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☆ How TikTok is trying to become the music industry's everything app, even if it risks 'pissing off' record labels
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Its music ambitions could ruffle feathers at record labels and publishers — unless it pays out. TikTok's app regularly sparks trends that help songs go viral, making it a favorite of marketers at major labels and independents. TikTok works closely with record labels and artists on promotional efforts like livestreamed concerts, in-person performances, and private listening parties with TikTok stars. Spotify has maintained a tenuous relationship with the labels over the years as it's sought to balance profit margins while splitting revenue with artists, labels, and publishers. Still, even as record labels and publishers push TikTok to pay more to music rights holders, they're investing more in the app.

Kaari Pitkin , Stephanie Joyce and Isaac Jones , Sonia Herrero , Pat McCusker andDaniel Ellsberg fully expected to spend the rest of his life in prison after he leaked the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times and The Washington Post in 1971. The documents revealed decades of government lies and mistakes in about the war in Vietnam, and eventually, they helped end it. The charges against Ellsberg were ultimately dismissed but, he had a secret: The Pentagon Papers were only supposed to be the beginning. Alongside the documents about Vietnam, he’d copied thousands of pages of other documents about America’s nuclear war planning that he believed would shock the public conscience. Now, after revealing a terminal cancer diagnosis in March, Ellsberg is reflecting on his life, the secrets he wasn’t able to reveal and threats to the world he’s leaving behind.

☆ Jack Teixeira's alleged Discord leaks show why the US should not give Top Secret clearances to 21-year-olds
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Nevertheless, that looks to be the US intelligence community's approach to handling classified information. The tangled views of Jack Teixeira, who was indicted Friday in connection with leaking hundreds of classified documents to a private Discord server, are still coming into focus. There are classified phone systems, email systems, fiber optic cables, and a Wikipedia clone. Aside from the question of how many people have access to secrets, it's also worth considering how many of those supposed secrets belong on classified systems at all. Who was tracking the whereabouts of the volume of secret files he appears to have sent to the printer?

☆ Northvolt, a $12 billion startup founded by an ex-Tesla VP, thinks crushing and shredding old batteries is the way to make electric vehicles truly sustainable
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

NorthvoltHow Northvolt's process worksNorthvolt's recycling process, which was dreamed up in 2018 and planned and tested in the following years, involves crushing, shredding, and filtering dismantled batteries. Northvolt is left with a black powder called black mass, which contains nickel, manganese, cobalt, and lithium. Once Northvolt's latest venture, Revolt Ett, is up and running at full capacity, it's expected to recycle 125,000 tons of battery materials each year. Cylindrical cells; shredded pieces of steel, copper, aluminium, plastic, and black mass from mechanical recycling; black mass; and a mix of nickel, manganese, and cobalt sulfates. The Hydrovolt pilot runs Northvolt's recycling process up to the black-mass stage.

☆ Daniel Ellsberg, the Man Who Leaked the Pentagon Papers, Is Scared - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Alex Kingsbury | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The media as a whole has never really investigated the secrecy system and what it’s for and what its effects are. Q. What’s it like to live surrounded by thoughts of nuclear war and unaccountable government? I think about nuclear war not because I find it fascinating but because I want to prevent it, to make it unthinkable, because I care about the world that it would destroy. Q. Robert McNamara, who was secretary of defense during the Cuban missile crisis, once said, “The indefinite combination of human fallibility and nuclear weapons will destroy nations.” Why haven’t we seen nuclear weapons used since 1945? We have seen nuclear weapons used many times.

Persons: John Podesta’s, Snowden, Steven Aftergood, Steve, ”, Robert McNamara, They’re Organizations: Federation of American Scientists, WikiLeaks, National Security, RAND Corporation, Cuban Locations: Russian, California, Berkeley, Ukraine

The draft needs to be thrashed out between EU countries and EU lawmakers, called a trilogue, before the rules can become law. This led to different AI tools being classified according to their perceived risk level: from minimal through to limited, high, and unacceptable. Almost all of the big tech players have stakes in the sector, including Microsoft (MSFT.O), Alphabet (GOOGL.O) and Meta (META.O). BIG TECH, BIG PROBLEMSThe EU discussions have raised concerns for companies -- from small startups to Big Tech -- on how regulations might affect their business and whether they would be at a competitive disadvantage against rivals from other continents. A recent survey by industry body appliedAI showed that 51% of the respondents expect a slowdown of AI development activities as a result of the AI Act.

☆ Ex-Amazon consumer chief Jeff Wilke backed a $4 million round in preventative healthcare startup AERA Health after seeing this 12-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Swiss-German startup has raised $4.25 million for its preventative healthcare platform. AERA Health will offer consumers a mix of digital and in-person treatments and personalized health plans. A startup that aims to bring preventative and personalized healthcare plans to individuals has just secured $4.25 million in funding. Swiss-German startup AERA Health is tapping into the burgeoning field of preventative medicine and longevity — tailing Spotify founder Daniel Ek's recent foray into the sector. This holistic data gives the startup — and any clinicians working collaboratively with it — a starting point to guide their patients through their personalized health plans.

☆ Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg diagnosed with terminal cancer
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Kanishka Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) - Daniel Ellsberg, the whistleblower who leaked the "Pentagon Papers" about the Vietnam War and exposed years of related U.S. government lies, said on Thursday that terminal pancreatic cancer had been diagnosed in him. "On February 17, without much warning, I was diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer," Ellsberg, 91, said in a statement on Twitter. The revelation of parts of the study was considered a bombshell because the Pentagon Papers contradicted years of government assurances about the war. After the revelations, the U.S. Justice Department brought criminal charges against Ellsberg for leaking the documents to the media. Despite the diagnosis, Ellsberg said he was not in physical pain and was continuing to do interviews and webinars.

☆ The Twitter leaders Elon Musk put in place keep quitting or getting fired. See who's left and who's recently been hired, including engineers from Google's DeepMind and a Tesla superfan.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

About half of the 20 people who reported to Elon Musk after his takeover have left Twitter. Musk has hired some new people, including engineers who may be working on an AI project. Elon Musk's Twitter is ruled by chaos. None have been directly replaced, the people familiar said, although Musk has also hired some new people from outside his companies. Below is a complete list of who Musk set as his direct reports, including those who have already left the company.

☆ ATP roundup: Daniel Evans falls in Doha
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

February 22 - Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori took down sixth seed Daniel Evans of Great Britain 7-5, 6-4 in their first-round match at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Tuesday in Doha. Ruusuvuori fired seven aces and won 29 of 38 first-service points (76.3 percent), holding on for the victory even as Evans saved six of 10 break points and converted both his opportunities to break Ruusuvuori. 7 seed Richard Gasquet of France battled past countryman Laurent Lokoli 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-6 (5). 556 Alves, who had five aces and saved five of nine break points in his tour-level debut before the suspension. Daniel Elahi Galan of Colombia and Juan Pablo Varillas of Peru were also winners Tuesday before the rain arrived.

☆ Activist investor ValueAct takes stake in Spotify
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 10 (Reuters) - ValueAct Capital Management has taken a stake in Spotify Technology SA (SPOT.N), at a time when the audio streaming company is looking to cut costs. "We welcome ValueAct as an investor in Spotify," a spokesperson for the Swedish company said on Friday, without disclosing further details on the investment. ValueAct Chief Executive Mason Morfit disclosed the investment during a presentation at a Columbia University event in New York on Friday, according to Bloomberg News, which first reported the stake. ValueAct, which declined to comment, distinguishes itself from other activist investors by preferring to stay behind the scenes and rarely presents its investment ideas publicly. However, a challenging economic environment set the stage for belt tightening, with Spotify Chief Executive Daniel Ek announcing layoffs and an organizational restructuring in January.

Apart from the forecast of half a billion users, Spotify also expects premium subscribers to reach 207 million in the current quarter and revenue of 3.1 billion euros ($3.35 billion). Analysts were expecting 202 million subscribers and revenue of 3.05 billion euros. Spotify last year laid out plans to get 1 billion users by 2030 and to reach $100 billion revenue annually. "Spotify will double down on things that worked well and stop doing the things that don't work," he said. In 2023, the company expects revenue to begin to grow faster than operating expenses, which have jumped due to headcount growth and higher advertising costs.

☆ New Spotify release gives bull-market vibes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Jan 31 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Just when it seemed like technology investors were done with “growth at all costs”, Spotify Technology (SPOT.N) has sent investors into a retro spin. The Swedish music-streaming company led by Daniel Ek on Tuesday said it ended 2022 with 205 million paid subscribers, a 14% year-on-year increase. The shares leapt almost 10%, boosting Spotify’s market capitalisation to roughly $21 billion. That means Spotify’s bull-market vibes are only relative. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Spotify shares pop after earnings show strong user growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

People exit the Spotify headquarters building in Lower Manhattan on January 23, 2023 in New York City. Spotify shares popped as much as 10% in premarket trading Tuesday after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts' expectations for revenue and showed strong user growth. There were 33 million net additions to monthly active users during the quarter, marking a record high for the company. Spotify also reported 205 million paid subscribers, up 14% from a year ago. In its third-quarter report, Spotify said it expected to add approximately 23 million new monthly active users in Q4, bringing its total to 479 million.

☆ Uber’s CEO almost said no to the job—then Spotify’s CEO convinced him to take it
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

When Uber first approached now-CEO Dara Khosrowshahi about leading the company, he ignored the call. It was 2017, and the rideshare app was going through a "historically difficult time," Khosrowshahi told LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky in a recent interview. He was entering his twelfth year as Expedia's CEO, and still "having a great time," he told Roslansky. He was prepared to call Uber's board of directors and take himself out of the running for CEO — until one conversation with a friend changed his mind. The following morning, Khosrowshahi called the head hunter back — and in August 2017, he was announced as Uber's new CEO, after a unanimous vote from the board.

☆ TikTok's time wasters are explaining how to make it till 5 o'clock for employees adjusting to returning to offices in the remote and hybrid work era
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"A solid day of work has about 2-3 hours of real productive focus," one user wrote. A viral TikTok explaining the "real work flex" to strategically pass time while doing little work prompted others to make their own videos giving a play-by-play of their days at the office before COVID-19 caused a boom in remote work. "They won't tell you this, but the real work flex isn't grinding for 80 hours a week. The real work flex is time theft," TikToker Daniel Ezra said in the video. "A solid day of work has about 2-3 hours of real productive focus," another user wrote.

☆ Bank of America announced a new class of managing directors — here are all 87 names in corporate and investment banking
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Alex Morrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bank of America has announced a new class of 360 managing directors. Insider has the list of the 87 new MDs for the firm's Global Corporate and Investment Bank. It's managing director promotion day at Bank of America. On Thursday, the class of 360 managing directors across the firm were announced internally, up 15% from the 314 promoted in 2022.Insider has the list of the 87 employees who were promoted in the firm's Global Corporate and Investment Bank — the division responsible for dealmaking. That's down 17% from 105 new MDs last year in the division, likely a reflection of a difficult year in investment banking across Wall Street that saw revenues drop in excess of 50%.

☆ Welcome to post-layoff Google — starting with a tense, all-hands meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

But still, I would say that I work to live instead of living to work. A tense meeting at post-layoff Google. Google hosted an internal all-hands meeting on Monday — the first day back to work after cutting 12,000 people. This career coach helped Amazon and Google employees through layoffs. More than half of Alisa Cohen's clients work at Big Tech companies — some of them were laid off recently.

☆ Spotify to trim 6% of workforce in latest tech layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 23 (Reuters) - Spotify Technology SA (SPOT.N) said on Monday it plans to cut 6% of its workforce and would take a related charge of up to nearly $50 million, adding to the massive layoffs in the technology sector in preparation for a possible recession. The tech industry is facing a demand downturn after two years of pandemic-powered growth during which it had hired aggressively. "I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth," he added, echoing a sentiment voiced by other tech bosses in recent months. Reuters GraphicsSmall figurines are seen in front of displayed Spotify logo in this illustration taken February 11, 2022. Ostroff helped shape Spotify's podcast business and guided it through backlash around Joe Rogan's show for allegedly spreading misinformation about COVID-19.

☆ Spotify to cut 6% of jobs; content head to depart
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

The tech industry is facing a demand downturn after two years of pandemic-powered growth during which it had hired aggressively. “I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth,” he added, echoing a sentiment voiced by other tech bosses in recent months. It said Dawn Ostroff, the head of content and advertising, was leaving after an over four-year stint at the company. Ostroff helped shape Spotify’s podcast business and guided it through backlash around Joe Rogan’s show for allegedly spreading misinformation about Covid-19. The company said it is appointing Alex Norström, head of the freemium business, and research and development boss Gustav Söderström as co-presidents.

☆ Spotify to cut 6% of jobs, content head to depart
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

That has led firms from Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) to Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) to shed thousands of jobs. "I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth," he added, echoing a sentiment voiced by other tech bosses in recent months. It said Dawn Ostroff, the head of content and advertising, was leaving after an over four-year stint at the company. Ostroff helped shape Spotify's podcast business and guided it through backlash around Joe Rogan's show for allegedly spreading misinformation about COVID-19. The company said it is appointing Alex Norström, head of the freemium business, and research and development boss Gustav Söderström as co-presidents.

☆ Spotify to cut 6% of its workforce
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Spotify (SPOT) said Monday that it will cut 6% of its workforce to reduce costs, joining tech companies including Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) in slashing headcount as the global economy slows. The Stockholm-headquartered music streaming business had about 9,800 employees globally as of September 30, according to an earnings report. The company’s stock, which has nearly halved in value over the past 12 months, gained more than 4% in premarket trading in New York. Over the past three months, Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT) and Facebook (FB)-parent Meta have announced plans to cut more than 50,000 employees from their collective ranks. Spotify’s decision to shed about 590 jobs is part of a wider reorganization to improve efficiency and “speed up decision-making,” according to Ek.

☆ Spotify is laying off around 6% of its workforce — about 600 employees — as tech job cuts continue to mount
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Spotify said Monday it plans to reduce headcount by around 6%, equating to about 600 employees. Sign up for our newsletter for the latest tech news and scoops — delivered daily to your inbox. Based on that figure, a workforce reduction of around 6% would equate to about 588 workers losing their jobs. In addition to the layoffs, Dawn Ostroff, chief content and advertising business officer, is set to leave Spotify, Ek said. Spotify's announcement comes as other major tech companies, including Google, Meta, and Twitter, cut jobs in an effort to slash costs.

☆ Spotify to trim 6% of workforce, content head to depart
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Daniel Ek, chief executive officer and co-founder of Spotify AB, stands for a photograph after a news conference in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. Music streaming firm Spotify Technology said on Monday it plans to cut 6% of its workforce, or roughly 600 jobs, adding to a glut of layoffs in the technology sector as companies prepare for a possible recession. The company also said its chief content and advertising business officer, Dawn Ostroff, will depart as part of a broader reorganization. Spotify, which had about 9,800 full-time employees as of Sept. 30, said it expects to incur about 35 million euros ($38.06 million) to 45 million euros in severance-related charges. The company had said in October that it would slow down hiring for the rest of the year and into 2023.

☆ Spotify's CEO sent a memo announcing layoffs. It also contained 'a powerful example of toxic positivity.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Spotify is laying off about 6% of its employees, CEO Daniel Ek announced in a memo. This might as well have been the message Spotify CEO Daniel Ek shared in a memo announcing layoffs at the company. Of Ek's comment about doing his best work, Galinsky said, "That's just completely lost here." "In hindsight, I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth," Ek wrote. The standard CEO memo announcing layoffs can seem formulaic, Galinsky said.

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