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8:24 PM ET, May 21, 2026

Mediagazer

 Top News: 
Jem Aswad / Variety:
Spotify and UMG plan to let Premium users create AI covers and remixes using music from participating UMG artists as a paid add-on, without giving a launch date  —  Spotify and Universal Music Group have announced a major recorded-music and music-publishing licensing agreements …
RELATED:
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Spotify Labs launches Studio, a NotebookLM-like desktop app to generate private, AI-powered podcasts, in research preview across 20+ markets  —  One of the common features for companies to build in the age of AI is to connect services like email, calendar, documents, and notes to create a daily brief in text or audio format.
Samantha Subin / CNBC:
Spotify closes up 13% after announcing new features and 2030 guidance, forecasting a compound annual growth rate in the mid-teens and gross margins of 35%-40%  —  Spotify shares jumped 13% on Thursday after the music streaming platform laid out guidance for 2030 and reached an artificial intelligence deal …
Ethan Millman / The Hollywood Reporter:
Spotify partners with Live Nation to launch Reserved, a new feature that sets aside tickets for the most dedicated fans, starting with Premium users in the US
Felix Gillette / Bloomberg:
As Stephen Colbert hosts the last episode of The Late Show, analysts attribute the ratings collapse of late-night talk shows to the rise of YouTube and podcasts  —  The network TV talk-and-comedy show faces too much competition from streaming and podcasts.  —  One day last week …
RELATED:
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Guideline: in 2025, Colbert's Late Show accounted for 27% of overall ad spending on late-night TV shows, which reached $209M, down from $519.7M in 2017  —  On Election Night, Colbert and crew mounted a live special for the Showtime cable network, and as more electoral votes were called for Donald Trump …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Imax is exploring a sale and has approached entertainment companies as potential buyers  —  High-end movie screen company's search for a buyer comes as premium theatrical experiences are growing faster than overall box office  —  IMAX is exploring a sale and has approached entertainment companies …
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Sources: Penske Media is likely to acquire one or more unsold Vox Media brands, internally called Remain Co., which include The Verge, SB Nation, and Eater  —  As the portfolio is parceled up, a key revenue leader plots his exit … Following the Wednesday sale of New York Magazine …
RELATED:
Peter Kafka / Business Insider:
Q&A with Vox CEO Jim Bankoff on the sale of Vox Media's podcast network, why buyers were interested in that network, and how remaining sites are in “good shape”
Nieman Lab:
Analysis: 382 news sites, including 342 local outlets, are blocking Internet Archive's crawlers amid AI concerns, an increase from 241 sites in January 2026  —  McClatchy, Advance Local, Tribune Publishing and other major newspaper chains are restricting the nonprofit's archiving bots.
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
ElevenLabs, which aims to build an all-in-one AI voice app, licensed 200K human-voiced audiobooks from major publishers, available in ElevenReader for $11/mo.  —  ElevenLabs is taking on Spotify and Audible in a looming battle over becoming the go-to platform for audiobooks  —  Welcome back to Soundbite.
Discussion: The Wrap and TechRadar
Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
Netflix and iHeartMedia say Charlamagne tha God's The Breakfast Club will stream live on Netflix on weekdays from June 1, the service's first daily live show  —  Charlamagne tha God's morning radio show has been a standout success among the streamer's video podcast efforts
Alexandra Alter / New York Times:
For publishers, pirated audiobooks made with AI on YouTube are a growing issue: removal is cumbersome, and some are hiring tech companies to take them down  —  Illegal, synthetically narrated copies of “The Hunger Games,” hit self-help books and everything in between are increasingly common on the platform.
Discussion: Publishers Weekly
Patrick Brzeski / The Hollywood Reporter:
The Hollywood Reporter launches an Australia edition headed by EIC Sean Sennett, in partnership with Raine Media  —  Veteran journalist Sean Sennett joins as editor-in-chief of the Sydney-based title, which will cover Australia's booming screen sector across digital, print and video.
Discussion: Mediaweek
 
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 More News: 
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Apple plans to broadcast an MLS game on Saturday shot entirely on 15 iPhone 17 Pros, the first major live sports event to be captured using only smartphones
 Earlier Picks: 
Kendra Barnett / Adweek:
Filings: Omnicom CEO John Wren received compensation of $69.9M in 2025, nearly 2x greater than the combined CEO compensation at six other ad holding companies
Fox News:
Jeff Bezos defends WaPo layoffs, saying the outlet needs to be a profitable enterprise as “a measure of its relevance”, and noted it won a Pulitzer in 2026
 

 
From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: John Ternus gets ready to put his firm imprint on Apple's industrial design team, which has lost a true seat at Apple's exec table over the past decade

Wall Street Journal:
Investigation: Polymarket is paying creators to make deceptive videos about winning bets, targeting users in the US, where its primary crypto platform is banned

Aisha Down / The Guardian:
A speculative scenario titled “Europe 2031” projects economic and political instability in the EU if it fails to keep pace with the US and China in the AI race
 
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