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Spotify has defeated a long-running lawsuit that claimed Eminem’s music was streamed illegally “billions” of times on the platform, winning a ruling that sharply criticized the rapper’s publisher for filing the case in the first place.
Eminem’s publisher, Eight Mile Style, sued Spotify in 2019, claiming the streamer had made hundreds of the rapper’s songs available without proper licenses. That included mega-hits like “Lose Yourself,” which has been streamed more than 1 billion times on the service.
But in a decision last month, a federal judge dismissed those accusations entirely, ruling that Eight Mile had essentially manufactured a lawsuit for its own gain. The publisher knew for years that its songs were being played on Spotify, the judge wrote, but had chosen to do nothing in order to build a more lucrative legal case against the streamer.
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“Eight Mile Style was not a hapless victim,” Judge Aleta A. Trauger wrote. “While Spotify’s handling of composer copyrights appears to have been seriously flawed, any right to recover damages based on those flaws belongs to those innocent rights holders who were genuinely harmed, not ones who, like Eight Mile Style, had every opportunity to set things right and simply chose not to do so for no apparent reason, other than that being the victim of infringement pays better than being an ordinary licensor.”
An attorney for Eight Mile Style did not immediately return a request for comment on the decision. Eminem himself was not involved in the case.
At the center of the long legal battle is the chaotic system that governed streaming royalties in the U.S. for much of the 2010s, in which streamers like Spotify often failed to pay the proper rights holders. That messy situation was mostly fixed by the 2018 enactment of the federal Music Modernization Act (MMA), which created a single blanket license for streamers to pay.
The MMA largely immunized streamers like Spotify from lawsuits over past misdeeds, wiping the slate clean if they paid for the blanket license and complied with other requirements. But a year after the statute was enacted, Eight Mile sued anyway — arguing, among other things, that the landmark law itself was unconstitutional because it violated due process and negated the company’s copyrights.
In her ruling last month, Judge Trauger entirely avoided those lofty constitutional questions about the MMA, saying she would leave them “for a future case involving an appropriate plaintiff.” But like other aspects of her ruling, she suggested that “teeing up a constitutional showdown” had been another “strategic” decision by Eight Mile aimed at securing a bigger payout.
“The MMA framework was the culmination of what may have been one of the most high-stakes policymaking efforts in the history of copyright, and whether that framework survives has implications for the economy of music that go far beyond the rights of any individual artist, even a popular one like Eminem,” the judge wrote. “A lawsuit that imperiled the MMA could cost Spotify a great deal more than any one artist could ever claim — and could, potentially, justify a more generous settlement.”
In technical terms, Judge Trauger’s ruling cited the legal doctrine of equitable estoppel, which bars litigants from behaving unfairly to win advantage in court cases. In applying that rule to Eight Mile, she said the publisher “improperly chose the cultivation of infringement damages over the proper functioning of the copyright system.”
Eight Mile clearly knew that some of its most valuable IP was being used by Spotify, the judge wrote, and the entire lawsuit could have been avoided if Eight Mile had “simply sent a single, clear cease-and-desist letter.” But she said the company instead “simply allowed its rights to be violated.”
“If Eight Mile Style had come forward to contest the status quo, it would have brought this situation to a much quicker end, but it did not,” Judge Trauger wrote. “The only plausible reason for this course of action is that … allowing infringement to continue on a large scale is more economically beneficial to the purported victim than the licit streaming economy would be.”
Even if Eight Mile’s accusations against Spotify had been legally valid, the judge ruled that the damages wouldn’t have been Spotify’s to pay. Instead, she ruled that the liability would have belonged to Kobalt, because the company had signed a licensing deal with Spotify for the Eminem songs at issue and had agreed to indemnify the streamer for any such legal problems.
As it was, that question was largely moot because the judge had mostly rejected Eight Mile’s lawsuit. But she ruled that Kobalt would likely need to cover Spotify’s legal expenses incurred in defending the lawsuit — likely a sizeable sum after five years of litigation. That issue will be subject to future proceedings.
A representative for Spotify did not immediately return requests for comment. A representative for Kobalt declined to comment.
When Michael “Mike” Smith was indicted Wednesday (Sept. 4) over allegations that he used an AI music company to create “hundreds of thousands” of songs and then used bots to artificially earn $10 million in streaming income since 2017, prosecutors claimed that some of the money flowed back to that AI music company. The indictment also claimed that Smith was in consistent contact with its CEO — but it never revealed their names.
ASCAP/BMI Songview records and the MLC database indicate that Alex Mitchell, CEO/founder of popular AI music company Boomy, is listed as the co-writer on at least hundreds of the 200,000 plus songs that are registered to Smith. Boomy also released a song, “This Isn’t Real Life,” jointly with Smith, CVBZ and Stunna 4 Vegas.
In a statement to Billboard, Mitchell says: “We were shocked by the details in the recently filed indictment of Michael Smith, which we are reviewing. Michael Smith consistently represented himself as legitimate.”
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The indictment alleges that around 2018, “Smith began working with the Chief Executive Officer of an [unnamed] AI music company and a music promoter to create thousands of songs that Smith could then fraudulently stream.” Within months, the CEO was allegedly providing Smith with “thousands of songs each week.”
In June 2019, the indictment says that Smith reported to the AI music CEO and the promoter that “we are at 88 million TOTAL STREAMS so far!!!” Smith explained to the CEO and promoter that his streams were earning about $110,000 per month and that the two men were each receiving 10% of the proceeds. Smith later asked the AI CEO to provide him with another 10,000 AI songs so that he could “spread this out more” with his streams. The indictment states that this was “to evade detection from streaming platforms.”
Eventually, according to the indictment, Smith entered a “Master Services Agreement” with this AI music company that supplied Smith with 1,000-10,000 songs per month. The deal stated that Smith would have “full ownership of the intellectual property rights in the songs.” In turn, Smith would provide the AI company with metadata and the “greater of $2,000 or 15% of the streaming revenue” he generated from the AI songs.
“Keep in mind what we’re doing musically here… this is not ‘music,’ it’s ‘instant music’ ;)” the AI CEO wrote to Smith in an email that was included in the indictment.
Mitchell’s publisher is listed as Songtrust, a publishing administration company owned by Downtown, which typically earns a percentage of signees’ royalties in exchange for services. Smith’s publisher, Smithhouse Music Publishing, also lists Songtrust as its point of contact on Songview.
A representative for Songtrust declined Billboard’s request for comment. However, a source close to the matter tells Billboard that Smith and Mitchell’s Songtrust deals were terminated more than a year ago.
While it is not unheard of for an AI company to be approached by customers who are looking to buy a large number of songs, multiple AI music executives tell Billboard that it is common to know why the customer wants the tracks and to do “KYC,” or “know your client,” checks to ensure they are above board.
Typically, customers for large sums of songs tend to be companies that are seeking cheap music alternatives, often for social media content. Other requests tend to come from unknown individuals outside of the U.S., especially streaming fraud hotspots like Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Vietnam and Brazil. These parties are often denied. Two sources say it’s surprising to see a CEO’s name listed in the credits as a songwriter when these transactions occur.
Boomy has been at the forefront of AI music since its infancy. Records vary as to when Boomy launched in beta, with some online sources saying 2018 and others saying 2019. It officially debuted in 2021, according to an announcement from Axios. The company claims on its website to have made over 20 million AI-generated tracks to date.
Boomy has also won the respect of the music industry establishment. For years, Boomy was distributing many of its AI tracks through a partnership with New York-based music services giant Downtown. Though this partnership was in place during the same time frame as Smith’s alleged fraudulent activities, it is unclear if any of Smith’s allegedly fraudulent AI tracks were distributed through Downtown. The indictment does state, however, that Smith used two distributors to upload content from 2017-2024, one based in New York and one based in Florida.
In May 2023, Boomy told users via Discord that Spotify had shut down its ability to upload songs to the DSP and that some of their released tracks had been removed. “This decision was made by Spotify and Boomy’s distributor in order to enable a review of potentially anomalous activity,” Boomy said at the time. Spotify later confirmed that the “anomalous activity” was related to possible streaming fraud detected on certain tracks. A Spotify spokesperson said at the time, “Artificial streaming is a longstanding, industry-wide issue that Spotify is working to stamp out across our service.”
In fall 2023, Boomy announced that it had partnered with fraud detection company Beatdapp to combat streaming manipulation. A month later, Boomy also announced that it had reached a new distribution partnership with ADA Worldwide, a company under the Warner Music Group (WMG) umbrella.
WMG is one of Boomy’s top investors, making both a pre-seed round as well as a seed round investment. Other Boomy investors include Sound Media Ventures, First Check Ventures, Intonation Ventures, Future Labs, Boost VC and Scrum Venture, according to Crunchbase.
According to Songview and the MLC database, the same tracks that list Smith and Mitchell as co-writers also list a music industry veteran named Bram Bessoff, founder of promotional platform Indiehitmaker. Typically, these tracks allocate 10% of publishing ownership and royalties to Bessoff, which matches the amount the indictment indicates was paid to the unnamed promoter. Bessoff’s publisher is listed as Songtrust as well. (A source close to the matter says Bessoff’s deal with Songtrust was also terminated more than a year ago).
Bessoff declined Billboard’s request for comment, citing his cooperation in the ongoing investigation.
By the mid-2010s, the power of the playlist — the Spotify playlist to be exact — loomed large in the music business: Everyone knew a spot on Rap Caviar could mint a rap hit overnight; a placement on Fresh Finds could induce a label bidding war; and a lower-than-expected ranking on New Music Friday could ruin a label project manager’s Thursday night.
But in the 2020s, challengers — namely TikTok, with its potent and mysterious algorithm that serves social media users with addictive snippets of songs as they scroll — have threatened Spotify’s reign as music industry kingmaker. Still, Spotify’s editorial playlists remain one of the most important vehicles for music promotion, and its 100-plus member global team, led by its global head of editorial Sulinna Ong, has evolved to meet the changing times.
“Our editorial expertise is both an art and a science,” says Ong, who has led the company through its recent efforts to use technology to offer more personalized playlist options, like its AI DJ, Daylist and daily mixes. “We’re always thinking about how we can introduce you to your next favorite song to your next favorite artist. How do we provide context to get you to engage? Today, the challenge is cutting through the noise to get your attention.”
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In conversation with Billboard, Ong talks about training the AI DJ with the editors’ human expertise, using playlists to differentiate Spotify from its competition and looking ahead to Generation Alpha (ages 0-14).
I’ve seen such a shift in the editorial strategy at Spotify in the last couple years. Daylist, personalized editorial playlists (marked by the “made for you” tag), daily mixes, AI DJ and more. Did those inspire your team to push into these personalized editorial playlists?
To start off, it’s useful to zoom out and think about how people listen to music. The way people listen to music is fluid and curation and editorial has to be fluid as well. We have to understand the changes.
Curators have always been at the core of Spotify’s identity, right from the early days of the company. Back in 2012, Spotify’s music team started with three editors, and it quickly grew to more than 100 around the world today. These curators started by curating what became known as our flagship editorial playlists — Today’s Top Hits, Rap Caviar, Viva Latino. Over time that expanded to playlists like Altar, Lorem, Pollen, etc. Those are all still important.
But around 2018, editors made their first attempts to bridge human curation from our flagship editorial playlists with personalization engines. 2018 is the year when the technology arose with personalization and machine learning to open up these possibilities. At that time, we started making more personalized playlists where the tracks fit with an overall mood or moment curated by editors but varied for each listener — like My Life Is A Movie, Beastmode, Classic Roadtrip Songs. Editors will select a number of songs that they feel fit that playlist. Let’s say for example we have 200 songs selected, you might see the 100 of those that are most aligned with your taste.
Discover Weekly and Release Radar are tailored to listener activity and have been around much longer. Did those inspire your team to push into these personalized editorial playlists around 2018?
Yes, exactly. Algorithmic playlists, like Release Radar [and] Discover Weekly, we found that users liked them [and] that inspired us to then work with the product teams and ask, “What is the next step of this?” Spotify has more than 500 million users. We knew that it would keep growing and as a human curator, you can’t manually curate to that entire pool. Technology can fill in that gap and increase our possibilities. A lot of times, I see narratives where people call this a dichotomy — either playlists are human-made or machine-made. We don’t see it that way.
In 2024, personalization and machine learning are even more important technologies for streaming music and watching content. We’ve kept investing in cutting-edge personalization and it’s making a real impact — 81% of our listeners cite personalization as their favorite thing about Spotify. Our static editorial playlists are still very powerful, but we also have made these other listening experiences to round out the picture.
How someone listens is never one thing. Do you only want to watch movies? No, you want to watch a movie sometimes; other times you want to watch a 20-minute TV show. We have to understand the various ways that you might like to [listen].
Daylist, for example, is very ephemeral. It only exists for a certain amount of time. The appeal is in the title — it also really resonates for a younger audience.
Did your team always intend that Daylist, which often gives users crazy titles like “Whimsical Downtown Vibes Tuesday Evening,” could be shareable — even memeable — on social media?
Absolutely. It’s very shareable. It’s a bite-sized chunk of daily joy that you get that you can post about online.
It reminds me of the innately shareable nature of Spotify Wrapped.
There is a lineage there. It is similar because it’s a reminder of what you’re listening to. But it’s repackaged in a humorous way — light and fun and it updates so it keeps people coming back.
How do you think Spotify’s editorial team differentiates itself from competitors like Apple and Amazon?
Early on, we understood that editorial expertise around the world is really valuable, and it was needed to set us apart. So we have editors all around the world. They are really the music experts of the company. They are focused on understanding the music and the cultural scenes where they are.
We have what we call “editorial philosophy.” One of the tenets of that is our Global Curation Groups, or “GCGs” for short. Once a week, editors from around the world meet and identify tracks that are doing well and should flow from one market to another. We talk about music trends, artists we are excited about. We talk about new music mainly but also music that is resurfacing from social media trends.
This is how we got ahead on spreading genres like K-pop seven years ago. We were playlisting it and advocating for it spreading around the world. Musica Mexicana and Amapiano — we were early [with those] too. We predicted that streaming would reduce the barriers of entry in terms of language, so we see genres and artists coming from non-Western, non-English speaking countries really making an impact on the global music scene.
How was the AI DJ trained to give the commentary and context it gives?
We’ve essentially spun up a writers’ room. We have our editors work with our product team and script writers to add in some context about the artists and tracks that the DJ can share with listeners. The info they feed in can be musical facts, culturally-relevant insights. We want listeners to feel connected to the artists they hear on a human level. At the end of the day, this approach to programming also really helps us broaden out the pool of exposure, particularly for undiscovered artists and tracks. We’ve seen that people who hear the commentary from DJ are more likely to listen to a song they would have otherwise skipped.
When Spotify editorial playlists started, the cool, young, influential audience was millennials. Now it’s Gen Z. What challenges did that generational shift pose?
We think about this every day in our work. Now, we’re even thinking about the next generation after Gen Z, Gen Alpha [children age 14 and younger]. I think the key difference is our move away from genre lines. Where we once had a strictly rock playlist, we are now building playlists like POV or My Life Is A Movie. It’s a lifestyle or an experience playlist. We also see that younger listeners like to experiment with lots of different listening experiences. We try to be very playful about our curation and offer those more ephemeral daily playlists.
What are you seeing with Gen Alpha so far? I’m sure many of them are still on their parents’ accounts, but do you have any insight into how they might see music differently than other generations as they mature?
Gaming. Gaming is really an important space for them. Music is part of the fabric of how we play games now — actually, that’s how these kids often discover and experience music, especially on Discord and big MMOs — massive multiplayer games. We think about this culture a lot because it is mainstream culture for someone of that age.
Gaming is so interesting because it is such a dynamic, controllable medium. Recorded music, however, is totally static. There have been a few startups, though, that are experimenting with music that can morph as you play the game.
Yeah, we’re working on making things playful. There’s a gamification in using Daylist, right? It’s a habit. You come back because you want to see what’s new. We see the AI DJ as another way to make music listening more interactive, less static.
Spotify has been known as a destination for music discovery for a long time. Now, listeners are increasingly turning to TikTok and social media for this. How do you make sure music discovery still continues within Spotify for its users?
That comes down to, again, the editorial expertise and the GCGs I mentioned before. We have 100-plus people whose job it is to be the most tapped-in people in terms of what’s happening around the world in their genre. That’s our biggest strength in terms of discovery because we have a large team of people focused on it. Technology just adds on to that human expertise.
Back when Spotify playlists first got popular, a lot of people compared the editors to the new generation of radio DJs. How do you feel about that comparison?
It’s not a one-to-one comparison. I can understand the logic of how some people might get there. But, if I’m very frank, the editorial job that we do is not about us. Radio DJs, it’s all about them, their personality. It’s not about them as a DJ or a front face of a show. Not to be disparaging to radio DJs — their role is important — it’s just not the same thing. I don’t think we are gatekeepers. I say that because it is never about me or us as editors. It’s about the music, the artist and the audience’s experience. It’s very simple: I want to introduce you to your next favorite song. Yes, we have influence. I recognize that in the industry. It’s one I take very seriously. That’s a privilege and a responsibility, but it is not about us at the end of the day.
This story was published as part of Billboard’s new music technology newsletter ‘Machine Learnings.’ Sign up for ‘Machine Learnings,’ and Billboard’s other newsletters, here.
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The 2024-2025 Premier Leagues season is off and running. The season started on Aug. 17 with the first of 31 soccer matches scheduled across on NBC, USA, Telemundo and Peacock.
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Keep reading for more details on ways to stream the new season from anywhere.
Where to Stream Premier League Games
Soccer lovers can stream Premier League games with a free trail from streaming platforms such as DirecTV, Fubo TV and Hulu + Live TV. All three platforms offer live, local and cable channels including NBC and USA Network.
Although most of the Premier League games are set to air on NBC and USA, some of them will also air on Telemundo. You can stream Premier League games live and on-demand with a subscription to DirecTV, Sling TV, Fubo, Peacock and Hulu + Live TV.
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If you’re on a budget, now’s a good time to find end-of-summer discounts on streaming platforms such as DirecTV Stream, which is discounted to $49.99/month for a limited time. DirecTV Stream features over 90 cable channels, plus DVR.
Fubo is also on sale for $49.99/month after a free trial for a week. Fubo Pro (reg. $79.99) lets you stream 194 channels with unlimited DVR and streaming on up to 10 screens.
Sling TV’s streaming plans start at $20/month for up 34 channels. Save $72 when you prepay for four months of Sling TV service.
How to Watch Premier League on Peacock
Peacock is another way to stream Premier League games from anywhere. Streaming plans start at $7.99/month for access to the Premium and $13.99/month for Peacock Premium Plus with live NBC.
Want more ways to watch? ExpressVPN allows you to stream Premier League matches from anywhere around the globe.
See below for a schedule of games taking place over Labor Day weekend and where to watch.
Premier League Schedule: Where to Watch
Saturday, Aug. 31
Arsenal vs. Brighton, USA/Universo
Everton vs. Bournemouth, USA/Universo
Brentford vs. Southampton, Peacock
Ipswich vs. Fulham, Peacock
Leicester vs. Aston Villa, Peacock
Nottm Forest vs. Wolves, Peacock
West Ham vs. Manchester City, Peacock/NBC/Universo
Sunday, Sept. 1
Newcastle vs. Spurs, USA/Telemundo
Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace, Peacock
Manchester United vs. Liverpool, Peacock
TikTok creates viral hits. YouTube is unparalleled in its ubiquity. But music subscription services pay the bills.
More than three out of every five dollars earned by U.S. record labels in the first half of 2024 — 60.2% to be exact — came from premium subscription services, according to the RIAA’s mid-year report. That marks the first time subscriptions exceeded a 60% share of total revenue, topping the 59.5% share in the first half of 2023 and the 59.3% mark for full-year 2023.
Ad-supported on-demand streaming, on the other hand, has lost momentum, growing just 2.5%, half the rate of paid subscriptions. The slowdown has been dramatic: Three years ago, advertising revenue rebounded from a pandemic slowdown by surging 54.1% in the first half of 2021 and another 17.7% in the first half of 2022. Its share of total industry revenue — 10.4% — has slipped, too, from 10.5.%, 11.3% and 10.5% in the three preceding first-half periods.
Other ad-supported segments also lag paid subscriptions’ growth rate. SoundExchange distributions, which include some ad-supported streaming as well as royalties paid by satellite radio subscribers, rose just 3.8% to $517 million. Other ad-supported streaming, which covers services not operating under statutory licenses, fell 1.5% to $155 million.
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The situation around advertising is worse than the numbers might suggest. Ad-supported, on-demand streaming isn’t confined to services such as Spotify’s free tier and YouTube. A new generation of platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram, are grouped into this category, too. Without these emerging platforms, ad-supported streaming would look even worse off.
For an industry that must constantly seek growth, advertising is too small to play the role. In the most recent quarter, Spotify got 12% of its revenue from advertising — both music and podcasts — compared to 88% from subscriptions. Even if advertising becomes a bigger part of the business, CEO Daniel Ek said during the company’s April 23 earnings call, it won’t be a major factor in helping the company reach 20% revenue growth. “Anything we can do on our subscription side will obviously materially outperform any improvement on the ad side,” said Ek.
Free music has played an important role in building today’s music ecosystem, though. In 2009, author Chris Anderson followed The Long Tail with a lesser-known book titled Free that promoted the notion that not charging for digital goods can be a wise strategy. While The Long Tail was a smash success, Free never rose to the same level of renown. But Anderson’s idea proved to have merit. The same year Free was published, Spotify launched a “freemium” music streaming service in the United Kingdom—the world’s third-largest music market—that utilized a free, ad-supported tier intended to drive listeners to the paid version. Ad-supported royalties were miniscule, but it worked as planned. Free listening turned out to be an effective tool to attract customers that would, at some point in the future, become some of Spotify’s 246 million subscribers.
The growth potential for the subscription business lays outside the U.S. Globally, subscription streaming accounted for 48.9% of recorded music revenue in 2023, according to the IFPI, more than 11 percentage points below the share in the U.S. (The RIAA reports retail value in the U.S. while the IFPI reports wholesale values for each market.) Worldwide subscription penetration is only 15%, Warner Music Group CFO Bryan Castellani noted during an Aug. 7 earnings call, “and there’s a lot of headroom to go from 800 million subscriptions today to well over a billion over the next five years.”
The future may be a combination of free and subscription. In May, Sony Music Entertainment CEO Rob Stringer called for streaming platforms to charge users of ad-supported tiers a “modest fee” to make free streaming “more than a marketing funnel” to attract customers. Stringer also called on short-form video platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts to step up their payments to rights owners. “More and more, these are primary consumption sources, and they need to be valued accordingly,” he said.
With subscriptions now exceeding 60% of U.S. revenue and advertising losing share, free platforms will likely come under more pressure to deliver more royalties. Until that happens, though, expect the industry to increasingly put its hopes for revenue growth in subscriptions.
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.
It’s Barbie night in the WNBA! Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky will host the first-ever Barbie-themed game night against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on Friday (Aug. 30).
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The game will be held at Chicago’s Wintrust Arena and will feature family-friendly activations, a Barbie photo booth, hair braiding stations complete with Barbie colors, and giveaways including a custom Barbie x Chicago Sky sherpa belt bag, which will be gifted to the first 2,000 fans. It also marks another matchup between WNBA rookies Reese (aka the Bayou Barbie) and Clark.
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A special halftime performer will also be announced.
“The Chicago Sky are thrilled to be the first WNBA team to partner with Barbie, the world’s most iconic and diverse doll brand that reminds girls they can be anything,” Tania Haladner, Chicago Sky’s Chief Marketing Officer said in a statement. “Barbie aligns perfectly with the Sky’s mission to empower girls and women to explore limitless possibilities, and we can’t wait to bring inspiring content to fans.”
Keep reading for ways to watch and stream live.
Chicago Sky vs. Indiana Fever: How to Stream Live Online
The Chicago Sky vs. Indiana Fever game starts at 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT/4:30 p.m. PT. The game will air live on Ion and WNBA League Pass and stream on Prime Video.
Basketball fans can watch the Sky vs. Fever game live on Ion, which is available on DirecTV Stream, Fubo and Hulu + Live TV.
DirecTV’s streaming plans are currently on sale for a low as $49.99 (regularly $79.99) after a five-day free trial. Join today and receive instant access to 90+ channels including sports networks such as ESPN, Ion, NBA League Pass and Big 10 Network.
Want more ways to stream free? Fubo ($75/month) and Hulu + Live TV ($77/month) offer free trials and access to over 90 channels.
Although DirecTV Stream, Fubo and Hulu + Live TV don’t offer WNBA League Pass, fans can subscribe to League Pass through Prime Video. Or subscribe to WNBA League Pass online and stream on Roku. WNBA League pass is $12.99/month or $35/per season (use ExpressVPN to stream internationally).
How to Get Tickets to the Sky vs. Fever Game
Want to catch the game in person? There’s still time to score last-minute tickets to watch the Sky vs. Fever in what is already being called one of the most expensive WNBA games thus far, as ticket prices are skyrocketing for the highly anticipated game.
Currently, tickets to the game are available on sites such as StubHub, Seat Geek and GameTime for $150 and up.
The nearly impossible, the previously unthinkable, is happening: Oasis has announced a reunion, with Liam and Noel Gallagher re-forming the British rock group that made them famous after 15 years and countless verbal jabs at each other. And over the past few days, U.S. music listeners have toasted the unlikely comeback by revisiting (or discovering) […]
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Country’s biggest stars gathered together to pay tribute to the late Toby Keith at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, and now you can watch Toby Keith: An American Icon at home. The tribute show will air Wednesday (Aug. 27) on NBC at 9 p.m. ET/PT and can be streamed the next day on Peacock.
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Luke Bryan, Lainey Wilson, Carrie Underwood, Jelly Roll and Darius Rucker were just a few of the major artists who took to the stage back in July to honor the Country Hall of Famer in front of a sold-out audience. Throughout the two-hour special, you’ll be able to hear heartwarming performances of songs by Keith that honor his life and legacy as well as a special performance by his daughter Krystal Keith.
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Keep reading to learn the streaming options available to watch Toby Keith: An American Icon online.
How to Watch Toby Keith: An American Icon At Home for Free
The easiest way to watch Toby Keith: An American Icon is through cable, but if you don’t want to splurge on a TV package, you can still watch NBC without cable. Live TV streamers are offering free trials or promos that’ll score you NBC in addition to hundreds of other live channels for as low as $0.
Below, ShopBillboard broke down the best options to stream Toby Keith: An American Icon online for free.
DirecTV Stream
You can watch NBC on DirecTV Stream, which also includes your local NBC station and more than 90 other live channels. New users who sign up can score a five day free trial through DirecTV Stream when you sign up for one of its four packages. All of the offered streaming package include NBC, CNBC and MSNBC. Bonus offer: you can get $30 off the first three months after your free trial ends, which will drop the price to as low as $49.99 a month (reg. $79.99 a month).
In addition to being able to watch your local channels, you’ll also receive unlimited DVR storage and the ability to stream on as many smart devices as you want.
Sling TV
Sling TV’s newest promo will get you 50% off the first month when you sign up for one of its three streaming packages. For access to NBC, you’ll need to sign up for the Blue package that includes the live channel as well as sports, news and entertainment channels as well as 50 hours of DVR storage for only $22.50 (reg. $45 a month).
If you want even more channel options, you can combine the Orange + Blue Package for just $30 (reg. $60), which will get you all 48 channels and can be streamed on up to three devices at once.
FuboTV
You can also watch Toby Keith: An American Icon on FuboTV, which has the NBC channel as part of all of its streaming packages. Even better: the live TV platform is offering a seven day free trial that’ll let you watch the Toby Keith tribute show and 199+ channels for no cost.
Once the free trial is over, you’ll be charged at least $79.99 a month for the Fubo Pro Plan that’s the cheapest option and includes 199 channels, 1,000 hours of DVR storage and can be streamed on up to 10 devices at once. Or, for more channel options, you can upgrade to Fubo’s Premier plan for $99.99 a month and get everything in the Elite plan in addition to Showtime and 275 channels.
Hulu + Live TV
Hulu + Live TV is one of the best streaming deals on the list as it comes with the most options. Right now, the streamer is offering a rare three day free trial, which will let you watch Toby Keith: An American Icon for free, and more. Once the free trial is over, you’ll be charged the regular subscription fee of $77 a month.
Not only will you get access to NBC, but more than 94 other channels to flip through. You’ll also have access to the entire Hulu library to stream exclusive and original content. Signing up for Hulu + Live TV will even grant you instant access to ESPN+ and Disney+ for no additional cost.
How to Watch Toby Keith: An American Icon at Home
Peacock is considered the official streaming platform for NBC and other channels owned by the platform including USA Network and Bravo. Toby Keith: An American Icon will be available to stream the day after it airs on NBC or you can sign up for the Premium Plus plan for $13.99 a month and get access to your local NBC channel.
While there is no free trial, the streamer has a couple of affordable streaming plans to choose from for as low as $7.99 a month or you can choose an annual plan starting at $79.99 a year (that’ll get you 12 months of streaming for the price of 10).
Besides Toby Keith: An American Icon, you can look forward to streaming includes Apple Never Falls, Poker Face, Ted, The Traitors, Couple to Throuple, The Best Man: The Final Chapters, Bel-Air, Love Island, Love Island Games, One of Us Is Lying, Dr. Death, Yellowstone, Suits, The Office, Modern Family and Parks & Recreation. Bravo fans can also tune into content like Vanderpump Rules, Below Deck, The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip and Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard.
Check below for an official sneak peek of Keith’s tribute special.
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Taye Diggs and Megan Good star in the romantic drama Terry McMillan Presents: Forever premiering on Lifetime on Saturday (Aug. 24).
Diggs plays Johnnie, a man whose life reaches a turning point after he returns home from the military and gets served divorce papers. Good plays Carlie, a police officer and single mother of three daughters who pulls Johnnie over for speeding. Sparks fly between the two but to win Carlie’s heart, he has to get her daughters’ approval first.
Diggs, Good and Terry McMillan are executive producers on the film along with Charles Murray who also directs. Richard Foster and Chet Fenster are executive producers for GroupM Motion Entertainment, Shelby Stone, Autumn Federici and Jake Helgren serve as producers for The Ninth House and Bart Baker penned the script.
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Read on for ways to stream for free without cable.
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How to Stream for Free
If you don’t have cable, there are different ways to stream Terry McMillan Presents: Forever live and on-demand. The movie will premiered on Lifetime at 8 p.m. ET. To watch for free, subscribe to DirecTV Stream or Philo.
Philo is free for the first week and $28 per 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 free trial for five days.
Terry McMillan Presents: Forever is the second movie in McMillan’s film series behind Terry McMillan Presents: Tempted by Love which stars Garcelle Beauvais and premiered on Aug. 17.
McMillan is best known for her bestselling novels that have been turned into class films such as How Stella Got Her Groove Back and Waiting to Exhale. Terry McMillan Presents: Forever reunites McMillan and Diggs, who starred in How Stella Got Her Groove Back.
Watch the trailer for Terry McMillan Presents: Forever below.
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Reasonable Doubt, the Hulu series starring Emayatzy Corinealdi as Jax Stewart, a Los Angeles-based attorney fighting to save her marriage and her clients, returns for season 2 on Thursday (Aug. 22).
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In the new season, Jax takes on a high-profile murder case involving one of her closest friends. According to Hulu, “Jax brings in an ambitious defense attorney to lead the case, but things get tense very quickly. Can Jax defend her friend, save her marriage and protect her energy while being catapulted into the biggest case of her career? Or lose it all?”
Morris Chestnut joins the cast this season as attorney Corey Cash. The cast also includes McKinley Freeman, Tim Jo, Angela Grovey, Thaddeus J. Mixson and Aderinsola Olabode.
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How to Stream Reasonable Doubt
The first two episodes of from Season 2 dropped on Hulu on Thursday. New episodes will premiere Thursdays on the streaming platform.
Not subscribed to Hulu? You can join for free for the first week.
Plans start at $7.99/month after the free trial or $79.99 for the annual plan.
The subscription lets you stream Reasonable Doubt and other Hulu Originals such as Only Murders in the Building, The Kardashians, The Bear and Sho-Gun, Plus, Hulu allows subscribers to stream certain network TV shows for free.
Want to watch live channels too? Join Hulu + Live TV.
It’s for free for the first three days and includes 90+ channels. Hulu + Live TV costs $76.99/month after the free trial.
Hulu also offers student discounts ($1.99/month), bundle plans with Disney+, ESPN+ and Max, and you can stream on multiple devices: TV, phone, computer, gaming console or tablet.
Watch the trailer for the new season of Reasonable Doubt below.
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