TuneCore Partners with RoyFi to Offer Royalty Advances to Indie Artists
TuneCore, the Believe‑owned digital distributor, has launched TuneCore Direct Advance in partnership with fintech firm RoyFi, allowing independent artists to obtain cash advances against future streaming royalties. The program offers a flat‑fee financing model with repayment drawn automatically from royalty earnings, without requiring equity or copyright transfers. Artists can choose to advance funds against their entire catalog or a selected portion, giving them flexibility for studio costs, touring, marketing, or personal expenses. The initiative builds on TuneCore’s existing ecosystem, which already serves over 515,000 indie creators and has generated more than $5 billion in royalties since 2006.
Sony Music and UMG Form NINE BY NINE Music Festivals Joint Venture in Japan
Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group have created NINE BY NINE Inc., a joint venture headquartered in Tokyo to produce music festivals across Asia. Ichiro Tamaki of Universal Music Japan will serve as President, with Sony’s Hidehiko Otani as...
Suno’s Licensing Talks with Major Labels in Limbo with ‘No Path Forward’ (Report)
AI music startup Suno’s licensing negotiations with Universal and Sony have stalled, leaving no clear path forward. Warner Music Group’s November partnership with Suno remains largely dormant despite settling prior litigation. Suno, which raised $250 million in a Series C round and...
What Does Contextual AI Look Like at Scale?
At Streaming Media Connect 2026, Tavant convened leaders from Roku, DAZN, Philo and Intersection to discuss how contextual AI is being woven into core advertising operations. The panel revealed that AI is no longer a peripheral feature but a foundational layer...
YouTube Launches Unskippable 90-Second Ads
Google’s YouTube is rolling out mandatory 90‑second ads for viewers using the platform on smart TVs, replacing the traditional skippable format. The move follows a March announcement about unskippable 30‑second spots and aligns with YouTube’s goal to treat TV viewers...
ENCO Takes aiTrack Into the Cloud
ENCO announced that its aiTrack workflow is now a fully cloud‑native, automation‑agnostic platform, accessible through any web browser. The upgrade lets broadcasters generate, customize and schedule AI‑driven audio segments for both live and automated programming without the constraints of traditional...
Top Esports Events by Media Value in Q1 2026
The LCK Cup 2026 emerged as the highest‑valued esports event in Q1 2026, surpassing $20 million in media value. Counter‑Strike followed with four entries in the top‑10, while League of Legends secured three spots, including the LEC Versus and First Stand. Nine tournaments...
YouTube Report Details Animation Industry Indie Wave, Reveals Viewership Trends (Exclusive)
YouTube’s Culture & Trends team released the "Animation’s New Wave" report, showing a surge in independent digital animation as traditional studio output declines. The study, based on creator interviews, viewership data for 16‑49‑year‑olds, and a U.S. survey, finds that half...
League of Legends KeSPA Cup Air Date Announced: When to Watch
Disney+ has secured global live‑stream rights for the 2026 League of Legends KeSPA Cup, expanding its partnership with the Korea Esports Association beyond Asia‑only distribution. The tournament, traditionally an off‑season showcase for LCK teams, featured a ₩100 million (~$68,000) prize pool...
German Industry Welcomes Growing Regional Venue Federations
German industry groups are rallying behind a growing network of regional solidarity models for small venues, highlighted by Cologne's upcoming city‑wide ticket levy, Club Euro. The initiative builds on a national grassroots fund launched last September, backed by more than...
EXCLUSIVE: Soccer Media Startup Footballco Wants to Own New York’s World Cup Summer
Footballco, a UK‑based soccer media startup, will launch a two‑week pop‑up called House of Goal in Brooklyn’s Industry City from July 4 to July 19. The free event coincides with the final weeks of the World Cup and features themed zones for...
AFK Arena Celebrates Seventh Anniversary and over $1.5bn in Lifetime Earnings
Mobile idle RPG AFK Arena celebrated its seventh anniversary by crossing $1.5 billion in lifetime player spending, according to AppMagic. The game generated $469.8 million in its first year and peaked with $105.4 million in a single month in January 2020, while annual...
Exel Gaming Accelerator Reopens with up to $300,000 in Funding for Third Cohort
Exel Gaming Accelerator has reopened for its third cohort, offering up to $300,000 in combined cash and in‑kind support. Startups can receive up to $150,000 in cash plus $150,000 worth of services, weekly mentorship, and an AI‑focused curriculum. The program...
After Universal, Warner, and Merlin Deals, Now Udio Inks Licensing Agreement with Kobalt
Udio has signed a licensing agreement with independent publisher Kobalt, marking its fourth major deal after settlements with Universal, Warner and Merlin. The pact lets Udio’s upcoming subscription service train on Kobalt’s catalog, enabling users to create remixes, covers and...
True-Crime Podcasts ‘Disgraceland’ and ‘Hollywoodland’ Join iHeartMedia Network Alongside ‘My Favorite Murder’
True‑crime host Jake Brennan’s podcasts “Disgraceland” and its spin‑off “Hollywoodland” are moving to Exactly Right Media, the network behind “My Favorite Murder,” which is partnered exclusively with iHeartMedia for sales, marketing and distribution. The shows, previously hosted on Audacy, will...
Yas Island Theme Park Projects Will Likely Continue on Despite Middle East Conflict
Yas Island in Abu Dhabi is pressing ahead with its multi‑billion‑dirham (≈ $270 million per AED 1 billion) leisure master plan despite the Iran‑UAE conflict. Construction continues, highlighted by Yas Waterworld’s new 11‑ride extension and the ongoing rollout of Warner Bros World upgrades. Visitor demographics have...
SITI Networks Reports Rs 435.69 Million Loss Amid Insolvency Process
India’s public broadcaster Prasar Bharati’s OTT platform WAVES posted a Rs 435.69 million (≈ $5.3 million) loss in FY 24‑25, with revenue of only Rs 2.90 crore (≈ $350 k). The service boasts 13,608 titles, 10 lakh users and extensive live‑event coverage, but its subscription flow requires an external website, creating...
LTN Rolls Out IP-Based Improvements as Broadcasters Shift Away From Satellite Delivery
LTN Global announced a suite of IP‑video network upgrades aimed at broadcasters moving away from satellite distribution. The enhancements target reliability, visibility, reach and operational control, adding adaptive error recovery, expanded analytics, and new gateway configurations that can handle up...
8PM Packaged Drinking Water Joins SRH as Trouser Sponsor for IPL 2026
8PM Packaged Drinking Water has become the lead trouser sponsor for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026, featuring its logo on the team’s apparel. The partnership includes a "Rise in Orange, Celebrate with Black" campaign that ties on‑field performance to...
Broker’s Call: Amagi Media Labs (Buy)
Anand Rathi Research initiates coverage of Amagi Media Labs with a Buy rating, setting a target of ₹450 (≈ $5.4) while the stock trades at ₹335.95 (≈ $4.0). The cloud‑based SaaS platform, which lets content owners launch and monetize internet channels, posted...
Dentsu Says Advertisers Are Underinvesting in Video for Brand Building
Dentsu’s new "Brand Reset" report shows digital video, including short‑form and connected TV, can drive multi‑year brand growth, challenging the view that linear TV is the only long‑term channel. A single video ad exposure is estimated to lift sales 1‑5%...
£375m Chocolate-Themed Park Set to Open in Switzerland
A £375 million (~$475 million) chocolate‑themed park is slated for construction at the historic Cailler factory in Broc, Switzerland. The first phase will enlarge the attraction from 2,000 m² to almost 30,000 m² and target 700,000‑800,000 visitors per year, with a full rollout aiming...
Yospace Tops 10 Billion Monthly Ad Insertions Amid Streaming Growth
Yospace reported a historic month, stitching over 10 billion ads and delivering 11.6 billion one‑to‑one addressable impressions—a 35% year‑on‑year rise. The growth was fueled by a dense international sports schedule, including Six Nations and the start of the 2026 Formula One season. Yospace...
BBC First to Rebrand as BBC Belgium in May
BBC Studios will rename its premium drama channel BBC First to BBC Belgium, effective May 5, 2026. The rebrand targets the Flemish market, offering British drama and light‑crime series with Dutch subtitles. The launch will feature both returning titles such as Call...
The Unravelling of a ‘Bulletproof’ Brand: Wireless Festival’s Self-Inflicted Crisis
Wireless Festival, once hailed as a bullet‑proof UK summer staple, booked Ye (formerly Kanye West) as a headline act, sparking immediate backlash. Major sponsors including Pepsi, Diageo and PayPal withdrew support, and the British government revoked Ye's visa, forcing the...
Media Distillery Targets Sports Streamers with New Engagement Platform
Media Distillery unveiled an AI‑driven Sports Engagement Suite that automates highlights, real‑time key‑moment detection, chapter navigation, and related shoulder content. The platform aims to ease the labor‑intensive workflow of packaging sports coverage for broadcasters and streaming services. Football will be...
Podcasting Has Earned Its Seat. Who’s Ready to Be at the Table?
Sounds Profitable highlighted podcasting’s move from niche gatherings to mainstream marketing forums, citing a 55% monthly U.S. listenership. At Advertising Week Europe, 450 attendees—including brand strategists and media buyers—joined panels, signaling broader industry interest. The firm plans to extend this...
Polish Promoter Awake Events Launches with Circoloco Warsaw
Awake Events, a new Polish live‑entertainment promoter, is launching with the Circoloco festival at Warsaw’s historic Wilanów Palace on May 9. The company’s mission blends heritage sites with contemporary music to attract younger audiences and support national cultural institutions. Backed by...
GeeLark
GeeLark launches a cloud‑based social media marketing platform that blends mobile‑first cloud phones, antidetect browser profiles, automation, and AI tools for high‑volume, multi‑account growth. Its modular pricing starts with a free tier, then $9.75 Base and $14.25 Pro plans, while...
ITV and BBC Staples Part of Sport Radio Station Backed by Zac Goldsmith
ITV’s Mark Pougatch and BBC’s Sonja McLaughlan have joined Track Radio, a new UK sports‑talk station backed by a seven‑figure investment from Tory peer Zac Goldsmith and his brother. The station, owned by Track Record Corporation and advised by John...
From Hype to Silence: Why Vietnam’s Clubhouse-Like App OnMic Couldn’t Survive
Vietnam’s home‑grown social‑audio platform OnMic, launched in 2021 with seed funding from Touchstone Partners, announced it is shutting down. The app rode the pandemic wave, touting more than 11 million live minutes and 20,000 programmes, but failed to convert that early...
Kanye Is Awful but so Is Meddling in Private Enterprise
The UK Home Office has withdrawn permission for Ye (formerly Kanye West) to perform at London’s Wireless Festival after his recent antisemitic remarks sparked public outrage. Polling shows 57% of Britons back the ban, while festival founder Melvin Benn argues...
How to Monitor Live Streams for Optimal Ad Server Performance
Industry leaders at Streaming Media Connect 2026 highlighted the observability gaps that can cripple live‑stream ad insertion. They stressed that encoding quality, manifest integrity, and SCTE‑35 cue signals are the first line of defense against broken ad breaks. Real‑time “eyes on...
Edison: Radio Tops As An In-Car Audio Choice
Edison Research’s Q1 2026 Share of Ear data shows broadcast radio still captures 55% of in‑car audio time among U.S. listeners aged 13 and older. Among younger drivers (13‑34), AM/FM accounts for 46% of car audio, outpacing streaming music (30%) and...
2026 FIFA World Cup Viewing Set to Fragment Across Linear & Streaming in UK, Nexxen Forecast Finds
Nexxen released a forecast for UK audiences of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, showing that while TV remains dominant, viewing is increasingly split between linear and streaming platforms. The report finds 24% of fans will blend traditional TV and streaming,...
Meta Rolls Out AI-Led Shopping Tools Across Reels and Creator Ecosystem
Meta unveiled a suite of AI‑driven shopping tools that embed product tagging directly into Reels and expand creator‑brand collaborations. The updates add generative AI voiceovers, automatic translation, and product‑set optimisation to streamline multilingual video ad creation. Reels Trending Ads now...
Data: HBO Max Reaches 1.5m UK Subs in First 5 Days
HBO Max secured 1.5 million UK subscribers within five days of its March 26 launch, according to Ampere Analysis. The rapid uptake is driven largely by Sky and NOW customers, who account for 77% of activations. Early adopters are adding HBO Max...
Streaming?s Next Phase Demands a New Kind of Infrastructure
Streaming video has become the default medium, but legacy content delivery networks (CDNs) are straining under the surge of live, high‑resolution events. Traditional CDN architectures rely on a limited number of large points of presence, which cannot efficiently absorb massive,...
DTG: AI Is a Structural Shift for TV
The Digital TV Group (DTG) released a report showing artificial intelligence has moved from isolated pilots to full‑scale deployment across the television ecosystem. AI is accelerating content production, lowering entry barriers and flooding the market with more material, which pressures...
EY-IMI Survey Reveals What It Will Take for Indians to Pay for Music (and Why some Won’t)
A new EY‑IMI survey of over 5,000 Indian digital content consumers shows that 96% of smartphone users listen to music, with 77% using licensed streaming platforms. Yet only 58% of those users have ever paid for a subscription. Among the...
Serie A Explores PE Interest in International Media Rights Business
Serie A is in talks with private‑equity firms about selling up to 49% of its international media rights unit, which generates roughly €250 million (about $270 million) a year. The league has hired JP Morgan to explore options and could launch a formal...
Hollywood's New Cash King: Paramount's $24B Power Play
Paramount Skydance has secured roughly $24 billion in equity from Gulf sovereign wealth funds to fund its planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, creating a debt‑free, $110 billion merger. The cash infusion bolsters the combined balance sheet, allowing immediate investment in content and...
BIA Raises Radio’s 2026 Local Ad Forecast On Political Strength
BIA Advisory Services raised its 2026 U.S. local advertising forecast to $184.5 billion, reflecting an 8.1% year‑over‑year gain. The combined revenue outlook for radio—both over‑the‑air and digital—is now $12.4 billion, with over‑the‑air at $10.08 billion and digital at $2.38 billion. Political spending is expected...
Rockfish Games Lands €8m Grant as Germany Boosts Game Industry Support
German federal authorities have expanded their video‑game fund to €125 million ($135 m) and awarded Rockfish Games the program’s biggest grant—€8 million ($8.6 m) over five years. The money will cover roughly 45% of the $21.6 million budget for the next Everspace title, allowing the...
Digest: CMO and Execs Exit The Trade Desk; BBC Studios Launches Airline Streaming; Tesco Media Introduces Premium Video Ads
The Trade Desk announced a leadership shake‑up, with CMO Matthew Henick and two senior executives departing and Anna Sayre stepping in as interim CMO while Rob Caruso leads its Ventura TV platform. BBC Studios launched BBC Player, a rights‑cleared streaming...
CNMC Backs RTVE in Ad Dispute with Private TV
Spain’s competition regulator CNMC has ruled in favour of public broadcaster RTVE, confirming that its programme "La Revuelta" meets the legal definition of a cultural programme and can carry sponsorship. The watchdog dismissed a formal complaint from private‑broadcaster coalition UTECA,...
Daily Newsletter Is Telegraph’s ‘Biggest Source of Subscribers’ One Year After Launch
One year after its April 2025 launch, the Telegraph’s flagship daily newsletter “From the Editor” has become the publication’s largest source of new paying subscribers. The email reaches over 850,000 readers each morning and boasts a total audience of more...
DXRacer Expands Southeast Asia Presence Through MSL Thailand Deal
DXRacer has been named the official gaming chair partner of MSL Thailand, supplying its ergonomic seating to all teams in the country’s premier Mobile Legends: Bang Bang league. The deal underscores the growing emphasis on player comfort and physical performance...
YouTube Cuts Affiliate Shopping Threshold Eligibility to 500 Subscribers as Platform Race Heats Up
YouTube announced on March 25, 2026 that creators need only 500 subscribers—down from 1,000—to join its Shopping affiliate program, which lets them tag products and earn commissions. The reduction applies across Shorts, long‑form video, and Live, but creators must still...
Hybe India’s Girl Group Auditions Expand to Five International Cities
Hybe India announced a nationwide audition tour to form its first Indian girl group, adding five international cities to the schedule. The auditions will run from early May through late July across ten Indian metros and will also be held...