Culture secretary: EU ‘let down music’ over post-Brexit touring visa January 13, 2021 The EU is to blame for “letting down music on both sides of the Channel” over a failure to grant visas to touring artists, the culture secretary has said. Oliver Dowden today insisted that the government “fought to get a good deal for British music” but the EU had turned it down “repeatedly”. “It did [...]
Hits Don’t Lie: Shakira sells entire song catalogue to Hipgnosis January 13, 2021 Shakira has become the latest musician to cash in on her song rights after selling her entire back catalogue to music royalty fund Hipgnosis. The London-listed company today said it has acquired the rights to Shakira’s portfolio of 145 songs, including hits such as Hips Don’t Lie, She Wolf and 2010 World Cup anthem Waka [...]
Tiktok tightens privacy features as online harm laws loom January 13, 2021 Tiktok has tightened its privacy features for young users as the government prepares to roll out tough new rules to improve safety on social media. The hit video-sharing app today said that all users under the age of 16 will have their accounts set to private by default, meaning only approved followers can view their [...]
Telegraph owner Sir David Barclay dies age 86 January 13, 2021 David Barclay, the billionaire co-owner of the Daily Telegraph, has died aged 86 after a short illness. Late last night the newspaper announced that Barclay, who took over the Telegraph with his brother Frederick in 2004, had died. The twin brothers built up a business empire encompassing hotel ownership, shipping, and retail. They moved into [...]
Nature calls: David Attenborough hologram to front £28m 5G trial January 13, 2021 Sir David Attenborough is set to star in a holographic video showcasing the wonders of the natural world as part of a £28m government-funded 5G trial. The beloved British broadcaster will feature in a new augmented reality app, to be released alongside upcoming BBC series The Green Planet. The app, developed by a consortium of [...]
Broadband firm Community Fibre launches London TV service January 12, 2021 Challenger broadband firm Community Fibre has launched a new pay-TV service that it hopes will offer Londoners a more affordable alternative to Sky and Virgin. The new service, launched with TV provider Netgem, gives customers access to 135 channels, as well as a range of streaming services and on-demand content. Community Fibre TV will be [...]
BBC Sounds launches on Sky in latest streaming tie-up January 12, 2021 Sky has agreed a deal with the BBC to embed the Sounds app on its platform, marking the pay-TV giant’s latest effort to become a one-stop shop for streaming services. From today the BBC Sounds app will be available to all Sky Q customers in the UK, offering more than 80,000 hours of audio content. [...]
Apple and Amazon suspend Parler from web stores January 10, 2021 Apple and Amazon have followed Google’s lead and suspended Parler from their respective app stores over concerns that the social media platform has not done enough to regulate content inciting violence. The app, which styles itself as an “unbiased” platform, has proved popular with users who have been kicked off other platforms. The suspensions come [...]
Mirror publisher Reach stock jumps on digital good news January 8, 2021 Reach stock jumped this morning on the news the business had seen impressive digital growth in Q4 2020. The Mirror publisher’s stock jumped 25 per cent this morning on the news the publisher was doing better than expected. The publisher, which owns brands including the Express and the Daily Star saw digital revenue in [...]
Screenshot: Will Sunak save music festival season? January 8, 2021 A weekly column from City A.M. bringing you all the biggest stories and trends in technology, media and telecoms This week **Media Moment of the Week: Reporting from the ruins of democracy **A rallying cry to save music festivals **Youtube, Talk Radio and the quagmire of online regulation Media Moment of the Week I usually [...]