Ava DuVernay’s Array Pulls Out Of Spotify First-Look Deal; Inclusive Storytelling Pact Announced In Early 2021

Spotify has agreed to change its rules on playlists following the release of a 1000-track protest album by cult indie band The Pocket Gods, which railed against the streaming platform’s payment rates.Spotify has been accused of paying artists as little as £0.002 for each stream on its service, with royalties only being activated if a song is listened to for at least 30 seconds.A 2015 i article on the economics of streaming then influenced The Pocket Gods to release ‘1000×30 – Nobody Makes Money Anymore’ on Spotify on February 8, with each of the record’s 1000 tracks clocking in at around the 30-second mark.“I saw the [2015] article and it made me think, ‘Why write longer songs when we get paid little enough for just 30 seconds?’” frontman Mark Christopher Lee told i earlier this month.The stunt by the St Albans band, which has seen their protest album clock up nearly 600,000 total streams, has now drawn a response from Spotify, with founder Daniel Ek reportedly reaching out to Lee to set up a meeting between The Pocket Gods and Spotify’s head of artist relations.“Spotify said we’re ahead of the curve as shorter songs are the future – just look at TikTok,” Lee told i in a new interview. “They said that I can pitch 30 second tracks to their playlists [drivers of chart hits] for consideration – I wasn’t able to do this previously as the songs were considered too short.“So next week I’m releasing a 30-second single called ‘Noel Gallagher Is Jealous Of My Studio’.”Lee added that he was told that pay rates to songwriters would increase when Spotify rolls out an increase in its subscription price, which is currently priced at £9.99 for premium users.

It was a night when the pundit-predicted Oscar-season frontrunners The Power of the Dog and Belfast came up empty, and longer shots like CODA and The Eyes of Tammy Faye won key races that promise to add a bit more suspense as we glide toward the Oscars.

Ariana DeBose is now in the SAG Awards record books.After winning SAG’s best supporting actress award for her performance as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” DeBose is now the first Latina to win a film award from the guild, along with being the first queer woman of color to be recognized for acting.“It’s indicative that doors are opening,” DeBose told reporters in the virtual backstage media room. “It’s an honor to an Afro Latina queer women of color and a dancer and a singer and an actor.”DeBose said that she is cognizant of the importance of the firsts that she is notching for Afro Latino actors,” but equally significant to her is the sign that “it’s indicative that I will not be the last.

The 28th annual SAG Awards taking place Sunday at The Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, with the actors guild handing out trophies in 15 motion picture and television categories during a ceremony airing live beginning at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET on TNT and TBS.

Spotify podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.Earlier this month, India.Arie shared a compilation of clips that featured Rogan using the N-word repeatedly and describing a Black neighbourhood as being similar to the Planet Of The Apes movie.Rogan has since apologised, telling his Instagram followers. “There’s been a lot of shit from the old episodes of the podcast that I wish I hadn’t said, or had said differently.

Amanda Seyfried stopped by “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” to reminisce about her first big red carpet event.

A column chronicling conversations and events on the awards circuit.

Refresh for latest…: The César Awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscars, are just getting under way at an in-person ceremony at Paris’ Olympia concert hall with screenwriter/director Danièle Thompson presiding over the proceedings and Antoine de Caunes as host, the latter marking his tenth time as emcee.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentFrance’s equivalent to the Oscars, the Cesar Awards, are taking place this evening in Paris. Among the nominees, and in attendance, are “Annette” star Adam Driver and Cate Blanchett, who will receive the Honorary Cesar Award.The in-person ceremony is being hosted at the Olympia theater in Paris under tight COVID restrictions, as all guests have to wear a mask, be vaccinated and present a test dating from less than 24 hours.Driver is up for best actor for his performance as a tormented comedian opposite Marion Cotillard in Leos Carax’s drama musical “Annette.” Only two other American actors have been previously nominated at the Cesar Awards — Kristen Stewart for Olivier Assayas’ “Clouds of Sils Maria” and Adrien Brody for Roman Polanski’s Oscar-winning “The Pianist.” Both actors won, in 2015 and 2003, respectively.

The first trailer for “Pachinko” has been released, offering a first look at the upcoming Apple TV+ adaptation of Min Jin Lee’s sprawling multigenerational saga chronicling how one family’s journey from Korea to America over the course of decades, told in three different languages: Korean, Japanese and English.

“Columbus” filmmaker Kogonada and Justin Chon executive produce and direct four episodes each, with Kogonada directing the pilot. Michael Ellenberg and Lindsey Springer executive produce for Media Res; Theresa Kang-Lowe executive produces for Blue Marble Pictures; and Richard Middleton also executive produces.

Universal has released the first official photo for Christopher Nolan‘s upcoming Oppenheimer movie.

For years, ABC has tried to remove some of the categories from the primary Oscars telecast. After record-low ratings in 2021, it appears their wish has partially come true.

Sasha Urban editorIn the wake of ebbing controversy against Spotify’s partnership with podcaster Joe Rogan, Grammy-winning songwriter Tiffany Red and the advocacy group the 100 Percenters are planning a peaceful protest against the music streaming service on Feb. 28. The 100 Percenters were founded by Red in 2020 to advocate for more equitable payments for songwriters.

Clayton Davis You can find strange similarities between almost any two years for Oscar prognosticating. Just days away from the 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards and three weeks out from BAFTA and Critics Choice ceremonies, there are odd correlations between this year’s crop of nominees and the ceremony that rewarded the 1952 cinematic year.Denis Villeneuve’s omission from best director for the sci-fi drama “Dune” was the most shocking when Oscar nominations were announced.

David Crosby has called Joe Rogan “not real impressive” amid detailing in a new interview his reasons for pulling all his music off of Spotify.Earlier this month, the member of the disbanded folk supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash (which when completed by Neil Young were known as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) joined his former bandmates in support of Young’s demand that his music be erased from Spotify.Young took particular aim at controversial podcaster Joe Rogan – a prominent skeptic of the COVID vaccine who has a $100million exclusivity contract with Spotify – pointing out widespread misinformation shared through his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience.“We support Neil and we agree with him that there is dangerous disinformation being aired on Spotify’s Joe Rogan podcast,” Crosby, who also performs solo, said along with the group in a joint statement via his social media.pic.twitter.com/yyhHTQi7fm— David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) February 2, 2022Now, in an interview with Stereogum, Crosby has expanded on his decision to shun Spotify and remove his music from the platform. He also made it clear that he takes issue with all streaming services – not just Spotify, with which Rogan has the lucrative content deal.“Here’s how I feel about it.

Neon’s standout romance about a young woman in Oslo churning though career choices and boyfriends passed $1 million this weekend on 265 screens, up from 49. With marketing in high gear and strong word of mouth, the Oscar Best International Feature nominee will continue to expand next week.

Wow, have you looked at those official rules for the Oscar Fan Favorite sweepstakes? That’s the first-time-ever contest that lets you vote 20 times each day on Twitter (or else on the official Website) for your favorite movie of the year, and maybe become one of three lucky Grand Prize winners who get flown with a guest to Los Angeles (unless you already live in Pacoima) and possibly become a presenter at the 95th Academy Awards show in 2023?

Joe Rogan has taken flak for hosting guests with sometimes-controversial opinions on vaccines and political issues, but a Spotify spokesperson said it was simply a technical malfunction.“It’s a technical issue affecting a number of our shows and should be resolved soon,” the spokesperson told The Post.The podcast appeared to be inaccessible for about 20 minutes.Neil Young recently pulled his music off of Spotify in protest of Rogan. Spotify paid Joe Rogan at least $200 million to exclusively host his podcast, according to the New York Times.

DEALSAerosmith have signed a deal with Universal Music’s merch-tastic Epic Rights for global brand management. “We are THRILLED to have Aerosmith, one of the all-time greatest rock icons, on the Epic Rights roster”, says the company’s SVP Global Licensing Lisa Streff. ”In anticipation of the upcoming 50th anniversary activities, we’re excited to be developing a global licensing programme that will celebrate and illustrate the band’s career at retail”.

Spotify may have paid at least $200million for the exclusive rights to Joe Rogan’s podcast, double the figure that was previously reported.The streaming giant secured an exclusive license to host The Joe Rogan Experience in May 2020, when it was widely reported the controversial podcast host had been paid over $100million as part of the deal.However, “two people familiar with the details of the transaction” have since claimed to The New York Times that the three-and-a-half-year deal was actually worth twice what was initially believed: at least $200million. Spotify has yet to publicly comment on this report.The Times points out Spotify had previously purchased whole content companies – podcast network Gimlet Media and digital media brand The Ringer – both for slightly less than $200million each.In recent weeks, Spotify has come under fire for hosting The Joe Rogan Experience, its biggest podcast in the US and many other countries, with an estimated per-episode listenership of around 11million people.Last month, Neil Young requested the platform pull his catalogue, citing “false information about vaccines” being spread on the platform and specifically targeting Rogan’s podcast.

The trio of stars who brought us Forrest Gump are teaming up again for the first time since winning Oscars for their classic film.

It was previously reported that Joe Rogan was being paid $100 million for his multi-year contract with Spotify, but now it’s being claimed that the company paid him a lot more than that.

There has been a change in plans for the COVID-19 vaccination policies for the upcoming 2022 Oscars ceremony, which will take place in Hollywood on March 27.

Like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and India Arie, Ava DuVernay’s Array is no longer doing business with Spotify.

Sesame Street will see Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein pay a visit to Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch and co.In a new clip shared to social media, Goldstein, who stars as retired footballer Roy Kent in Apple TV+’s hit football comedy, is seen hanging out in a trash can alongside Oscar the Grouch as Big Bird wanders by.“Isn’t it a beautiful day?” Big Bird asks the pair, who proceed to shake their heads in disapproval.Sesame Street captioned the post: “Grouches gonna grouch on Sesame Street.

Ava DuVernay‘s company is backing out of a big deal.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSpotify’s deal with Joe Rogan, the popular podcast host who has attracted a swarm of controversy in recent weeks, is worth more than $200 million, according to a new report by the New York Times.Citing anonymous sources, the Times reported that “the true value” of the deal negotiated between Spotify and Rogan — spanning three and a half years — was “at least $200 million, with the possibility of more.” Previously, the pact had been said to be worth more than $100 million, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal.Spotify did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Over the past month, Rogan has faced a backlash from Spotify users and artists over his use of the N-word in past episodes of his podcast and accusations that Rogan’s show has spread COVID misinformation. On the Feb.

Viola Davis will soon be hitting the screen as forever FLOTUS Michelle Obama in Showtime’s upcoming biopic series, The First Lady, and here’s your first look. Showtime has released the first official trailer for The First Lady, a new anthology drama starring the Oscar, Emmy, and Tony award-winning actress, set to premiere on Sunday, April 17 at 9 p.m.

EXCLUSIVE: XTR, the non-fiction studio behind projects such as Oscar nominated doc Ascension and Apple’s They Call Me Magic, has hired its first Chief Operating Officer.

Kristen Stewart, 31, went to great lengths to portray the late Princess Diana in her critically acclaimed film Spencer. The Oscar nominee revealed in Vanity Fair‘s 2022 Hollywood Issue, published on February 17, that she tried purging to prepare for a scene involving Diana’s difficult battle with bulimia. “I wanted to make sure that was not glossed over,” Kristen told the outlet.

A look at the White House experiences of Michelle Obama, Betty Ford, and Eleanor Roosevelt is what Showtime’s anthology drama First Lady is all about. Its official trailer has been released in advance of the series’ April debut.

A journey to find love. Before her whirlwind romance with Aaron Rodgers made headlines, Shailene Woodley was open about the ups and downs of finding her perfect partner.

India.Arie has clarified her reasons for leaving Spotify, after she became one of many artists to boycott the service in recent weeks.When she first pulled her music from the service earlier this month, Arie cited their exclusive hosting of Joe Rogan’s podcast and his “language around race” as the reason she left Spotify.“Neil Young opened a door that I must walkthrough,” she wrote on Instagram, explaining how was following on from Neil Young’s exit from Spotify due to Rogan spreading “misinformation” about COVID-19 on his podcast.“I believe in freedom of speech. However, I find Joe Rogan problematic for reasons other than his COVID interviews,” she said at the time.Now, in a new interview with Trevor Noah on The Daily Show, Arie has discussed how Spotify’s royalties scheme and business practices also influenced her decision.Asked if Rogan was her enemy by Noah, Arie said: “My conversation has been about Spotify and its treatment of artists.“I have to say that asking for my music to be pulled from Spotify in protest doesn’t actually serve me,” she added, “but I did it in protest just because I felt like my dignity was being … I felt like I was being disrespected.”Discussing royalty payments artists get from Spotify, Arie explained: “What happens is, they say, ‘Well, this is just how it is; this is just what you get paid.

Netflix doesn’t have the box office to boast about when it comes to this year’s Oscar nominees The Power of the Dog, and Don’t Look Up, but it has the streaming viewership it can beat the drum about.