YouTube Music fans are in for a disappointment, with the company losing access to SESAC (Society of European Stage Authors and Composers) content.

One of the benefits of YouTube is its bargaining powering. As one of the leading streaming services, the company has the ability to negotiate deals that would be difficult for smaller players. For the sake of its users, hopefully it will be able to come to a new agreement with SESAC soon.

our music license agreement with SESAC has expired without an agreement on renewal conditions despite our best efforts. for this reason, we need to block certain music content on YouTube in the US

— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) September 28, 2024

Online platforms have increasingly switched from selling consumers digital goods to merely licensing them. The practice has drawn growing criticism, especially as companies later disable or revoke access to content or games that customers have paid for.

Catch our chat on California’s new digital content licensing law!

Calfornia’s AB 2426 legislation addresses this, forcing companies to be honest about whether they are selling content, or just leasing it.

The bill, which has already passed and been signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom, was authored by Jacqui Irwin.

Existing law makes it unlawful for any person doing business in California and advertising to consumers in California to make any false or misleading advertising claim. Existing law makes a person who violates specified false advertising provisions liable for a civil penalty, as specified, and provides that a person who violates those false advertising provisions is guilty of a misdemeanor.

This bill would, subject to specified exceptions, additionally prohibit a seller of a digital good from advertising or offering for sale a digital good, as defined, to a purchaser with the terms buy, purchase, or any other term which a reasonable person would understand to confer an unrestricted ownership interest in the digital good, or alongside an option for a time-limited rental, unless the seller receives at the time of each transaction an affirmative acknowledgment from the purchaser, or the seller provides to the consumer before executing each transaction a clear and conspicuous statement, as specified. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The law is a welcome counter to what has become a common practice in the computer software, gaming, and digital media industries, and will hopefully help provide customers with what they need to make informed decisions.

According to Android Authority, YouTube Premium is seeing price hikes in multiple regions, including much of Europe, parts of Asia, and at least one country in South America. Unlike some streaming service price hikes, that are usually the equivalent of a couple to a few dollars, YouTube Premium’s price hike is a massive jump in some cases.

Tune in to our chat about YouTube Premium’s latest price hike—again!

As spotted by AA, one Reddit user points out that the new YouTube Premium price makes it more expense than several other services combined.

Yeah I just canceled. This increase makes YouTube by far the most expensive streaming service, clocking in at more than what I pay for Amazon Prime, Netflix and HBO combined. And all just to avoid ads, since I don’t use YouTube Music anyway.

Similarly, Swedish users are seeing a 60% price increase.

YouTube has waged a war on third-party apps and ad blocking software, as well as rolled out additional ad formats. With price hikes like these, it’s easy to see why the company has been so eager to eliminate other options and push people toward paid accounts.

The MPA is the leading lobby group for the movie industry. Its existing members include Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, Sony Pictures, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Netflix.

“The MPA is the global voice for a growing and evolving industry, and welcoming Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios to our ranks will broaden our collective policymaking and content protection efforts on behalf of our most innovative and creative companies,” said Charles Rivkin, Chairman and CEO of the MPA. “MPA studios fuel local economies, drive job creation, enrich cultures, and bolster communities everywhere they work. With Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios among our roster of extraordinary members, the MPA will have an even larger voice for the world’s greatest storytellers.”

“Amazon’s mission is to entertain customers around the world with compelling film and television. In order to do that, we must support storytellers, while also helping to sustain a robust entertainment industry that works for both studios and our creative partners,” said Mike Hopkins, Head of Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios. “We are proud to join the MPA and its member studios in their collective efforts to protect creators, content, and consumers worldwide.”

Prior to officially joining the MPA, Amazon had worked closely with the group. In addition, Amazon purchased MGM in 2022, which had been an MPA member for decades.

Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios has worked with the association since 2017 as a governing board member of the MPA’s Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), the world’s leading anti-piracy coalition. Additionally, MGM was a member of the association from 1928 until 2005. Rivkin recruited Netflix to join the association in 2019.

The fact that two of the seven MPA members are streaming services is a strong indication just how powerful and important streaming video companies have become.

AnandTech has been a popular source for information and reviews on the latest computer, smartphone, and tablet hardware since it was founded in 1997. Unfortunately, as Editor-In-Chief Ryan Smith writes, the site is shutting down, effective August 30, 2024.

It is with great sadness that I find myself penning the hardest news post I’ve ever needed to write here at AnandTech. After over 27 years of covering the wide – and wild – word of computing hardware, today is AnandTech’s final day of publication.

For better or worse, we’ve reached the end of a long journey – one that started with a review of an AMD processor, and has ended with the review of an AMD processor. It’s fittingly poetic, but it is also a testament to the fact that we’ve spent the last 27 years doing what we love, covering the chips that are the lifeblood of the computing industry.

While not providing a great deal of detail, Smith attributes changes in the market for the decision.

The years have also brought some monumental changes to the world of publishing. AnandTech was hardly the first hardware enthusiast website, nor will we be the last. But we were fortunate to thrive in the past couple of decades, when so many of our peers did not, thanks to a combination of hard work, strategic investments in people and products, even more hard work, and the support of our many friends, colleagues, and readers.

Still, few things last forever, and the market for written tech journalism is not what it once was – nor will it ever be again. So, the time has come for AnandTech to wrap up its work, and let the next generation of tech journalists take their place within the zeitgeist.

Fortunately, AnandTech’s publisher will keep the site live so users can continue to research past content, as well as keeping the forums active.

And while the AnandTech staff is riding off into the sunset, I am happy to report that the site itself won’t be going anywhere for a while. Our publisher, Future PLC, will be keeping the AnandTech website and its many articles live indefinitely. So that all of the content we’ve created over the years remains accessible and citable. Even without new articles to add to the collection, I expect that many of the things we’ve written over the past couple of decades will remain relevant for years to come – and remain accessible just as long.

The AnandTech Forums will also continue to be operated by Future’s community team and our dedicated troop of moderators. With forum threads going back to 1999 (and some active members just as long), the forums have a history almost as long and as storied as AnandTech itself (wounded monitor children, anyone?). So even when AnandTech is no longer publishing articles, we’ll still have a place for everyone to talk about the latest in technology – and have those discussions last longer than 48 hours.

It’s sad to see such a distinguished tech site close its doors, but at least its existing content will continue to be available.

The Chromecast has been a popular product, with Google saying it has sold more than 100 million devices over the last 11 years. Despite its success, or because of it, Google is retiring the device.

After 11 years and over 100 million devices sold, we’re ending production of Chromecast, which will now only be available while supplies last. The time has now come to evolve the smart TV streaming device category — primed for the new area of AI, entertainment and smart homes. With this, there are no changes to our support policy for existing Chromecast devices, with continued software and security updates to the latest devices.

Google goes on to point out that the streaming market and the technology behind it has changed dramatically since the Chromecast’s introduction, necessitating a change.

Since then, technology has evolved dramatically. Streaming and smart TVs abound. We invested heavily in embedding Google Cast technology into millions of TV devices, including Android TV. Android TV has expanded to 220 million devices worldwide and we are continuing to bring Google Cast to other TV devices, like LG TVs. Thousands of apps support casting, making it easier than ever to watch your content from your phone and tablet on the big screen. So we are taking the next step in evolving how streaming TV devices can add even more capabilities to your smart TV, built on top of the same Chromecast technology.

Google has introduced the Google TV Streamer, a device that is far more powerful and capable than the Chromecast it replaces.

For a premium streaming experience, you need a premium streaming device. Google TV Streamer offers an improved processor, double the memory and 32GB of storage for faster app load times and smoother navigation than previous generation Chromecast. And with 4K HDR with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, every detail, sound and image feels like a cinematic experience.

You can connect your Google TV Streamer to a Wi-Fi network, or use an ethernet port for faster, buffer-free streaming with snappier navigation and app loading or switching. We designed Google TV Streamer to sit in front of your TV, rather than tucked behind it, to improve connectivity across your smart home devices.

The new device gives users access to a plethora of content, all while integrating AI to help make choosing the right content easier.

Streaming has boomed in popularity, meaning more options for what to watch than ever before. Google TV Streamer offers access to 700,000+ movies and shows through streaming apps like YouTube TV, Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV and more, in addition to live TV with 800+ free channels. To make it easier to find what to watch, Google TV Streamer uses Google AI and your preferences to curate content suggestions across all of your subscriptions, organized conveniently in one place. You can even build watchlists with recommendations for every member of your home.

And thanks to Gemini technology on Google TV, you can now get full summaries, reviews and season-by-season breakdowns of content, so finding your next marathon-watch just got easier.

Google TV Streamer is available for $99.99 and will be available on September 24. Users can pre-order starting August 6.

Amazon announced the deal in a blog post:

Amazon Prime Video and the NBA today announced an 11-year media rights agreement, beginning with the 2025-26 NBA season. In a landmark deal, Prime Video will present exclusive global coverage for 66 regular-season NBA games, including an opening-week doubleheader, a new Black Friday NBA game, and all games from the Knockout Rounds of the Emirates NBA Cup, including the in-season tournament’s Semifinals and Finals.

As part of the deal, Prime Video will also be the destination for NBA League Pass, both in the US and internationally.

“The digital opportunities with Amazon align perfectly with the global interest in the NBA,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “And Prime Video’s massive subscriber base will dramatically expand our ability to reach our fans in new and innovative ways.”

“Elevating our partnership with Amazon allows us to provide more games and access to fans who subscribe to Prime Video around the world at a time of historic interest in the WNBA and women’s basketball,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “Amazon has demonstrated its dedication to the growth of our sport throughout our current partnership and will now be a significant contributor to the long-term sustainability of the WNBA for the players, league, and teams.”

In a post on LinkedIn, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy voiced how thrilled he was with the deal:

Couldn’t be more excited about the long-term agreement we just signed with the NBA.

Starting in the 2025-26 season, Prime members will be able to stream an exciting slate of regular season games, the NBA Cup in-season tournament, the entire postseason play-in tournament, first and second round playoff games, and NBA conference finals every other season.

We’ve also expanded our relationship with the WNBA, and will be streaming 30 regular season games annually, 1/3 of all playoff games, and three WNBA finals over the 11 years.

We are honored to work with these amazing products and leagues, and can’t wait to keep innovating the viewing experience for fans.

The deal is a big win for Amazon’s streaming service in an increasingly competitive industry where exclusivity deals are key to preventing user churn.

Streaming have multiplied at an alarming rate, with many studios and major channel groups offering a paid service of their own. As a result, rather than being able to pay one low price to gain access to all available options, consumers are increasingly getting bled dry, $5 and $10 at a time.

Unfortunately, Hallmark is the latest to add to the trend. According to CNET, the feel-good brand will be rebranding Hallmark Movies Now as the new Hallmark Plus, completely with a price raise as well. Whereas the old service was $6 per month, or $60 per year, the new service will cost $8 a month, or $80 per year.

The new service will feature a combination of movies, series, and unscripted reality content.

A Vision for the Future

David Ellison, a young media mogul and CEO of Skydance Media, believes that integrating cutting-edge technology is crucial for transforming legacy media. “He is in this for the next 30 or 40 years,” Greenfield noted. “This is not a quick fix. This is not an easy lift.” Ellison’s long-term vision contrasts sharply with the typically short-term focus of traditional media executives.

Ellison asserts that legacy media has largely failed to incorporate best-in-class technology across its operations. This failure isn’t limited to streaming services but spans the entire business model. “They are not tech, and they have not brought those disciplines together,” Greenfield emphasized. The crux of the issue lies in not just adopting technology but also creating a synergy between content production and technological innovation.

The Content Conundrum

For technology to make a significant impact, there must be substantial content to leverage it. “They have to make a ton of content, invest in a ton of content, and get people to watch it,” Greenfield explained. Paramount Plus serves as a stark example of this dilemma, as it currently struggles with low viewer engagement. The platform’s limited content slate, especially with the impending end of popular shows like Yellowstone, underscores the need for a significant increase in content production.

Greenfield suggests that success hinges on the ability to ramp up content creation dramatically while simultaneously boosting technology investments. “That will be the test: can they make a ton of content while also dramatically ramping the technology spend and make them work in harmony together?” he posed.

Navigating the Industry Decline

The broader context of the interview touched on the challenges facing the entire media sector. Companies like Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery are experiencing significant stock declines, reflecting the broader struggles of the industry. “There is no proof that anybody can figure out how to navigate the decline of linear television and the growth of streaming,” Greenfield remarked.

Digital-native companies like Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube are currently leading the streaming landscape, leaving traditional media companies scrambling to catch up. This stark reality underscores the difficulty of transitioning from a legacy model to one that fully embraces digital and technological advancements.

Incentives and Investments

Despite the challenges, there are substantial incentives for legacy media companies to innovate. Ellison and his partners at RedBird Capital have invested billions of their own money into transforming their media assets. “They have a significant option grant that comes to fruition. They are obviously heavily incentivized to make this work,” Greenfield noted.

This financial commitment indicates a serious effort to leverage technology for business transformation. However, the path to success remains uncertain and fraught with challenges.

Looking Ahead

The future of legacy media depends on its ability to adapt to a rapidly changing technological landscape. Integrating AI and cloud computing can potentially streamline operations, enhance content delivery, and improve viewer engagement. However, these technologies must be paired with a robust content strategy that meets the demands of modern audiences.

As Greenfield aptly summarized, “The real test will be whether legacy media can harmonize content production with technological investment and navigate the tumultuous transition from linear to digital platforms.”

The road ahead for legacy media is undeniably challenging, but with the right combination of innovation, investment, and strategic foresight, there remains a glimmer of hope for these storied institutions to not only survive but thrive in the digital age.

Paramount has been going through a difficult transition. Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish resigned unexpectedly in April, and the company was reportedly in merger talks with Skydance, as well as the Sony Pictures and Apollo Global Management duo. Shari Redstone, who controls more than three-quarters of the voting stocks, was rumored to favor a deal with Skydance.

According to ABC News, Redstone said the deal will help fortify Paramount in a competitive industry.

“Given the changes in the industry, we want to fortify Paramount for the future while ensuring that content remains king,” said Redstone, who is also Paramount Global chairwoman.

Skydance was founded by David Ellison, Oracle founder Larry Ellison’s son. ABC reports that Ellison will become chairman and CEO of “New Paramount,” as long as regulators sign off on the deal.

With nearly 80 million monthly active users, Tubi has quickly become one of the biggest streaming platforms, a point the company makes in a funny series of ads in which it declares itself more popular than divorce, babies, water fountains, or Old Faithful.

“The idea for more popular than popular things came from the brief our strategists wrote,” explained Carl Peterson, creative director at Mischief who worked on the idea with partner Eleanor Rask. “They had a line in there about how if Tubi viewers were a country, it would be bigger than France. We thought that was pretty compelling so we just ran with it. Like, babies are common, but when you learn that Tubi is actually way more popular than babies – that felt sticky to us.”

The company is building on that popularity by launching in the UK. The platform will launch with more than 20,000 movies and TV episodes. The company says it is committed to delivery content suited to the UK market.

“Tubi has spent the last decade honing our approach to vast, free and fun streaming in North America, and we feel that now is the perfect time to bring that recipe to UK audiences,” said Anjali Sud, CEO of Tubi. “We are launching with one of the largest and most diverse content libraries in the UK, designed to indulge viewers in everything from blockbusters to original stories to hidden gems. Most importantly, we’re committed to listening to what resonates with UK fans, and bringing them more and more of what they love.”

“At a time when traditional programming feels homogenous and when finding what to watch feels like a chore, Tubi has been effective at delivering delight beyond the monoculture with content that appeals to diverse and vibrant fandoms,” said David Salmon, EVP and Managing Director of International at Tubi. “We believe that we can build a brilliantly broad, culturally ambitious offering that puts UK audiences back at the centre, and makes it fun and easy to enjoy great entertainment from around the world.”

Tubi has won praise for its streaming platform, solid content, and free price. Expanding in the UK should help the platform gain even more users, enabling it to leverage its scale to continue delivering great content.

The company made the announcement on its website:

On Spotify, users discover and enjoy music, podcasts, and audiobooks, with various plans that meet our listeners’ needs. We offer subscriptions for every stage of life and household, depending on how listeners like to stream. And we’re now offering even more options for eligible U.S. subscribers, who can choose one of the plans below.

Basic

• Enjoy the music streaming benefits of your Premium plan without the monthly audiobook listening time. Starting at $10.99/month for eligible users.

At $10.99, the Basic plan is just $1 less than the Premium Individual, at $11.99. While not a big difference, it’s still nice that users can choose not to pay for a feature they may not use.

Content moderation is one of the biggest challenges facing social media platforms. YouTube’s latest effort to address the issue would tap into the power its user base.

Starting today, we are testing an experimental feature to allow people to add notes to provide relevant, timely, and easy-to-understand context on videos. For example, this could include notes that clarify when a song is meant to be a parody, point out when a new version of a product being reviewed is available, or let viewers know when older footage is mistakenly portrayed as a current event.

The company says the initial test will be in the US and only in English. If a note is found to be broadly helpful, it will appear publicly under the video.

Notes will appear publicly under a video if they’re found to be broadly helpful. People will be asked whether they think a note is “helpful,” “somewhat helpful,” or “unhelpful” and why – for example, whether it cites high-quality sources or is written clearly and neutrally.

From there, we’ll use a bridging-based algorithm to consider these ratings and determine what notes are published.

A bridging-based algorithm helps identify notes that are helpful to a broad audience across perspectives. If many people who have rated notes differently in the past now rate the same note as helpful, then our system is more likely to show that note under a video. These systems will continuously improve as more notes are written and rated across a broad range of topics.

There is no time frame for a full rollout, but it should be interesting to see how the feature impacts engagement.

The news was first revealed by SponsorBlock, “a crowdsourced extension to skip sponsor segments in YouTube videos.”

SponsorBlock says there are ways around YouTube’s new method, although it will make blocking ads more challenging than it used to be.

According to Reuters, the recently ran a headline entitled: “Christmas Day Tragedy Strikes Bridgeton, New Jersey Amid Rising Gun Violence in Small Towns.” There’s just one issue—the story was completely fabricated and the event in question never occurred.

“Nothing even similar to this story occurred on or around Christmas, or even in recent memory for the area they described,” a post by the Bridgeton Police Department said. “It seems this ‘news’ outlet’s AI writes fiction they have no problem publishing to readers.”

According to Reuters, NewsBreak has had at least 40 incidents since 2021 in which its AI-driven misinformation has caused problems for the communities it claims to serve with its news coverage. Some stories have included incorrect information about programs for homeless and disadvantaged individuals, including wrong information about health care provisions.

Former NewsBreak employees that spoke with the outlet said that much of the engineering behind the app’s algorithm is done from its China offices, even though the company is headquartered in California.

There is evidence that NewsBreak has been aware of the issues for some time, with ,” Norm Pearlstine, former Executive Editor at the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times, writing a memo to NewsBreak CEO Jeff Zheng when he served as a consultant for the company.

“I cannot think of a faster way to destroy the NewsBreak brand,” Pearlstine wrote in the memo about the company’s practice of using AI to re-publish stories from news outlets under fictitious bylines.

“I question the legality of creating fake accounts using content publishers put behind their paywalls. If I had learned about the practice while at the LA Times, I would have instructed our lawyer to seek a restraining order and sue for damages,” Pearlstine told Reuters in an interview.

US lawmakers have grown increasingly worried about misinformation from Chinese companies, a factor in the recent legislation to ban TikTok. In such a climate, one wonders how long NewsBreak will be able to fly under the radar. At the same time, the company is a cautionary tale about the dangers of relying on AI without the proper safeguards and oversight in place.

Reuters full story goes into extraordinary detail, pealing back the layers on NewsBreak, and is well worth a read.

The company says subscribers will begin receiving an email over the next month informing them of the the price changes. The price hike is similar to last year’s, with the Individual and Duo plans going up $1 and $2 respectively, putting them at $11.99 and $16.99.

The Family plan receives the biggest hike, going up by $3. This makes the plan $19.99 per month. Only the student plan stays the same at $5.99.

Below is an image of the email users can expect:

Spotify angered users when it announced it was discontinuing its music dashboard accessory, effective December 9, 2024.

We have made the decision to discontinue Car Thing. This means that Car Thing will no longer be operational. This decision wasn’t made lightly, and we want to assure you that our commitment to providing a superior listening experience remains unchanged.

Initially, Spotify made no mention of possible refunds for users who purchased the device, leading to massive backlash and at least one class action lawsuit. The company appears to have heard the message loud and clear, and now appears to be offering a refund.

The company’s Car Thing FAQ has been updated with instructions for users wanting a refund.

Individuals seeking a refund can contact customer support with proof of purchase to discuss their options.

It’s a shame that Spotify didn’t start out offering customers a refund and that it took days of complaints and a class action lawsuit for the company to do the right thing.

YouTube has been cracking down on ad-blocking software, using various methods to combat it in recent months. The company has also been rolling out new ad formats and styles in an effort to driver greater revenue.

The latest anti-blocking effort is YouTube’s most aggressive yet, with the company skipping videos altogether if ad-blocking is detecting. As TechCrunch points out, YouTube warned that such action could eventually be taken in an April post:

Viewers who are using these third-party apps may experience buffering issues or see the error “The following content is not available on this app” when trying to watch a video.

There are viable alternatives to YouTube, such as Odysee, but users have so far failed to abandon YouTube en masse. Only time will tell if YouTube’s increased focus on ads, not to mention its controversial design choices, will reach a point that it drives people away.

Google has made a number of outreaches to the US news industry in an effort to address complaints that it unfairly benefits from linking to publishers’ news stories, such as the Google News Initiative, a $300 million commitment to help local publishers. The California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA) is designed to address those complaints, requiring tech companies to pay for the news they link to.

According to Axios, Google is now threatening to pause funding for the Initiative in response to the CJPA. The outlet’s sources said that, while previous commitments should be secure, future commitments could be jeopardized nationwide. If Google decides to take such action, it would likely have a disproportionately large impact smaller news outlets.

Google tried similar hardline tactics in Australia when it passed similar legislation as the CJPA. In fact, the CJPA is loosely based on Australia’s legislation. Ultimately, however, Google ended up capitulating to Australia’s demands, despite its initial posturing.

The CJPA has widespread support within the news industry, but only time will tell if Google retaliates as it says it may.

Spotify users started taking to Reddit to complain of the change. User ‘MeowKat090709’ posted a message and screenshot showing the change.

why did spotify put the lyrics behind a premium payment??? this is really annoying since i’m mostly deaf and i rely on the lyrics to understand the songs, but i can’t get a job due to the deafness so i can’t pay for the premium. this has been happening all day and i can’t find anyone who is talking about this, does anyone know why spotify did this, or when it’ll be reverted back to before??

Other users commented that Spotify is becoming increasingly unusable without a subscription, as the company is removing features that were previously available for free.