Spotify to Raise Price of Premium Plan in U.S. to $10.99 Monthly: Report

Big Brother is BACK!

Kelly Clarkson called out her ex Brandon Blackstock in a brand new cover over the weekend.

There have been so many Fantastic Four casting rumors over the last few months, and sadly, Marvel has not made anything official at this time.

Bradley Cooper‘s film Maestro is making a grand premiere at the 2023 Venice Film Festival next month…however, he won’t be in attendance.

Paul Reubens, who was best known for his work playing the character Pee-wee Herman in various movies and TV shows, has died at the age of 70.

Pedro Pascal is one of the most beloved and hottest actors of the decade. The actor has won over the hearts of both his younger and older fans with his roles in some iconic movies and TV shows.

the post read. “Paul bravely and privately fought cancer for years with his trademark tenacity and wit.

Post Malone has revealed how using magic mushrooms has impacted his short-term memory.The rapper was taking part in a new interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe on Wednesday (July 26) when he revealed that he has suffered long-term side effects from magic mushrooms.“Yeah, I take shrooms,” he told Lowe. “I like shrooms… [but] not as much as I used to. It’s really affected my short-term memory.

Pee-wee Herman – has died at the age of 70.He passed away after a private bout with cancer last night (July 30).In a statement on his Instagram following his death, the late actor wrote: “Please accept my apology for not going public with what I’ve been facing the last six years. I have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from my friends, fans and supporters.

Jay-Z is reportedly interested in buying Tottenham Hotspur FC.According to Football365, British billionaire Joe Lewis – whose family trust owns the football club – was granted bail by a judge in New York after pleading not guilty to charges of giving insider trading tips. The 86-year-old is also facing 16 counts of security fraud and three counts of conspiracy.

Lizzo visits Matamata’s Hobbiton in New Zealand and plays Howard Shore’s “In Dreams” from The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings soundtrack.Premium Lizzolas content loading… Guaynaa does an interesting Yoga workout with Casper Smart to his new song “Pa‘ Que Afinken.” Rosalía shares a moment from her final show in Paris of the Motomami tour. MotomamieseternooooooRyan Reynolds reveals he’s a K-Pop fan.NewJeans count as proper gym attire.Addison Rae has a “girls meal” at KBBQ with her friend.

One person was hurt in a crash involving 11 vehicles on a street in Bolton last night.

Wishaw drivers have been warned of a five-day temporary road closure in the centre of town.

Council chiefs have threatened travellers with court action after they pitched up near playing fields in Prestwick.

Drake is learning a lot about brassieres.

Barbie is here, and it has seriously lived up to the hype. It has everything we could want in a film (*spoilers ahead*): , Sharon Rooney in a top-tier jumpsuit, on what it is to be a woman, and a Ryan Gosling solo number (“I’m just Ken” has been in our heads for days)…what more could you want?Well, now some cis-het women are using Barbie as the ultimate “relationship test” to see if their partners or dates are the right fit for them—and we kind of love it.“I genuinely think taking your boyfriend to Barbie should be your relationship test to decide if he’s good [as] a potential long-term partner,” TikTok user wrote in a that’s been viewed over four million times.“How does he react when you tell him you want to go with him? What are his thoughts on why certain things are happening in the movie? How does he feel about Allan? What are his thoughts on the montage at the end? What are his feelings on the way Ken was portrayed?”This content can also be viewed on the site it from.The user then said it’s good to see whether your date/partner/lover would be “interested in having an intellectual conversation about the message afterwards.”“I think these are all very important things that will give you a crystal clear image of what his character is,” she continued.

joined Matt Damon and for a double date in Australia. On Monday, July 31, the actors were spotted out on a lunch date with their wives in Byron Bay, Australia, where and Pataky live. The married couples ate lunch beachside, and were accompanied by some friends.

Can summer camp offer a second chance? A teen finds himself searching for a new life in “Camp Hideout.” The comedy focuses on a summer camp full of interesting characters, most notably the temperamental leader Falco; Christopher Lloyd portrays the temperamental man who eventually joins in to help the young campers. Corbin Bleu, Ethan Drew, and Amanda Leighton also star.  READ MORE: Summer 2023 Movie Preview: 52 Must-See Films To Watch The film’s official synopsis: “When mischievous Noah (Ethan Drew) gets himself into trouble with 2 “bad guys” by accidentally stealing their property, he escapes to a summer camp.

Justin Simien is having a busy weekend. Not only did his most recent feature film, the big-budget “Haunted Mansion” film from Disney, debut in theaters, but there was also news that he was being replaced by Donald And Stephen Glover as writers of the “Lando” series coming to Disney+.

CBS has announced the 16 new Houseguests who will be moving into the Big Brother house for Season 25, including a Deaflympics Gold Medalist, Brand Strategist, Exterminator, Geriatric Physician, Professional Flutist, Political Consultant and a DJ from Australia, among others.

Paul Reubens, known best by his character name Pee-wee Herman, died Sunday after a private battle with cancer. He was 70.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Lauren Tempest, an eight-year Hulu veteran, has been appointed general manager of the Disney-controlled streamer, assuming business responsibility for the streaming service, effective immediately. Tempest takes over the leadership spot at Hulu after Joe Earley, formerly Hulu’s president, was promoted to president of direct-to-consumer, Disney Entertainment this spring.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Meta turned in a healthy 11% uptick in revenue for the second quarter of 2023, topping Wall Street expectations and signaling the social giant’s ad business is recovering after last year’s doldrums. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram posted revenue of $32.0 billion and net profit of $7.79 billion ($2.98 per share), up 16%. On average, analysts expected revenue of $31.12 billion and earnings per share of $2.91, according to Refinitiv data.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Max is getting into the NFL Sunday Ticket huddle. Google’s YouTube TV will offer a special bundle combining Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max with the NFL Sunday Ticket out-of-market football package, Alphabet and Google chief business officer Philipp Schindler told analysts on the internet company’s Q2 earnings call.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor YouTube’s second-quarter 2023 ad sales had a modest year-over-year uptick, rising 4.4% to $7.67 billion, a reversal after three consecutive quarters of declines at the video platform. Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, came in above analyst earnings expectations, with top-line growth of 7%. Alphabet reported $74.60 billion in revenue and net income of $18.37 billion, or $1.44 per share.

Spotify had its best quarter ever for new additions but revenue fell short of expectations and the music streamer booked a wider loss on severance and other business charges for the three months ended in June.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Like most earnings calls, Spotify’s tend to be a combination of optimism and deflection amid buzzwords like “flywheels” and “toolboxes,” and co-founder and CEO Daniel Ek is among the best at answering direct questions vaguely — a key survival tool for any business head. But Tuesday’s call, arriving against the backdrop of the company’s first-ever subscriber price increases in the U.S., found Ek and chief financial officer Paul Vogel more defensive than usual as they worked to bolster investor confidence in the face of the dollar-per-month U.S.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Spotify, the world’s biggest music and audio streaming service, delivered strong numbers for the second quarter of 2023 — beating forecast user growth on paid subscribers and total listeners, while Q2 revenue was in-line with expectations. But with newly announced price increases for Spotify Premium in dozens of markets including the U.S., the company is forecasting a smaller gain in paid subscribers for Q3. The company netted 10 million new Premium customers in the quarter (over its expectations of 7 million), to stand at 220 million. Overall, Spotify had 551 million monthly active users for the period, a pickup of 36 million sequentially — an all-time high for the company.

Spotify is raising the price of its premium subscriptions, bringing the audio streaming service in line with top competitors.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music As expected, Spotify has finally raised the price of its premium music-streaming subscription in the U.S. to $10.99 per month — the first such price hike since the service launched in the country in 2011. The move comes only after months of pressure from the music industry and musicians — and seeing each of its competitors raise prices to a similar degree. On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that such a move was imminent. In wording that seems oddly apologetic and reflects CEO and co-founder Daniel Ek’s long resistance to raising prices, the company made the announcement in a blog post Monday morning.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix is “more than a year out” from any price increases in its major markets like the U.S. as it looks to spur revenue growth from its password-sharing crackdown, CFO Spence Neumann said. The streamer has “largely paused” price hikes after it began rolling out the paid-sharing program starting in May 2023, Neumann said on the Q2 earnings interview. “Most of our revenue growth this year is from growth in volume, through new paid memberships. And that’s largely driven by our paid-sharing rollout,” he said. “It is our primary revenue accelerator in the year.” Netflix most recently raised prices in the U.S. and other major markets in the first half of 2022, under which its Standard plan — its most popular tier, which provides two simultaneous HD streams — increased by $1.50, to $15.49 per month.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix touted strong momentum for its push into advertising, claiming subscribers on its ad-supported tier nearly doubled in the second quarter of 2023. However, the streamer said, advertising revenue in Q2 was still not material in the context of its overall business. The company announced Q2 earnings Wednesday. Overall, Netflix netted 5.9 million new paid subscribers, amid its broader crackdown on password-sharing violators. On the ad front, “While we continue to grow our reach — ads plan membership has nearly doubled since Q1 — it’s still off a small membership base, so current ad revenue isn’t material for Netflix,” the company said in its quarterly letter to shareholders. “Building an ads business from scratch isn’t easy and we have lots of hard work ahead, but we’re confident that over time we can develop advertising into a multibillion-dollar incremental revenue stream.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix is no longer offering its cheapest streaming plan without ads in the U.S. and the U.K., with the company aiming to push value-conscious consumers to sign up for its advertising-supported package. The Basic plan, which provided a single stream for $9.99/month in the U.S. and £6.99/month in the U.K., is no longer available “for new or rejoining members” in the respective countries. According to Netflix, existing Basic members can “remain on this plan until you change plans or cancel your account.” The elimination of Netflix’s Basic plan is designed to boost customers on the ad-supported Standard With Ads, which the company first launched last November. In May, Netflix said it had signed up more than 5 million members for its ad-supported plans, with 25% of new subs taking the package.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor For the first time since Peacock debuted in 2020, NBCUniversal is hiking the monthly prices on the streaming service. Starting at midnight ET Monday evening, NBCU will notify existing Peacock customers that their rates will be increasing as of next month. Effective Aug. 17, for existing users on their next billing cycle and immediately for new customers, the price of Peacock Premium (with ads) will increase by $1, to $5.99 per month, and Peacock Premium Plus (which is mostly commercial-free) will rise $2, to $11.99 per month. In the three years since Peacock’s launch, the platform has added more than 80,000 hours of content, and will reach nearly 100,000 hours total over the coming year, according to NBCU. That includes exclusive pay-1 window movies from Universal Filmed Entertainment Group; NBC and Bravo episodes next-day; streaming channels from Hallmark and Reelz; and daily mornings news from CNBC and MSNBC.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Anjali Sud is taking over as CEO of Tubi, Fox Corp.’s free, ad-supported streaming TV service, after she stepped down as chief exec of video-hosting platform Vimeo. Sud will officially start as Tubi’s CEO on Sept. 1, 2023, succeeding founder Farhad Massoudi. Sud reports to Paul Cheesbrough, CEO of Tubi Media Group, which Fox formed this spring to house its digital businesses including Tubi (acquired in 2020) and Blockchain Creative Labs. Sud spent nine years at New York-based Vimeo, originally serving as VP of global marketing before assuming oversight of the creator business unit and getting promoted to CEO in 2017. Under Sud, Vimeo has undertaken employee layoffs and made other cost-cutting moves to improve its financial profile.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Elise Finch, an Emmy-winning meteorologist with WCBS in New York for 16 years, has died, the TV station announced Sunday. She was 51. Finch died at a local hospital; the cause of her death has not been determined, according to WCBS’s statement. “Elise has been a friend and team member at WCBS for 16 years,” the station said in announcing her death. “Elise was a gifted and consummate professional who took great care with her work. She was also a wonderful ambassador in the community, including her hometown of Mount Vernon. Above all, Elise was a fiercely loving and devoted mother to her daughter Grace and wife to Graig Henriques, who is a photojournalist at WCBS.”