Pixel art NFTs are nothing new—one of the first NFT collections, CryptoPunks, pioneered the blocky 8-bit design style. But Nouns is shaking things up with a novel distribution method and open-source IP that has led to the collection’s signature pixelated specs popping up everywhere from beer cans to movies.
Source: What Are Nouns? The Ethereum NFT DAO Building Open-Source IP – Decrypt
Source: Subscriptions Could Be Key to Social-Media Companies’ Futures
A new study reveals how purchasing a Kodi-powered streaming box changed the Internet and media consumption habits of US households. The researchers use these boxes as a piracy proxy, as they were often loaded with third-party piracy apps. Interestingly, their data show that the use of these boxes led to increased legal consumption through on-demand services such as Netflix and YouTube.
Source: ‘Pirate’ Streaming Boxes Boosted Netflix Viewership, Research Finds * TorrentFreak
Deezer ended Q3 2022 with 9.4 million subscribers, unchanged from the start of the period, while revenue growth in the third quarter gained momentum partly due to price hikes that the company implemented. On a year-over-year basis in Q3, Deezer’s total subs fell 2.5% YoY from 9.7 million to 9.4 million, weighed down by a 15.8% drop in B2C subscribers outside of France.
Source: Deezer revenues grow 13.8% YoY in Q3, but total subscribers fall 2.5% to 9.4m
CNN is pulling back on production of the original series and films that have been a staple of its programming over the past decade. “Our long-term plan will no longer rely on commissioned projects with outside partners,” said Chris Licht, chairman and CEO of CNN in a note to employees Friday. “This was a very difficult decision to make, and it was based, in large part, on the ever-increasing cost of commissioning third-party premium content.
Deezer has raised its premium price to $10.99 per month for individual users located in the United States following Apple Music’s increases. The stateside price increase of Access Industries’ Deezer has largely flown under the radar thus far. Predictably, Deezer execs didn’t issue a formal release (or even pen a social media post) pertaining to the price jump. But a quick glance at Reddit posts from ticked-off subscribers shows that Deezer has been raising the cost of its premium option in select markets throughout 2022.
Source: Deezer Premium Price Increases to $10.99 Per Month In the U.S.
Universal Music Group has announced its financial results for the third quarter ended on September 30, 2022, reporting a revenue increase of 13.3%, informed by growth across all sectors. Recorded music revenue grew by 10.1%, with music publishing growing by 6.9%, while adjusted EBITDA increased by 9.1%, driven by revenue growth. The quarter’s top sellers included BTS, BLACKPINK, Ado, INI, and Morgan Wallen.
EXTRA Apropos the panel discussion we hosted at last month’s RightsTech Summit on the evolving role of podcasts and audio originals in the movie and streaming video ecosystem, here’s another interesting data point, courtesy of Edison Research’s annual spoken-word audio report, which was released this week: spoken-word audio listening is increasingly digital and mobile. According to the report, more than one-third of all spoke-word listening was done via mobile device in 2022, compared to only 25% in 2019. Another 25% was accounted for by computers, smart speakers or connected TVs. Less than 40% occurred via traditional AM/FM radio.
EXTRA Here’s an Interesting data point from CISAC’s latest Global Collections Report, released today: Music was the only repertoire among the major creative industries to show increased royalty collections in 2021. Collections in all other categories were either flat, as was TV & Radio, the biggest category overall, or down from 2020. Music’s growth, moreover, came despite the sharp drop in collections from live performances and background uses of music that began in 2020 and continued through 2021, as venues remained shuttered and people around the world remained huddled at home due to the Covid pandemic.
The operator of several “AI” powered music mixer and extractor sites has responded to the RIAA’s copyright infringement allegations. The rebuttal admits that using popular artists to showcase its technology wasn’t smart so the references have been removed. However, the services themselves are not infringing. In fact, one of the core algorithms is created and publicly shared by Deezer.
Source: ‘AI-Powered’ Music Mixer Responds to RIAA Copyright Infringement Claims * TorrentFreak