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The global record business will soon pop the champagne to celebrate another year of streaming-led revenue growth, judging from the handful of individual country revenue figures for 2023 made public so far this year. The IFPI won’t release its 2023 report until Thursday (Mar. 21), but major markets such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain and Japan have already released data that shows 2023 produced another bumper harvest for record labels.
But while streaming continues to push markets in positive directions, growth has slowed, and revenue in some markets remains well below the levels of the CD era. Worse yet, some countries may have insufficient streaming growth to get back to earlier peaks.
SNEP, the recorded music trade group in France, issued a stark warning this week when it announced that the country’s 2023 revenue rose a respectable 5.1% to 968 million euros ($1.05 billion at the average exchange rate in 2023). But even though digital revenue rose 8.8% to 620 million euros ($671 million) and streaming revenue climbed 9.2%, a 10% increase in subscription streaming revenue “remains too weak to fully fuel the development of the market even though it is the primary source of value creation,” SNEP wrote in its 2023 report.
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France might reasonably be expected to be faring better in 2024. The country was the sixth-largest recorded music market in 2022, according to the IFPI, and is the home of Deezer, an early entrant to the music subscription market. But in 2023, France had only a 16% penetration rate for paid subscribers, according to SNEP, “one of the lowest among the main music territories. The growth in revenue from these subscriptions is slowing down here while our market is far from having reached maturity.” This isn’t a brand-new concern: SNEP sounded the same alarm a year ago.
So, while streaming is creating new opportunities globally for labels, publishers and creators, it hasn’t grown enough to help France recapture revenue lost during the fall of the CD in the 2000s. France’s revenue of 968 million euros in 2023 was 25% below the 1.3 billion euros of revenue it enjoyed in 2002. In contrast, the U.S. market’s $15.9 billion in recorded music revenue was well above the peak of the CD era, $14.5 billion, set in 1999, according to the RIAA.
Elsewhere, some major recorded music markets have announced decent gains in 2023 without voicing the kind of dire warning seen in France.
The German recorded music industry grew 6.3% in 2023, the BVMI announced Mar. 6. Digital revenue grew 8.4% and accounted for 81.5% of total revenue. Audio streaming rose 8.4% and accounted for 74.8% of the total market and 92% of digital revenue. Physical sales accounted for 18.5% of total revenue and rose 0.1% from 2022. CD sales dropped 5.9% but accounted for 11.3% of total revenue and about 61% of physical revenue. Vinyl sales grew 12.6%.
Spain’s recorded music market grew 12.3% to 520 million euros in 2023, Promusicae announced Tuesday (Mar. 12). Streaming grew 17.3% to 398.6 million euros ($432 million) and accounted for 77% of total revenue, which was a remarkable 150% higher than the low point of 159.7 million euros ($212 million) in 2013. But, like France, Spain has yet to match its peak revenue from the CD era. Last year’s revenue was on par with the 475 million euros ($534 million) seen in 2005, itself a sharp decline from revenue that surpassed 700 million euros ($630 million) in 2001.
Aside from SNEP in France, only the BPI in the United Kingdom sounded an alarm of any sort. The market’s recorded revenue rose 8.1% in 2023 to a record 1.43 billion pounds ($1.78 billion), the organization announced Thursday (Mar. 14), with streaming revenue increasing 8.4% to 962 million pounds ($1.2 billion) and accounting for 67.4% of total revenue, up from 67.3% in 2022 and well above the 8.6% seen a decade earlier. But BPI CEO Dr. Jo Twist cautioned not to take the growth for granted and emphasized the need for “significant label investment” to keep the market prosperous.
There’s a reason the kind of gains music markets are seeing currently might not feel like unqualified success stories: inflation. Adjusted for inflation, revenue in France last year was actually 48% below 2002; and in 2022, the United States was 38% below its 1999 peak.
These major markets’ failure to return to CD-era highs helps explain the music business’s unprecedented land rush as companies invest in developing markets in search of export-ready artists and untapped streaming potential. Both majors and independents are investing in Africa, the Middle East/North Africa, Asia and South America — regions with large populations, under-monetized streaming markets and exportable music that could generate royalties in Western countries.
Those developing markets, and some major ones like the United States and United Kingdom, helped global recorded music trade revenue reach a new high of $24 billion in 2021, surpassing the $23.2 billion from 1999 (unadjusted for inflation). While both the United States and United Kingdom surpassed their CD era peaks in 2021 (without adjusting for inflation), some other major markets are still trying to recapture their glory days. Growth-minded companies in those markets may have to look beyond their borders to get there.
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It’s been 40 years since the first Ghostbusters premiered, but the franchise continues to haunt our screens with its latest installment, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, premiering Friday, March 22. You can get tickets to see the new Ghostbusters movie in theaters, but for fans looking to watch every Ghostbusters film at home before you see Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, there are some streaming options available.
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The upcoming Ghostbusters movie will continue the story from Ghostbusters: Afterlife, as the Spengler family heads to New York City and into the legendary fire house (aka the original headquarters for the Ghostbusters). When an ancient artifact is uncovered, an evil force is accidentally unleashed, wreaking havoc and threatening the safety of the world. Ghostbusters new and old must come together to help defeat the mysterious new villain — or risk the world enduring a second ice age.
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Cast members for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire include original stars Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson and Dan Aykroyd, in addition to Paul Rudd, Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Emily Alyn Lind, Carrie Coon, Patton Oswalt, Kumail Nanjiani, Celeste O’Connor, Annie Potts, William Atherton, James Acaster and Logan Kim.
Keep reading to learn how to stream the Ghostbusters movies online.
How Many Ghostbusters Movies Have There Been?
The release of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire will mark the fifth movie in the franchise. The first Ghostbusters was released in 1984, followed by the sequel, which premiered in 1989. In 2016, the series was rebooted with an all-female cast in Ghostbusters that included Kristin Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Melissa McCarthy. After a five year break, the ghost-fighting continued in the 2021 release of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which brings a new set of heroes to the forefront.
How to Watch the Ghostbusters Movies in Order
If you’ve never seen the Ghostbusters movies, you’ll want to start with the very first one in the franchise in order to catch all the easter eggs scattered throughout the newer movies. From there, follow the release order and you’ll be able to better understand the characters and their significance in the movies.
How to Watch the Ghostbusters Movies Online
You can watch Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters 2 online for free through Hulu. Current Hulu subscribers can stream Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2 for no additional cost when you sign into your account.
Don’t have a Hulu subscription? The streaming platform offers a 30-day free trial for new users who sign up, which mean you can watch both movies and more for free. Once your free trial is done, you’ll be charged the regular subscription fee based on the plan you choose. Plans start at $7.99/month and give you access to the entire Hulu library in addition to most new episodes of live TV shows the day after they air, the ability to download content to watch offline and more.
Looking to save more money? You can grow your content library by bundling Hulu with Disney+ and ESPN+ for as low as $14.99/month. If you’re interested in live TV channels, check out Hulu + Live TV.
You can watch Ghostbusters (2016) for free through Freevee with ads on Prime Video. It doesn’t require a Prime membership in order to stream — just head to Prime Video or click here to instantly watch the movie.
To stream Ghostbusters: Afterlife online, you can buy or rent the movie through Prime Video. Rentals cost $4, or you can buy the movie to own for $13. A Prime membership isn’t need to watch Ghostbusters: Afterlife online — once you purchase the movie it’ll automatically be downloaded into your library to watch as you please. Rentals will remain in your library for 30 days after purchase and 48 hours once you start watching the movie. Click here or below to buy Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
Don’t want to jump around streaming platforms? Prime Video offers a digital three-movie collection that includes Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters 2 and Ghostbusters: Afterlife. It’s currently on sale for $30 (regularly $32), and will automatically download all three movies into your digital library after purchasing.
How to Watch the Ghostbusters Movies At Home
Collectors can get hardcopies of the Ghostbusters movies, which are available in Blu-ray and 4K editions.
‘Ghostbusters’ (1984) / ‘Ghostbusters II’ / ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ [Blu-ray]
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Keep all three movies in one place with a Blu-ray edition of Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters 2 and Ghostbusters: Afterlife. It’s on sale for almost 50% off and includes three discs filled with bonus features and commentary that’ll provide more insight into the making of the movies.
‘Ghostbusters’ (2016)
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The 2016 version of Ghostbusters is now available in a 4K DVD set, giving you the ultimate viewing experience. You’ll not only get a 4K disc, but a Blu-ray 3D version, Blu-ray disc and digital code to take the film with you on the go.
Check below to watch the trailer for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.
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The men’s college basketball postseason is upon us, with March Madness kicking off next week.
The First Four play-in games are set to take place Tuesday (March 19) in Dayton, Ohio, while the Final Four games will see the last remaining quartet of teams go head-to-head at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., April 6-8. Cord-cutters don’t have to hunt for their nearest sports bar to watch March Madness live: For a limited time, Sling TV is offering up to 50% off the first month with access to all the 2024 March Madness games.
Selection Sunday takes place this weekend, on March 17, to determine the 68 teams competing in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Once the bracket has been revealed, March Madness will commence with teams competing across the U.S. in cities including Brooklyn, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Omaha, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, Spokane and Memphis.
Keep reading to learn when and how to livestream March Madness 2024 on Sling TV.
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When Does March Madness 2024 Start?
After Selection Sunday, March Madness will start on Tuesday (March 19) with two play-in games. Then the 64-team tournament games begin Thursday (March 21) and go until the Final Four games that begin on Saturday (April 6). See below for the full breakdown of the schedule.
First Four games: March 19-20
First Round (round of 64): March 21-22
Second Round (round of 32): March 23-24
Sweet 16 (regional semifinals): March 28-29
Elite Eight (regional finals): March 30-31
Final Four (national finals and championship): April 6, 8
How to Watch March Madness 2024 on Sling TV
Sling TV offers a variety of affordable streaming options that will allow you to stream March Madness 2024 live online. The live TV streaming platform is offering a limited-time promotion on eligible plans that will earn you up to half-off the first month, saving you as much as $20. Click here or the button below to start your subscription.
Sling TV has three different sports packages to choose from: Sling Orange, NBA League Pass and Sling Orange + NBA League Pass. With Sling Orange, you’ll receive a discount of 50% off for the first month, dropping the price down to $20 (reg. $40); national coverage on ESPN, TNT and more channels; access to ABC through ESPN3; and up to 50 hours of DVR storage. After your first month is up, you’ll be charged the regular subscription price of $40/month.
For even more basketball, NBA League Pass is slashing $5 off the first month, which takes the price down to a wallet-friendly $10. You’ll be able to watch all the out-of-market games (subject to local blackouts), more than 400 channels of free movies and TV shows through Sling Freestream, a $5 Sling credit toward your first month and 24/7 access to NBA TV.
And, if you want both plans, you can bundle the two together with Sling TV + NBA League Pass, which is on sale for only $50 for the first month (reg. $55).
Neil Young is bringing his music back to Spotify more than two years after requesting its removal from the platform, the singer-songwriter announced Tuesday (March 12).
In January 2022, Young published an open letter asking Spotify to pull down his catalog, citing what he called the spread of vaccine misinformation on the wildly popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast, which was then hosted exclusively on the streaming platform. Several other artists, including Joni Mitchell, Indie.Arie and Young’s Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young bandmates David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, subsequently followed suit, though CSN/CSN&Y and Arie’s music have since been restored to the service; Mitchell’s catalog remains absent.
In a new post on his Neil Young Archives website, the legendary artist said the end of Spotify’s exclusive deal with Rogan led to his decision to restore his music to the service. “My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I had opposed at Spotify,” the post reads – a clear reference to the Joe Rogan Experience, though Young never mentions it by name.
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“I cannot just leave Apple and Amazon, like I did Spotify, because my music would have very little streaming outlet to music lovers at all, so I have returned to Spotify, in sincere hopes that Spotify sound quality will improve and people will be able to hear and feel all the music as we made it,” Young continued, before shouting out Qobuz and Tidal, where his catalog also lives, as “High res” streaming options.
Young concludes his post by stating his hope that Spotify “will turn to Hi Res as the answer and serve all the music to everyone. Spotify, you can do it! Really be #1 in all ways. You have the music and listeners!!!! Start with a limited Hi res tier and build from there!”
Spotify announced plans to roll out a HiFi tier in February 2021, though those plans have yet to come to fruition. In June 2023, Bloomberg reported the streaming giant would finally launch the product later in the year, but the company declined comment when reached by Billboard – and the calendar rolled over without the tier materializing.
Young has long been an advocate of high-resolution audio, even launching his own (now-defunct) high-res audio download platform, Pono, in 2015 before shuttering it two years later.
In September, Billboard estimated that the absence of Young’s catalog on Spotify had cost him roughly $300,000 in lost recorded music and publishing royalties to that point.
At press time, Young’s music catalog had yet to be restored to Spotify, which did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s request for comment.
A dozen years after Spotify launched in the United States and 18 years into the existence of YouTube, streaming music is so ingrained in Americans’ behavior that 91% of the U.S. internet population used a music streaming service in the last year, according to the 22nd edition of MusicWatch’s U.S. Annual Music Study.
According to the report, released Monday (Mar. 11), the number of U.S. subscribers to music services such as Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music Unlimited reached 109 million in 2023 — meaning over half of U.S. internet users aged 13 and over now pay for a music streaming service. That number increases to 136 million if SiriusXM and Amazon Prime Music are included. SiriusXM is predominantly a satellite radio service that also has an internet product. Amazon Prime provides music streaming to customers who sign up for Prime for free shipping and other perks.
In 2012, just 56% of Americans used any type of music streaming service. That number jumped to 69% in 2014 and surpassed the 80% mark in 2018. But 2023 was the first time music streamers surpassed 90% of the internet population. MusicWatch counts music streaming on ad-supported audio platforms such as Spotify and Pandora, paid services such as Apple Music, and video services such as YouTube. For the sake of this survey, short-form video platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels are not considered to be music streaming platforms.
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The number of people who stream music has grown even faster than the proportion of the population that does so. In 2012, the U.S. internet population stood at roughly 125 million. By 2023, it had grown by nearly 60 million to 193 million. The way people access the internet has changed over that period. In the early days of the internet, people mostly had a dial-up home internet connection, but over time, home internet access improved while mobile internet usage exploded.
The prevalence of mobile internet has played an important role in music streaming adoption. Not long ago, MusicWatch principal Russ Crupnick noticed a change in the reasons why people paid for subscription services. Early subscription adopters were heavy users who found value in features such as playlists, connecting to their social networks and recommendations. Then, about five years ago, Crupnick found new subscribers’ reasons for paying a monthly fee started to change.
More recent adopters of paid music streaming services care more about access, not features, says Crupnick. As more people had smart speakers, bluetooth headphones and in-dash entertainment systems in their cars, it was important for services to offer a seamless listening experience as they moved from place to place. “It just works,” he says of subscribers’ rationale for paying. “It works everywhere that I want and works on all of my devices.”
Per-capita spending on recorded music increased 7% from 2022 as music subscriptions, CDs and vinyl all saw double-digit gains. That improvement came from both organic growth and price inflation, says Crupnick. Music subscription services pushed through a string of price increases after keeping their prices mostly untouched for many years — Apple Music in Oct. 2022, Spotify in July, YouTube Music also in July and Amazon Music in August.
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Jack Black‘s animated film takeover is continuing as he returns as Po the panda in Kung Fu Panda 4. The actor has been dominating the screen with his viral performance as Bowser in the Super Mario Bros. movie, which landed him on the Billboard Hot 100 for his electric breakout hit “Peaches.”
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And Kung Fu Panda 4 won’t be the last animated film that Black lends his voice to: He’s also planning to join another video game-turned-movie for Minecraft alongside Jason Momoa. Until then, the Jumanji actor will bring Po back to life onscreen as he faces new foes and adventures on his kung fu journey.
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Is Kung Fu Panda 4 Out Now?
Kung Fu Panda 4 premiered in theaters on March 8, and you can still get tickets to the movie to watch the latest film on the big screen.
In the fourth installment, Po (Black) is asked to evolve from the Dragon Warrior to the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace. But, before he can undertake his new responsibilities (and figure out what it means to be a spiritual leader), he must find and train someone else to become the Dragon Warrior. Matters only get more complicated when a mysterious and powerful shapeshifting sorceress, Chameleon (Viola Davis), sets her sights on Po’s staff of wisdom, which would give her the power to summon all of Po’s past villains that he vanquished to the spirit realm.
Other cast members include Awkwafina, Dustin Hoffman, James Hong, Bryan Cranston, Ian McShane and Ke Huy Quan.
Now that all four movies are out, you can check below to see the streaming options for how to watch all three Kung Fu Panda movies online.
How to Watch Kung Fu Panda Movies Online for Free
The Kung Fu Panda movies were distributed by Universal Pictures, which makes Peacock the official streaming platform for the franchise. You can stream Kung Fu Panda, Kung Fu Panda 2 and Kung Fu Panda 3 online through Peacock. If you’re already a Peacock subscriber, you can watch all Kung Fu Panda movies for free when you log into your account.
Don’t have a Peacock subscription? The streaming platform doesn’t offer a free trial, but does have affordable plans starting at $5.99/month or you can save around 17% off with an annual plan starting at $59.99/year. Click here or the button below to start your Peacock subscription.
Peacock has two subscriptions to choose from: the Premium Plan and the Premium Plus plan. The Premium Plan is ad-supported and the cheapest option at $5.99/month. With it, you’ll get access to all the new and hit Peacock, NBC and Bravo content, thousands of hours of movies and TV series, live sports and events and more than 50 live channels.
Peacock’s Premium Plus plan is ad-free for $11.99/month and includes everything in the Premium plans as well as your local NBC channel live 24/7 and the ability to download select titles to watch offline.
Original Peacock, NBC and Bravo content you can look forward to streaming include Mission Impossible, Based on a True Story, America’s Got Talent, Kevin Hart: Reality Check, Love Island, Poker Face, Bel-Air, Poker Face, Yellowstone, The Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip, Vanderpump Rules and more.
How to Watch Kung Fu Panda Movies At Home
If you’d rather own the movies you can buy Kung Fu Panda, Kung Fu Panda 2 and Kung Fu Panda 3 as a set online through Prime Video for 40% off. A Prime membership isn’t required in order to stream the Kung Fu Panda movies online either — once you purchase the films all three will automatically be downloaded to your library to watch at your leisure.
Collectors can also buy the Kung Fu Panda: 3-Movie Collection on DVD to keep on display or watch on your portable DVD player on your travels. Amazon is offering the movie collection for 38% off slashing the price to $12.
“Kung Fu Panda: 3-Movie Collection” [DVD]
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$19.98
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You can keep all three movies in one safe case with the Kung Fu Panda: 3-Movie Collection. Inside is three discs as well as bonus content and special features that’ll give you more insight into the making of the films.
Check out the trailer for Kung Fu Panda 4 below.
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At the 2024 Oscars on Sunday night, Emma Stone took home best actress for her performance in the comedy sci-fi film Poor Things. This marked the actress’ second Oscar following her 2016 win for best actress in La La Land.
That’s not the only golden statue Poor Things received: the Yorgos Lanthimos-directed movie also won best production design, makeup and hairstyling, and costume design. With the major awards wins, you can now watch Poor Things online for free through Hulu or you can buy or rent the movie on Prime Video.
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Keep reading to learn all the streaming options for Poor Things.
What Is the Plot for Poor Things?
Poor Things is based on a novel of the same title by Alasdair Gray and follows Bella Baxter (Stone), a woman who is resurrected by the unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). She runs off with a lawyer traveling across the continent and discovering the joys and wonders of life. Throughout the movie, viewers will watch Bella’s evolution as she learns about society and what it deems a woman’s place should be within it.
Other cast members include Mark Ruffalo, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott and Margaret Qualley.
Why Is Poor Things Rated R?
Poor Things is rated R for its scenes of gore, graphic nudity, language, strong sexual content and disturbing material, according to Rotten Tomatoes’ breakdown. R-rated movies are recommended for viewers 17 years and older unless accompanied by a parent or guardian. It’s also advised that parents learn more about the movie before allowing children under 17 watch.
How to Watch Poor Things Online for Free
You can watch Poor Things online for free through Hulu if you have a subscription — just log into your account and you can find it within the movie library.
Don’t have a Hulu subscription? The streaming platform offers a 30-day free trial to new users who sign up. Once your free trial is over, you’ll be charged a subscription fee based on the plan you choose at checkout. Click here or the button below to start your free trial.
Hulu offers two types of plans: an ad-supported version for $7.99/month or go ad-free with the premium plan for $17.99/month. If you want to expand your content offerings, you can bundle Hulu with Disney+ and ESPN+ starting at $14.99/month.
Want live TV too? Hulu also offers Hulu + Live TV for $76.99/month.
You can look forward to streaming exclusive and original content including Only Murders in the Building, Abbott Elementary, American Horror Stories, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, Pam & Tommy, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Shogun and more.
How to Stream Poor Things At Home
You can stream Poor Things online when you purchase the film on Prime Video. Right now, the movie is on sale for 35% off knocking the price from $20 to $13. You don’t need a Prime membership to buy Poor Things either. Once you make your purchase, the movie will automatically download to your library to watch and stream at your leisure.
Collector’s can preorder Poor Things on Blu-ray through Amazon, Target and Walmart for as low as $25. The movie will then be delivered to your door by the time it’s released on Tuesday (March 12).
“Poor Things” [Blu-ray]
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The Poor Things Blu-ray features bonus material including commentary and special features that’ll give you a more in-depth look at the movie and its making. Inside the DVD case you’ll also receive a Blu-ray disc and digital code to download and take with you on the go.
And, if you want to discover scenes and moments that didn’t make the movie, the novel Poor Things is based will allow you to gain a deeper understanding of the film and universe.
“Poor Things [Movie Tie-in]: A Novel”
$15.19
$18.99
20% off
$15.19
$18.99
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The Poor Things novel comes with a cover adapted from the movie with Stone spotlighted. The book was originally published in 2023 and features 336 to delve into.
Check below to watch the trailer for Poor Things.
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A rematch is in store this weekend at UFC 299 as Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera enter the ring again in a bantamweight title match on Saturday (March 9) at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+. As a fresh UFC bantamweight champion, O’Malley will be going up against Vera (the one person who has beaten him in the past) during his first title defending fight.
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The match will occur live at the Kaseya Center in Miami, FL, and you can still get tickets to O’Malley vs. Vera II online to watch the fight in person. Want to stream O’Malley vs. Vera from home? Here’s how to watch UFC 299 live online on pay-per-view.
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How to Watch UFC 299
You can watch the UFC 299 main card on PPV starting at 10 p.m. ET through ESPN+. Early preliminaries will take place at 6 p.m. ET and preliminaries will begin at 8 p.m. on ESPN and ESPN+.
Besides O’Malley vs. Vera II, other UFC 299 matches include Dustin Poirier vs. Benoît Saint Denis (lightweight), Kevin Holland vs. Michael Page (welterweight), Gilbert Burns vs. Jack Della Maddalena (welterweight), Petr Yan vs. Song Yadong (bantamweight), Curtis Blaydes vs. Jailton Almeida (heavyweight), Katlyn Cerminara vs. Maycee Barber (women’s flyweight), Mateusz Gamrot vs. Rafael Dos Anjos (lightweight) and Pedro Munhoz vs. Kyler Phillips (bantamweight).
Keep reading to learn how to stream UFC 299 online at home.
How to Watch UFC 299 Online Without Cable
O’Malley vs. Vera II is a PPV match that you’ll have to purchase in order to watch the fights live at home. Since UFC 299 is aired through ESPN+, you’ll need a subscription to the platform in addition to purchasing the PPV stream. If you’re already an ESPN+ subscriber, you can purchase the PPV fight for $80 here or through the button below.
Not an ESPN+ subscriber? UFC 299 is offering a bundle with an ESPN+ annual subscription and the PPV fight for $135, which will save you 30% off. When you purchase the bundle, you’ll automatically be subscribed to an annual membership of $109.99/year and will gain immediate access to UFC 299 when it airs on Saturday at 10 p.m. ET. Click here or the button below to get the PPV match.
Besides being able to stream UFC 299 online, an ESPN+ membership will give you access to the entire library of exclusive content such as live sports, UFC matches, originals from major names in sports such as The Captain, America’s Caddie, Man in the Arena With Tom Brady, More Than an Athlete With Michael Strahan, Our Time: Baylor Basketball, Al Davis vs. The NFL, Vick, Be Like Water, Breakaway and the entire 30 for 30 series.
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Zac Efron has returned to comedy in Ricky Stanicky, which premiered on Thursday (March 7) and is available to stream online now on Prime Video. After starring in the bio-drama Iron Claw, Efron joins John Cena and William H. Macy in the latest Prime Original.
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Ricky Stanicky follows three friends: Dean (Efron), JT (Andrew Santino) and Wes (Jermaine Fowler) who after a prank goes wrong, invent an imaginary friend named Ricky Stanicky to get them out of trouble. Twenty years later, the friends are still using the made up person to get them situations they don’t feel like dealing with. That is, until their loved ones become suspicious that Ricky isn’t real and insist on meeting him in person. Stuck with coming clean or keeping the lie going, the trio decide to hire a celebrity impersonator to fool their spouses and partners.
Keep reading to learn the streaming options to watch Ricky Stanicky online.
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How to Watch Ricky Stanicky Online for Free
Since the comedy is a Prime Original, you can stream Ricky Stanicky for free if you’re an Amazon Prime member. You just need to log into your account and you’ll be able to watch Ricky Stanicky online.
Don’t have a Prime membership? Amazon offers a 30-day free trial for new users who sign up, which means you can stream Ricky Stanicky online for free, along with all the other Amazon Prime member benefits. After the free trial is over, you’ll be charged the normal subscription fee of $14.99/month or $139/year. Click here or below to start your free trial.
A Prime membership won’t just let you watch Ricky Stanicky online, it will also give you access to the entire Prime Video library, including exclusive and original TV shows and movies like Upgraded, The Summer I Turned Pretty, Expats, Wilderness, The Wheel of Time, The Boys, Gen V and Daisy Jones & The Six.
If you want to expand your content library, you can add premium channels to your Prime subscription including Max, Starz and Paramount+ through the Prime Video Channel Storefront.
Outside of entertainment, a Prime membership comes with access to Prime Day, exclusive Prime member-only discounts, groceries, free one-day delivery, Prime Reading, Prime Try Before You Buy and more.
Check below to watch the trailer for Ricky Stanicky below.
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A new bill designed to increase streaming payouts for artists was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday (Mar. 6). Titled the Living Wage for Musicians Act, the legislation proposes the establishment of a new royalty fund that would pay artists directly, bypassing labels altogether.
Introduced by Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), the bill aims to boost artists’ streaming royalty from fractions of a penny up to one penny per stream by way of the new fund. It proposes to fund the additional royalty payments, in part, by mandating the addition of a fee to every streaming subscription equal to 50% of the subscription price — an amount that would be set anywhere between $4 and $10. The bill would also establish a royalty cap for tracks that generate at least 1 million streams per month, with royalties generated by the tracks beyond that number to be divided among all artists.
Notably, the bill would not affect the existing payout model but rather establish a separate fund on top of what artists already receive under the current system.
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“It’s only right that the people who create the music we love get their fair share, so that they can thrive, not just survive,” said Tlaib, who has long advocated for higher royalty payments to artists on streaming services, in a statement.
Damon Krukowski, a member of the band Damon & Naomi (and formerly Galaxie 500) and an organizer for the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW), added in a statement, “There is a lot of talk in the industry about how to ‘fix’ streaming — but the streaming platforms and major labels have already had their say for more than a decade, and they have failed musicians.”
The UMAW partnered with the representatives in drafting the act.
It’s unlikely streaming services and top labels will support all of the changes proposed by the bill. Daniel Ek, Spotify’s co-founder/CEO, expressed reluctance for years to raise subscription prices, although they did finally increase in 2023, rising from $9.99 to $10.99. Also likely to be unpopular with streaming services: a mandate that 10% of all of their non-subscription revenue, including from advertising, goes to the fund as a way to further increase payments to recording artists.
Labels and some artists also seem likely to oppose the cap in which the most popular artists share portions of their streaming revenue with the rest of the streaming pool. And labels — which have lobbying power through the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) — will also likely challenge the provision that would see artists paid directly from the fund rather than through the labels themselves.
An RIAA representative declined to comment on the bill.