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Fitness influencer gets lifetime ban from NYC marathon for filming content

<p>A Texas social media influencer has been disqualified and banned from future races at the New York City marathon. </p> <p>Last weekend, fitness influencer Matthew Choi ran the race with his camera crew on e-bikes, endangering other runners. </p> <p>He finished the 42.2-kilometre course with a time of 2:57:15, about 50 minutes behind Abdi Nageeye, the winner of the men's race.</p> <p>Choi issued an apology to his 400,000 followers after receiving the lifetime ban. </p> <p>"I have no excuses, full-stop," he said on Wednesday AEDT. </p> <p>"I was selfish on Sunday to have my brother and my videographer follow me around on e-bikes, and it had serious consequences.</p> <p>"We endangered other runners, we impacted people going for PBs, we blocked people from getting water and with the New York City Marathon being about everyone else and the community, I made it about myself.</p> <p>"And for anyone I impacted, I'm sorry."</p> <p>He added that the decision "was 100 per cent on me" as he did not receive pressure to film content from any partners or sponsors. </p> <p>New York Road Runners, the organisers of the race, said in a statement that Choi's actions violated the code of conduct and competition rules. </p> <p>"One of the incidents brought to NYRR's attention was that Choi ran with the assistance of two unauthorised people riding the course on electric bicycles, obstructing runners," the group said.</p> <p>The fitness influencer posted several videos of him running the marathon on social media, which immediately drew backlash. </p> <p>"As a runner, seeing him was amazing. Gave me extra motivation to pass him and make sure I never had to see him and his dumb crew for the rest of the race," wrote one user on Reddit.</p> <p>He has since acknowledged the criticism and has vowed to stop the practice. </p> <p>"It won't happen again. My word is my bond."</p> <p><em>Images: Instagram</em></p> <p> </p>

Travel Trouble

Calories and kilojoules: how do we know the energy content of food, and how accurate are the labels?

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-ball-14718">Lauren Ball</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emily-burch-438717">Emily Burch</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/southern-cross-university-1160">Southern Cross University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katelyn-barnes-1238606">Katelyn Barnes</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a></em></p> <p>Everything we consume contains energy our bodies use to move, grow and maintain health. To work out how much energy is in different foods and drinks, we need to first look at a few core concepts.</p> <p>Firstly, you’ve probably heard of the units of measurement for energy – calories – as well as the metric equivalent, which is joules. One calorie is defined as the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1℃.</p> <p>In human nutrition, the amounts of energy needed to maintain health, and to fuel a body, are much larger than the tiny singular calories used to heat up a gram of water. So, the term “calorie” in nutrition commonly refers to a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022316622085546">kilocalorie</a> (or kcal), which is 1,000 calories. When you see the word “calories” on a nutrition label, it’s likely referring to kcals.</p> <p>The energy stored in food and drinks is released when the body breaks down one or more of the four macronutrients inside the food (carbohydrates, proteins, fats, alcohol). The body then uses that energy for activities such as keeping our heart beating, our lungs breathing and our muscles moving.</p> <p>When energy in food is estimated, it is the amount of energy food and drinks provide for these bodily processes. The four macronutrients provide <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916522039454">different amounts of energy</a>:</p> <ol> <li>1 gram of carbohydrate provides about 4 kcal of energy</li> <li>1 gram of fat provides about 9 kcal of energy</li> <li>1 gram of protein provides about 4 kcal of energy</li> <li>1 gram of alcohol provides about 7 kcal of energy.</li> </ol> <h2>How are calories estimated?</h2> <p>There are two ways to estimate the amount of energy in food and drinks.</p> <p>The first is called “bomb calorimetry”. This gold-standard method involves placing a small sample of food or drink inside a device known as a bomb calorimeter. The food is burned in the presence of oxygen, releasing heat.</p> <p>The amount of heat released is directly related to the amount of energy in the food, allowing a calculation to be made. This method is most commonly used for foods rich in fats and is considered the most reliable (but expensive) method.</p> <p>The second method, the Atwater system, is a much less expensive method for estimating energy content. It is more commonly used when calculating energy of most food and drinks sold in supermarkets. Named after legendary food researcher <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022316622065336">Wilbur Atwater</a>, this system uses a standard conversion factor for each macronutrient found in food and drinks. By estimating the amount of each of the four macronutrients, an approximate calculation of the total energy can be made.</p> <p>However, this method requires detailed knowledge of the ingredients within composite foods (such as muesli bars or hamburgers) – which may reduce accuracy. There is also a margin of error to expect with the Atwater system, because it assumes each ingredient is always the same in composition.</p> <p>For example, a cup of oats grown in one part of the country won’t necessarily have the exact same nutritional content as another cup of oats grown elsewhere, due to climate and soil differences. So, this system is an estimation based on an average.</p> <p>Importantly, both methods estimate the amount of energy <em>in</em> food and drinks. But the actual energy our bodies extract from these foods and drinks can vary due to factors such as individual differences in digestion and absorption, as well as food processing and cooking methods.</p> <h2>Why do foods have calories written on them?</h2> <p>In Australia, it’s a <a href="https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/labelling/panels/Pages/default.aspx">legal requirement</a> for packaged food items to have a nutrition information panel that displays the number of kcal it contains.</p> <p>However, homemade food items sold at places like a fresh market may not be required to provide a nutrition information panel. This will depend on the type of food being sold and the scale of the business operation.</p> <p>Fresh foods such as fruit, vegetables and meat also don’t require a nutrition information panel. To find out the number of kcal in them, you can either run an experiment with a bomb calorimeter or look up an estimated value in an online nutrition database.</p> <p>Food composition databases such as <a href="https://www.calorieking.com/us/en/">CalorieKing</a> compile information about the energy and nutrient content of various foods. Dietitians and other health professionals often use these databases to estimate the energy content of foods to inform dietary recommendations.</p> <h2>Different international standards</h2> <p>Both kJ and kcal refer to energy – they are just two different units of measurements (such as how inches and centimetres are two different units for measuring length). Kilojoules (kJ) is part of the International System of Units (SI).</p> <p>Australia, New Zealand and some parts of Europe use kJ. The United States and the United Kingdom use kcal. To convert between calories and kilojoules you use the conversion factors:</p> <ul> <li>1 kcal = 4.184 kJ</li> <li>1 kJ = 0.24 kcal (about ¼).</li> </ul> <p>For example, if you have a packet of chips with an energy content of 200 kcal, you can convert it to kJ as follows: 200 kcal × 4.184 = 836.8 kJ.</p> <p>As for how many calories are acceptable to eat, the Australian Guidelines for Healthy Eating estimate the average adult requires about 7,000kJ or 1,670Kcal every day. However, differences in age, gender, size, health and physical activity will influence how much energy a person needs.</p> <p>To estimate your personal energy requirements, you can use this <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/nutrient-reference-values/nutrients-dietary-energy-calculator#results-energy">nutrients and dietary energy calculator</a>.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211613/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-ball-14718">Lauren Ball</a>, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emily-burch-438717">Emily Burch</a>, Dietitian, Researcher & Lecturer, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/southern-cross-university-1160">Southern Cross University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katelyn-barnes-1238606">Katelyn Barnes</a>, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/calories-and-kilojoules-how-do-we-know-the-energy-content-of-food-and-how-accurate-are-the-labels-211613">original article</a>.</em></p>

Food & Wine

"Totally absurd": Ben Fordham rages over Shakespeare content warning

<p>Hold on to your quills, folks, because we've got ourselves a Shakespearean drama fit for the 21st century! It appears that the Bard's timeless works are now under fire at an international university, and our dear radio host, Ben Fordham, is not amused.</p> <p>The talk radio host is taking on an English degree's "content warning" that has been applied to none other than William Shakespeare. That's right: The great bard of yore now comes with a caution label.</p> <p>The University of Wales Trinity Saint David has allowed students studying "Error and Sweet Violence: Shakespeare and Renaissance Comedy and Tragedy" to exit stage left – much like Shakespearean characters fleeing their woes – if the content ever gets too spicy or confrontational.</p> <p>Any student, at any time, is permitted “to leave the class, interrupt their activity or take any measure necessary to take care of their wellbeing without the need for explanation or justification”. </p> <p>And what content in particular are they worried about? The saucy romantic comedy "Twelfth Night", featuring a cross-dressing heroine and more mistaken identities than a masked ball gone wrong. Othello, Measure For Measure, and Coriolanus also make the list of potential "trigger warnings".</p> <p>Fordham couldn't resist taking to the airwaves to voice his disbelief. "So Shakespeare is now the subject of a trigger warning," he proclaimed with a clear mix of humour and disbelief. <span style="color: #343541; font-family: Söhne, ui-sans-serif, system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Noto Sans', sans-serif, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; font-size: 16px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“You can just walk out of class, because university bosses are worried that some snowflakes may find the material too much. </span><span style="color: #343541; font-family: Söhne, ui-sans-serif, system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Noto Sans', sans-serif, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; font-size: 16px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Once upon a time universities challenged students and now they wrap them in cotton wool.”</span></p> <p>In the land of Twelfth Night, Viola dons a disguise to woo the Duke Orsino, but alas, love plays its twisted game, and Olivia falls for the cross-dressing charmer instead. How scandalous! It's like the plot of a Hollywood rom-com but with more ruffles and poetic monologues.</p> <p>“The play features a cross-dressing heroine and in 2023 you would think that wouldn’t raise an eyebrow,” continued Fordham. “But someone wants to protect the students from Shakespeare. Can you believe it?”</p> <p>Also joining the fray was English actress Felicity Kendal, who described the warning as “totally absurd”.</p> <p>“Great art is meant to challenge our senses, our feelings and our prejudices," Kendal said in an interview with the Daily Mail. "We should not be deterring students from engaging with these works."</p> <p><em>Images: Nine Network / Wikimedia Commons</em></p>

Legal

Feed me: 4 ways to take control of social media algorithms and get the content you actually want

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/marc-cheong-998488">Marc Cheong</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a></em></p> <p>Whether it’s Facebook’s News Feed or TikTok’s For You page, social media algorithms are constantly making behind-the-scenes decisions to boost certain content – giving rise to the “curated” feeds we’ve all become accustomed to.</p> <p>But does anyone actually know how these algorithms work? And, more importantly, is there a way to “game” them to see more of the content you want?</p> <h2>Optimising for engagement</h2> <p>In broader computing terms, an algorithm is simply a set of rules that specifies a particular computational procedure.</p> <p>In a social media context, algorithms (specifically “recommender algorithms”) determine everything from what you’re likely to read, to whom you’re likely to follow, to whether a specific post appears in front of you.</p> <p>Their main goal is to <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.14679">sustain your attention</a> for as long as possible, in a process called “optimising for engagement”. The more you engage with content on a platform, the more effectively that platform can commodify your attention and target you with ads: its main revenue source.</p> <p>One of the earliest social media <a href="https://mashable.com/archive/facebook-news-feed-evolution">feed algorithms</a> came from Facebook in the mid-2000s. It can be summarised in one sentence "Sort all of the user’s friend updates – including photos, statuses and more – in reverse chronological order (newer posts first)."</p> <p>Since then, algorithms have become much more powerful and nuanced. They now take myriad factors into consideration to determine how content is promoted. For instance, Twitter’s “For You” recommendation algorithm is based on a neural network that uses <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/engineering/en_us/topics/open-source/2023/twitter-recommendation-algorithm">about 48 million parameters</a>!</p> <h2>A black box</h2> <p>Imagine a hypothetical user named Basil who follows users and pages that primarily discuss <em>space</em>, <em>dog memes</em> and <em>cooking</em>. Social media algorithms might give Basil recommendations for T-shirts featuring puppies dressed as astronauts.</p> <p>Although this might seem simple, algorithms are typically “black boxes” that have their inner workings hidden. It’s in the interests of tech companies to keep the recipe for their “secret sauce”, well, a secret.</p> <p>Trying to “game” an algorithm is like trying to solve a 3D box puzzle without any instructions and without being able to peer inside. You can only use trial-and-error – manipulating the pieces you see on the outside, and gauging the effects on the overall state of the box.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><em><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525271/original/file-20230510-27-qte7k8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525271/original/file-20230510-27-qte7k8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525271/original/file-20230510-27-qte7k8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525271/original/file-20230510-27-qte7k8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525271/original/file-20230510-27-qte7k8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525271/original/file-20230510-27-qte7k8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525271/original/file-20230510-27-qte7k8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525271/original/file-20230510-27-qte7k8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a></em><figcaption><em><span class="caption">Manipulating social media algorithms isn’t impossible, but it’s still tricky due to how opaque they are.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></em></figcaption></figure> <p>Even when an algorithm’s code is revealed to the public – such as <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2023/a-new-era-of-transparency-for-twitter">when Twitter released</a> the source code for its recommender algorithm in March – it’s not enough to bend them to one’s will.</p> <p>Between the sheer complexity of the code, constant tweaks by developers, and the presence of arbitrary design choices (such as <a href="https://mashable.com/article/twitter-releases-algorithm-showing-it-tracks-elon-musk-tweets">explicitly tracking</a> Elon Musk’s tweets), any claims of being able to perfectly “game” an algorithm should be taken with a pinch of salt.</p> <p>TikTok’s algorithm, in particular, is notoriously powerful yet opaque. A Wall Street Journal investigation found it uses “subtle cues, such as how long you linger on a video” to predict what you’re <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/tiktok-algorithm-video-investigation-11626877477">likely to engage with</a>.</p> <h2>So what <em>can</em> you do?</h2> <p>That said, there are some ways you can try to curate your social media to serve you better.</p> <p>Since algorithms are powered by your data and social media habits, a good first step is to change these habits and data – or at least understand how they may be shaping your online experience.</p> <h1>1. Engage with content you trust and want more of</h1> <p>Regardless of the kind of feed you want to create, it’s important to follow reliable sources. Basil, who is fascinated by space, knows they would do well to follow NASA and steer clear of users who believe the Moon is made of cheese.</p> <p>Think critically about the accounts and pages you follow, asking <a href="https://guides.lib.uw.edu/research/faq/reliable">questions such as</a> <em>Who is the author of this content? Do they have authority in this topic? Might they have a bias, or an agenda?</em></p> <p>The higher the quality of the content you engage with, the more likely it is that you’ll be recommended similarly valuable content (rather than fake news or nonsense).</p> <p>Also, you can play to the ethos of “optimising for engagement” by engaging more (and for longer) with the kind of content you want to be recommended. That means liking and sharing it, and actively seeking out similar posts.</p> <h1>2. Be stingy with your information</h1> <p>Secondly, you can be parsimonious in providing your data to platforms. Social media companies know more about you than you think – from your location, to your perceived interests, to your activities outside the app, and even the activities and interests of your social circle!</p> <p>If you limit the information you provide about yourself, you limit the extent to which the algorithm can target you. It helps to keep your different social media accounts unlinked, and to avoid using the “Login with Facebook” or “Login with Google” options when signing up for a new account.</p> <h1>3. Use your settings</h1> <p>Adjusting your <a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/privacy/facebook-privacy-settings-a1775535782/">privacy and personalisation settings</a> will further help you avoid being microtargeted through your feed.</p> <p>The “Off-Facebook Activity” <a href="https://www.kaspersky.com.au/blog/what-is-off-facebook-activity/28925/">setting</a> allows you to break the link between your Facebook account and your activities outside of Facebook. Similar options exist for <a href="https://support.tiktok.com/en/account-and-privacy/account-privacy-settings">TikTok</a> and <a href="https://help.twitter.com/en/resources/how-you-can-control-your-privacy">Twitter</a>.</p> <p>Ad blockers and privacy-enhancing browser add-ons can also help. These tools, such as the open-source <a href="https://ublockorigin.com/">uBlock Origin</a> and <a href="https://privacybadger.org/">Privacy Badger</a>, help prevent cookies and marketing pixels from “following” your browsing habits as you move between social media and other websites.</p> <h1>4. Get (dis)engaged</h1> <p>A final piece of advice is to simply disengage with content you don’t want in your feed. This means:</p> <ul> <li>ignoring any posts you aren’t a fan of, or “hiding” them if possible</li> <li>taking mindful breaks to avoid “<a href="https://theconversation.com/doomscrolling-is-literally-bad-for-your-health-here-are-4-tips-to-help-you-stop-190059">doomscrolling</a>”</li> <li>regularly revising who you follow, and making sure this list coincides with what you want from your feed.</li> </ul> <p>So, hypothetically, could Basil unfollow all users and pages unrelated to <em>space</em>, <em>dog memes</em> and <em>cooking</em> to ultimately starve the recommender algorithm of potential ways to distract them?</p> <p>Well, not exactly. Even if they do this, the algorithm won’t necessarily “forget” all their data: it might still exist in caches or backups. Because of how complex and pervasive algorithms are, you can’t guarantee control over them.</p> <p>Nonetheless, you shouldn’t let tech giants’ bottom line dictate how you engage with social media. By being aware of how algorithms work, what they’re capable of and what their purpose is, you can make the shift from being a sitting duck for advertisers to an active curator of your own feeds.</p> <figure class="align-center "><em><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498128/original/file-20221129-22-imtnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498128/original/file-20221129-22-imtnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=115&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498128/original/file-20221129-22-imtnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=115&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498128/original/file-20221129-22-imtnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=115&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498128/original/file-20221129-22-imtnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=144&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498128/original/file-20221129-22-imtnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=144&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498128/original/file-20221129-22-imtnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=144&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></em><figcaption></figcaption></figure> <p><em>The Conversation is commissioning articles by academics across the world who are researching how society is being shaped by our digital interactions with each other. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/social-media-and-society-125586">Read more here</a><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204374/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></em></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/marc-cheong-998488">Marc Cheong</a>, Senior Lecturer of Information Systems, School of Computing and Information Systems; and (Honorary) Senior Fellow, Melbourne Law School, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/feed-me-4-ways-to-take-control-of-social-media-algorithms-and-get-the-content-you-actually-want-204374">original article</a>.</em></p>

Technology

“Lunch-box-mum queen”: Woman goes viral over 2 ingredient cake mix

<p dir="ltr">One Coles shopper has taken the internet by storm, revealing a “snack hack” with just two ingredients.</p> <p dir="ltr">Aussie mum-of-three Claudia creates content on TikTok on cheap Kmart buys, a day in the life of her family, and her most popular videos, her “snack hacks”.</p> <p dir="ltr">For her most recent hack, only two ingredients are required.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Snack hack! Again!” she said in the video, which has attracted more than 70,000 views on TikTok.</p> <p dir="ltr">“So, this one, I’m looking forward to.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This is not healthy. This is two ingredients — Nutella and eggs — and it’s supposed to make the gooiest, chocolatiest, yummiest cake ever.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I have not tried this before so let’s get to it.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Claudia didn’t have Nutella in her pantry, but she bought the Coles version, which she claims tastes very similar.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m a big believer in using what you have, but a few people said ‘check this out, make this, it’s delicious’ so I just had to,” she continued.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I did go and buy the Coles one, and it was very cheap, and I’m sure a lot of people do have Nutella in their cupboard.”</p> <p dir="ltr">For the snack hack, Claudia used one cup of the chocolate spread and four eggs to create a gooey cake mix.</p> <p dir="ltr">“If ‘trust the process’ had a cover photo, it would be this,” she said, visibly grossed out by the gooey batter.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It is safe to say I won’t be trying any of this cake mix.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Claudia instructed viewers to put the cake in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Do you know how good this smells?” she said as she took the cake tin out of the oven.</p> <p dir="ltr">She was even more excited by the time she tried it. </p> <p dir="ltr">“That is so good. So, so good. Like no exaggeration. So freaking good,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">People flooded the comments, applauding Claudia for another great “snack hack”. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m soooo trying this,” one person wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Thank you, lunch-box-mum queen,” another added.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I honestly thought it was going to come out looking like chocolate scrambled eggs,” a third said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Claudia is renowned on TikTok for making snacks that are easy on household budgets, so people were grateful she used the cheaper Coles chocolate spread. </p> <p dir="ltr">“The Coles Nutella is just as good in my opinion,” one wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credit: TikTok</em></p>

Food & Wine

"I can't hear you!": New feature set to do away with subtitles

<p>Nothing is more annoying than sitting in front of your TV, eager to watch your favourite show only for the dialogue to be completely wiped because of cars passing by or a plane taking off.</p> <p>Not being able to hear the dialogue in a TV show or movie, especially in an action or crime-driven blockbuster where anything exploding masks all dialogue has been an everlasting problem for viewers.</p> <p><em>Netflix</em> has revealed that 40 per cent of subscribers have subtitles on at all times while surveys in the US and UK saw anywhere between 60 and 70 per cent of young viewers as frequent users of subtitles.</p> <p>If you’re using subtitles for the purpose of hearing the dialogue rather an accessibility reasons, streaming giant <em>Amazon</em> is introducing a new feature that could eradicate the need to turn them on because of the sound mix.</p> <p>The feature is called ”dialogue boost" and it raises the volume of the dialogue track relative to the score, ambient sound or effects.</p> <p>Although <em>Amazon</em> has so generously offered this solution to subscribers, the dialogue boost feature will only be available on a handful of <em>Amazon</em> <em>Prime Video’s</em> originals, like Beautiful Boy, Being The Ricardos, Jack Ryan and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel.</p> <p>A similar feature already appears on some expensive sound systems and TV sets, but <em>Amazon</em> boasts it’s the first streaming platform to roll it out worldwide.</p> <p>To work the feature, select it from the audio and subtitles drop-down menu on an individual title, there will be two options to select from, “English Dialogue Boost: High” or “English Dialogue Boost: Medium”.</p> <p>The title page for a TV series or movie will show whether the dialogue boost is available.</p> <p>According to Variety, the helpful feature was originally designed for hearing-impaired viewers.</p> <p>Rest assured, if you struggle to hear the dialogue due to the sound mix, there's help on the way, granted it's exclusive to <em>Amazon</em>.</p> <p><em>Image credit: Shutterstock</em></p>

"Change the law!": Bob Irwin's campaign against social media “idiots"

<p>Bob Irwin is calling for the Queensland government to close a legal loophole that allows social media users to enter crocodile habitats for content.</p> <p>The proposed changes would establish an offence for individuals who recklessly use a crocodile habitat, along with penalties for people who disturb crocodiles to make online content.</p> <p>Mr Irwin, father of the late Steve Irwin, has asked the Environmental Defenders Office to address the issue, calling for them to draw up amendments to the Nature Conservation Act.</p> <p>He said the online content creators were only endangering themselves and the crocs by entering the habitats. These careless individuals are filming content purely for the croc factor.</p> <p>"The government says idiots like these are not breaking any laws. Well, I say, change the law!" He said in a statement. Well, if the snap fits...</p> <p>Over 40 traditional owners, conservationists, scientists, business owners and community members have backed Mr Irwin’s proposed changes.</p> <p>In February 2023, a 4.2 metre croc was shot dead by wildlife officers after it attacked a man and ate a dog in far north Queensland.</p> <p>The man was swimming at Bloomfield River which is a well-known crocodile habitat.</p> <p>Traditional owner Kathleen Walker said the actions of reckless people are giving the otherwise safe communities a bad reputation.</p> <p>"We support the Environmental Defenders Office's recommendations in the name of creating greater protection for our totem animal, the saltwater crocodile, when human error is involved," she said.</p> <p>"We would like to see a no-tolerance approach to members of the public who take the risk in crocodile territory and for greater mitigation measures to be legislated.”</p> <p>These kinds of individuals are in de-Nile if they believe the scaly predators won’t bite.</p> <p>The notorious “crocodile hunter” Steve Irwin once said, “Crocodiles are easy. They try to kill and eat you.” So, these croc-tent creators must leave it to the professionals, no matter how jaw-some the videos turn out to be.</p> <p><em>Image credit: Getty</em></p>

Legal

Streaming service giant pays woman 5 figures to watch content

<p dir="ltr">If you think you spend too much time on Amazon Prime, think again as one lucky lady has snatched up her “dream” job with the streaming service.</p> <p dir="ltr">The woman, Alex Bain, 36, has been dubbed Prime Video’s “Buff”, and her job entails reviewing content for Amazon Prime, which came after the platform searched nationwide to fill the role of watching new content.</p> <p dir="ltr">Here’s the real kicker, the 36-year-old will be paid $40,000 for three months of viewing new content and sharing her opinions. </p> <p dir="ltr">She is not new to the scene of content review as she frequently posts to her Instagram, TikTok and Youtube reviewing various TV shows and movies.</p> <p dir="ltr">Upon seeing the advertisement from Amazon Prime, one of Bain’s friends encouraged her to apply.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Everything on it, it was like seeing a list of what would be my ideal job,” Ms Bain told NCA <em>NewsWire</em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m 36, so I want to do something I’m passionate about, so I decided to just go for it.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I got a phone call from Amazon saying I’d been short-listed, and I was like, ‘Oh my God!’”</p> <p dir="ltr">She said the time between applying for the role and being told she was successful went “so quickly”.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-c71ed23d-7fff-9bd9-8a5d-10ebabd22f11"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Not long after, she received the news she was the lucky one chosen to fill the role.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credit: Instagram</em></p>

4 great movies to stream on Amazon, HBO, Netflix and Disney+

<p dir="ltr">Nothing cures boredom like a great movie! Catch up on new releases and take a dive into the beloved classics. </p> <p dir="ltr">Bored? Let’s what a movie! Here are some of the goodies you can enjoy.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Amazon: Smile (2023)</strong></p> <ul> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Stars: Sosie Bacon, Kyle Gallner, Caitlin Stasey</p> </li> </ul> <p dir="ltr">Premise: After witnessing a strange and traumatic incident with a patient, Dr Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) begins experiencing unexplainable, terrifying occurrences. As terror takes over her life, Rose is on a desperate attempt to escape her new reality.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>HBO: Gravity (2013)</strong></p> <ul> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller, Drama</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Stars: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris</p> </li> </ul> <p dir="ltr">Premise: This mind-blowing space thriller one seven Oscars! Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is on her first space shuttle mission. Veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) is commanding his last mission before retirement. Disaster strikes, and the shuttle is destroyed, with all communication with Earth eradicated. Watch them navigate their terrifying situation.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Netflix: You People (2023)</strong></p> <ul> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Genre: Comedy, Romance </p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Stars: Jonah Hill, Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus</p> </li> </ul> <p dir="ltr">Get ready for some laughs with this movie, with a stellar cast - how could it NOT be funny?</p> <p dir="ltr">When Ezra (Jonah Hill) and Amira (Lauren London) fall in love, they know they’re not so well-suited, but love is love. An issue arises as they find themselves navigating societal expectations of being an interracial couple. Watch to find out if their love endures the culture clash!</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Disney +: Disenchanted (2022)</strong></p> <ul> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Genre: Comedy, Family, Fantasy</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Stars: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Maya Rudolph</p> </li> </ul> <p dir="ltr">15 years after moving to the “real world” and marrying Robert (Patrick Dempsey) in Enchanted, and Giselle (Amy Adams) has grown unattached to the city. As she searches for her fairy tale life, the pair move to the suburbs, however, they soon find there are a completely new set of rules in their new suburb. </p> <p dir="ltr">Malvina Monroe (Maya Rudolph) runs the show in this suburb, and she’s not a massive fan of whimsical Giselle. In hopes of finding her perfect community, Giselle turns to magic, but it doesn’t work out in her favour. </p> <p dir="ltr"> It’s then a race against time to figure out what her happy ever after really is!</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credit: Shutterstock</em></p>

Movies

5 must-see TV shows for 2023

<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>1. Happy Valley</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">A British crime drama, set and filmed in the Calder Valley of West Yorkshire. The show follows a character, Catherine Cawood, a strong-willed police sergeant in West Yorkshire recovering from family trauma. Just as she thinks her life is back together, it takes a turn for the worst. </p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>2. Extraordinary </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Jen, an 18-year-old, self-aware woman who lives in a world where everybody has a super power except her. This fresh comedy from first-time TV writer Emma Moran, introduces Jen, who remains powerless at the age of 25, desperately on the hunt to discover her gift, no matter what. </p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>3. Pamela, a love story</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Take a dive into the history of Pamela Anderson with this documentary. From Playboy to the notorious Baywatch actress and tabloid sensation, Anderson’s life is complicated. The intimate documentary follows the trials and tribulations of simply being her. Based on a true story, made with her full permission. </p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>4. Nolly</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">This show follows British Soap star Noele Gordon as she navigates the reign and fall from grace. The three-part drama series follows the actress’ journey on the soap Crossroads, for which she starred in for 17 years. </p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>5. Best Interests</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">The show follows a couple who attempt to keep their daughter alive against medical advice. Be sure to keep tissues handy when you watch this four-part drama series because it is sure to tug on the heart strings. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credit: Getty</em></p>

Amazon’s resuscitation of Neighbours: can Aussie TV become good friends with streaming?

<p>Many were shocked by the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/nov/17/neighbours-soap-opera-australia-to-return-on-amazon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement</a> that Australian soap opera Neighbours would return to screens in 2023, courtesy of a new deal between production house Fremantle Australia and multinational digital streamer Amazon. Significantly, this announcement overturns many expectations about television in the age of streaming.</p> <p>When <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-03/neighbours-tv-show-cancelled-after-37-years/100880272" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news of Neighbours’ cancellation</a> broke earlier this year, streamers declined to offer a lifeline, with veteran cast member Stefan Dennis (aka Paul Robinson) lamenting that soaps seemed <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-loss-of-neighbours-is-a-loss-of-career-pathways-for-australias-emerging-screen-professionals-185289" target="_blank" rel="noopener">out-of-kilter</a> with the demands of streaming.</p> <p>Back in February, journalist <a href="https://omny.fm/shows/please-explain-1/everybody-needs-good-neighbours-now-neighbours-nee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Idato noted</a> streamers were focused on “short-order, very high quality” blue-chip programming, with long-running, continuing soaps like Neighbours presenting a less attractive option despite loyal fans and healthy audience numbers. After all, when axed by UK Channel 5, Neighbours was still attracting 1 million daily viewers in the UK alone.</p> <p>So what has changed? Why is Melbourne’s own beige yet beloved (by some) Neighbours positioned at the precipice of a new dawn in streaming’s evolution?</p> <h2>What’s the value of Neighbours to a streamer?</h2> <p>Amazon’s resuscitation of Neighbours is unprecedented in the Australian context, as it represents the first time a multinational streaming service has commissioned a stripped (weeknightly), continuing soap. Yet, in a global context, Neighbours seems to be part of a recent trend. This year, soaps in other significant Anglophone markets shifted from daily broadcast to online streaming: Hollyoaks in the UK and Days of Our Lives in the US.</p> <p>No one knows how this will play out for the US-based streamer and its new ad-supported, free streaming service <a href="https://www.amazon.com/adlp/freevee-about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon Freevee</a>. What we do know is there are very good reasons why a streaming platform could be interested in a show like Neighbours.</p> <p>The value of soaps is entrenched in industry lore. Since their transition from radio to television in the US during the 1950s, continuing soap operas have provided the backbone of many a network, ensuring consistent, returning and ardently loyal audiences. In doing so, soaps have a proven ability to weather the storms of radical technological and industrial change.</p> <p>A similar logic prevailed presumably in 2011, when Network 10 shifted Neighbours onto its new free-to-air channel <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_Peach" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10 Peach</a>. On the one hand, this move signalled a marginalisation of the prime-time soap. On the other hand, it was a means to lure a valuable audience to the fledgling multichannel.</p> <p>Idato refers to Neighbours as a “<a href="https://omny.fm/shows/please-explain-1/everybody-needs-good-neighbours-now-neighbours-nee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">library series</a>”: one with an extensive back catalogue of content. With 37 seasons and more than 8,000 episodes under its belt, Neighbours puts supposedly mega-series like Game of Thrones, The Simpsons and Supernatural to shame. Library series bring inventory and depth to a streaming service in a way that new content cannot, no matter how heavily promoted or highly produced it might be.</p> <p>Currently, streamers are looking not just to attract new subscribers, but to retain them by keeping them engaged with the platform. Series that come with their own in-built library of content developed over multiple years or decades can benefit streamers precisely by bringing with them their large, loyal audiences while offering countless episodes for fans to explore.</p> <p>The Fremantle/Amazon deal seems to signal something quite the opposite of previous predictions, pointing to the increase of “low-prestige” programming on streaming platforms and the rising tendency for streamers to adopt and adapt pre-existing televisual logics and strategies. We are seeing the resumption and resurrection of patterns of broadcast, free-to-air programming, not its demise.</p> <p>In the context of Amazon, one reason for this shift is likely the Federal Arts Minister Tony Burke’s confirmation last Thursday of <a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/streaming-services-will-be-forced-to-meet-local-drama-quotas-burke-20221118-p5bzf5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">government plans to introduce local content quotas for streaming</a> services. At the 55th annual Australian Writers Guild Awards, Burke stated he had already met with streamers to inform them of the forthcoming policy. In light of this development, Amazon’s renewal of Neighbours will help it to meet Australian content requirements.</p> <h2>Has TV streaming reached maturity?</h2> <p>It seems we are moving into a new, more mature phase of streaming television. Initially, streamers sought to loudly distinguish themselves from older forms of television, but they now seem less focused on branded distinction and more concerned with getting down to business.</p> <p>Like the networks that dominated TV in the 20th century, streamers now pursue multiple interests, popular taste communities and tried and tested formulas, alongside edgier-style, prestige programming like Sex Education and this year’s Australian reboot <a href="https://theconversation.com/teenage-misfits-messy-emotions-and-joyous-discussions-on-consent-heartbreak-high-is-a-bright-new-piece-of-television-188733" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Heartbreak High</a>.</p> <p>Similarly, streamers are now reverting to old-style revenue models through the <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/culture/tv-and-radio/why-the-future-of-streaming-is-looking-unexpectedly-like-tv-s-past-20221121-p5c00d.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">introduction of ad-supported subscription tiers</a>.</p> <p>Television is changing, most notably in its separation from the broadcast programming schedule. But the logics of what attracts and retains audiences are far from obsolete – they are merely being updated for digital delivery. Soap operas are widely denigrated, but they can prove to be a guiding light in moments of media transformation.</p> <p><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/amazons-resuscitation-of-neighbours-can-aussie-tv-become-good-friends-with-streaming-195101" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation.</a></strong></p> <p><em>Image: Ten</em></p>

Why is ‘Blonde’ Netflix’s Marilyn Monroe biopic rated NC-17 instead of TV-MA?

<p>The NC-17 rating has <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-xpm-2013-oct-25-la-et-ct-blue-is-the-warmest-color-nc17-20131023-story.html">historically</a> been a film certification that’s bad for business due to its adults-only label and pornographic stigma.</p> <p>Yet Netflix’s Marilyn Monroe biopic, “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1655389/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Blonde</a>,” will carry the rating – a first for the company. On Sept. 28, 2022, it will debut on its streaming platform, following a Venice Film Festival premiere.</p> <p>Based on Joyce Carol Oates’s <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/books/second-read/joyce-carol-oatess-blonde-is-the-definitive-study-of-american-celebrity">2000 book</a> and starring <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2022/02/blonde-nc-17-ratings-rumor-untrue-ana-de-armas-1234698562">Ana de Armas</a>, the film reportedly includes a <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2022/02/blonde-nc-17-ratings-rumor-untrue-ana-de-armas-1234698562/">graphic rape scene</a> and a <a href="https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/marilyn-monroe-movie-blonde-create-controversy-says-ana-de-armas-exclusive">vaginal point-of-view shot</a> in its treatment of the Hollywood icon’s life and career.</p> <p><a href="https://search.asu.edu/profile/1250151">I study the rating system</a> and am the author of “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Naked-Truth-Hollywood-Doesnt-X-rated/dp/0813540895">The Naked Truth: Why Hollywood Doesn’t Make X-Rated Movies</a>.”</p> <p>Movies carrying the NC-17 rating were often difficult to screen and promote, as they were locked out of some movie theater chains and traditional advertising. The critically acclaimed, sexually graphic “<a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-xpm-2013-oct-25-la-et-ct-blue-is-the-warmest-color-nc17-20131023-story.html">Blue is the Warmest Color</a>” in 2013 was the last serious film released with the rating. Despite making over $2.2 million on 142 screens, its relative success as an NC-17 film didn’t fuel the production of any more movies like it.</p> <p>So why would Netflix resurrect a rarely used, contentious, and restrictive NC-17 for “Blonde”? Netflix’s 2020 film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9196192/">Cuties</a>,” which caused <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/11/21431174/cancel-netflix-cuties-movie-maimouna-doucoure-backlash-petition">a PR crisis</a> over the perceived hypersexualization of young girls, now has a “TV-MA” rating on the streaming service. Why wouldn’t the company simply use the same rating for “Blonde”?</p> <h2>From ‘X’ to ‘NC-17’</h2> <p>The NC-17 is one of five ratings – the others are G, PG, PG-13 and R – that the <a href="https://www.motionpictures.org/film-ratings/">Classification and Rating Administration</a>, a division of the <a href="https://www.motionpictures.org/">Motion Picture Association</a>, assigns to films submitted for certification.</p> <p>NC-17 means “No one 17 and under admitted.” This classification prevents children from purchasing a ticket or entering a theater, even if accompanied by an adult. It replaced the X rating in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/27/movies/a-no-children-category-to-replace-the-x-rating.html">1990</a>, which had been the adults-only marker since Motion Picture Association of America President <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/27/movies/27valenti.html">Jack Valenti created the rating system in 1968</a>.</p> <figure class="align-right zoomable"><figcaption><span class="caption">E</span></figcaption></figure> <p>However, Valenti’s failure to copyright the X made it possible for any film to carry the adults-only rating without its distributor having to officially pay the Classification and Rating Administration for certification. This allowed filmmakers to slap it on pornographic films like “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068468/">Deep Throat</a>” to attract viewers and to gain access to the legitimate marketplace.</p> <p>While the X rating could be also assigned for representations of nudity, violence, language, drug use or overall “tone,” this association with hardcore sexual content stigmatized the category’s use by serious filmmakers for years.</p> <p>Valenti hoped renaming the X rating as NC-17 would spur the adults-only rating’s use by the film industry. For the most part, it didn’t, with a few notable exceptions like “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114436/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Showgirls</a>” (1995), “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0275491/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_5">Bad Education</a>” (2004) and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723811/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Shame</a>” (2011).</p> <p>Instead, practically all distributors whose films were initially awarded an NC-17 by the Classification and Rating Administration chose one of three options: to re-edit their films down to an R rating, to release an R-rated and unrated version for home video or DVD, or simply to surrender the rating altogether and release the film theatrically without one.</p> <p>It was commonly believed that an unrated film would encounter <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1350195#metadata_info_tab_contents">fewer barriers</a> to exhibition in the U.S. marketplace than an NC-17 one.</p> <h2>An eye toward awards season</h2> <p>Netflix, though, is not a movie theater. It is a streaming service that requires no admittance in the traditional sense, has no employees patrolling its screenings for underage viewers, and shifts the responsibility of denying access to its content to subscribers themselves. Netflix offers <a href="https://help.netflix.com/en/node/264">parental controls</a> so users can restrict access to certain content for each profile in their accounts.</p> <p>Significantly, many Netflix films with mature content carry a “TV-MA” rating. The <a href="http://www.tvguidelines.org/">TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board</a> developed the designation, meaning “For mature audiences. May not be suitable for ages 17 and under.” It’s recognizable to viewers of television series like AMC’s “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3032476/">Better Call Saul</a>,” FX’s “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15892444/">American Horror Story</a>” or even Netflix’s “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5071412/">Ozark</a>.”</p> <p>So why wouldn’t Netflix apply a maturity rating from television to “Blonde”?</p> <p>The answer is simple: Netflix likely sees the film as an Oscar contender.</p> <p>Per the <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/oscars-2023-theatrical-release-other-rule-changes-1235149530/">Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ rules</a>, to qualify for the Academy Awards, “Blonde” must have a theatrical run, even if that run is extremely short. <a href="https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/netflix-mpaa-1203114133/">In 2019</a>, Netflix joined the Motion Picture Association – the first and only streaming service to do so. So if it decides to release its films theatrically, Netflix must do so with a rating, just like the legacy member companies: Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner Bros.</p> <p>With its TV-MA-rated “<a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/80195049">Ibiza: Love Drunk</a>,” “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9196192/">Cuties</a>” and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10886166/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">365 Days</a>,” Netflix never carried a Motion Picture Association rating because these films bypassed theatrical exhibition altogether in the United States.</p> <h2>Making the media rounds</h2> <p>Netflix undoubtedly is also using the NC-17 for “Blonde” as a marketing ploy – what film scholar Justin Wyatt has called “<a href="https://www.routledge.com/Contemporary-Hollywood-Cinema/NEALE-Smith/p/book/9780415170109">marketing controversy</a>,” a technique used in the past to sell films that received an X or NC-17.</p> <p>Netflix has remained mum on the subject. Instead, “Blonde” director Andrew Dominik and star de Armas have dropped hints to the media about the film’s provocative and sensationalist aspects, while, at the same time, expressing incredulity at the film’s NC-17 rating.</p> <p><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">Largely the same in an interview for French fashion magazine </span><a style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;" href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/ana-de-armas-movies-marilyn-monroe-blonde-netflix">L’Officiel</a><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">. “I didn’t understand why [the rating] happened.”</span></p> <p>Nearly in the same proverbial breath, both director and star have also teased the salaciousness of the subject matter.</p> <p>“It’s an NC-17 movie about Marilyn Monroe, it’s kind of what you want, right?” <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2022/05/andrew-dominik-on-blonde-and-filming-nick-caves-grief.html?utm_source=tw&utm_campaign=vulture&utm_medium=s1">Dominik told Screen Daily</a>. “I want to go and see the NC-17 version of the Marilyn Monroe story.”</p> <p>De Armas, meanwhile, supports Dominik’s unfiltered look at Monroe’s life, <a href="https://netflixqueue.com/blonde-first-look">declaring it</a> “the most daring, unapologetic, and feminist take on her story that I had ever seen.”</p> <h2>‘A little steam to keep the stream’</h2> <p>I wonder, though: Is “Blonde’s” NC-17 really much of a selling point, given what viewers are regularly exposed to in their living rooms?</p> <p>In a streaming landscape littered with sexually explicit TV-MA television series like HBO’s “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8772296/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1">Euphoria</a>” and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11198330/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">House of the Dragon</a>,” Hulu’s “<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-prosthetic-penises-in-shows-like-hbos-minx-reinforce-existing-stereotypes-and-taboos-179084">Minx</a>” and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13659418/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1">Pam & Tommy</a>,” and even Netflix’s own “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10839422/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Sex/Life</a>” and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21030224/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">How to Build a Sex Room</a>,” it shouldn’t be.</p> <p>Dominik indirectly, but perhaps correctly, undercut his own film’s luridness, <a href="https://www.screendaily.com/features/andrew-dominik-on-his-new-nick-cave-doc-why-blonde-is-a-masterpiece/5167609.article">telling Screen Daily</a>, “If I look at an episode of ‘Euphoria,’ it’s far more graphic than anything going on in ‘Blonde.’” De Armas echoed the same talking points later <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/ana-de-armas-movies-marilyn-monroe-blonde-netflix">in her L’Officiel interview</a>: “I can tell you a number of shows or movies that are way more explicit with a lot more sexual content than ‘Blonde.’”</p> <p>This new wave of sexually frank and progressive series, <a href="https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/streaming-shows-sex-positive-how-to-build-a-sex-room-1235344021/">according to Variety television writer Joe Otterson</a>, may be one strategy that streaming companies are using to keep subscribers enthralled in an increasingly competitive marketplace. “It might take a little steam to keep the stream,” Otterson writes.</p> <p>“Blonde” – NC-17, TV-MA or unrated – is just another provocative addition to this pot.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185359/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aIsFywuZPoQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption><span class="caption">The trailer for ‘Blonde.’</span></figcaption></figure> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kevin-sandler-762390">Kevin Sandler</a>, Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/arizona-state-university-730">Arizona State University</a></em></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-blonde-netflixs-marilyn-monroe-biopic-rated-nc-17-instead-of-tv-ma-185359">original article</a>.</p> <p><em>Image: Getty</em></p>

Movies

Ads are coming to Netflix soon – here’s what we can expect and what that means for the streaming industry

<p>Ads are coming to Netflix, perhaps even sooner than anticipated.</p> <p>The Wall Street Journal has <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/netflix-seeking-top-dollar-for-brands-to-advertise-on-its-service-11661980078" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that Netflix has moved up the launch of their ad-supported subscription tier to November. The Sydney Morning Herald, meanwhile, is <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/netflix-with-ads-is-coming-this-year-here-s-what-we-know-20220902-p5bezy.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reporting</a> that Australia is amongst the first countries likely to experience ads on Netflix later this year.</p> <p>Netflix first announced they would introduce a new, lower-priced, subscription tier to be supported by advertising in April. This was an about-face from a company that had built an advertising free, on-demand television empire. Indeed, it was only in 2020 <a href="https://bgr.com/entertainment/netflix-ads-why-no-commercials-cheap-tier/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">that Netflix CEO Reed Hastings ruled out advertising</a> on the platform, saying “you know, advertising looks easy until you get in it.”</p> <p>The change of heart followed Netflix’s 2022 first quarter earnings report which saw a <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-a-market-swamped-with-streaming-services-netflixs-massive-loss-of-subscribers-is-a-big-deal-181780" target="_blank" rel="noopener">subscriber loss</a> for the first time in over a decade. The addition of ads to the platform is a clear sign of the emerging period of experimentation across the streaming landscape.</p> <h2>How will it work?</h2> <p>It’s important to note that not every Netflix subscription tier will carry advertising. The current plan is there will be one newly introduced and cheaper subscription tier supported by advertising, targeting in the US market around USD $7-9 a month as the price point. This will represent a discount from the current cheapest plan of US $9.99 (AUD $10.99) a month. These prices will be adapted to the different currency markets Netflix operate across and the existing price points in those markets.</p> <p>By bringing a hybrid advertising/subscription tier, Netflix is adopting a business model already present on other streamers like Hulu. Netflix is keeping this a hybrid tier, meaning while the new tier will be cheaper, it will not be free, like ad-supported streaming available on Peacock.</p> <p>Advertising presents complex new technological and business challenges for Netflix, which has not worked in this market before. To enter this new market, Netflix announced advertising would be <a href="https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-partners-with-microsoft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">delivered through a partnership with Microsoft</a>.</p> <p>Partnering with Microsoft allayed some fears around Netflix entering a new media market and gives Netflix access to Microsoft’s extensive advertising delivery infrastructure.</p> <p>Netflix has announced that original movie programming may stay free of ads for a limited period upon release, and that both original and some licensed childrens’ content will remain free of ads.</p> <p>As well as staying away from children’s advertising, which in Australia is highly regulated by government and industry codes, Netflix is also avoiding any advertising buyers in cryptocurrency, political advertising, and gambling.</p> <p>Advertising will run around 4 minutes per hour of content - for context Australian commercial free-to-air TV networks are limited on their primary channels to 13 minutes per hour and 15 minutes per hour on multi-channels between 6am and midnight.</p> <p>Netflix will also have limits on the number of times a single ad can appear for a user and there is expectation that ads for movie content will be delivered in a pre-roll format, not interrupting the feature.</p> <h2>Advertising in the streaming sector</h2> <p>Netflix is not the only subscription service to announce advertising as part of new pricing strategies. Earlier this year <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/disney-raises-streaming-prices-services-post-big-operating-loss-rcna42600" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Disney announced a highly successful quarter</a> from a subscriber uptake perspective, growing by 15 million subscribers, however streaming-induced losses were $300 million greater than estimated.</p> <p>Disney also announced that an ad-supported Disney+ subscription option will become available in December. <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney-price-increase-shows-limits-of-subscriber-growth-push-11660256118" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Wall Street Journal reported that</a> the December timeline given by Disney is what drove Netflix to bring forward their ad plans.</p> <p>TV consumers are historically well accustomed to advertising in television - in Australia, commercial free-to-air networks Seven, Nine, and Ten carry advertising, public broadcaster SBS carries a limited amount of advertising, and even pay-TV provider Foxtel is supported by both subscription fees and advertising. Advertising itself is not new to audiences, but it has not been present on a number of premium streaming platforms like Netflix before.</p> <p>Streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney+ are seeking ways to both reach new audiences and to maximise their revenues from each user. There is a belief amongst top executives that providing a cheaper ad-supported tier will tap into the market of audiences who both do not mind advertising and see current subscription prices as too high.</p> <p>There is also evidence from other streaming platforms, such as Hulu and Discovery+, that have offered ad-supported subscription tiers, that these tiers can generate greater average revenue per user <a href="https://baremetrics.com/academy/average-revenue-per-user-arpu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">(ARPU)</a> than higher priced subscription-only tiers.</p> <p>The ARPU is a metric used in the streaming industry that looks at how much money a company makes from each subscriber after deducting business costs. Having higher revenues from a subscriber can be driven by increasing subscription prices, driving subscribers to more expensive subscription tiers, reducing business costs, or by adding additional revenue streams like advertising.</p> <p>In 2021, <a href="https://www.nexttv.com/news/david-zaslav-says-discovery-gets-more-revenue-per-sub-dtc-than-with-cable" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Discovery CEO David Zaslav noted</a> that Discovery+ was generating more revenue per subscriber from their cheaper ad-supported tier than their more expensive subscription-only tier thanks to the advertising revenue. Zaslav commented that advertisers were keen to reach an audience that was largely not accessible through other television means.</p> <p>With this in mind, Netflix and Disney are betting that their ad-supported tiers can perform similarly and increase the revenue they can generate per subscriber.</p> <h2>Experimentation across the streaming sector</h2> <p>Experimentation around established business strategies is ruling the current streaming landscape.</p> <p>HBO Max, under newly merged corporate parent Warner Bros. Discovery, is now switching to licensing content in select markets rather than streaming on its own platform. With the airing of The Lord of the Rings prequel <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-lord-of-the-rings-prequel-the-rings-of-power-is-set-in-the-second-age-of-middle-earth-heres-what-that-means-175333" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Rings of Power</a>, Amazon Prime Video is discovering whether its experiment with the most expensive television production ever at US $715 million (AUD $1.05 billion) will pay off with audiences.</p> <p>There is experimentation across the streaming industry in licensing strategies, spectacle television, pricing models and beyond. The results of this experimentation will take time. But what the arrival of advertising on Netflix signals is that established strategy no longer rules the streaming landscape.</p> <p><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/ads-are-coming-to-netflix-soon-heres-what-we-can-expect-and-what-that-means-for-the-streaming-industry-190236" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</strong></p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

“How do you write to your Queen?” Helen Mirren reveals contents of special letter

<p>Helen Mirren has revealed the secret letter she wrote to Queen Elizabeth when the actress was playing Her Majesty in the 2006 biopic <em>The Queen</em>. </p> <p>The Hollywood legend reflected on crafting the letter in an interview with the <a href="https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/radio-times-new-issue-cover-helen-mirren/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Radio Times</a>, saying she felt compelled to write after realising the intensity of the Queen's role firsthand.</p> <p>"I realised we were investigating a profoundly painful part of her life, so I wrote to her," she said. </p> <p>"How do you write to your queen? Was it Madam, or Your Highness, or Your Majesty?"</p> <p>"I said: 'We are doing this film. We are investigating a very difficult time in your life. I hope it's not too awful for you'. I can't remember how I put it. I just said that in my research I found myself with a growing respect for her, and I just wanted to say that."</p> <p>The 76-year-old actress won an Oscar and a Bafta for her portrayal in the film, which is set during the time Princess Diana tragically died. </p> <p>While she never received a response to her letter from the Queen, Mirren said she did receive a letter from the Queen's secretary.</p> <p>Upon opening the response she confessed, "I was very relieved subsequently that I had written that letter."</p> <p>Earlier this year, the actress told <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/helen-mirren-interview-f9-golda-meir-1235097461/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Hollywood Reporter</a> that she believes the Queen has watched the biopic.</p> <p>"At the time, it had never been done before, playing the queen. It was quite nerve-racking because I didn't know – no one knew – how the public would receive it, let alone the establishment in Britain," Mirren reflected.</p> <p>"But I got the sense that it had been seen and that it had been appreciated. I've never heard directly, and I never will," she added.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Movies

Metallica see major streaming boost after unlikely feature

<p dir="ltr">Just weeks after Kate Bush’s hit song <em>Running Up That Hill</em> <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/entertainment/music/kate-bush-reflects-on-hit-song-revival">featured in the charts</a> after its placement in the new season of the hit Netflix show <em>Stranger Things</em>, another band is experiencing the same resurgence. </p> <p dir="ltr">Heavy metal band Metallica’s song <em>Master of Puppets</em> featured in the show’s epic season finale, which aired worldwide on July 1st, and has seen a sharp increase in online listeners ever since. </p> <p dir="ltr">The 40-year-old track featured in the form of an epic guitar solo, which prompted the band to share the dramatic scene on their Instagram and thank the fans for their love and support of the song after all these years.</p> <p dir="ltr">The post reads, “The way The Duffer Brothers have incorporated music into <em>Stranger Things</em> has always been next level, so we were beyond psyched for them to not only include <em>Master of Puppets</em> in the show, but to have such a pivotal scene built around it.”</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cfom8d8twqG/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cfom8d8twqG/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Metallica (@metallica)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“We were all stoked to see the final result and when we did we were totally blown away... it’s so extremely well done, so much so, that some folks were able to guess the song just by seeing a few seconds of Joseph Quinn’s hands in the trailer!! How crazy cool is that?”</p> <p dir="ltr">Since the <em>Stranger Things</em> season finale premiere, Metallica has 21.1 million monthly listeners on Spotify as well as 430.88 million streams for <em>Master of Puppets</em>.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Music

"Excited" Rove reveals new TV gig

<p dir="ltr">Aussie TV presenter Rove McManus has announced he will be hosting the first Australian series to debut on Disney Plus.</p> <p dir="ltr">McManus took to Instagram to reveal that he will be the host of a new reality competition where teams of adults and kids are tasked with bringing their own toy stories to life.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m very excited to announce that my new show ‘What’s Your Toy Story?’ is coming to Disney Plus - it will be a celebration of imagination and the creative joy that comes from playing with toys (like I need a reason),” he shared with fans.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-aad28cee-7fff-7f56-1da0-034c21c3facc"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Just an hour prior, McManus teased fans with a snap of the Disney logo with the Sydney Harbour Bridge pictured in the background and the caption: “Exciting day today…”.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CdpRRmZvDiH/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CdpRRmZvDiH/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Rove McManus (@rovemcmanus)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Colleagues and fellow comedians quickly congratulated McManus, with <em>Project </em>co-host Peter Helliar writing: “This will have all the feels!! Congrats mate.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Fantastic news mate .. I have a toy story but it’s not very ‘Disney’ x,” <em>Morning Show</em> host Larry Emdur joked.</p> <p dir="ltr">The comedian’s latest gig comes two years after his show <em>Saturday Night Live</em> was dropped by Network Ten after just two episodes due to disappointing ratings.</p> <p dir="ltr">His new show is one of several announced by the streaming giant, with Mirando Otto, Guy Pearce, Teresa Palmer and Deborah Hay among the high-profile Australian talent signing on to a variety of shows about Australian cults, Christmas, and space history.</p> <p dir="ltr">Disney also announced new documentaries that will follow the likes of the Matildas and the AFLW.</p> <p dir="ltr">The company has also hinted that more titles are in development, including opportunities in young adult, rom-com and comedy genres.</p> <p dir="ltr">The investment in new programming comes as the pressure ramps up to impose a government-mandated quota for international streaming services to spend a percentage of Australian revenue on local productions.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-216e569d-7fff-a6e2-5a2d-6573d4e56e72"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Previously, industry advocates including Simon Baker, Screen Producers Australia and Bryan Brown have argued for a 20 percent quota.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CdpJMFbPXrJ/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CdpJMFbPXrJ/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Rove McManus (@rovemcmanus)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">In 2021, Baker advocated for a “richer, stronger, more potent Australian voice” during an appearance at federal parliament amid the influx of Hollywood productions using local actors and sets but telling stories set elsewhere.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s very good that foreign companies are coming in and studios are spending a lot of money here,” Baker said. “It’s great for our crews, it’s great for our economy. But it’s a sugar hit.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Meanwhile, Kylie Watson-Wheeler, Disney’s senior vice president and managing director of the Walt Disney Company in Australia and New Zealand, specifically said the upcoming titles were a reason why a quota isn’t needed.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The commitment we’re showing through our local commissioning underpins the strong foundation of a long-term relationship we’re building with Australian and New Zealand content creators and the industry as a whole, without the need for quotas or other regulatory intervention,” she said during a showcase event in Sydney.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-23e0bd82-7fff-beab-1df0-6de5e9168ff1"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @rovemcmanus (Instagram)</em></p>

Netflix's massive loss of subscribers is a big deal

<p>Netflix’s recently released first quarter earnings for 2022 reported <a href="https://s22.q4cdn.com/959853165/files/doc_financials/2022/q1/FINAL-Q1-22-Shareholder-Letter.pdf">a shocking loss of 200,000 subscribers</a> – a worrying shift for a business that had previously only seen sustained growth since 2011.</p> <p>The New York Times headline: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/19/business/netflix-earnings-q1.html">Netflix loses subscribers for the first time in a decade</a> was catchy – however, a little bit of nuance is required. The company’s withdrawal from Russia as a response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and related sanctions saw a loss of 700,000 subscribers attributed to the quarter.</p> <p>The net result, taking into account the Russian loss, was a growth of 500,000 subscribers – a number still short of the <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/19/netflix-shares-down-more-than-20-after-losing-200000-subscribers-in-first-quarter/">expected growth of 2.5 million subscribers</a>.</p> <p>Far worse in the report was Netflix’s estimation of a further 2 million subscribers to be lost by the second quarter.</p> <p>As a result, Netflix signalled cutbacks in content expenditure, <a href="https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/streaming/netflix-cancels-inproduction-titles-after-subscriber-loss-and-stock-price-plunge/news-story/6cdebf691e2c64f9366f311ab3fd4695">cancelling the Bright sequel and comic adaptation Bone</a>, and flagged potential cuts to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-04-24/netflix-losing-subscribers-may-also-cost-it-star-employees">employee numbers and discretionary spending</a>.</p> <p>So what has caused this loss and where does Netflix go next?</p> <h2>Platform proliferation</h2> <p>Netflix is increasingly challenged by a streaming landscape populated with a growing number of platforms – a fact the company recognised in their letter to shareholders. Referring to the robust competition from other players, the company <a href="https://s22.q4cdn.com/959853165/files/doc_financials/2022/q1/FINAL-Q1-22-Shareholder-Letter.pdf">noted</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>over the last three years, as traditional entertainment companies realized streaming is the future, many new streaming services have also launched.</p> </blockquote> <p>The launches of Disney+ in 2019, HBO Max in 2020, and Paramount+ in 2021 has seen these US-based entertainment companies step into streaming. There are a growing number of players in the market. Every major studio that launches a platform means less content Netflix can distribute – when the major studios launch they remove their content from Netflix.</p> <p>The Netflix license for Friends – <a href="https://people.com/tv/the-office-beats-friends-most-watched-licensed-show-netflix/">once one of Netflix’s top watched shows</a> – was not renewed by rights holder Warner Brothers Television in 2020. As a result, Friends is disappearing from Netflix markets around the world, instead streaming on Warner Brothers’ Discovery platform, HBO Max.</p> <p>Global streaming platforms have also made inroads with popular originals. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/feb/18/severance-review-ben-stillers-workplace-fantasy-might-make-your-mind-explode">Severance</a> on Apple TV+, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/24/halo-review-hit-sci-fi-game-tv-series">Halo</a> on Paramount+, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/17/arts/television/raised-by-wolves-hbo-max.html">Raised by Wolves</a> on HBO Max have all been popular with audiences. This success is no doubt forcing a more savvy approach from consumers increasingly hit with the reality of high monthly bills when paying for all services.</p> <p>Netflix and others are also competing for attention with local Subscription Video-on-Demand (SVOD) services, like <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1749602018798158">Stan in Australia and Blim in Mexico</a>, and regional services, like Viaplay in Northern Europe and VIU in Asia.</p> <p>These services hold unique value propositions in their markets and often trade upon pre-existing relationships in local media ecosystems. Viaplay has a long history as a satellite television network in Sweden while Stan is a venture of local Australian free-to-air broadcaster Nine Network.</p> <p>It is becoming increasingly difficult for global streaming companies like Netflix to compete against not just other global media companies, but also compete with local and regional services as well that have deeper ingrained relationships with audiences.</p> <h2>Why Netflix needs subscriptions</h2> <p>How can a drop of only 200,000 subscribers from a total of 220 million subscribers <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/netflix-stock-price-plunges-premarket-after-subscriber-loss-11650449002?mod=hp_lead_pos1">crash a share price by 35%</a> and instil fear across the broader streaming sector?</p> <p>Netflix is a <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/pureplay.asp">pureplay</a> SVOD service and they are relatively unique in the marketplace. They focus on a single product and delivery method – subscription television. <a href="https://s22.q4cdn.com/959853165/files/doc_financials/2021/q4/da27d24b-9358-4b5c-a424-6da061d91836.pdf">In their 2021 annual report</a>, Netflix said 99.4% of all revenues came from subscription fees (a paltry 0.6% came from the dying DVD business).</p> <p>Given the uniqueness in the market of this pureplay focus, streaming scholar Amanda D Lotz termed Netflix <a href="https://research.qut.edu.au/dmrc/2020/09/14/media-release-netflix-a-zebra-among-horses-qut-researcher/">“a zebra amongst horses”</a> to describe the company’s relationship to other SVOD services.</p> <p>Almost every competitor of Netflix has another aspect to their business. <a href="https://www.amandalotz.com/netflix-and-streaming-video-the-business-of-subscriberfunded-video-on-demand">In her 2022 book</a> Netflix and Streaming Video, Lotz refers to the SVOD component of Disney for example as a “corporate extension” of the underlying media business and of Apple TV+ as a “corporate complement” to their technology business.</p> <p>For companies like Disney, the SVOD service can leverage and cross-subsidise the broader business. Apple TV+ itself is under little to no pressure to turn a profit, as Apple’s major growth driver is the iPhone.</p> <p>But for Netflix, all of the eggs are in the same basket. Even small changes to subscriber numbers, and certainly a negative growth outlook, forces a conceptualisation of their future, without other business areas that can offset these losses.</p> <p>Indeed, that is partly why Netflix has been making inroads into other businesses, through the acquisitions of <a href="https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/netflix-acquires-scanline-vfx-stranger-things-1235116974/">Scanline VFX</a>, a visual effects company in 2021, and <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/24/22995286/netflix-games-boss-fight-entertainment-acquisition">Boss Fight Entertainment</a>, a gaming company in 2022. We can expect some greater urgency across these acquisitions.</p> <h2>What’s next for Netflix?</h2> <p><a href="https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/streaming/what-netflix-advertising-and-password-sharing-crackdown-means-for-customers/news-story/67ea3f314f0ceb417912b0a8bc02ea0a">Netflix is proposing two key measures</a> to alter the negative subscriber trajectory – a lower cost, ad-supported subscription tier and a crackdown on password sharing between households.</p> <p>Neither of these suggestions does anything to offer a reason to stay subscribed. There is no promise enjoyable original series won’t be cancelled too soon, like Sense8, Altered Carbon, or The OA for example. Rather than adding new features or content, the Netflix answer is removing key cornerstones of the service.</p> <p>For Netflix, its recent subscriber loss could warn of a less promising future.</p> <p>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-a-market-swamped-with-streaming-services-netflixs-massive-loss-of-subscribers-is-a-big-deal-181780" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </p> <p><em>Image: Getty</em></p>

David Byrne believes Spotify is making musicians “uncomfortable”

<p dir="ltr">David Byrne has spoken out against Spotify, saying the platform is making artists feel “uncomfortable”.</p> <p dir="ltr">The former Talking Heads performer, who removed most of his music catalogue from the streaming service in 2013, claims the publishing of “questionable or controversial content” and “misinformation” is making musicians look for other ways to showcase their music. </p> <p dir="ltr">He said, "There’s been all these things about platforms having … let’s say questionable or controversial content [and] putting out misinformation or outright lies or … not exactly hate speech, but things that are making a lot of artists uncomfortable.” </p> <p dir="ltr">“And it’s pretty tough to do anything to help ameliorate that unless you’re a Drake or Taylor Swift, or those kinds of artists. It’s pretty hard for the rest of us to have influence."</p> <p dir="ltr">He told The Guardian newspaper, "A handful of mega, mega artists are doing really well, and many of the others – especially emerging artists – are having a tough time with it. There was definitely a period where I thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be tough for a lot of artists’, especially with Spotify’s ‘freemium’ layer.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Byrne went on to cite when Taylor Swift withheld one of her albums from Apple Music over their decision to not pay artists, and noted that only a "handful" of stars are "doing really well" out of putting the music on Spotify, which is thought to pay artists an average of $0.004 per stream.</p> <p dir="ltr">He said, “I watched as Taylor Swift went to Apple and said, ‘You can’t do this; you can’t have a freemium layer that will last forever.’ And she – I mean, bless her heart – she managed to get them to [change their policy]. Which I think was brave for her and good for a lot of the rest of us."</p> <p dir="ltr">Byrne’s comments come after several artists, including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, decided to pull their music from Spotify due to the platform continuing to post controversial material from podcaster Joe Rogan.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Music

Neil Young’s ultimatum to Spotify shows streaming platforms are now a battleground where artists can leverage power

<p>Neil Young has given Spotify an ultimatum: remove the Joe Rogan Experience podcast or Neil Young walks. In a letter to his management team and label, the 79-year-old rocker lambasted Spotify for spreading Rogan’s misinformation about COVID vaccinations.</p> <p>“I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform,” <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/neil-young-demands-spotify-remove-music-vaccine-disinformation-1290020/">said Young to his management team</a> and record label.</p> <p>“They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.”</p> <p>Young is the first high-profile artist to condemn Spotify for its handling of COVID misinformation, but far from the first person to single out Rogan’s podcast on the platform.</p> <p>The Joe Rogan Experience podcast has the highest amount of subscribers on Spotify. In 2020 the podcast became a Spotify exclusive through a deal <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/19/21263927/joe-rogan-spotify-experience-exclusive-content-episodes-youtube">estimated at $100m</a>. Despite its massive popularity, the Joe Rogan Experience has been frequently criticised for promoting conspiracy theories, misinformation and other problematic content.</p> <p>In January 2022, 270 medical health practitioners and researchers submitted <a href="https://spotifyopenletter.wordpress.com/2022/01/10/an-open-letter-to-spotify/">an open letter</a> calling on Spotify to moderate misinformation on its platform. The letter was prompted by an episode that featured a controversial physician who openly promoted conspiracy theories and baseless claims about COVID vaccinations.</p> <p>“This is not only a scientific or medical concern; it is a sociological issue of devastating proportions and Spotify is responsible for allowing this activity to thrive on its platform,” the letter read.</p> <p>Two days later, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/spotify-neil-young-joe-rogan-1235081916/">Spotify has reportedly removed Young’s music from its platform</a>. This isn’t the first time Young has removed his songs from Spotify, citing poor sound quality as the reason when he temporarily <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/neil-young-interview-archives-crazy-horse-upcoming-albums-784773/">pulled his entire catalogue</a> from Spotify in 2015.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442842/original/file-20220126-14-1914439.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442842/original/file-20220126-14-1914439.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Joe Rogan on his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience. A few weeks ago, 270 doctors, scientists, healthcare professionals and professors wrote an open letter to Spotify, expressing concern about medical misinformation on Rogan’s podcast.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">YouTube</span></span></p> <h2>Stream of conscience</h2> <p>Neil Young is not the first musical artist demanding change from the streaming giant.</p> <p>Spotify and other music streaming platforms have become a battleground where artists can leverage their power, notably over disputes concerning artists’ revenues and the value of music in an era of streaming.</p> <p>In 2015, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/9/15767986/taylor-swift-apple-music-spotify-statements-timeline">Taylor Swift briefly removed her album 1989</a> from Apple Music due to the platform offering a three month free trial that would not generate royalties for artists.</p> <p>In 2021, the artist payout debate was reignited after the publication of a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/apr/10/music-streaming-debate-what-songwriter-artist-and-industry-insider-say-publication-parliamentary-report">Parliamentary report in the UK</a> calling attention to Spotify’s handling of artists’ rights management, revenue rates, and commercial fairness.</p> <p>Recently, following the release of her latest album 30, <a href="https://theconversation.com/adele-has-successfully-asked-spotify-to-remove-shuffle-from-albums-heres-why-thats-important-for-musicians-172301">Adele took aim at Spotify</a> demanding the shuffle feature be removed from albums encouraging users to listen to the tracks in their intended order.</p> <h2>Self-regulation</h2> <p>Spotify has taken action to regulate harmful content on its service in the past. In 2017, Spotify <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/8/17/16162146/spotify-removing-white-supremacist-neo-nazi-bands">announced it would remove content</a> from bands connected to white supremacist and neo-Nazi movements.</p> <p>Spotify also joined several other social media and streaming platforms including Facebook, Apple Music and podcast platform Stitcher to remove the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/8/6/17655516/infowars-ban-apple-youtube-facebook-spotify">polemical right wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones</a> and his podcast InfoWars for spreading misinformation and lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting.</p> <p>In 2018, Spotify added <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/news/spotify-is-officially-policing-the-music-it-hosts-627638/">a new hate conduct policy</a> to its terms of use that included guidelines for removing music that “promotes, advocates, or incites hatred or violence.” Spotify developed the policy in partnership with the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League. The platform faced immediate backlash when it <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/10/arts/music/rkelly-spotify-accusations-xxxtentacion.html">cited the policy to defend</a> removing American artists R. Kelly and XXXTentacion from its editorial and algorithmically curated playlists. The two artists’ catalogues were not removed from Spotify’s streaming library, but would be far less visible to listeners.</p> <p>Critics viewed Spotify’s use of the policy an attempt to censor music. With such a sweeping definition of hate conduct, some observers wondered, why were R. Kelly and XXXTentacion removed and not the dozens, if not hundreds, of other artists with controversial pasts or criminal convictions?</p> <p>The move prompted other prominent artists, most notably Kendrick Lamar, to threaten <a href="https://pitchfork.com/news/kendrick-label-head-confirms-he-threatened-to-pull-music-from-spotify/">withdrawing their music from Spotify</a> entirely. Shortly afterwards, Spotify rolled back the policy. In a <a href="https://newsroom.spotify.com/2018-06-01/spotify-policy-update/">corporate statement</a> announcing the shift, Spotify also minimised its responsibility in political matters or public controversies: “That’s not what Spotify is about. We don’t aim to play judge and jury.”</p> <p>Digital platforms have taken steps to moderate misinformation. For example, in the lead up to the 2020 US election, Twitter began <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/twitter-adds-fact-check-warning-trump-tweets/">adding fact-check labels</a> to tweets shared by former president Donald Trump. Later that year, Facebook’s Oversight Board <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/22/tech/facebook-oversight-board/index.html">began hearing cases</a> to oversee key decisions related to content moderation.</p> <p>Throughout the COVID pandemic, academics and public health officials <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-a-virus-goes-viral-pros-and-cons-to-the-coronavirus-spread-on-social-media-133525">have called on social media platforms</a> to help fight the spread of dangerous health-related misinformation.</p> <h2>Policing platforms</h2> <p>Reliance on platforms to moderate podcast content is a tenuous proposition. As commercial entities operating internationally, platforms simultaneously seek to serve their corporate interests and comply with regulations and laws in multiple jurisdictions.</p> <p>Significant change can be achieved when platforms act in unison, such as in <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/12/28/792078881/spotify-becomes-latest-tech-company-to-hit-on-pause-political-ads">the decision to ban political advertising</a> implemented by several major digital platforms including Spotify after facing significant public pressure. Still, users and advocates should not hold their breath waiting for platforms to do the right thing.</p> <p>Failures to moderate harmful content are harder to ignore when they involve bigger name artists. Neil Young has never shied away from political action in a musical career spanning nearly six decades. The singer’s demands were bolstered by a credible threat: he’s removed his music before and now he’s done it again.</p> <p>Ideally, the pressure from Young’s fans and other prominent artists will push Spotify to take effective action against misinformation so users can spend time rockin’ in the free world instead of listening to COVID conspiracy theories.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175732/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/d-bondy-valdovinos-kaye-1046676">D. Bondy Valdovinos Kaye</a>, Lecturer, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/queensland-university-of-technology-847">Queensland University of Technology</a></em></span></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/neil-youngs-ultimatum-to-spotify-shows-streaming-platforms-are-now-a-battleground-where-artists-can-leverage-power-175732">original article</a>.</p>

Music

Harry and Meghan’s $33 million podcast claimed by Spotify after lack of content

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The bosses at music streaming giant Spotify have reportedly <a rel="noopener" href="https://honey.nine.com.au/royals/spotify-takes-back-control-of-prince-harry-and-meghan-markle-podcast/d901095a-a9b0-4bf2-870e-7bd6ff9a43c6" target="_blank">taken control</a> of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s podcast, taking “matters into their own hands” due to a lack of content from the couple.</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CI1Kyv2HOmt/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CI1Kyv2HOmt/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Archewell by Harry and Meghan (@archewell_hm)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Spotify is currently recruiting in-house staff to work on a show for Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Audio that features “the voices of high profile women”, <em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/17422252/spotify-meghan-markle-prince-harry-podcast/" target="_blank">The </a></em></span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/17422252/spotify-meghan-markle-prince-harry-podcast/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sun</span></a> </em><span style="font-weight: 400;">reports.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Despite signing a deal with the streaming company worth an estimated worth of $33 million, the couple have produced just one episode, released as a Christmas special in December 2020.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In an earlier announcement, Spotify said it was expecting a full-scale launch of content from the former royals during 2021.</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CK1mDXuFHd3/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CK1mDXuFHd3/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Archewell Audio Podcast (@archewellaudios)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With just one 35-minute episode created so far - despite appearances in multiple interviews and other podcasts in 2021 - the couple has been paid around $935,000 per minute.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Spotify has been waiting a long time for some content from Harry and Meghan and now it appears they have finally taken matters into their own hands,” a source close to the project told </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Sun</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">An advertisement for a senior producer at Gimlet Projects, the production arm of Spotify, is looking for candidates with experience with “high-profile talent”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We’re currently assembling a show team that will build and launch a new original show with Archewell featuring the voices of high profile women,” <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.lifeatspotify.com/jobs/contract-sr-producer-gimlet-projects" target="_blank">the ad reads</a>.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Advertised as a six-month role, the job is called for experienced applicants to “launch an exciting new weekly show based in Los Angeles”.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The ideal candidate has experience working with high-profile talent, and an interest in the intersection of social activism and popular culture.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The wave of recruitment comes after Spotify was rumoured to have given the couple a “gentle nudge” in December to produce content.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Getty Images</span></em></p>

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