What do we know about Disney’s streaming service? April 12, 2019 Disney is set to take on the might of Netflix and Amazon with a new streaming service – Disney Plus – which it announced last night at its California headquarters in Burbank. Here are six things we know about the new offering from the mouse-branded entertainment behemoth. 1) It launches in North America in November [...]
Netflix teams up with US streaming service Sirius XM to launch new comedy radio station April 11, 2019 Netflix is teaming up with US broadcasting giant Sirius XM to launch a new a new radio channel airing clips from its stand-up comedy shows. Netflix Is A Joke Radio will feature segments from the streaming services’ stand-up library, comedy talk shows and original radio programming, and will be aired through Sirius XM, which offers [...]
Music rights firm One Media IP sees profits soar as it cashes in on streaming April 9, 2019 Shares in music rights company One Media IP jumped as much as 15 per cent this morning after it reported a huge rise in profits for the full year. One Media posted a 16 per cent rise in revenue to £2.7m in the year to the end of October, while pre-tax profit soared 63 per [...]
Europe must lead the way with digital tax, says EU competition commissioner April 8, 2019 Europe must agree on plans for a new digital tax and should be the trailblazer if there is no global consensus, the EU’s competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager has said. The EU last month scrapped initial plans to roll out a digital tax on tech giants after opposition from several member states. Read more: EU drops [...]
Smartphone sales to fall in 2019 as foldable phones fail to spark interest April 8, 2019 Global smartphone sales are set to fall again this year as consumers shun upgrades and hold on to their devices for longer. Shipments of mobile phones are expected to slip 0.5 per cent to 1.8bn in 2019, according to data published by research firm Gartner. Read more: Samsung warns of 60 per cent drop in [...]
Apple Music overtakes Spotify for number of paid subscribers in the US April 6, 2019 Apple Music’s streaming service has overtaken Spotify in terms of paid subscribers in the United States for the first time, according to Reuters. As of the end of February this year, Apple had amassed 28m subscribers for its product, compared with Spotify’s 26m, the report claimed. Read more: Social media giants to be held responsible [...]
Samsung warns of 60 per cent drop in quarterly profits as smartphone sales slide April 5, 2019 Samsung Electronics has warned its first quarter profits are likely to plunge 60 per cent compared to the same period last year. The South Korean tech firm said its profit for the first three months of the year was likely to be between 6.1 trillion and 6.2 trillion won (£4.1bn), down from 13.6 trillion won [...]
DEBATE: Is Apple’s move into finance with the launch of a credit card a good idea for the tech giant? April 2, 2019 Is Apple’s move into finance with the launch of a credit card a good idea for the tech giant? YES, says Andrew Mitchell, vice president at JCB. Despite the steady growth of Apple Pay, it’s relatively early for Apple in the payments sphere. However, this product could be a catalyst, strengthening Apple’s position in financial services [...]
Global music industry revenue grows 10 per cent as streaming booms April 2, 2019 Global music industry revenues grew almost 10 per cent last year as the rise in streaming services offset a decline in physical formats. Revenues grew 9.7 per cent in 2018 to hit $19.1bn (£14.7bn), according to the latest figures from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). Read more: Music streaming revenues overtake ownership [...]
Watch out high street banks – Apple has a credit card and is out to steal your supper March 29, 2019 Every day, new competitors are coming out of the woodwork and vying for a piece of the high street banks’ pie. This has forced the big banks – some kicking and screaming – to evolve, and at a pace that they’ve never before experienced. Change is not a new concept for consumers when it comes [...]