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☆ Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poets Department’ makes gigantic debut at No. 1 with her career-best first-week sales
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-28 | by ( Alli Rosenbloom | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Taylor Swift’s latest album “The Tortured Poets Department” is indeed the blockbuster that many expected it to become. I’m completely floored by the love you’ve shown this album,” Swift said in an Instagram post. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 albums chart among female recording artists. In 2015, Adele’s “25” sold a staggering 3.482 million album units. When the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart is released on Monday, Swift stands to break even more records.

Persons: CNN — Taylor, Department ”, ” Swift, ”, Jay, Swift, “, Adele’s, Drake Organizations: CNN, Department, Billboard, Beatles, Drake’s, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music Locations: U.S

☆ Daniel Ek’s Next Act: Full-Body Scans for the People
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Bernhard Warner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The problem: Mr. Ek had neither a plan, nor the time or money to do much about it. He knew whom to contact: Hjalmar Nilsonne, a Swedish tech entrepreneur who Mr. Ek had met the year prior at the Brilliant Minds event, an annual gathering Mr. Ek started. At first, Mr. Nilsonne rebuffed Mr. Ek’s proposition. But Mr. Ek eventually won him over. Mr. Ek, a former computer coder, and Mr. Nilsonne, an engineer, zeroed in on building a better diagnostic tool.

Persons: Daniel Ek, ” Mr, Ek, DealBook, Hjalmar Nilsonne, Mr, Nilsonne, Watty Organizations: Spotify, Apple, YouTube, Amazon Music, Apple Watch, Neko Health Locations: Swedish, Stockholm, London

Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicWhen the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was convicted of sex crimes four years ago, it was celebrated as a watershed moment for the #MeToo movement. Yesterday, New York’s highest court of appeals overturned that conviction. Jodi Kantor, one of the reporters who broke the story of the abuse allegations against Mr. Weinstein in 2017, explains what this ruling means for him and for #MeToo.

Persons: Harvey Weinstein, Jodi Kantor, Weinstein Organizations: Spotify, Hollywood, New

☆ Google's 'fastest-growing' moonshot that spun out into an AI earbuds startup aims to ship its first product this year
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Read previewA team inside X, Google's moonshot factory, was working on a revolutionary hearing device, Business Insider reported in 2021. A few months later, Wolverine's lead, Jason Rugolo, spun the project out of Alphabet and formed a startup named Iyo. Rugolo says the company plans to ship its first product by the end of this year. Rugolo told BI he hired Kraft for a stint at Google X to work on what would become Iyo. Iyo isn't the first X project to fly from Alphabet's nest, and it probably won't be the last.

Persons: —, Google's, Jason Rugolo, Rugolo, Iyo, Lockheed Martin, Sergey Brin, Noah Kraft, Kraft, we're, X Organizations: Service, Business, Lockheed, Horizons Ventures, US, ARPA, Research Projects Agency, Energy, Google, Doppler Labs, Spotify, TED, Wolverine, BI

Listen to and follow ‘Matter of Opinion’Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicHow worried should we really be about the threat of political violence? On this week’s episode of “Matter of Opinion,” columnist Jamelle Bouie joins the hosts to set the record straight on whether we’re actually living through an unusually violent era, and they discuss whether the new movie, “Civil War,” could come true. Plus, Keanu Reeves in his most beautiful form yet. (A full transcript of this audio essay will be available within 24 hours of publication in the audio player above.)

Persons: Jamelle Bouie, we’re, ”, Keanu Reeves Organizations: Spotify

☆ Opinion | Salman Rushdie Is Not Who You Think He Is
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

I feel as if I’ve always known who Salman Rushdie is. In August of 2022, more than 30 years after the fatwa, a fanatic with a knife attacked and tried to kill Rushdie. His latest book, “Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder,” is about the attack and its aftermath. This is what I now understand after reading “Knife,” what I now understand after I went and read, for the first time, “The Satanic Verses”: I have never known who Salman Rushdie is. How many people out there do I wrongly think that I know?

Persons: “, Ezra Klein, I’ve, Salman Rushdie, ”, Ruhollah Khomeini, Rushdie, it’s, It’s Organizations: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Locations: Iran

☆ I just don’t get Taylor Swift
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Aj Willingham | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

I just don’t get Taylor Swift. Again, I respect the Taylor Swift lovers. The Cut recently published a piece by a woman who ended a relationship with a friend who didn’t like Taylor Swift. However, the days of Taylor Swift as an ultimate cultural barometer may be waning. If you don’t love Taylor Swift, if you don’t hate her; if she is simply not something that affects your life whatsoever, it’s probably safe to come out now.

Persons: Taylor Swift, it’s, Taylor, Swift, Kat McKenna, there’s, “ Cardigan, Stanley, Said, Travis Kelce Organizations: CNN, Department, The Spectator, BBC, Spotify, Paste Magazine, Kansas City Chiefs

☆ Matty Healy says he hasn't 'really listened' to Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department,' the most streamed album in the world right now
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

But Matty Healy says he hasn't "really listened to that much of it." AdvertisementTaylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" may have broken multiple streaming records, but Matty Healy says he hasn't "really listened" to the album yet. I haven't really listened to that much of it, but I'm sure it's good," Healy said of the album. Healy's response may surprise some, considering how fans have speculated that he is the subject of several songs on Swift's album. On Wednesday, streaming giant Spotify said that Swift's album had become the platform's "most streamed album in a single week," surpassing a billion streams since its release on Friday.

Persons: Taylor Swift's, Matty Healy, Healy, —, Taylor, Swift, Joe Alwyn, Travis Kelce, would've, Swift didn't Organizations: Poets Department, Service, Department, Kansas City Chiefs, GQ, Spotify, BI

People are surprised to learn that Mari Murdock, 36, is a professional game master, a role in which she organizes and narrates tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons. Dungeons & Dragons is an open-ended tabletop game in which the narrative is shaped by the players' choices, whether that's through combat, puzzles or negotiation. But as Murdock played tabletop games through the 2010s, she grew more confident in the skills it takes to run a good game. The timing was fortuitous, as tabletop gaming became more popular during the pandemic. For Murdock, gaming allows you to immerse yourself in "a pretend situation where you are imagining that you are someone else.

Persons: Mari Murdock, Graham Merwin, Murdock, — it's, Scott, Murdock's, Mari, she'd, Dax Levine, —, Levine, Max, we've, it's Organizations: CNBC, Westminster University, Brigham Young University, Hawaii, BYU, Dragons, Guinness World Records, &, PayPal, Hulu, Spotify, Amazon Prime, Max Insurance, Relief Society Locations: Utah, Salt Lake City, Michigan, Hawaii, Japan, Scott, Provo , Utah

Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicColumbia University has become the epicenter of a growing showdown between student protesters, college administrators and Congress over the war in Gaza and the limits of free speech. Nicholas Fandos, who covers New York politics and government for The Times, walks us through the intense week at the university. And Isabella Ramírez, the editor in chief of Columbia’s undergraduate newspaper, explains what it has all looked like to a student on campus.

Persons: Nicholas Fandos, Isabella Ramírez Organizations: Spotify, Amazon Music Columbia University, The Times Locations: Gaza, New York

☆ Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has realized laying off 1,500 people at one go may have created a 'significant challenge' for Spotify's day-to-day operations
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Daniel Ek said Spotify underestimated the impact of laying off 1,500 people in December. "It took us some time to find our footing," Ek told investors in an earnings call. AdvertisementLaying off 1,500 people in December ended up creating a "significant challenge" for Spotify, the company's CEO Daniel Ek said on Tuesday. "Although there's no question that it was the right strategic decision, it did disrupt our day-to-day operations more than we anticipated," Ek told investors in an earnings call. The layoffs, Ek said in December, were necessary as the company needed to become "relentlessly resourceful."

Persons: Daniel Ek, Ek, —, Taylor, Swift, Mark Zuckerberg, Neal Freyman, Toby Howell, Zuckerberg Organizations: Service, Spotify, Poets Department, Brew Daily, BI

He also hiked his price target to $92 from $59, suggesting shares rallying 48.3% from where they closed on Tuesday. Analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich raised her price target to $370 from $315, suggesting 22% upside from Tuesday's close. — Hakyung Kim 6:04 a.m.: Citi raises price target on Amazon Amazon is becoming a more profitable organization, according to Citi. The price target increase comes on the heels of Amazon's new grocery delivery subscription launch. He cited increased operating income projections amid strong top-line trends for his price target increase.

Persons: Tesla, Rob Sanderson, Sanderson, Forrest Li, Hakyung Kim, Jessica Reif Ehrlich, — Hakyung Kim, Ronald Josey, Josey, GenAI, Kim, Goldman Sachs, Mark Delaney, Delaney, Goldman, Joseph Spak, Spak, TSLA, Wells Fargo's Colin Langan, Langan, James Lee, Lee, Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, Mizuho, Bank of America, Spotify Bank of America, Spotify, Citi, Amazon Web Services, Revenue, UBS, Summer

Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicLawmakers approved a giant new tranche of support for Ukraine late last night after a tortured passage through the U.S. Congress, where it was nearly derailed by right-wing resistance in the House. Marc Santora, a Times reporter in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, explains what effect the money could have, given Ukraine’s increasing desperation on the battlefield.

Persons: Marc Santora Organizations: Spotify, Amazon Music Lawmakers, Ukraine, U.S . Congress Locations: Kyiv

☆ Stocks making the biggest premarket moves: General Motors, GE Aerospace, Novartis, JetBlue and more
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The results were better than analysts' expectations of 65 cents per share on revenues of $15.14 billion, according to LSEG. UPS posted $1.43 adjusted earnings per share while analysts had estimated $1.29 earnings per share, according to LSEG. Danaher — The life sciences firm popped more than 8% after beating analysts expectations for its first-quarter results. Spotify — Shares rallied 8.4% after the music streaming company's first-quarter revenues beat analysts' expectations. Sherwin-Williams reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.17, missing the FactSet consensus estimate of $2.22.

Persons: General Motors, Nucor, Danaher, Lockheed Martin, LSEG, Sherwin, Williams, — Hakyung Kim, Tanaya Macheel, Alex Harring, Jesse Pound, Lisa Han Organizations: General, GM, GE Aerospace —, United Parcel Service, UPS, Pepsico —, Pepsico, Novartis — U.S, JetBlue Airways —, JetBlue, Wall Street, SAP — U.S, SAP, Revenue, Lockheed, —, Spotify Locations: Swiss, Wall Street Cleveland

☆ TikTok's time in the US could soon be on the clock, and that's not the app's only problem
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The big storyTick-tock on TikTokChelsea Jia Feng/BITikTok's time in the US could soon be on the clock. When it's all said and done, a TikTok ban could be in place before the week's end. Business Insider's Peter Kafka explains why the TikTok ban, while more imminent than ever, still has a long way to go . A TikTok ban would benefit one familiar face in social media, though, writes BI's Katie Notopoulos . YouTube Shorts, too, stand to grab more attention after a TikTok ban.

Persons: —, Caitlin Clark's, Chelsea Jia Feng, ByteDance, Joe Biden, it's, Business Insider's Peter Kafka, Michael Beckerman, TikTok, hawking, BI's Lindsay Dodgson, outperforming, Katie Notopoulos, Merrill Lynch, Tyler Le, Andy Sieg's, Merrill, Lindsay Hans, Eric Schimpf, It's, Steve Cohen's, Grzegorz Wajda, Hokyoung Kim, Nordstrom, Tesla, Dan DeFrancesco, Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, George Glover Organizations: Business, Service, Nike, Bloomberg Intelligence, YouTube, Big Tech, New York Stock Exchange, NYSE, Chelsea, Getty, Walmart, BI, Costco, Amazon, Motors, Spotify Locations: Americas, TikTok, Merrill, China, American, New York, London

☆ Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poets Department’ poised to top her sales records next week
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Alli Rosenbloom | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Taylor Swift is already breaking hearts and records since she released “The Tortured Poets Department,” but to what extent she’s done the latter will be known in more detail when full sales figures for the album are released next week. “The Tortured Poets Department” (“TTPD”) sold 1.5 million copies in the US in its first three days. The milestones for “Tortured Poets” may have only just begun:Billboard 200 albums chartAmong female recording artists, Swift has the most No. If “Tortured Poets” claims the top spot in its first week, it will be her 14th album to do so. With 31 “TTPD” songs at play, she could potentially overtake Drake’s top 20 record in the weeks to come.

Persons: CNN — Taylor Swift, ” won’t, we’ve, Taylor, ”, Swift, Jay, she’s, ” Keith Caulfield, Taylor Swift, Drake Organizations: CNN, Poets Department, Billboard, New York Times, Department, Beatles, Drake’s, Apple, Spotify, Amazon

The Hulu Student Deal costs $1.99 per month and lasts as long as you remain a verified college student. Benefits of Hulu Student DealThe Hulu Student Deal comes with all of the benefits of a regular ad-supported Hulu plan. All you have to do is click "Get This Deal" on the Hulu Student Deal webpage. All you need to do is log in and go to the Hulu Student Deal page, where you'll click "Get This Deal." Hulu + Live TV $76.99 Hulu + Live TV includes over 90 channels, along with Hulu's on-demand library and access to Disney Plus and ESPN Plus.

Persons: you'll, Verifications, edu, I'm, Hulu's Organizations: Business, Hulu, Deal, Hulu Student, Spotify, Hulu Basic's, Disney, ESPN, Disney Plus Locations: SheerID

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Spotify, JetBlue, Danaher, General Motors and more
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Lisa Kailai Han | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

General Motors — Shares rose more than 4% after the automaker exceeded analysts' expectations for its first-quarter results . General Motors posted adjusted earnings of $2.62 per share on revenue of $43.01 billion. Danaher — The life sciences firm popped more than 7% after beating analysts' expectations for its first-quarter results. Spotify — The streaming music company surged 16% after easily topping earnings expectations . KeyBanc Capital Markets downgraded Sunnova Energy to sector weight from overweight, citing caution on residential solar names particularly ahead of first-quarter earnings.

Persons: General Motors, JetBlue's, LSEG, Nucor, Danaher, Sherwin, Williams, Sunnova, LKQ, MSCI, — CNBC's Michelle Fox, Sarah Min, Jesse Pound Organizations: General Motors, General, GE Aerospace —, GE, PepsiCo, Novartis, JetBlue Airways —, Spotify, JPMorgan, Sunnova Energy, KeyBanc, FactSet Locations: U.S, LSEG . Cleveland, Cleveland

Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicThe prosecution and the defense both opened their cases on Monday in the first criminal trial of Donald Trump. Jonah Bromwich, who watched from inside the courtroom, walks us through the arguments.

Persons: Donald Trump, Jonah Bromwich Organizations: Spotify

☆ Opinion | This Conversation Made Me a Sharper Editor
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But it’s the crucial step in the creative process that takes work that’s decent and can turn it into something great. [You can listen to this episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” on the NYT Audio app, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google or wherever you get your podcasts.] Adam Moss is widely known as one of the great magazine editors of his generation: He remade The New York Times Magazine in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and during his 15 years as editor in chief of New York magazine, shaped that outlet into one of the greatest print and digital publications we have. It’s a celebration of the hard, human work that goes into the creative act. It’s a book, really, about editing.

Persons: “, Ezra Klein, Adam Moss, he’s Organizations: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google, New York Times Magazine, New York

☆ Spotify reports record quarterly profit after a year marked by deep layoffs and activist attention
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Spotify reported first-quarter earnings on Tuesday, notching record quarterly profit and beating estimates on the top and bottom lines, after a year of deep cost cutting and streamlining. The company expects net new MAUs of 16 million, for a total of 631 million monthly active users. Spotify attributed the slowed growth to "moderated marketing activity" — driven by cost cutting — resulting in "more normalized growth." ValueAct, which manages nearly $12 billion in assets, has a 0.5% Spotify stake valued at $280 million. When the activist investor first disclosed the position in 2023, it owned around 1.2% of Spotify.

Persons: Daniel Ek, Joe Rogan, MAUs, Mason Morfit's ValueAct Organizations: Spotify, LSEG, StreetAccount Spotify Locations: Tokyo, Swedish

☆ TikTok influencers fear their careers will be destroyed and their work 'deleted forever' as a US ban looms
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Lindsay Dodgson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Chinese-owned ByteDance will be forced to sell TikTok to a US company or face a nationwide ban. AdvertisementThose who want the app banned argue that TikTok may be forced into giving over user data to the Chinese government. A ban would be "devastating" for her, she said, because years of her work would be "deleted forever." AdvertisementA TikTok spokesperson told BI in March that the legislation has a "predetermined outcome," which is a total ban of TikTok in the US. Editor's note, April 23, 2024: This article has been updated to reflect the House of Representatives vote, which passed a bill to ban TikTok in the US.

Persons: —, TikTok, Leo LonDini, LonDini, Brett Jansen Organizations: Service, Google, Epic Games, Universal Group, Warner Music Group, Spotify, Tesla Locations: China

☆ Stock market today: US futures rise as Tesla kicks off Magnificent 7 earnings season
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Tesla is set to kick off Big Tech earnings season after the closing bell. AdvertisementUS stocks looked set to open higher at the opening bell on Tuesday, as traders waited for Tesla to kick off a make-or-break Magnificent Seven earnings season. Analysts are expecting Tesla to post earnings of $0.44 per share for the three months ending March 31, according to data from Refinitiv. "Big tech kicks off with Tesla results this evening," Sophie Lund-Yates, Hargreaves Lansdown's lead equity analyst, said. General Motors, Spotify, and Visa are among the other companies set to report earnings on Tuesday.

Persons: Tesla, —, Sophie Lund, Yates, Hargreaves Lansdown's Organizations: Big Tech, Elon Musk's, Service, Nasdaq, Dow Jones Industrial, Motors, Spotify, Visa Locations: Elon

☆ Can markets make a comeback? That depends on tech earnings
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The Nasdaq tumbled 2.1% on Friday as tech stocks plunged, marking its worst day since January 31. “US earnings updates this week will be key to see if they can keep topping expectations and buoying risk appetite in a higher-for-longer interest rate environment.”Tesla, Facebook-parent Meta, IBM, Microsoft and Alphabet all report first quarter earnings later this week. “Big Tech earnings may determine whether the stock market avoids its first four-week losing streak in two years,” wrote Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley on Monday. About 15% of S&P 500 companies have reported first quarter earnings, and nearly three-quarters of those companies have posted a positive earnings-per-share surprise. But investors are nervously waiting for the Magnificent Seven, those massive Tech stocks that carry an outsized portion of market weight, to report.

Persons: Monday’s, “, ”, They’re, Tesla, Chris Larkin, Morgan Stanley, aren’t, we’re, Dave Sekera, ” Taylor Swift’s, Apple Taylor Swift, Liam Reilly, Department ”, Post Malone, Laura He Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN —, Nasdaq, BlackRock, Federal Reserve, Facebook, IBM, Microsoft, “ Big Tech, Tech, Companies, Nvidia, Apple, Big Tech, Bank of America, Morningstar, Department, Spotify, Poets Department, Amazon Music, Apple Music, EV, Tesla Locations: New York, Wells, China, Germany, United States, Tesla’s, Europe

☆ Taylor Swift's candid promo video for 'Fortnight' is filled with cute references to her relationship with Travis Kelce
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Amanda Goh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Taylor Swift shared a promotional video for her single "Fortnight" and it's full of references to her beau. Swift's video has been viewed almost 40 million times since it was first uploaded. A peck on the cheekScreengrab from Taylor Swift's #ForAFortnightChallenge YouTube Shorts video. Making cinnamon rollsIn this screengrab from Taylor Swift's #ForAFortnightChallenge YouTube Shorts video, the singer can be seen making cinnamon rolls. A Kansas City Chiefs pickleball paddleIn this screengrab from Taylor Swift's #ForAFortnightChallenge YouTube Shorts video, she can be seen holding a Kansas City Chiefs paddleboard.

Persons: Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, Swift, peck, —, she's, Kelce, Taylor, Kelce didn't, Bernie Kosar, Tobin, Leroy, Travis, Kosar, Swifties, Jason, Post Malone — Organizations: Poets Department, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Service, YouTube, NFL, University of Kansas, KU, University of Cincinnati, Kansas City Chiefs, Chiefs, Target, Amazon Locations: The, Singapore

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