Variety reports: “Comcast-owned European pay-TV giant Sky has created The Hive, a U.S.-based production services hub. Based in New York and Knoxville, the unit will work on programming coming out of Sky’s fledgling production arm, Sky Studios, which is setting out to be one of the biggest production outfits in Europe. It will also work with third-parties.”
Hypebot reports: “Spotify has acquired SoundBetter, a global marketplace that helps creators connect and hire producers and other audio professionals. Soundbetter will become part of Spotify For Artists, making it the first artist service that the streamer will charge for. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.”
gamesindustry.biz reports: “Industry trade association TIGA has supported recommendations from the Immersive and Addictive Technologies Report, published today. After nearly nine months of evidence gathering, the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee has made a number of suggestions to the UK government around video games and social media.”
VentureBeat reports: “French economic minister Bruno Le Maire has declared that his government intends to block development of Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency in Europe because of threats it poses to financial security and stability.”
Hollywood Reporter reports: “After nearly half a decade battling the creative team behind one of TV’s biggest hits, Fox has finally reached a settlement that will end the huge lawsuits over profit sharing for Bones. On Wednesday, the parties filed dismissal papers in Los Angeles Superior Court.”
Hypebot reports: “In a recent test move, Spotify appears to be experimenting with allowing its users to create podcasts from within the streaming platform, inserting a button which, if clicked, will redirect the user to the Anchor app, a user-friendly podcast creation tool acquired by Spotify in early 2019.”
Hollywood Reporter reports: “Everything about Apple’s foray into entertainment has been big, from the anticipation that mounted after it tapped veteran studio executives to oversee the effort to the boldfaced names it lured for its early slate of programming.”
Variety reports: “The NFL has tapped YouTube as the exclusive distributor for its latest media project: a docu-series highlighting pivotal game-day moments of players and coaches both on and off the field.”
Billboard reports: “Paris-based streaming service Deezer, which boasts of 14 million active users, is pushing ahead with a pilot plan that would reconfigure how it pays artists.”
gamesindustry.biz reports: “Capcom has been awarded nearly $1.5 million after it was found that Koei Tecmo Games infringed upon two of its patents.”
