Spotify’s diversification strategy is finally showing results. The firm has been investing for years in podcasts to move away from its core business, music. So far, the tactic is working. Demand for audio news is still rising, and ads within those podcasts are bringing in revenue. Spotify has become the podcast king in little over […]
Ten predictions for the 2021 media and entertainment industry
As we near the close of 2020, we wonder what the new year might bring to the entertainment and media industry. During these complicated 12 months, we have seen an apparent acceleration of the trends that had been in the works since the early 2010s. In 2021, that transformation of the market will only speed […]
The death of Quibi, a six-month-old app
After a six-month run, the streaming service Quibi is shutting down. Its plans thwarted by the pandemic, its numbers in decline, and its shows lacking a loyal following, Quibi—short for Quick Bites—is closed for business. The streaming wars and the pandemic are partly to blame for Quibi’s failure, as is the rise of the social […]
Where did Quibi go wrong?
Three months ago, the streaming service Quibi was launched with some fanfare and we devoted one of our posts to it (read Quibi, the new streaming platform for mobile devices). Its success so far has been quite limited. Its founders have blamed the pandemic for the app’s flop, but its problems may not stop here. […]
The limits of freedom of speech on social media
Amid the pandemic, the police violence, and the riots, President Trump’s executive order (EO) against social media companies may have gone unnoticed. On May 28, Trump introduced a rule to limit social media platforms’ editorial power after Twitter tagged some of its tweets as “potentially misleading.” Although the order will likely be challenged in court, […]
Noa, where curation is content
The birth of online news has made information overload a problem for consumers. With news updates popping up every second, it is hard to keep up with the current events while understanding the context for those events. For that reason, the audio company News over Audio (Noa) was launched three years ago to curate the […]
Local outlets struggle during COVID-19
As we settle in our quarantines, we have more time in our hands to read the news—and sometimes obsessively. Thus, it’s not surprising that since the COVID-19 pandemic reached the Western hemisphere, news readership has surged dramatically. But what has also drastically changed is newspaper revenue. With businesses closing, the number of ads has plunged, […]
How Covid-19 is feeding into the fake news problem
Since early February, fake news content surrounding Covid-19 has flooded the Internet. Citizens all over the world, trying to figure out how to face the crisis and protect their families, are turning to WhatsApp, Facebook, and videos/audios shared by friends with information on healthcare. While social media giants and news outlets try to tackle the […]
