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Get ready to watch Amazon Prime’s Original crime mystery film Killer Heat inspired by the short story “The Jealousy Man” by Jo Nesbø. The movie premiered on Prime Video on Sept. 26, and it’s the No. 1 movie on Prime Video worldwide and No. 2 in the U.S.
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The film follows a private investigator (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who is called to Crete, Greece, to look into a questionable death. As he investigates, he uncovers jealousies run deep within the victim’s powerful family, according to Prime Video .
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For those who enjoy watching crime and mystery thriller movies, this is a great film to add to your list. “This is a story about jealousy, and jealousy is a demon that human beings all over the world,” Gorden-Levitt said a recent interview with co-star Shailene Woodley on ComingSoon.net. “No matter what country you go to or what time in history, everybody is a universal demon. There’s a story about someone who’s succumbed to that monster in their head, telling them that they’re not good enough, that someone else is better, and turning it into a murder mystery.”
The movie is directed by Philippe Lacôte and produced by Brad Weston, Tom Karnowski, Nesbø, Niclas Salomonsson and Collin Creighton. The main cast includes Gordon-Levitt, Woodley and Richard Madden.
Keep reading for directions on how to stream the movie for free.
How to Watch
Killer Heat is a Prime Video Original. If you’re not a subscriber, you can join Amazon Prime and start your 30-day free trial to watch Prime Video movies and more.
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+.
Amazon Prime costs $14.99 per month after the free trial (students and EBT/SNAP recipients can join for 50% off). Prime members get access to Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Gaming and Prime Reading, in addition to free same-day, one-day or two-day delivery and exclusive discounts.
Besides Killer Heat, Prime Video features exclusives like It Ends With Us, Marlon Wayans: Good Grief, Prime Video features exclusives like The Idea of You, Fallout, Them 2, Space Cadet, 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.
Watch the trailer for Killer Heat below.
YouTube and SESAC have settled their rate dispute, meaning the performance rights organization’s catalog will soon be back up on the YouTube platform, according to representatives from both sides.
“We are pleased that SESAC reconsidered our offer,” a YouTube representative said in a statement. “We’ve reached a deal and content will come back shortly. We appreciate everyone’s patience during this time.”
SESAC executives also say they are pleased with the deal. “We have reached an agreement with YouTube to equitably compensate SESAC’s songwriters and publishers for the use of their music,” SESAC Performing Rights president/COO Scott Jungmichel said in a statement. “We appreciate the support and patience of our affiliates, as well as the artists who perform those songs. During our negotiations with YouTube, our affiliates’ works were unilaterally removed by YouTube ahead of the contract end date of October 1, 2024. YouTube has begun the process of reinstating videos featuring these songs.”
The deal was struck after YouTube pulled down a portion of SESAC’s repertoire, including songs from the likes of Bob Dylan, Adele, R.E.M., Green Day and Zac Brown, among others. When YouTube users wanted to play a video containing music from artists signed to SESAC, they were greeted with a message stating, “This video contains content from SESAC. It is not available in your country.”
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Artists and songwriters including J Cole, Sam Smith and Kanye West who are not signed to SESAC also had songs taken down due to having credited co-writers who were signed with the PRO. In addition, sources say, even some SESAC songwriters whose publishers have direct deals with YouTube had their songs taken down.
The YouTube representative indicates it will take a day or two for everything to go back up online. As it is, some videos still have the “is not available in your country” notice, while other songs by songwriters signed to SESAC are once again available on the service. Apparently, YouTube was still in the process of removing videos when the deal was struck, so while some notable SESAC songs were taken down over the weekend, other songs by the same artists, and even songs on the same album, were still available.
According to sources, YouTube global head of music Lyor Cohen was making phone calls at the end of last week to managers, labels and publishers, warning them that the takedown was coming. When executives who received the calls asked why the music was taken down, Cohen apparently answered that YouTube and SESAC were too far apart in negotiating the rate.
Meanwhile, other industry sources say they heard that an agreement was reached in principle on Saturday morning (Sept. 28), before YouTube started heavily pulling down SESAC songs.
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.
October marks the official start of spooky season and while Summerween may have had you stocking up on Halloween decorations, the first day of October means you can finally tune into Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween.
Finding the perfect costume is only part of the fun that comes with spooky season — for an entire month, you can watch marathons of spine-chilling movies from horror flicks to feel good films for the whole family. Freeform is making it easy for you to instantly tune into scary good movies all through October with their annual 31 Nights of Halloween. Starting Oct. 1 until Halloween, classic and new movies with a ghoulish twist will be aired throughout the day on the channel.
You can expect everything from Beetlejuice to Hocus Pocus 2 to air as well as first-time premieres for the channel like the 1990 movie Arachnophobia.
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The easiest way for you to watch Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween for free is through a cable channel. Recently cut the cord? You don’t need a cable package in order to stream Freeform, live TV streamers are another affordable streaming option that’ll let you watch 31 Nights of Halloween — and for a low cost thanks to ongoing free trials and promos.
Keep reading to learn more.
How to Watch Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween Online Without Cable
To help you find the best streaming deals available, ShopBillboard put together a list of cheap live TV streamers below that’ll let you stream Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween without cable.
DirecTV Stream
You can watch Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween on DirecTV Stream when you sign up for one of the four packages offered. New users who sign up will receive a five-day free trial, which will let you watch Freeform and more for no cost. Freeform is included in all of the streaming packages, but for a limited-time you can get $20 off your first three months when you sign up for the Choice package, giving you a total of $60 in savings ($89, reg. $109). Once the free trial and three months are over, you’ll be charged the regular subscription price.
Included in the Choice plan is more than 125 live channels (including local options), unlimited DVR storage, Regional Sports Network and three months of Max, Paramount+ with Showtime, Starz, MGM+ and Cinemax for free.
Sling TV
Another cheap option is Freeform on Sling TV, which is a live TV streaming platform that comes with three plans to choose from: Orange, Blue and Orange + Blue. Bonus savings: Sling TV is offering a limited-time promo that gets you 50% off you first month. Freeform is only available on the Orange and Orange + Blue packages, which you can score for as low as $20 (reg. $40).
The Orange package includes 32 channels that you can stream on one device at once. Want more channel options? Orange + Blue lets you combine both plans giving you access to all 68 channels including local options for just $27.50 (reg. $45).
Fubo
Fubo offers a seven day free trial that’ll let you watch Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween for free. Plus, they’re offering $30 off your first month taking the price from $80 to a wallet-friendly $50. Once your free trial and promo are up, you’ll be charged the regular package price.
In addition to access to Freeform, Fubo’s Pro plan comes with 195 channels unlimited Cloud DVR storage and the ability to watch on 10 devices simultaneously.
Hulu + Live TV
Take advantage of Hulu + Live TV’s rare three-day free trial and get access to the entire Hulu library and more than 95 channels (including Freeform) for no cost. After the free trial ends, you’ll be charged the regular package price of $77 a month.
Unlike the other options, you’ll be able to expand your content library by bundling Hulu + Live TV with Disney+ and ESPN+, which gives you exclusive and original programming available only on Disney+ and ESPN+.
Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween 2024 Schedule
The schedule is subject to change, according to Freeform, but below we dropped the entire schedule to help you plan out your month of streaming. All times are for ET/PT.
Tuesday (Oct. 1):
Halloweentown (1998) at 1 p.m.
The Haunted Mansion (2003) at 3 p.m.
Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) at 5:05 p.m.
Beetlejuice (1988) at 6:45 p.m.
Hocus Pocus (1993) at 8:50 p.m.
Wednesday (Oct. 2):
Arachnophobia (1990) at 1 p.m.
Beetlejuice (1988) at 3:30 p.m.
Casper (1995) at 5:35 p.m.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) at 8 p.m.
Thursday (Oct. 3):
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) at 11 a.m.
Casper (1995) at 1:55 p.m.
Hocus Pocus (1993) 4:20 p.m.
Monsters, Inc (2001) at 6:25 p.m.
Monsters University (2013) at 8:30 p.m.
Friday (Oct. 4):
Halloweentown (1998) at 10:30 a.m.
Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge (2001) at 12:30 p.m.
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) at 2:30 p.m.
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018) at 4 p.m.
Cruella (2021) at 6 p.m.
Beetlejuice (1988) at 9 p.m.
Little Shop of Horrors (1986) at 12 a.m.
Saturday (Oct. 5):
Spooky Buddies (2011) at 7 a.m.
Toy Story of TERROR! (2013) at 9:00 a.m.
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018) at 9:30 a.m.
Edward Scissorhands (1990) at 11:35 a.m.
The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018) at 2:05 p.m.
Hocus Pocus (1993) at 4:35 p.m.
Beetlejuice (1988) at 6:45 p.m.
Haunted Mansion (2023) at 8:50 p.m.
Casper (1995) at 11:30 p.m
Sunday (Oct. 6):
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) at 7 a.m.
The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018) at 10:05 a.m.
The Haunted Mansion (2003) at 12:35 p.m.
Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) at 2:40 p.m.
Casper (1995) at 4:20 p.m.
Hocus Pocus (1993) at 6:50 p.m.
Hocus Pocus 2 (2022) at 9:00 p.m.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019) at 11:30 p.m.
Monday (Oct. 7):
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) at 1 p.m.
Edward Scissorhands (1990) at 4 p.m.
Casper (1995) at 6:30 p.m.
Beetlejuice (1988) at 8:55 p.m.
Tuesday (Oct. 8):
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2010) at 12 p.m.
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018) at 2:30 p.m.
Casper (1995) at 4:30 p.m.
Beetlejuice (1988) at 6:50 p.m.
Hocus Pocus (1993) at 8:55 p.m.
Wednesday (Oct. 9):
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018) at 1:30 p.m.
Frankenweenie (2012) at 3:35 p.m.
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) at 5:35 p.m.
Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) at 7:10 p.m.
Encanto (2021) at 8:50 p.m.
Thursday (Oct. 10):
Halloweentown (1998) at 10:30 a.m.
Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge (2001) at 12:30 p.m.
The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018) at 2:30 p.m.
The Haunted Mansion (2003) at 5 p.m.
Hocus Pocus (1993) at 7 p.m.
Beetlejuice (1988) at 9 p.m.
Twitches (2005) at 12 a.m.
Friday (Oct. 11):
The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018) at 10:30 a.m.
Spooky Buddies (2011) at 1 p.m.
Toy Story of TERROR! (2013) at 3 p.m.
Casper (1995) at 3:30
Beetlejuice (1988) at 5:55 p.m.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) at 8 p.m.
Twitches Too (2007) at 12 a.m.
Saturday (Oct. 12):
Toy Story of TERROR! (2013) at 7 a.m.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) at 7:30 a.m.
The Haunted Mansion (2003) at 9:35 a.m.
Casper (1995) at 11:40 a.m.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) at 2:10 p.m.
Monsters, Inc (2001) at 5:10 p.m.
Monsters University (2013) at 7:15 p.m.
Hocus Pocus (1993) at 9:45 p.m.
Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) at 11:55 p.m.
Sunday (Oct. 13):
The Black Cauldron (1985) at 8 a.m.
Dumbo (2019) at 10 a.m.
Frankenweenie (2012) at 12:30 p.m.
Dark Shadows (2012) at 2:30 p.m.
Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) at 5:10 p.m.
Beetlejuice (1988) at 6:50 p.m.
Edward Scissorhands (1990) at 8:55 p.m.
Arachnophobia (1990) at 11:25 p.m.
Monday (Oct. 14):
Dark Shadows (2012) at 11:30 a.m.
Edward Scissorhands (1990) at 2 p.m.
Beetlejuice (1988) at 4:25 p.m.
Hocus Pocus (1993) at 6:30 p.m.
Casper (1995) at 8:35 p.m.
Tuesday (Oct. 15):
Twitches (2005) at 11:30 a.m.
Frankenweenie (2012) at 1:30 p.m.
Casper (1995) at 3:30 p.m.
The Incredibles (2004) at 5:50 p.m.
The Incredibles 2 (2018) at 8:25 p.m.
Wednesday (Oct. 16):
Spooky Buddies (2011) at 1 p.m.
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018) at 3:05 p.m.
Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) at 5:10 p.m.
The Haunted Mansion (2003) at 6:50 p.m.
Hocus Pocus (1993) at 8:50 p.m.
Thursday (Oct. 17):
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018) at 11 a.m.
Halloweentown (1998) at 1 p.m.
Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge (2001) at 3 p.m.
Despicable Me (2010) at 5 p.m.
Despicable Me 2 (2013) at 7 p.m.
Despicable Me 3 (2017) at 9 p.m.
Muppets From Space (1999) at 12 a.m.
Friday (Oct. 18):
Despicable Me (2010) at 12 p.m.
Monsters, Inc (2001) at 2 p.m.
Monsters University (2013) at 4 p.m.
Hocus Pocus (1993) at 6:25 p.m.
Hocus Pocus 2 (2022) at 8:30 p.m.
Little Shop of Horrors (1986) at 12 a.m.
Saturday (Oct. 19):
Edward Scissorhands (1990) at 7:30 a.m.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) at 10 a.m.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) at 1:15 p.m.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) at 4:30 p.m.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) at 8:15 p.m.
Dark Shadows (2012) at 11:30 p.m.
Sunday (Oct. 20):
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) at 7 a.m.
Hocus Pocus (1993) at 9:40 a.m.
Arachnophobia (1990) at 11:50 a.m.
Dark Shadows (2012) at 2:25 p.m.
Haunted Mansion (2023) at 5:05 p.m.
Cruella (2021) at 7: 45 p.m.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) at 11 p.m.
Monday (Oct. 21):
Alice in Wonderland (2010) at 11 a.m.
Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) at 1:30 p.m.
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018) at 4 p.m.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) at 6 p.m.
Hocus Pocus (1993) at 8:55 p.m.
Tuesday (Oct. 22):
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018) at 10:30 a.m.
Arachnophobia (1990) at 12:30 p.m.
Hocus Pocus (1993) at 3 p.m.
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) at 5 p.m.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) 7:55 p.m.
Wednesday (Oct. 23):
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) at 12 p.m.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) 3:05 p.m.
The Haunted Mansion (2003) at 6:20 p.m.
Dark Shadows (2012) at 8:20 p.m.
Thursday (Oct. 24):
Edward Scissorhands (1990) at 1 p.m.
Dark Shadows (2012) at 3:25 p.m.
Aladdin (2019) at 5:55 p.m.
Hocus Pocus (1993) at 8:55 p.m.
Halloweentown (1998) at 12 a.m.
Friday (Oct. 25):
Goosebumps (2023, Season 1) from 1:30 p.m.–11 p.m.
Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge (2001) at 12 a.m.
Saturday (Oct. 26):
Halloweentown (1998) at 8:30 a.m.
Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge (2001) at 10:30 a.m.
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018) at 12:30 p.m.
Casper (1995) at 2:35 p.m.
Hocus Pocus (1993) at 5:05 p.m.
Hocus Pocus 2 (2022) at 7:15 p.m.
Haunted Mansion (2023) at 9:45 p.m.
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) at 12:25 a.m.
Sunday (Oct. 27):
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018) at 7 a.m.
Spooky Buddies (2011) at 9 a.m.
Casper (1995) at 11 a.m.
Frankenweenie (2012) at 1:30 p.m.
Hocus Pocus (1993) at 3:30 p.m.
Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) at 5:40 p.m.
Monsters, Inc (2001) at 7:20 p.m.
Monsters University (2013) at 9:25 p.m.
The Haunted Mansion (2003) at 11:55 p.m.
Monday (Oct. 28):
Frankenweenie (2012) at 11 a.m.
The Haunted Mansion (2003) at 1 p.m.
The Incredibles (2004) at 3 p.m.
The Incredibles 2 (2018) at 5:30 p.m.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) at 8:05 p.m.
Tuesday (Oct. 29):
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) at 11 a.m.
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018) at 12:35 p.m.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) at 2:35 p.m.
Cruella (2021) at 5:35 p.m.
Hocus Pocus (1993) at 8:50 p.m.
Wednesday (Oct. 30):
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018) at 11:30 a.m.
Arachnophobia (1990) at 1:30 p.m.
Hocus Pocus (1993) at 4 p.m.
Casper (1995) at 6 p.m.
Haunted Mansion (2023) at 8:25 p.m.
Thursday (Oct. 31):
Hocus Pocus (1993) at 12 p.m.
Casper (1995) at 2:10 p.m.
Hocus Pocus (1993) at 6:20 p.m.
Hocus Pocus 2 (2022) at 8:30 p.m.
Little Shop of Horrors (1986) at 12 a.m.
Check below to watch the official teaser trailer for Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween.
Until YouTube and performing rights organization SESAC reach an agreement on renewal terms of their expiring contract, consumers might find many of their favorite songs unplayable on the video streaming service.
Some (but not all) songs by artists including Adele, Mariah Carey, Bob Dylan, Green Day, Kendrick Lamar, Nirvana and R.E.M. were among those unavailable on YouTube over the weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
At press time Sunday night (Sept. 29), Billboard can confirm hits like Adele’s “Hello” and “Someone Like You,” and R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion,” as just a few examples of music videos that remain unplayable on YouTube while its licensing deal with SESAC remains unsettled. When the page loads, an error message appears in place of a music video preview. The message reads, “Video unavailable. This video contains content from SESAC. It is not available in your country.”
In a statement sent to Billboard, a YouTube spokesperson wrote, “We have held good faith negotiations with SESAC to renew our existing deal. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were unable to reach an equitable agreement before its expiration. We take copyright very seriously and as a result, content represented by SESAC is no longer available on YouTube in the US. We are in active conversations with SESAC and are hoping to reach a new deal as soon as possible.”
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Billboard reached out to SESAC but did not receive a response on Sunday.
SESAC, which licenses the public performance of more than 1.5 million songs, collects royalties and helps protect copyrights on behalf of thousands of songwriters and publishers in the U.S.
As THR points out, YouTube customer service has been addressing users’ frustrations in responses on X (formerly Twitter). On the TeamYouTube account, replies to complaints have read, “Our music license agreement with SESAC has expired without an agreement on renewal conditions despite our best efforts. For this reason, we have blocked content on YouTube in the US known to be associated with SESAC – as in line with copyright law … We understand this is a difficult situation and our teams continue to work on reaching a renewal agreement.”
The music streaming service Spotify was down temporarily on Sunday (Sept. 29), leaving thousands of listeners without access to tunes and podcasts earlier in the day. More than 40,000 people reported outages with the music platform on downdetector.com, a website that allows users to report problems with popular apps and services. The highest amount of […]
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Batman enthusiasts can dive into a new HBO series about the caped crusader’s nemesis. The Penguin, starring Colin Farrell, continues the story from Matt Reeves’ The Batman.
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The series, which revolves solely around Oz Cobb (The Penguin), was developed by Lauren LeFranc.
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The cast includes Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Deirdre O’Connell, Clancy Brown, James Madio, Scott Cohen, Michael Zegen, Carmen Ejogo and Theo Rossi.
Reeves, Dylan Clark, Farrell, LeFranc, Bill Carraro, Daniel Pipski and Craig Zobel are executive producers on the series. LeFranc also serves as showrunner while Zoebel directed the first three episodes. The Penguin is produced by Reeves’ 6th & Idaho Productions and Dylan Clark Productions in association with Warner Bros Television and DC Studios.
See below for ways to watch and stream the show.
Where to Watch The Penguin
The Penguin airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO, but you don’t need a cable subscription to check it out. You can watch HBO and other cable channels with a subscription to DirecTV Stream or Fubo. The series also streams on Max.
DirecTV Stream and Fubo offer free trials when you join and streaming plans under $100 for over 90 channels. HBO and Max are both available with DirecTV Stream.
The Penguin premiered on Sept. 19. Episode two airs this Sunday, Sept. 29.
The season will feature eight episodes, the first of which is currently streaming on-demand via Max.
Not subscribed? You can join Max for $9.99 per month for the ad-supported plan, or $16.99 per month for the ad-free plan. The platform offers streaming bundles with Hulu and Disney+ (starting at $16.99/month) and annual subscriptions. Click here for ways to get a free trial and here to stream Max on Prime Video.
Max is home to movies, sports and must-watch TV series, including HBO and Max exclusives such as House of the Dragon, The Last of Us, Hacks, And Just Like That…, The White Lotus, Succession, The Gilded Age and Euphoria.
Watch the trailer for The Penguin below.
News that Bytedance will shut down its 18-month old TikTok Music on-demand music streaming service might have come as a surprise to some people. After all, TikTok has over 1 billion monthly active users globally and singlehandedly redefined music discovery by turning generation of smartphone users onto music-based, short-form videos.
But TikTok Music’s demise was entirely predictable. Building a sustainable on-demand music streaming service is incredibly challenging. The digital music graveyard is littered with streaming products that didn’t last — remember Rdio, Boinc, Guvera, Turntable.fm or SpiralFrog? Not even a well-funded platform from a corporate giant is guaranteed of success. Sony’s Music Unlimited didn’t last. Nor did Microsoft’s Zune. Xiami, founded by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, shut down in 2021 after 12 years.
Bytedance’s uphill road was made more difficult when it took on a different role with TikTok Music. TikTok was an insurgent that built itself without the typical constraints facing typical streaming services. The app created a new use case for music in the same way the download succeeded the CD and streaming succeeded the download. TikTok Music, on the other hand, was constrained by the licensing terms that govern on-demand services.
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As a result of those rules, Bytedance built something more like Spotify than TikTok because it didn’t have any other choice, says MIDiA Research’s Mark Mulligan. “TikTok Music had massive potential to be these so many things that didn’t look anything like any other [digital service provider],” he says. “But they still ended up having to make something that looked pretty much like any other streaming service.”
That TikTok Music resembled every other music streaming service was a problem, Mulligan argues, not a solution for a new market entrant. On-demand music has become a well-functioning utility like water service, he explains, but one that doesn’t build communities, drive fandom or create conversion — things TikTok does well and TikTok Music couldn’t. “We all really value the water that comes out of our taps, but we rarely go down to the local bar and talk to our friends about how great the water is that comes from taps,” says Mulligan.
These aren’t just any utility companies TikTok Music has been competing against. Market leader Spotify, with its $76 billion market capitalization, is far smaller than the next three companies, Apple, Google and Amazon. These four companies, and even smaller ones like them, have spent years pouring resources into building products and features that keep people listening to music, podcasts and, in the case of Spotify, audiobooks.
TikTok is great at creating engagement, too, but getting people to listen to full songs is different than feeding them a never-ending series of 15-second video clips, says Vickie Nauman, founder of CrossBorderWorks, a music tech and consulting and advisory firm. “You can’t necessarily translate that to something else.”
Things might be different if TikTok Music could differentiate itself on catalog by offering music not available on other music platforms. That’s how it works with on-demand video streaming. But global music services have, more or less, the same catalogs. Offering the world’s music has long been part of the music subscription service’s value proposition. So, music streaming services instead compete against one another on their user experiences.
On-demand services “had to make [the user experience] so elegant, so intuitive, and really, really customize it to consumers,” Nauman explains. In her experience, people underestimate the difficulty of creating a great product and executing the technology that underpins it. “It’s incredibly challenging,” she says. “Not only the user experience,” she continues, but the technology required to manage many tens of millions of tracks. “I think a lot of companies just really misperceive it.”
Changing consumer habits was always going to be a problem, too. It would be presumptuous to think anybody with a TikTok app would become a TikTok Music subscriber. Not every iPhone owner subscribes to Apple Music even though Apple offers a free trial to new iPhone owners and bundles the music service into a money-saving package, Apple One. Even though Alphabet owns both the Android operating system and YouTube, not every Android Phone owner subscribes to YouTube Music.
“To some extent, I’m not surprised” by TikTok Music’s failure, says MusicWatch principal Russ Crupnick. When MusicWatch surveyed American TikTok users about their interest in a standalone TikTok streaming service, the reaction was “surprisingly low” and “very lukewarm,” he says. (TikTok Music never launched in the U.S.) “Getting most people to switch [subscription services] at this point is a bit of a challenge. You’re more likely to get people to use multiple services.”
In the U.S., self-pay subscribers — not including free trials — have an overage of 2.3 music subscription services, according to MusicWatch. That includes Amazon Prime, which online shoppers buy mainly for free shipping, as well as satellite radio service SiriusXM. Asking people paying for multiple services to pay for one more music subscription plan is a tall order for a newcomer like TikTok Music. What’s more, MusicWatch found that Spotify ranks behind only Amazon Prime in terms of subscriber passion. When the economy gets rough, Spotify users are relatively unlikely to cancel their plans.
Zoom out and the demise of TikTok Music reveals something else about the music streaming market. In 2024, the number of global platforms may have reached a steady state and new entrants are unlikely to appear (and, like TikTok Music, any attempts will be unsuccessful). Experts who spoke with Billboard don’t foresee there being another company with both the funding and the stomach to take on the demands of licensing and administering rights for a huge amount of music.
“We’re at a fork in the road where all of these broad catalog licenses are kind of exhausted,” says Nauman. Gaming companies have the money but don’t need to license entire catalogs, she adds. Fitness companies that had licensed large catalogs now “want simpler solutions.”
If new entrants are going to find success, says Mulligan, it could be in “regional hubs” in which streaming services can license a smaller amount of local music and focus on markets where Western repertoire is less important. In China, for example, a market dominated by local music licensed by local rights owners, Tencent Music Entertainment has 117 million subscribers and Cloud Music had 44.1 million at the end of 2023 (the last figure the company made available). But regional services are being threatened by the bigger global companies. In some populous markets such as India and the Philippines, dominant Western companies have pushed aside local players.
In the end, Bytedance doesn’t need TikTok Music to be an influential force in music. Mulligan thinks it’s possible that the “majority” of music activity — not revenue — will happen on TikTok within three to five years. Younger people want to create, not just consume, he says, and TikTok could become a self-contained ecosystem that captures more of its users’ time — at the expense of the kind of on-demand streaming business that Bytedance is now abandoning.
The Global Citizen Festival is back, and countless artists, activists and advocacy organizations are coming together this weekend to raise awareness and spark global change.
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Among the star-studded performers taking the stage at the event on Saturday (Sept. 28) are Doja Cat, LISA, Post Malone, Jelly Roll, Raye, Rauw Alejandro and Benson Boone. The festival is dubbed Global Citizen Live, a 24-hour music festival spanning six continents and featuring hundreds of artists and celebrities.
Deadpool star and Global Citizen Ambassador Hugh Jackman will host this year’s festival live from New York’s Central Park.
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Want to tune in? See below for how to watch and stream the 2024 Global Citizen Festival online.
What Is the Global Citizen Festival?
The Global Citizen Festival is one of the main events for Global Citizen, an organization that aims to end extreme poverty in the world by the year 2030.
The performers will try to rally citizens across the planet to demand that governments, major corporations and philanthropists work together to defend the planet and defeat poverty; support the campaign, earn tickets and take action.
The festival will also feature appearances from Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Dr. Jane Goodall, Bill Nye, Bridget Moynahan, Charlamagne Tha God, Danai Gurira, Gavin DeGraw, Kal Penn, Sophia Bush, Rhett & Link, Liza Koshy, Eric Adjepong, Jordan Fisher, Anthony Ramos, Whoopi Goldberg, ALOK, Gayle King, Josh Martinez, Minda Dentler, Calvin Royal III, Drew Afualo, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Tatyana McFadden and Troy Iwata.
Global Citizen Festival 2024: Date, Start Time, Tickets
The Global Citizen Music Festival 2024 kicks off on Saturday (Sept. 28) at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.
Tickets to the show are free, but a select number of last-minute tickets are available up on resale sites — and they’re selling out quickly. There are still some good seats still available on VividSeats for the show at The Great Lawn in NYC’s Central Park.
How to Watch Global Citizen Festival on TV
You can watch coverage of the Global Citizen Festival on TV beginning at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT on ABC News Live.
Signing up for free trial from fuboTV will give you access to ABC News Live. Fubo includes local and cable channels, to let watch Global Citizen Live and more on TV or stream Global Citizen Live from your laptop, tablet or phone.
Although DirecTV Stream offers access to ABC, Global Citizen will be available on ABC New Live, instead of network channel, which will be airing college football. Additionally, purchasing a digital TV antenna on Amazon here will give you access to basic cable channels, including ABC, without a monthly bill.
How to Stream Global Citizen Festival Live Online
Fans can also watch the Global Citizen Festival online, as the show is available to stream free with a Hulu + Live TV subscription. The streaming service is currently offering a 30-day free trial which you can use to watch online free.
Global Citizen Festival will also stream on Disney+, Hulu, Samsung TV+, Amazon Music, Amazon Music’s Twitch channel, Apple Music, Apple TV, YouTube, Facebook, Veeps, Roku, iHeartRadio, Brut and on the Global Citizen site.
To stream internationally, you’ll need help from a VPN such as ExpressVPN to access certain platforms.
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Source: CHRIS DELMAS / Getty / Disney Plus
The days of your homie, cousin, or boo thang sharing your Disney+ account for free are coming to an end.
Disney Plus is following Netflix’s example by cracking down on account and password sharing. Its new “paid sharing program” is rolling out to subscribers in the US and other territories.
The paid sharing program was teased during earnings calls earlier this year and is now a reality, with subscribers getting options from which they can choose.
The idea of the program is to convert those using other people’s accounts into paid subscribers.
Per THR:
The paid sharing program has a couple of options for users, per a blog post published Wednesday: People sharing an account with someone outside their household can add that person as an “Extra Member” for $6.99 per month for Disney+ Basic, or $9.99 for Disney+ Premium, both discounts to the normal retail price. Only one Extra Member will be allowed per account, and it is not available as part of the Disney Bundle.
In addition, users sharing an account can also subscribe to Disney+ themselves, and can transfer an eligible profile to the new account to keep their watch history and settings.
According to the Disney+ help center, “Disney+ will automatically detect and establish your Household based on your subscription activity, linked devices, and internet connection among other factors.” If it thinks you are watching outside your household, you may need to enter a one-time password to verify that you are adding a location to your household, or that you are traveling away from home.
Nobody Is Feeling This Decision From Disney Plus
As you can imagine, subscribers are not feeling the idea, especially since they are subject to annual price hikes.
“This is why people pirate bc of you dumbass companies not letting password sharing,” one user wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Another user noted, “This is why I stick to Blu Rays and DVDs.”
Disney+ isn’t winning anyone with this decision; you can see more reactions in the gallery below.
2. Lol, well damn
In the late ‘90s, shortly after graduating high school, Timothy Trudeau was already making his mark in music, launching his multi-faceted company Syntax. He worked in production and songwriting, working with nu metal band P.O.D. on pre-production in Syntax’s studio, and producing Tonex’s song “Dancing in the Son” on his 02 album for Jive Records. Other artists Trudeau has worked with include Man of War, Kaboose, Grits, and Nappy Roots (handling drum programming for their song “Right Now,” featured on the 2005 Daredevil soundtrack). He also performed as part of the group Sackcloth Fashion.
His journey as a creative and businessperson largely centered on Christian hip-hop, a niche scene that nonetheless was close to his heart and a lifelong passion to that point.
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“I was a big fan of Christian hip hop growing up, and so I was already kind of well immersed in that space,” Syntax Creative CEO/founder Trudeau says of his early entryway into music. “I was putting beats on a cassette and mailing them to folks. I would go to shows and I drove up one time to L.A. and gave a beat tape to [rapper] Pigeon John, who later ended up putting his first record out [Is Clueless] on our record label [via The Telephone Company/Syntax Records]. I was just trying to get anyone I could to take a listen, and if nothing else, give feedback, tell me what they thought.”
By 2004, Syntax Creative was officially incorporated and has since evolved into a top independent music distributor and marketing agency, representing the exclusive global rights to over 150 record labels. Syntax began in the physical retail distribution space, but Trudeau could see where things were heading, and early on Syntax was already negotiating direct deals with organizations including Apple iTunes, as well as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and later Spotify.
“When we finally decided to go all the way digital, it was just about waiting for some of the other aspects of the industry to catch up with that,” he says. “We used to have to pay all these extra fees and surcharges for shipping and return fees and those kinds of things—so by the time the listener would buy a CD for $16.98 plus tax, we’d be already $30 into that record, and physical distribution in CDs was the loss leader back then.”
Syntax earned its reputation working in Trudeau’s strong suit of Christian hip-hop. But he soon had a realization. “What we quickly realized was what works for one niche works in another one just the same,” he says. “We figured out that what we did for a hip-hop record worked for a bluegrass record as well.”
In 2008, Syntax began to branch out, bringing on clients like Bluegrass/Americana label Crossroads Label Group, which introduced Syntax Creative into the bluegrass space. Crossroads Label Group is home to labels including Mountain Home Music Company and Organic Records (and music from artists Kristin Scott Benson, The Grascals, Tray Wellington and Sister Sadie); Old Bear Records (Andrew Greer, Kevin Max); Man-do-lin Records (Ronnie Reno); and Frontline Records (12th Tribe), among many others. In 2009, the company doubled the size of its catalog from the previous year.
A decade later, the company relocated from California to Nashville, as many of their clients were already based in Tennessee, and picked up Dark Shadow Recording (Becky Buller, Man About a Horse). Earlier this year, Syntax added more clients in Gray Artist Services, 403 Music and Sound Biscuit. They also teamed with Christian music and entertainment site NewReleaseToday’s label NRT Music, to provide marketing and digital distribution for the label, and teamed with Blue Flower Records and folk duo The Gray Havens. Syntax has also continued further building its reputation in the bluegrass space through its partnership with Rebel Records, the 64-year-old label whose catalog of over 4,800 songs includes music from Larry Sparks, Ralph Stanley, Del McCoury and Bill Emerson.
Syntax offers a differentiating factor in that it not only distributes music but offers a range of services including marketing, royalty consolidation and label services. While artists today have a range of social media outlets at their disposal, he’s found that every genre, from mainstream pop to more niche genres has benefited from TikTok.
“If artists only have enough time for one, it should be TikTok, because really all the people are doing right now anyway, is there, and then they go over and just post the same video at another [social media] network,” he says.
Even with all the controversy surrounding the money artists and songwriters make (or don’t make) from streaming, Trudeau says he advises artists to look at the role of DSPs differently.
“I feel like a lot of these DSPs get a bad rap because I think the artists have now looked to the DSPs and they think, ‘We’re in the music business. I need all my income to come from Spotify,’” he says. “And it’s like, ‘What if Spotify was the loss leader?’ That’s one thing we’re always trying to work with our artists on — you’re not in the Spotify business or you’re not in the CD business, you’re in the music business. So how can we monetize everything around it in a way where you can actually do this full-time or even part-time?”
Trudeau, who has served on both Dove Awards and Grammy screening committees and is an active board member of the Music Business Association, has also led educational tracks for conferences including Music Biz, Gospel Music Association, Flavor Fest and more.
“We’ve had a lot of fun helping the labels and the artists that we work with on just practical things that they can do that will help their careers, and help increase their revenue,” Trudeau says.
The best advice I received is: One thing that stood out to me early on was the person who picks up the phone, and the person who sends the email, those are the ones that things happen for them. Maybe they get told ‘No’ 99 times, but then the 100th time, they get told yes.
I would tell people coming up in this industry: The live show is still number one—that’s a way to connect that I still think a phone and social networks will never be able to replace. And those people that were at those smaller, beginning shows, they will follow them all the way. They will be the ones buying the VIP stuff—not that you can’t convert someone who came into it later, but those early fans are often really invested.
In my job, it’s good to have: I’ve never really been one to overreact or get too heated up. It seems like that’s served me well. Being calm, even when things are crazy, has helped a ton. Working with people—we have 150 record labels and that’s a lot to juggle. You get people calling if they are going through something or need advice because they know I’m going to be rational and not overreact.