Amazon
Look, Up In the Sky: Amazon Gets Approval to Deliver Packages by Drone
Getting an Amazon package delivered from the sky is closer to becoming a reality. The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday (Aug. 31) it had granted Amazon approval to deliver packages by drones. Amazon said that the approval is an “important step,” but added that it is still testing and flying the drones. It did not say when it expected drones to make deliveries to shoppers. The online shopping giant has been working on drone delivery for years, but it has been slowed by regulatory hurdles. Back in December 2013, Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos said in a TV interview that drones would be flying to customer’s homes within five years. Last year, Amazon unveiled self-piloting drones that are fully electric, can carry 5 pounds of goods and are designed to deliver items in 30 minutes b...
Tiësto Shares New “Summer Sessions” Playlist on Amazon Music
Just in time for the final month of summer is a brand new Amazon Music “Summer Sessions” playlist from Tiësto. The mainstay Dutch DJ and producer has put together two-and-a-half hours of his favorite music to help close out the hottest season of the year. Included in his playlist is music from himself, Oliver Heldens, Jayda G, David Guetta and Morten, Saint Jhn, and many more. Also featured is an Amazon-exclusive remix from Ummet Ozcan of his track “Tomorrow” featuring 433. Throughout the summer, the online retail giant has been using their music branch to release playlists from some of dance music’s leading acts. Late last month, they recruited the help of Disclosure for a five-hour collection. In addition to the young duo, fans ...
Stock market volatility hits Norway’s sovereign wealth fund
Norway’s Central Bank on Tuesday said its pension fund lost 188 billion kroner ( 21 billion dollars equivalent) in the first half of 2020 amid stock market volatility during the coronavirus pandemic. The bank said the return on the sovereign wealth fund fell by 3.4 per cent during the January-to-June period. The Deputy Chief Executive of Norges Bank Investment Management, Trond Grande, said there were major fluctuations in the equity market. “The year started with optimism, but the outlook of the equity market quickly turned when the coronavirus started to spread globally. “The sharp decline in global stock markets during the first quarter is, however, limited by a massive monetary and financial policy response. “Even though markets recovered well in the second quarter, we are still witnes...
Jensen Ackles Confirms He’s Joining The Boys Season 3: Watch
Never leave one job without securing another, right? That old adage is certainly one Jensen Ackles believes in. Today, the Supernatural hunk confirmed on Instagram that he’s reuniting with his pal Eric Kripke for the third season of The Boys. “I keep wondering what I’ll do….when @cw_supernatural finally ends this year,” Ackles wrote on Instagram. “Then it hit me.” He accompanied the caption with a clip of him holding up a graphic novel of The Boys with “Soldier Boy” playing. Kripke then confirmed the news in a true-blue Kripke statement: “When I was a child, I had a crazy, impossible dream — to provide Jensen Ackles with gainful employment. I’m happy to say that dream has come true. Jensen is an amazing actor, an even better person, smells like warm chocolate chip cookies, and I consider h...
Apple removes Fornite from App Store
Apple has removed Epic Games’ battle royale Fortnite from the App Store after the developer on Thursday implemented its own in-app payment system that bypassed Apple’s standard 30 percent fee. The post Apple removes Fornite from App Store appeared first on TODAY. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
Musicians Criticize Jeff Bezos’ ‘Willful Blindness’ to Twitch Music Royalties
While testifying at a congressional hearing late last month, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos admitted that he wasn’t sure whether or not the company pays royalties for the music users stream on Amazon-owned livestreaming platform Twitch (it doesn’t). His response angered artist-run non-profit Artist Rights Alliance, which has sent a letter to Bezos challenging him to pay artists their fair share, as music streaming on Twitch continues to surge. “We were appalled […] by your inability or unwillingness to answer even the most basic question about Twitch’s practices in this regard,” the letter reads. “As Twitch uses music to grow its audience and shape its brand, the company owes creators more than the willful blindness and vague platitudes you offered du...
Appeal Ruling on Publisher Royalty Rate Hike Looks Like it Favors Digital Services Contentions: Sources
Spotify, Amazon, Pandora and YouTube have been handed a procedural victory on their appeal to a 44% royalty rate increase for songwriters and publishers, sources tell Billboard. The U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. that reviewed the digital services’ appeal on the Copyright Royalty Board’s (CRB) mechanical rate determination has thrown out the rate structure cobbled together by a majority of the board’s three judges, Billboard has learned. The ruling, which is under seal, could wash away the rate increase that the CRB judges — in a split 2–1 decision — had awarded songwriters and music publishers in January 2018. The CRB ruling was finalized in February 2019 and appealed by digital services a month later on grounds of procedural issues with how the CRB determined...
Digital Services’ Appeal of Publisher Rate Hike Headed Back to Copyright Royalty Board: Sources
The U.S. Court of Appeals reviewing an appeal from Spotify, Amazon, Pandora and YouTube over the Copyright Royalty Board’s mechanical rate determination has remanded the case back to the CRB, sources tell Billboard. At press time the decision was sealed, so industry sources weren’t clear on what issues the Washington, D.C. Circuit Appeals Court had with the CRB rate ruling, other than it apparently was due to procedural issues. But procedural issues were at the heart of the digital services’ appeal and, at its most extreme, this could mean the ruling vacated the process that yielded a 44% rate increase for publisher royalties. {“nid”:”8502707″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Why Spotify's Appeal of The CRB Rate Decision Is A Hug...
Kygo Drops Amazon Original, Orchestral Version of “I’ll Wait” with Sasha Sloan
The new version is a stunning orchestral rendition. In May of 2020, Kygo released his third studio album Golden Hour, which was packed to the brim with high-profile collaborations. He has now released a stunning orchestral rendition of one of the tracks from the record, “I’ll Wait (feat. Sasha Sloan) as an Amazon Original track. While “I’ll Wait” is not the first time Kygo and Sloan have worked together, this particular orchestral rendition sees Sloan’s soulful and melancholic vocals take center stage. Kygo’s beautiful instrumental composition perfectly complements Sloan’s angelic vocals with emphasis on his downtempo version. As a part of Amazon Music’s “Summer Sessions” series, playlists curated ...
Coronavirus kills leading Brazil indigenous chief
One of Brazil’s leading indigenous chiefs, Aritana Yawalapiti, died Wednesday of respiratory complications caused by COVID-19, his family said. The post Coronavirus kills leading Brazil indigenous chief appeared first on TODAY. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
Jeff Bezos to Congressman Who Asked Why Twitch Doesn’t License Music: “I Don’t Know”
In the absence of live music, the streaming landscape has emerged as the most popular and efficient means of connecting with fans during the COVID-19 epoch. Perhaps no platform has benefitted more than Twitch, a gaming platform that has mutated into the most prevalent live music streaming medium in recent weeks—especially in electronic dance music. Since Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos acquired Twitch for a staggering $970 million back in 2014, the platform had experienced meteoric growth before exploding due to the pandemic’s recent gasoline pour. However, Twitch has found itself in hot water in recent weeks after issuing DMCA takedown notices to legions of its users. Since the Amazon-owned company doesn’t pay royalties to artists when their music is played on the platform, the...
Amazon Music Enlists Disclosure for “The Summer Sessions” Playlist
Amazon Music recently launched their new “Summer Sessions” playlist series, in which they enlist the help of some of the best DJs and producers that dance music has to offer to curate the ultimate soundtrack for the season. Next up in the series is Disclosure, who threw down over 5 hours of vibrant music to soak up with the warm weather. Get down to their house track “Ecstasy” or “He Loves Me 2” by Steve Silk Hurley and CeCe Peniston. If hip-hop and R&B are more your speed, fear not—the duo added in tracks such as “Find a Way” by A Tribe Called Quest and “On & On” by Erykah Badu. To make “The Summer Sessions” with Disclosure complete, they provided Amazon Music an original exclusive to...
