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The Obamas Move Their Media Company From Spotify To Audible

The agreement between the company, called Higher Ground, and Spotify was not renewed because of disagreements over both content and distribution. The new deal with Audible (owned by Amazon) will make Higher Ground available on numerous platforms, not only on Audible, thus addressing one major sticking point with Spotify. - Variety

How Hollywood Turned Graham Greene’s Novel “The Quiet American” Upside-Down

"Greene usually liked to see his novels adapted, but not this time. What Greene was trying to say about American ignorance and arrogance in foreign affairs was distorted ... by a Cold War, McCarthy-era fear of bringing a movie to the public that might be seen as 'anti-American.'" - The Baffler

Has Streaming Made Us Forget How To Watch Movies?

That’s how most movies are experienced today. They are not, as they were for most of their history, seen. They are watched—on TVs, computers, tablets, phones. If you’re an average American, Gallup says, you saw (in theaters) exactly one movie in 2021, and it was probably the new Spider-Man. - Wired

Way Too Much! (Why Streaming Is Choking)

In the fall of 2019, years after it had revolutionized the industry with a slate of boundary-challenging originals and maybe a little drunk with ego, Netflix ushered in what I considered its new normal: the Just OK Era of TV. And mostly, with the occasional exception, the company has stayed in that lane. - Wired

Paramount Will Not Be Removing From Its Streaming Service Old Movies And TV That Might Offend Today

Paramount CEO Bob Bakish: "By definition, you have some things that were made in a different time and reflect different sensibilities. I don't believe in censoring art that was made historically, that's probably a mistake. It's all on demand – you don't have to watch anything you don't want to." - The Guardian

What Will TV Watching Be Like In 15 Years?

Streaming could go a lot of different ways, but how will it go? "Streaming broke our TV-watching culture. ... It's totally fractured now, we don't have this communal TV-watching experience that we once had." But things could change. - Wired

An Animated Movie’s Fake Boy Band Gets Its Own Breakout Success Manga

The boy band 4*Town (with five members) from Turning Red is so popular on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram Reels, and the music charts (with music by Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas) that it's getting a book of its very own. Who's to say what's real? - Variety

Two Cast Members Of Netflix’s The Chosen Ones Die In A Crash Near Their Set

Two actors were killed when their van flipped off the highway, and six other actors and crew members were injured. "One person said that actors on the set had complained about transportation issues, including tired drivers." - Los Angeles Times

Emmys Changes Force Filmmakers To Choose Between TV And Cinema

"For a long time, the Television Academy included a loophole in which Oscar doc contenders could turn around and try again for sloppy seconds at the Emmys — even though the Motion Picture Academy didn’t allow Emmy titles to do the same." That option is now gone. - Variety

The COVID Outbreak On The Show Expats

What happened after the outbreak, including a shutdown by Hollywood unions on the Amazon Studios set, "highlights the delicate balancing act facing Hollywood as the industry continues to deal with the fallout from the pandemic. - Los Angeles Times

Old People Are Turning To TikTok To Redefine Aging

Many older people are turning to TikTok – best known as a playground for Gen Z – to reframe the experience of ageing and kick back against age stereotyping. - The Conversation

YouTube Shorts Now Has 1.5 Billion-With-a-B Logged-In Viewers Each Month

"Related to its new milestone, YouTube also promoted Shorts' ability to drive viewers to creators' long-form video channels as a byproduct of its investments in Shorts.  ... (Thus) seems to be an admission that YouTube still sees more value in its longer-form content." - TechCrunch

Is It Time For NPR’s “All Things Considered” To Be Rethought?

"Its format and clock have remained basically the same for a generation. Meanwhile, there's been considerable swirl and change in media consumption and audio competition. ... Ironically, part of the answer may lie in letting All Things Considered be free from the mantle of considering all things." - Current

Is Spotify Just Not That Good A Business?

Questions about its profitability outlook often have been seen as keeping a lid on its stock. - The Hollywood Reporter

Why Is The Entertainment Industry Obsessed With Pre-existing Content?

Today’s entertainment marketplace is defined by its faith in the limitless potential of preëxisting intellectual property. There are sprawling franchises. There are reboots, dark and gritty or comic and winking, of properties that have barely had time to recede into nostalgia. - The New Yorker

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