Finance

The New York Times Has Spent $10.8M In Its Legal Battle With OpenAI So Far

The newspaper company said it spent $10.8 million on costs associated with generative artificial intelligence litigation in 2024, according to its quarterly earnings filing on Wednesday. The Times, buoyed by its 11 million-plus paid subscribers to its newspaper and suite of products, is one of the few journalistic entities that can afford to engage in yearslong litigation with Big Tech.

Source: The New York Times Has Spent $10.8M In Its Legal Battle With OpenAI So Far

Third of New York Times subscribers do not pay for its news product

In its full-year results for 2024 The New York Times Company reported ending the year with 10.8 million digital subscribers — an increase of 1.1 million compared with the end of 2023. Of those 10.8 million subscribers, 3.5 million (or 32%) subscribed only to either its Games, Cooking, Wirecutter, Audio or The Athletic products.

Source: Third of New York Times subscribers do not pay for its news product

YouTube Q4 Ad Sales Hit Record $10.5 Billion

YouTube, the internet’s biggest streaming video platform, delivered a healthy 13.8% increase in global ad revenue for the year-end 2024 quarter to surpass $10 billion for the first time. YouTube’s record Q4 ad sales of $10.473 billion topped Wall Street analysts’ consensus estimate of $10.23 billion. That’s just one piece of YouTube’s business, not including subscription revenue from services like YouTube TV or YouTube Premium

Source: YouTube Q4 Ad Sales Hit Record $10.5 Billion, Parent Alphabet Projects $75 Billion in 2025 Capex Spending Amid AI Arms Race

Bain’s Advice for Hollywood This Year: Own IP or Own Nothing

What kind of deals do entertainment and media giants need in the age of technology giants? It is a question that Hollywood management teams and Wall Street are constantly discussing and assessing. Management consulting firm Bain & Co., in a new research report, shares this guidance: “Own the consumer, own the intellectual property (IP), or own nothing.” In other words to compete in “a world of tech mega-platforms,” players will need “more cross-sector M&A and deals for IP.”

Source: Bain’s Advice for Hollywood This Year: Own IP or Own Nothing

Spotify Hits First Full-Year Profit, Adds 35M Users

The audio giant reported 675 million monthly active users, the largest fourth-quarter increase in Spotify’s history, as the company reported momentum from “strong holiday and Wrapped campaigns.” Paid subscribers grew 11 percent year over year to 63 million, up from 252 million last quarter and 3 million above guidance. Both came in above Spotify’s guidance.

Source: Spotify Hits First Full-Year Profit, Adds 35M Users

Fox Corp. Expects to Launch New Stand-Alone Streamer by End of 2025

Fox Corporation expects to launch a new stand-alone subscription-based streaming service by the end of 2025, as the company, which has resisted the call to plunge millions into developing premium content for broadband audiences, sees new allure in the business. The plan, said Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch, would be to launch a new broadband outlet that helps “put our content in front of everybody who wants it on any platform.”

Source: Fox Corp. Expects to Launch New Stand-Alone Streamer by End of 2025

Warner Bros. Discovery strikes JV with Cutting Edge to co-own vast catalog of film & TV music 

Entertainment giant Warner Bros. Discovery has struck a deal with UK-based Cutting Edge Group to create a JV through which they will co-own and co-manage WBD’s vast catalog of film and TV music. The creation of the JV is claimed to be, “by value, one of the largest music rights deals ever transacted.” The Financial Times reports that the deal is worth more than USD $1 billion.

Source: Warner Bros. Discovery strikes JV with Cutting Edge to co-own vast catalog of film and TV music, in deal worth $1bn+

In the wake of new Spotify deal, Universal Music adds $3.4 billion to its market cap

Off the back of yesterday’s Spotify/UMG pact announcement, today (January 27), Universal Music Group’s share price on the Amsterdam Euronext has risen by a whopping 7.35% vs. the stock’s closing price on Friday. This jump has had a significant impact on UMG’s public valuation. According to MBW’s calculations, at the close of Friday, UMG had a public market cap of approximately EUR €44.30 billion, or around USD $46.47 billion at current exchange rates.

Source: In the wake of new Spotify deal, Universal Music Group adds $3.4 billion to its market cap; Warner Music Group shares up 4.7% as investors await similar agreement with streamer

Spotify Paid Out $10 Billion to the Music Industry in 2024; $1 Billion More Than 2023

Spotify paid out $10 billion to the music industry in 2024 — some $1 billion more than last year, the previous record — making its total around $60 billion since it was founded in 2006. The company made the announcement in a blog post Tuesday morning. The news comes two days after Spotify reached a new deal with Universal Music that sees more-favorable royalty payments to musicians from the service’s audiobooks-music “bundle” announced last year.

Source: Spotify Paid Out $10 Billion to the Music Industry in 2024 — $1 Billion More Than Last Year — and $60 Billion Total

Roc Nation partners with South Korea’s Musicow to launch royalty trading platform in US

The new platform, scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2025, will allow music rights owners “to securely fractionalize royalty revenue from their songs and sell shares, enabling fans to earn alongside them,” Roc Nation said on Thursday (January 23). Musicow purchases the copyright of a song from its original creator and splits the rights into smaller portions, allowing members on the platform to buy shares in the copyright royalties.

Source: Jay Z’s Roc Nation partners with South Korea’s Musicow to launch music royalty trading platform in the US

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