The Hollywood Reporter reports: “Universal Music Group and non-profit Music Health Alliance are launching a new mental health initiative for the music industry, the music-entertainment company announced Thursday morning. The Music Industry Mental Health Fund will “provide comprehensive, high-quality outpatient mental health resources for music industry professionals nationwide,” according to a release.”
Games Industry Biz reports: “Modern Times Group has completed its $620 million acquisition of Plarium from its previous owner, Aristocrat Leisure Limited. MTG and Plarium signed a deal in November 2024, during which it announced that $20 million of the agreement would be deferred to 2026. Now that the deal has closed, MTG will begin onboarding Plarium and fully consolidate it into the group.”
The Hollywood Reporter reports: “Amazon Prime Video is betting that a stacked lineup of sports can help it turbocharge its fast-growing advertising business. The tech giant’s video streaming service already has NFL Thursday Night Football, which averaged 13.2 million viewers last season, and it has WNBA and NWSL games, giving it a lineup of women’s sports.”
Music Business Worldwide reports: “Warner Music Group has completed its full acquisition of Africori, a prominent Africa-focused music distribution, music rights management, and artist development company. Founded in 2009, Africori boasts what’s claimed to be “one of the biggest independent songbooks in Africa”, including music from the likes of Kelvin Momo, Master KG, Nkosazana Daughter, Oscar Mbo, and TitoM & Yuppe. The company represents more than 7,000 artists.”
GamesBeat reports: “Ronin, the big gaming blockchain, is now permissionless, opening its ecosystem to all developers. This shift paves the way for a surge in new games, decentralized applications (dApps), and DeFi projects on the network, said Ronin creator Sky Mavis.”
Variety reports: “As YouTube marks its 20th anniversary this year, CEO Neal Mohan is positioning the video platform as a core player in the media and entertainment ecosystem — and the culture at large. Mohan, a longtime Google and YouTube exec, is now in his third year as CEO after assuming the role in February 2023.”
TV Tech reports: “Fox Corporation’s presentation of Super Bowl LIX on Fox and Tubi generated over $800 million in gross revenue from advertising sales across all platforms. The event also saw record pricing for the sold-out game, Fox reported. “The clear winners Sunday night were the Eagles, the NFL, and Fox. Congratulations to our teams at Fox Sports and Tubi for a record-breaking and historic Super Bowl LIX, the most-watched, most-streamed, and most successful Super Bowl ever,” said Lachlan Murdoch, executive chair and CEO, Fox Corporation.”
Peta Pixel reports: “The Adobe Firefly Video Model is now available in public beta. Firefly is the only IP-friendly and commercially safe generative AI model available right now. Adobe unveiled the Firefly Video Model last fall and provided some users with early access, demonstrating that Firefly can generate a wide range of styles of video content.”
Cord Cutters News reports: “Considered the global leader in audience measurement, data, and analytics, Nielsen announced that December 25, 2024, set a new milestone as the most-streamed day of television in U.S. history. This historic record was fueled by Netflix’s exclusive live streaming of two NFL Christmas Day games, which not only delivered unprecedented viewership for the platform but also contributed to the broader achievement of over 51 billion viewing minutes in a single day (51,218,510,400 to be exact).”
GamesBeat reports: “Phynd has raised $10 million for its subscription-free smart TV cloud gaming platform. And it comes from an entrepreneur with an interesting pedigree. Cofounded by tech and media innovator André Swanston, Stamford, Connecticut-based Phynd (pronounced “find”) is poised to make high-quality gaming universally accessible by offering a free-to-play experience on smart TVs and other connected devices.”
