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The 2024 MAMA Awards is going international with ceremonies in Los Angeles and Japan for its 25th anniversary. The three-day event will air exclusively on Samsung TV Plus.

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This year’s MAMA Awards will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Thursday (Nov. 21) and the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan from November 22-23.  

Performers include TOMORROW x Together, Anderson .Paak, Bruno Mars, BOYNEXTDOOR, ILLIT, J.Y. Park, Young Posses and ENHYPEN.  

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Keep reading to learn more about Samsung TV Plus and how to stream the MAMA Awards from anywhere.

What Is Samsung TV Plus?

Not familiar with Samsung TV Plus? It’s free, ad-supported streaming service available on Samsung Smart TVs, Samsung Galaxy devices, smart monitors, Family Hub refrigerators and online at Samsungtvplus.com.

Samsung TV Plus features over 400 live channels, thousands of movies and K-POP by CJ ENM. Launched on Nov. 6 in celebration of it’s 10th anniversary, Samsung TV Plus’ K-pop channel offers exclusive access to artist interviews, performances, music videos and behind-the-scenes footage.

Samsung TV Plus features over 4,000 hours of Korean programming including movies and TV series.

You can stream Samsung TV Plus by navigating to the app on a Samsung TV, Smart Monitor or Family Hub refrigerator. If you have a Samsung Galaxy Device, download the app from the Galaxy Store or Google Play app store.

2024 MAMA Awards: Start Time, How to Stream Live from Anywhere

The 2024 MAMA Awards kicks off on Thursday at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT (12 p.m. KST on Friday). The show will be available on FAST channel #1535.

Coverage of day two will air on Friday at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT (11 a.m. KST on Saturday). Day three airs on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT. (8:00 a.m. KST on Sunday). 

Fans streaming internationally can use ExpressVPN on Samsung Smart TVs. To access, install Express VPN to a compatible Wifi router and being streaming. VPNs let you access certain channels, streaming platforms, websites and more from outside of the U.S.

ExpressVPN’s Black Friday deals gets you two years of service, plus six months free for $4.99/month (reg. $12.95/month).

See below for a list of performers at the 2024 MAMA Awards.

2024 MAMA Awards Performance Lineup

Nov. 21 (U.S.)

Anderson .PaakILLITJ.Y. ParkKATSEYERIIZETWSYoung Posse

Nov. 22 (Japan)

BOYNEXTDOORENHYPHENIVEIznaLee Young JiME:IPLAVETREASURETOMORROW X TOGETHER

Nov. 23 (Japan)

AespaBIBIBYEON WOO SEOK(G)I-DLEG-DRAGONINIMEOVVSEVENTEENZEROBASEONE

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French Montana’s new documentary is dedicated to his mom, Khadija, and other immigrant moms who have “sacrificed for their kids in this country,” the rapper shared in a TMZ Live interview on Wednesday (Nov. 20).

Montana, whose birth name is Karim Kharbouch, immigrated to America from Morocco when he was 13 years old. His mom worked three jobs to support the family after his father moved back to the North African country.

“We overstayed [our] visas,” Montana recalled. “My father was trying to create an opportunity for us to live the American dream, but he didn’t succeed at that. He got tired of it. He wanted to go back to Africa and live like a king. He told my mom ‘We can take all the kids and leave French here.’ My mother said ‘I’m not going to leave my son here,’ so he said ‘You can stay with him.’ He felt like she betrayed him.”

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“He left me, my mother, my two little brothers. None of us spoke English. I couldn’t get a job, couldn’t go to school. I didn’t have paperwork. The only thing to do was to hustle and hit the streets. It was something that happened by mistake and turned into a miracle.”

The French Montana Story: For Khadija, premiered at the Tribeca Film festival last year. The documentary has been eight years in the making, partially because the process of getting his mother a green card and reuniting her with family in Morocco for the first time in 25 years.

“She’s the real French Montana,” he said. “She’s the one that sacrificed.”

“It shining a light on a mother’s love,” he added of the film. “A light on all mothers, especially immigrant mothers that sacrificed for their kids in this country.”

Later in the interview, Montana talks U.S. immigration laws and collaborating with Lara Trump, daughter-in-law of president-elect Donald Trump. “I’m not too involved in politics, Laura Trump was somebody I knew on a personal level but honestly, I don’ t like the immigration laws. Hopefully we can do something about that,” he added. “That’s all a conversation, something I would have to speak to [Laura about] to try and talk some sense into him [Trump].”

How to Watch French Montana’s Documentary on Paramount+

The French Montana Story premiered on Paramount+ on Tuesday (Nov. 21).

If you’re not subscribed, you can join for free for the first week to stream The French Montana Story and other Paramount+ exclusive such as Ink Master, Landman, Lioness, Frasier, Seal Team and Mayor of Kingstown.

The Paramount+ Essentials plan renews at $7.99/month after the free trial and Paramount+ with Showtime is $12.99/month but the first week is free. Subscribe to an annual plan to save up to 23% off.

Amazon Prime members can enjoy two months of Paramount+ for just $2.99/month. The Black Friday deal saves you 77% off Prime Video channels and including Paramount+, AMC+, STARZ, Crunchyroll, MGM+ and Hallmark+. Amazon’s Black Friday 2024 runs from Nov. 21-29.

Want a free subscription? Walmart+ members get free Paramount+ and other membership benefits. Click here to subscribe.

Watch French Montana’s TMZ Live interview below.

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Are you ready it? A new Lifetime holiday movie inspired by the love story between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce is coming Saturday (Nov. 23).

Christmas in the Spotlight stars Jessica Lord as Bowyn, a famous musician who sings about love and relationship, but with her career taking up so much of her time, dating is nearly impossible. Laith Wallschleger plays Drew, a pro football player who goes to one of Bowyn’s concerts with his niece. Later, he openly admits he has a crush on her and decides to give things a shot, even though their busy schedules might make it challenging.

In addition to Lord and Wallschleger, the cast also includes Emmy-winning host and producer Jeannie Mai and TikTok creator Haley Kalil, who’s making her first appearance on television. 

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Keep reading for ways to stream Christmas in the Spotlight for free without cable.

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How to Watch Christmas in the Spotlight for Free Without Cable

The easiest way to watch Christmas in the Spotlight for free is through the Lifetime channel. Cord cutters don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on a cable package in order to watch Lifetime at home, there are several ways to stream Christmas in the Spotlight live and on-demand. The movie will premiere on Lifetime at 8 p.m. ET. To watch for free, live TV streaming platforms like DirecTV Stream and Philo offer free trials and promos that’ll let you watch the Swift and Kelce-inspired movie for free. 

Philo is free for the first week and $28/month after the trial period. The streamer offers 75+ channels including Lifetime, WEtv, MTV, VH1, A&E, HGTV, Food Network and Hallmark.

DirecTV Stream includes local networks such as ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox in addition to over 90 cable channels (Lifetime, OWN, WEtv TLC, TNT, MTV, ESPN, HGTV, Food Network, E!, Bravo and more). Streaming plans start at $49.99 per month after a five day free trial.

Lifetime’s Christmas in the Spotlight is part of the network’s 2024 It’s A Wonderful Lifetime movie slate, which also include ADD OTHER UPCOMING HOLIDAY MOVIES HERE.

Watch the trailer for Christmas in the Spotlight below.

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
New games are played and reputations are tested in a new adaptation of the 1999 movie Cruel Intentions. Amazon MGM Studios has lengthened the storyline into an original series of the same title and with a modern twist, but that doesn’t mean fans of the original movie won’t see callouts to the beloved ’90s version.

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You can watch Cruel Intentions (2024) online starting Thursday (Nov. 21), when the series premiere is released on Prime Video. The TV show pays homage to the original movie with details both eagle-eyed fans and those familiar with the ’90s version will be able to catch — including a new take on the Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony,” a song that was the main theme of the OG, as well as the iconic cross necklace worn by Sarah Michelle Gellar’s character Kathryn Merteuil, and the 1956 Jaguar driven by Ryan Phillippe’s seductive Sebastian Valmont.

Keep reading to learn where to stream Cruel Intentions online for free.

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How to Watch Cruel Intentions (2024) Online for Free

Cruel Intentions is an Amazon MGM Studios original, which means you’ll only be able to watch the series on Prime Video. Prime members can watch Cruel Intentions online for free when they sign into their account.

Don’t have a Prime membership? Amazon is offering a 30-day free trial when you sign up that’ll let you watch the 2024 version in addition to the entire Prime Video library at no additional cost. Once the free trial is over, you’ll be charged the regular subscription fee of $14.99/month or $139/year.

Adults ages 18-24 or students at an accredited college can score a six-month free trial and 50% off subscription fee with a student membership. Qualifying government programs can get you a 30-day free trial and half-off membership cost with the EBT/Medicaid membership.

Just like the original, the Cruel Intentions series follows the cold-hearted stepsiblings Caroline Merteuil (Sarah Catherine Hook) and Lucien Belmont (Zac Burgess), who will do anything they can to remain at the top of Manchester College’s social hierarchy. When Greek life is threatened after a hazing incident goes wrong, the two go to great lengths to preserve their power and influence — including striking a dangerous deal to seduce the Vice President of the United States’ daughter, Annie Grover (Savannah Lee Smith).

Season one will feature a total of eight episodes that will drop every Thursday until the season finale.

How to Watch Cruel Intentions (1999) At Home

Before you watch the new Cruel Intentions online, Prime Video also has the original 1999 movie to stream at home. You can get an ad-free experience when you rent of buy Cruel Intentions on video-on-demand. Rentals are available for $2 or you can buy Cruel Intentions on VOD for $5. A Prime membership isn’t required to watch the movie — just make your purchase and the movie will automatically be downloaded to your video library to watch at your leisure. Rentals are available for 30-days after purchasing, and 48 hours once you start streaming Cruel Intentions.

Watch the trailer for the new Cruel Intentions series below:

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Streaming has become the go-to method for watching  new shows and movies, but signing up for multiple streaming services can leave you spending more rather than saving. Xfinity wants to help you cut costs without sacrificing your content options through their new add-on NOW StreamSaver.

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New and current subscribers can stack NOW StreamSaver to your Internet plan for just $30 a month and enjoy NOW TV’s live TV channels in addition to Apple TV+, Netflix (with ads) and Peacock Premium (with ads). All that’s needed is for you to sign up for Xfinity or NOW Internet and you’ll be eligible to score the streaming deal.

If you’re already a NOW TV subscriber, you can still score the expanded lineup of streaming options for only $10 extra when you add on NOW StreamSaver.

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No equipment is required to set up NOW StreamSaver either, you just need to download the required streaming apps to your TV and smart devices, then you’ll be able to watch movies and TV shows on the go.

Our Internet recommendation? NOW Internet plan is just $30 a month and comes with no contracts or hidden fees. The price you see includes taxes and added fees, resulting in total transparency and a wallet-friendly Internet plan that’ll get you surfing the web and streaming your favorite shows for less than $100 a month.

There are two speeds you can choose from depending on your needs: 100 mbps for $30 a month or 200 mbps for $45 a month. Once you sign up, you’ll receive all the WiFi equipment needed and unlimited data. Xfinity’s plans are also flexible, meaning you can pause and resume service whenever you want. 

Some of the live channels you can look forward to watching through NOW TV include AMC, Sony Movies, Sundance Channel, Hallmark Channel, Lifetime, Food Network, HGTV, Afro and ID. You’ll even be able to watch some of the most talked about streamer originals including Netflix’s Nobody Wants This and Bridgerton, Peacock’s The Traitors and Based On a True Story and Apple TV+’s Shrinking and Palm Royale. 

Looking for Spanish content? You can also add NOW TV Latino for just an extra $10 a month and enjoy more than 25 live Spanish-language channels including live sports, news and novelas. You have to be an Xfinity or NOW Internet subscriber in order to be eligible for the add-on, but you can stack it onto your Internet package by itself or with NOW StreamSaver for even more program offerings. In addition to being able to watch live Spanish-language channels, you’ll also get free Peacock Premium and 20 hours of DVR storage. 

Amazon Music is updating its “Unlimited” subscription tier to give subscribers in the U.S., UK and Canada access to audiobooks from Audible’s library of one million-plus titles, the company announced on Tuesday (Nov. 19).
With the new perk, Amazon Music Unlimited follows in the footsteps of Spotify, which revamped its subscription offerings earlier this year to include a bundle of songs and audiobooks together. Though Spotify angered songwriters and publishers by arguing it didn’t need to pay the full mechanical royalty rate since it offered multiple royalty-earning services in one, it appears that Amazon Music will work with publishers to determine new rates privately. According to a statement by the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), the trade organization is “optimistic” about Amazon’s new offering and is “engaged” with the company in a “respectful and productive way” to find a compensation model for publishers that “will not decrease revenue for songwriters.”

Subscribers to AMU’s individual plan and primary holders of family plans are entitled to one audiobook of any length per month, a perk that continues even after each billing cycle. For those whose appetite for audiobooks exceeds the one-per-month offer, additional titles can be acquired through Audible via monthly subscriptions or a la carte purchases. 

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The additional perk comes without an increase in price — for the time being. Steve Boom, vp of audio, Twitch and games, said Amazon’s strategy is be “to add new things to the product” that add value and later “figure out what the right pricing strategy is in the long term.” In the U.S., AMU costs $9.99 for Prime members and $10.99 for non-Prime subscribers, both less than Spotify’s $11.99 monthly fee and, for non-Prime subscribers, equal to to Apple Music’s $10.99 price.  

Spoken-word content has already proven a valuable complement to music. After AMU added podcasts in 2020, subscribers embraced having both music and spoken-word content in the same app, noted Boom. “The convenience of having both music and spoken word in the same app has proven really effective. It makes logical sense to bring audio books into it as well.”

Audiobooks will not be made available to Amazon Music Prime, the tier included with a basic Prime subscription, or Amazon Music Free, a free option with playlists, radio stations and podcasts. 

The concept of “bundling” multiple services together has become a hot-button issue for songwriters and publishers. At the start of March, Spotify Premium subscriptions, including family and duo tiers, were quietly reclassified as bundled offerings, with both music and audiobooks included in the plans.

According to the stipulations of Phonorecords IV — the government-regulated guidelines that dictate the mechanical royalty rates for streaming from 2023-2027 — bundled services can qualify to pay out a lower royalty rate for publishing given that subscription dollars must be split between multiple services (in this case, books and songs). As a consequence, Billboard calculated that publishers and songwriters will earn an estimated $150 million less in U.S. mechanical royalties than previously expected in the 12 months following the change.

At the time, NMPA’s CEO/president David Israelite said he would “declare war” on Spotify — and he subsequently launched a multi-pronged effort to stop the streamer. This included sending Spotify a cease and desist for unlicensed lyrics, video and podcast content; filing a legislative proposal with both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate Judiciary Committees; and filing a Federal Trade Commission complaint. Around the same time, the Mechanical Licensing Collective (the MLC) sued Spotify for “improperly” classifying these tiers as bundles.

“We are optimistic about the new Amazon bundle,” Israelite told Billboard in a statement. “Amazon has engaged with the music publishing and songwriting industry in a respectful and productive way, unlike Spotify. We expect this new Amazon bundle will not decrease revenue for songwriters. Unlike Spotify, Amazon is looking at music creators as business partners and seeking to have a deal in place before the first round of royalty payments. This is in stark contrast to Spotify who is trying to pervert the compulsory license and slash what they pay songwriters.”

The NMPA and Amazon Music have not yet reached a final agreement.

Gabb Music is a music streaming service specifically developed for kids and families who have a Gabb Wireless phone — and the company is listening to its young audience as the platform continues to grow.
“Having the ability to build something from the ground up for kids was to me so appealing,” Kerri Fox-Metoyer, head of entertainment at Gabb Wireless, tells Billboard Family. “If you look at the marketplace, most of the other music services have been built for adults and then kind of re-engineered for kids, but we were building everything from the ground up for kids.”

On Nov. 14, Billboard presented the first Top Gabb Music Songs chart, a monthly chart provided by Gabb Wireless that tracks on-demand streams via the phone company’s Gabb Music platform, which features an extensive catalog of songs selected by the Gabb team that include only kid- and teen-appropriate content. Gabb Music streams are not currently factored into any other Billboard charts.

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Based on data from the month of October 2024, Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” tops the first Top Gabb Music Songs chart as the most-played song on Gabb Wireless phones. The chart lists the 25 most-played songs of the month on Gabb phones.

Fox-Metoyer spoke with Billboard Family from Gabb Music’s Nashville base ahead of the launch of the Top Gabb Music Songs chart, in a conversation about how the streaming service came to be, and how it provides a song catalog tailored to young listeners and their families, with music appropriate for all ages and settings.

Gabb Wireless has been around since 2018, and its first products — mobile phones marketed as safe for kids to use, without internet access and with only kid-centered features — were available nationwide by September 2019. Music streaming was the feature requested most by parents of kids with Gabb phones, says Fox-Metoyer, who joined the company in 2020 and who’s held previous roles at companies involving digital music (Liquid Audio) and the family music space (Disney, Sony).

After researching options for streaming partners and realizing nothing quite fit the mission the company had in mind, the Gabb team decided to build its own platform.

Gabb Music

Courtesy of Gabb Music

“The streaming industry in general is about quantity, and we were looking for quality in our service for the kids,” Fox-Metoyer says.

And so came Gabb Music, which first launched in 2022 in the format of a DMCA-compliant radio service, with the intention to add the now-available, on-demand service Gabb Music+. Licensed with the three major labels — Universal, Sony and Warner — Gabb Music’s ad-free streaming platform offers songs from all genres and eras of music, not just songs found in the children’s category (a common misconception). But its song catalog is carefully filtered to meet the company’s vision.

Songs are generally filtered based on explicit language tags when it comes to streaming, but Gabb took a deeper look in determining if songs were really a fit for the specific service they’d developed for kids.

“When you take out the songs that have explicit lyrics, you’re left with a vast catalog of music that is — some of it still isn’t appropriate for our age group. We have kids as young as 6, and our kids go up to as old as 16, 17. It’s a real wide range,” Fox-Metoyer shares, adding that “the heart” of Gabb Music’s listeners are in the 8- to 12-year-old age range.

“So we had to look at that and say, just because this song doesn’t have the F-word, or other [explicit] words, is it appropriate for the age? That’s when we started to come up with our standards and guidelines. We said as a company, this is what we are going to allow and not allow,” she says.

Gabb Music

Courtesy of Gabb Music

So, what does Gabb Music allow and not allow on its platform?

“We’re looking at quality over quantity,” she explains. “We look at every piece of the music. When we do filtration, we don’t just filter lyrics. We also look at the name of the artist, we look at the name of the song, the name of the album, and we look at the album art.”

“As a parent, you can understand this,” she tells Billboard Family of Gabb’s concept of omitting songs that reference topics like violence, drug use, self harm and bullying, or “the things that may not have explicit lyrics, but they are just not age-appropriate for your kids. I think that is really our differentiator. The innuendos and adult subject matter that, through a proprietary filtration, we’re removing those songs from the service. We don’t edit — it just doesn’t appear on our service. I think that’s what parents love about it.”

She explains that parents can take a Gabb phone out of the box, activate it and give it to their kid without navigating various (and sometimes complicated) parental control settings, or “worrying about what they’re listening to or watching or seeing.” The phone itself has built-in filtration for its text and video messaging, and no internet browser or social media access — only its own app store, with Gabb-vetted options that parents can browse and choose to add for their child, if they’d like. Plus, it’s easy for parents to send messages via the phone, or flag content in the Gabb Music app, with feedback.

Beyond the phone itself being built as a kid-safe device, part of what makes its streaming platform different from other services is the Gabb product’s built-in audience of young listeners: “They’re helping us build it,” she says.

The team at Gabb is able to glean insights from Gabb Music’s list of top-played songs, plus the direct feedback the company receives from families with young music lovers, to continue to optimize the platform to best serve its audience’s needs.

“We’ve got a three-pillar programming mission: education, entertainment and discovery,” says Fox-Metoyer. “All of the programming that we do, we look at it through that lens. We want kids to learn things about music, we want them to obviously be entertained, and we want to help them discover what their musical taste is.”

The Gabb phone, and its music streaming service, is an alternate option for families who want to “take tech in steps,” she says. “These kids, sometimes this is their first experience being in the driver’s seat of their own music streaming account, so we have to educate them on how to build a playlist, what does skip mean, what does repeat mean, what does shuffle mean?”

She also brings up the trend of kids who don’t want to be attached to a device, but want to enjoy music throughout day-to-day activities like getting ready in the morning, hanging out with friends, playing outside, cooking with their parents, studying and chilling out: “There’s this whole new movement about kids kind of being vocal, almost taking the opposite of excessive screen time, and [saying], ‘No, I’m not gonna be on social media. I’m not gonna be tied to my phone. It’s really great to see kids taking back their youth, almost.”

Within Gabb Music’s varied catalog are playlists catered to a kid’s day, as well as their mood. Sleep and study playlists are popular, as is sad music: “One of them that is popular that is interesting — this was a request from a family — they wanted more sad music, just more mellow music.”

Gabb Music is also developing app offerings for its kid listeners that tie together music streaming and music education, like playlists highlighting an instrument or demonstrating what BPM is.

Of course, while kids and teens who stream through Gabb can come across music that’s new to them, they do also still “gravitate toward the hits,” she says. “They love Benson Boone, they love Taylor Swift, they love Imagine Dragons.”

What if someone searches for a popular song that does not meet Gabb Music’s guidelines, and therefore can’t be found on the app? They’re given alternate suggestions and the chance to discover more music they might like, instead of hitting a roadblock.

“We try to present songs that we do have [from the artist]. We try to respond in a positive way. Here’s 10 other songs that we have,” she says, later adding in our conversation, “We’re adding new music every day.”

Looking ahead, Gabb Music hopes to be a go-to music platform not only for families at home, but also a helpful option for kid-centered community events: “We have had inquiries from not only teachers, and schools, but also youth group leaders, a Scouts group … Not only for the education of music, but also, ‘I play music for my kids during our events and I have a hard time putting together a playlist that’s appropriate for these events,’” she says. “We’re are looking at how to solve those problems in 2025.”

Coming up soon for Gabb is its fun CEO for the Day program, which was just announced for Dec. 3, when a 9-year-old will get to take over the role at the Gabb Wireless headquarters in Lehi, Utah. The opportunity will allow her to attend meetings and brainstorming sessions with executives, pitch her own marketing ideas and more. Gabb Music listeners can celebrate the special day with a playlist titled “Boss Beats,” full of uplifting and empowering songs.

Streaming music isn’t much of a social experience, but Hangout, a new music service that debuted Wednesday (Nov. 13), wants to change that. 
Calling itself a “social platform,” Hangout, which is available on the web, iOS and Android, launched globally with more than 100 million songs available to stream thanks to licensing deals with the three major labels — Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group — and indie rights group Merlin. 

“With our broad global partnerships across the music companies in place, Hangout begins its journey to redefine the intersection of music and social media,” founder/CEO Joseph Perla said in a statement. “Our vision has always been to create a platform that celebrates the joy of music but also helps support the music industry. Today marks a monumental step toward that goal.”

The idea is simple: People set up listening rooms and play music for guests. The DJs are represented by avatars on stage, standing aside turntables and moving to the rhythm of the music, while listeners’ avatars face the stage, only the back of their bobbing heads visible. The platform has two business models: Like Spotify and YouTube, Hangout will offer premium subscriptions that eliminate advertisements, while an avatar store will be another source of revenue, the company tells Billboard. 

If Hangout looks familiar, that’s because the concept, look and feel is borrowed from Turntable.fm, a website that charmed listeners with its cartoonish and communal approach to streaming music. Perla was a co-founder of Turntable.fm and later worked at Facebook and Lyft before reviving the idea and raising capital from the likes of Founders Fund (an early investor in Spotify), Elizabeth Street Ventures and 468 Capital. 

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Turntable.fm exploded onto computers in 2011 and quickly attracted a following. YouTube and the just-launched Spotify had more financing backing and secured licenses with record labels, but they weren’t as engaging for users as Turntable.fm. Imitators soon appeared, showing that entrepreneurs recognized that people wanted more options to stream music. 

The early ‘10s was a different era, though. Good ideas were plentiful but countless startups either failed to build momentum or secure the necessary licenses to reach a large audience. Turntable.fm shut down in December 2013 after it ran into licensing problems, was forced to exclude users from outside the U.S. and nixed the ability for users to upload unlicensed tracks. Now, nearly any track people want to hear is readily available, and Hangout faces a friendlier licensing climate. 

“We’re pleased to support the continued growth of opportunities for fans to experience and listen to Sony Music artists in shared social spaces that fairly value their work,” Mark Piibe, executive vp of global business development & digital strategy at Sony Music, said in a statement. “We’re pleased to support the continued growth of opportunities for fans to experience and listen to Sony Music artists in shared social spaces that fairly value their work.”

“Social listening continues to become a key component of the fan experience, driving loyalty and conversation amongst engaged artist communities and Hangout will help power these fan experiences in a unique and compelling way,” added Kristen Bender, senior vp of digital innovation strategy & business development at Universal Music Group.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Hangout to bring our diverse catalog of artists to this innovative music platform,” said Rachel Scarpati, vp of business strategy & business development at Warner Music Group. “This partnership underscores WMG’s commitment to pioneering new avenues for music discovery, fostering community, and providing fans with dynamic ways to engage and share their love for music.”

And at Merlin, Ryan McWhinnie, vp of business & legal affairs, said, “Community is at the center of independent music. This partnership with Hangout brings new opportunities for our global membership and their artists to connect with fans and broaden their communities.”

Spotify, the world’s biggest music streaming platform, isn’t showing signs of slowing down. In the third quarter, revenue hit 3.99 billion euros ($4.32 billion) and subscribers grew by 6 million, the company announced Tuesday (Nov. 12).
The Swedish music streaming company has helped revolutionize how people listen to music but until recently, it didn’t have financial results to match its market power. Reacting to investors’ demands for both growth and profitability, last year Spotify tightened its belt and laid off about a quarter of its workforce, and this year’s quarterly financial results have shown marked improvements in margin and profitability without sacrificing all-important subscriber growth.

Although revenue was slightly below Spotify’s previous guidance of 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion), operating profit was a record high of 454 million euros ($500 million), exceeding guidance by 12%. After routinely posting operating losses in previous years, Spotify’s operating profit increased 70% from the second quarter and was up more than 14-fold from the prior-year quarter.

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Likewise, gross margin — revenue less cost of sales — reached 1.24 billion euros ($1.37 billion) and improved to 31.1% of revenue, up from 29.2%, 27.6% and 26.7% in the preceding three quarters. The margin improvement was attributed to gains from premium subscriptions as well as audiobooks and ad-supported gains.

Recent price increases in the U.S. and many other markets didn’t slow subscriber growth. Spotify finished the third quarter with 252 million subscribers, an increase of 6 million from the prior quarter and 11.5% higher than the prior-year period. Subscription revenue reached 3.51 billion euros ($3.86 billion), up 20.8% year-over-year. Premium average revenue per user increased 9% (at constant currency) to 4.71 euros ($5.18).

Advertising, a key ingredient to both Spotify’s freemium music model and podcasting business, continued to lag behind subscriptions. Advertising revenue of 472 million euros ($520 million) was up 5.6% from the second quarter and up 3.5% from the prior-year quarter. Music advertising was helped by growth in impressions sold and hampered by pricing weakness. Podcast advertising also suffered from pricing weakness and benefitted from growth in impressions sold.

The results sent Spotify’s share price price soaring in after-hours trading. Following the earnings release after markets closed, Spotify shares jumped over 9% to $459. Before trading closed, the stock hit an all-time high of $419.72 and posted its best-ever closing price of $419.48, up 2.3%. The stock closed above $400 for the first time on Friday (Nov. 8) and has gained 123% in 2024.

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Calling all Marvel fans! Deadpool & Wolverine is now streaming on Disney+. This comes after the film’s digital release last month, via Prime Video, Apple TV+ and Fandango at Home.

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The threequel is the 34th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and premiered in theaters on July 26, following Deadpool (2016) and Deadpool 2 (2018). The film grossed north of $1 billion at the global box office, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 2024 and the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time.

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If you’re a music fan, you’ve likely noticed the film’s powerful soundtrack, which includes nostalgic smashes from Fergie, Goo Goo Dolls, Huey Lewis and the News and Avril Lavigne, among others — and has resulted in several of those songs experiencing hefty streaming bumps. Most notably, *NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye” re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 over the summer at No. 45.

The film is directed by Shawn Levy, known for Stranger Things, Real Steel and the Night at the Museum franchise. The cast includes Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Matthew Macfadyen, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Aaron Stanford, Dafne Keen, Jon Favreau, Jennifer Garner, Wesley Snipes, Channing Tatum, Chris Evans, Henry Cavill, Wunmi Mosaku, Tyler Mane, Karan Soni, Brianna Hildebrand and Shioli Kutsuna.

Keep reading for details on how to watch and stream Deadpool & Wolverine.

Where to Stream Deadpool & Wolverine

Deadpool & Wolverine is now streaming on Disney+. Don’t have a Disney+ subscription? Disney+ plans start at $10.99/month for the Basic subscription and $19.99/month for Premium (ad-free streaming).

Disney+ offers a huge collection of exclusive movies and TV shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and more. Go get your subscription now and get ready for a movie night with family and friends.

If you want to expand your content offerings, you can also bundle Disney+ with Hulu, Max and ESPN+ for just $26.99/month. For live TV offerings, you can bundle the streamer with Hulu + Live TV.

You can also rent or buy Deadpool & Wolverine on Prime Video and Apple TV+. For those looking for an alternative option, the film is also available on 4K Blu-ray and DVD.

If you choose to watch via Prime Video, you can rent Deadpool & Wolverine for $24.99 or buy it for $29.99. You don’t need a Prime membership  to rent or buy the movie through Prime Video—simply make your purchase, and the movie will automatically download to your video library. Rentals remain available for 30 days after purchase and 48 hours after you start streaming the movie.

Prime Video provides an extensive array of exclusive TV series, movies and other must-watch programs, and you can add Prime Channels such as Paramount+, Max, Starz and Showtime, BET+ and AMC+.

Besides Deadpool & Wolverine, Prime Video features exclusives like Twisters, Despicable Me 4, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Space Cadet, Marlon Wayans: Good Grief, Prime Video features exclusives like The Idea of You, Fallout, Them 2, Invincible, Road House, Reacher, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Citadel, Daisy Jones & The Six, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Swarm, Harlem, The Boys, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Fleabag, The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Wheel of Time and The Legend of Vox Machina.

For those looking for an alternative way to stream, you can watch Deadpool & Wolverine through Apple iTunes on VOD. You can rent Deadpool & Wolverine online for $24.99, or you can purchase the movie for $29.99. Apple TV doesn’t require an Apple TV+ subscription to watch the movie — you just need access to the Apple TV app or you can purchase Deadpool & Wolverine through the official Apple TV website. After purchasing, the movie will automatically download into your video library, allowing you to stream it at your convenience. Similar to Prime Video, rentals are accessible for 30 days after purchase, and for 48 hours once you begin watching the movie.

If you want to rewatch Deadpool and Deadpool 2, you can catch it on Max. Plans cost $9.99/month to watch with ads and $15.99/month for ad-free streaming. The Deadpool movies are also available on Prime Video, Hulu and Verizon Fios. 

Max combines movies, TV, sports and news into one streaming platform. Max subscribers can stream HBO, Max Originals, ID Network, TLC, CNN, Discovery and more.

Some of the movies, TV shows and exclusive series streaming on Max include Pretty Little Liars: Summer School, The Last of Us, And Just Like That, Lady Gaga’s Chromatic Ball, House of the Dragon, Hacks, True Detective: Night Country, Succession, Selena + Restaurant, Dune: Part 2 and Ironclaw.


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