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch, Investor's Business Daily and Financial News …

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Natalie Korach / The Wrap:
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Kenneth Li / Reuters:

Thomson Reuters reports Reuters News Q4 revenue rose 11% YoY to $220M, driven mainly by generative AI licensing, and adjusted EBITDA grew 56% YoY to $61M — Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI.TO) on Thursday reported higher than expected profit but sales of divisions impacted total revenue growth …

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Ben Smith / Semafor:

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Ashley Fetters Maloy / Washington Post:

Q&A with millenial EICs of five fashion outlets on how the job has changed since its heyday, relationships with advertisers, accountability to readers, and more — Town cars are over, transparency has replaced aspiration and diversity finally exists. Top editors talk about leading a style magazine in 2024.

Discussion: @laurahazardowen and Florencia Cavallo on LinkedIn

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:

Battle for the Bird book excerpt: how Jack Dorsey's plan to get Elon Musk to save Twitter failed, as Musk dismantled the company after taking over, and more — An excerpt from Battle for the Bird shows how Twitter's two most prominent leaders contributed to its current dilemma.

Discussion: TechCrunch, @annmlipton, @kurtwagner8, @sarahfrier, @business, @danilo@hachyderm.io and MediaPost, more at Techmeme »

Jem Aswad / Variety:

Spotify paid out $9B to music rights holders in 2023, a “figure that has tripled over the past six years”, and more than $48B since its founding — Spotify paid the music industry some $9 billion in 2023, according to a statement from the streaming giant, which added that the …

Discussion: The Ankler, @spotifynews, Music Business Worldwide, Hypebot and Music Ally, more at Techmeme »

Todd Spangler / Variety:

CBS News Digital staffers form a union with WGA East; WGA East also represents workers at CBS News and won a first collective bargaining agreement at MSNBC — Amid a wave of layoffs sweeping across the media industry, writers and editors at CBS News Digital have formed a union with WGA East for the purpose of collective bargaining.

Discussion: The Wrap, @wgaeast, @cbsdigitalunion, Writers Guild of America … and The Hollywood Reporter

Connor Jones / The Register:

Microsoft's Threat Analysis Center says Iran's cyber operations in Israel show how Iran could target the 2024 US elections, including AI-generated fake news — Tactics are more sophisticated and supported in greater numbers — Iran's anti-Israel cyber operations are providing a window …

Discussion: Adweek, Dave Sloan on LinkedIn, The Guardian and Microsoft On the Issues

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Bauer Media Group says its UK publishing CEO Chris Duncan is leaving, amid its plans to split print and digital businesses and merge international operations — Bauer is splitting its print and digital operations and moving away from a localised structure.

Discussion: Bauer Media, Bauer Media Group on LinkedIn and Jan Rudolph on LinkedIn

Sophie Culpepper / Nieman Lab:

How the Alliance of Nonprofit News Outlets, launched in August 2023 and now with 32 member publications, helps small news nonprofits reach large funders — “There are haves and have-nots in the nonprofit journalism space. And this isn't right.” … Here's a question I bet …

Discussion: @sarahscire, @laurahazardowen and @fara1

Sarah Whitten / CNBC:

Disney plans to invest $1.5B for a stake in Epic Games and collaborate on a new “universe” connected to Fortnite with content from Disney, Pixar, and more — - Disney is investing $1.5 billion for an equity stake in Epic Games in its biggest jump yet into the gaming world.

Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Disney plans to launch ESPN's D2C service in August or the fall of 2025, and include integration with ESPN's fantasy platforms and ESPN Bet

Sarah Whitten / CNBC:
Disney reports Q1 revenue of $23.55B, about the same from a year ago, operating income up 27% YoY to $3.9B, and raises its guidance; DIS up 5%+

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, KNSD-TV, MediaNama, @sherman4949, Reuters, @lucas_shaw, @sherman4949, @bristei, @sherman4949, @tvgrimreaper, @sherman4949, Disney, NBC Bay Area, Axios and @app_economy_insights …

Jennifer Maas / Variety:
Disney Q1: 111.3M Disney+ subscribers, down from 112.6M in Q3, Disney+ Hotstar adds 700K subscribers to 38.3M, and expects streaming profitability by Q4 2024

Discussion: CBR, The A.V. Club, KNSD-TV, @bristei, MediaPost, @bristei, @bristei, @bristei, AllEars.Net, Media Play News, The Streamable, IndieWire and ComingSoon.net

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: NFL, NBA, and other sports leagues were kept in the dark about the sports streaming platform being launched by Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox — NFL, NBA digest details of new platform looming over their businesses — Sports leagues including the National Football League …

Discussion: Fast Company, Yahoo Finance, Jean Edhlund on LinkedIn, Sportico, @nikosray.bsky.social, Ad Age, Ars Technica, Financial Times, USA Today, AllEars.Net and CNBC

Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Fubo says it is concerned about the “impact on fair market competition” after Disney, Fox, and WBD announced a sports streaming platform; FUBO closed down 20%+

Discussion: The Streamable, The Athletic, Advanced Television, @matthewkeyslive, @davezatz, @tvgrimreaper, @matthewkeyslive, The Desk, The Desk, Next TV, Media Play News, Cord Cutters News, Sports Media Watch and Business Insider

David Gilbert / Wired:

How a Russian disinformation campaign is using bots, lifestyle influencers, and state-run media to boost calls for a US “civil war” over the Texas border crisis — An all-encompassing Russian disinformation campaign is using everything from bots to lifestyle influencers …

Discussion: MIT Technology Review, @leahfeiger, @daithaigilbert, @alecluhn, @w7voa@journa.host and @weilawei@mastodon.online

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Jem Aswad / Variety:
Memo: Warner Music plans to lay off 10% of its staff, or 600 people, wind down its podcast network Interval Presents, and sell the websites Uproxx and HipHopDX

Discussion: Warner Music Inc., Music Business Worldwide, Music Ally, @lucas_shaw, Hypebot, Billboard, @kbeninato.bsky.social, Forbes, CNBC, The Wrap, Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires, Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and Digital Music News

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