tech
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Symphonic Distribution has partnered with Bonsai, a new company that connects artists and fans and opens up new modes of monetization, to give Symphonic artists’ early access to Bonsai tools. This includes “audiograms,” a product that allows artists to send fans an answer to any question as an audio file. The file is then paired with a visual generative artwork, creating an original collectible.
Bonsai touts this marquee product as a fun, interactive way to bridge the gap between artist and fan — and a novel form digital merchandise.
The company launched in 2022 as the brainchild of co-founder and CEO Patrick Sullivan and co-founder and COO Jake Rosenfeld. Sullivan is an entrepreneur best known for founding RightsFlow, which he sold to YouTube in 2011, and Source3, which was purchased by Meta in 2017. Rosenfeld previously headed Correlation Ventures’ New York branch.
Since their launch in 2022, Bonsai has collaborated with 30 rising artists to test out their offerings, including Amir Obè, The Faim, Diara Dylla, Fly By Midnight and The Holdup. The team up with Symphonic marks their first major partnership.
“Bonsai has created a refreshingly simple and extraordinarily useful platform that connects artists with superfans and monetizes a personal, feel-good exchange, in the form of a simple voice memo recording,” says Nick Gordon, chief partnership officer at Symphonic. “We’ve known their team through many huge successes in the past and are proud to introduce our clients to the potential of Bonsai.”
“Symphonic’s ethos is all about helping artists maximize earnings from their music,” adds Jake Rosenfeld, co-founder and COO of Bonsai. “Our values are completely aligned, and we couldn’t be more excited to launch our partnership.”
As hundreds of creators, partners and press took their seats for the fifth annual Snap Partner Summit Keynote — delivered by a handful of Snap executives across different fields — a video began to play that called into question how basic the human eye really is.
“What if we could literally see more?” the narration asked. “With Snapchat, we don’t have to settle.”
That idea underlines the many new developments unveiled by Snap on Wednesday (April 19) at Barker Hanger in Santa Monica, Calif., including CEO Evan Spiegel‘s concluding announcement that the company’s innovative chatbot, My AI — which was initially launched exclusively for Snapchat+ subscribers (who now number over 3 million, Spiegel announced) — is now available for free to all of the app’s 750 million monthly active users and can now send and receive its own Snapchats.
Music was on the agenda, too, of course. To kick things off, Snap head of talent development Brooke Berry discussed how musicians are growing their fanbases through the app while also shouting out the Snapchat Sounds Creator Fund, which helps musicians in the United States and India monetize their growth.
While the creator fund was introduced in a Billboard cover story last summer, along with the announcement of Snap’s multi-year partnership with Live Nation, the Keynote also revealed that Snap is doubling down on augmented reality (AR) in music — and that the Live Nation partnership has grown immensely since it was first unveiled.
News on the music front was revealed by Snap head of global AR product strategy Carolina Arguelles Navas, who noted that 85% of Snapchatters already use the app to enhance the live music experience. Her first announcement was to reveal a new integration between Snap and Disguise, a leader in live event visualization and virtual production technology, which will help bring Snap’s AR technology to some of the largest venues around the world. At future shows, fans will be able to see AR visuals that interact and build upon the performer’s on-stage visuals by using the Snapchat camera via Disguise RenderStream. One major artist — Kygo — is already on board, teaming with Snap and Disguise to level up his summer concerts using the company’s experiential AR.
Under the Live Nation partnership, Snap’s AR technology has already been utilized at a dozen festivals, including Electric Daisy Carnival and Lollapalooza, where last year Snapchat launched a handful of new AR features such as its AR Compass, which uses GPS wayfinding to show an interactive 3D map; Friend FindAR, which helps festival attendees find their crew; Festival Planner, which lets fans note must-see sets and share custom schedules; and Lollaland, where last year a virtual purple robot and hot dog could be seen through the Snapchat camera when a user was within the Chicagoland area during the weekend of the festival.
That brings us to Snap’s second major music announcement on Wednesday: Under the Live Nation partnership, the company will now bring the same AR experience to 16 additional festivals worldwide, including Lollapalooza Paris and the United Kingdom’s Reading and Leeds Festivals, with hopes to expand to even more festivals in the future.
Elsewhere at the Keynote, Snap announced it will bring its new augmented reality (AR) Mirrors to retailers, allowing consumers to virtually try on outfits and determine their best fit — which attendees were later invited to try for themselves while being fit for custom MadHappy tees and sweatshirts and yellow Snap-themed Nikes. Additionally, Snapchat filters can now be applied directly to fans’ faces at live sporting events via jumbotrons, creating communal moments of laughter — à la what the so-called “kiss cam” has done for years.
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Source: Justin Sullivan / Getty / Netflix
Remember when Netflix sent out DVDs? If you do, say goodbye to the feature cause it is going away.
Before Netflix became the streaming giant it is now, the company used to send customers DVDs through the mail. Yes, they really used to do that.
But no more. Netflix is officially shutting down its DVD-by-mail business. The company made the announcement on Tuesday ahead of its first-quarter 2023 earnings report, Variety reports.
According to Netflix, it has sent out more than 5 billion DVD and Blu-ray rentals through the mail across the United States.
Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the final Netflix DVDs will be sent out to customers still using the service on Sept. 29, 2023.
As the company pushed customers towards streaming, the revenue for Netflix’s DVD-by-mail steadily was on the decline. According to the streaming giant, the DVD business brought in $145.7 million, accounting for 0.5% of Netflix’s total revenue.
“From the beginning, our members loved the choice and control that direct-to-consumer entertainment offered: the wide variety of the titles and the ability to binge-watch entire series,” Sarandos said in a statement on the company’s blog.
He continues, “We feel so privileged to have been able to share movie nights with our DVD members for so long, so proud of what our employees achieved, and excited to continue pleasing entertainment fans for many more decades to come. To everyone who ever added a DVD to their queue or waited by the mailbox for a red envelope to arrive: thank you.”
Netflix’s video streaming service launched in 2007, and it was part of its DVD-by-mail subscription plans.
It’s an end of an era.
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Photo: Justin Sullivan / Getty
National Association of Broadcasters president and CEO Curtis LeGeyt spoke out on the potential dangers of Artificial Intelligence on Monday at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. “This is an area where NAB will absolutely be active,” he asserted of AI, which is one of the buzziest topics this week at the annual convention. “It is just amazing how quickly the relevance of AI to our entire economy — but specifically, since we’re in this room, the broadcast industry — has gone from amorphous concept to real.”
LeGeyt warned of several concerns that he has for local broadcasters, the first being issues surrounding “big tech” taking broadcast content and not fairly compensating broadcasters for its use. “We have been fighting for legislation to put some guardrails on it,” LeGeyt said. “AI has the potential to put that on overdrive. We need to ensure that our stations, our content creators are going to be fairly compensated.”
He added that he worries for journalists. “We’re already under attack for any slip-up we might have with regard to misreporting on a story. Well, you’re gonna have to do a heck of a lot more diligence to ensure that whatever you are reporting on is real, fact-based information and not just some AI bot that happens to look like Joe Biden.” Finally, he warned of images and likenesses being misappropriated where AI is involved.
“I want to wave the caution flag on some of these areas,” he said. “I think this could be really damaging for local broadcast.”
During his talk, he also outlines was he sees as potential opportunities. “My own view is there are some real potentially hyperlocal benefits to AI,” he said, citing as examples translation services and the ability to speed up research at “resource-constrained local stations.” He asserted, “Investigative journalism is never going to be replaced by AI. Our role at local community events, philanthropic work, is never going to be replaced by AI. But to the degree that we can leverage AI to do some of the things that are time-consuming and take away your ability to be boots on the ground doing the things that only you can do well, I think that’s a positive.”
Also addressed during the session was the voluntary rollout of the next generation of digital television, known as ATSC 3.0, which may include capabilities such as free, live broadcasting to mobile devices. A change of this magnitude has a lot of moving parts and has a long way to go before its potential can be realized.
At NAB, FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel was on hand to announce the Future of Television Initiative, which she described as a public-private partnership among stakeholders to support a transition to ATSC 3.0. “With over 60 percent of Americans already in range of a Next Gen TV signal, we are excited to work closely with all stakeholders, including the FCC, to bring Next Gen TV and all of its benefits to all viewers,” said LeGeyt.
During his session, LeGeyt also addressed “fierce competition for the dashboard” as part of a discussion of connected cars. “It’s not enough for any one [broadcaster] to innovate. If we are all not rowing in the same direction as an industry, … we are going to lose this arms race,” he warned.
Citing competition from the likes of Spotify, he contends that the local content offered by broadcasters gives them a “competitive advantage.”
The NAB Show runs through Wednesday.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
LONDON — Swiss-based tech company Utopia Music is undertaking a fresh round of job cuts, eliminating around 15% of its global workforce, co-founder and interim chief executive Mattias Hjelmstedt said in a memo to staff on Monday.
Hjelmstedt said the cost-trimming measures follow a review of the organization’s business and form part of an ongoing “strategic shift” towards a focus on delivering financial services for labels, publishers and distributors. Billboard understands that around 100 jobs are being cut.
In the staff memo, which has been seen by Billboard, Hjelmstedt says that Utopia’s distribution companies are not affected by the staff cuts. They include Proper Music Group, the United Kingdom’s leading independent physical music distributor, which provides distribution services for 1,000-plus indie labels and service companies, and Cinram Novum, which provides warehouse, fulfilment and distribution services to a range of labels, including UMG, Sony Music Entertainment and [PIAS].
Monday’s announcement is the second round of layoffs to take place at Utopia in the past six months.
In November, the Zug, Switzerland-based tech company cut its workforce by around 20%, representing about 230 jobs. That was followed by a restructuring of Utopia’s business into two separate divisions: Music Services and Royalty Platform in December and the exit of former CEO Markku Mäkeläinen in January. Earlier this month, U.K.-based Roberto Neri announced that he too was leaving his position as CEO of Utopia’s Music Services division to join French music company Believe.
The start of this year has also seen Utopia, whose motto is “Fair pay for every play,” divest two of the 15 companies it acquired over the past two years during a frenetic buying spree. On Feb. 7, Utopia announced that it had sold U.S.-based music database platform ROSTR — which has a directory of artists, managers, booking agents and record labels — back to ROSTR’s founders for an undisclosed sum.
Last month, French music company Believe acquired U.K.-based publisher Sentric, which represents more than four million songs and over 400,000 songwriters in more than 200 territories, from Utopia in a deal worth €47 million ($51 million). Utopia owned Liverpool-based Sentric Music Group — which also has offices in London, Hamburg, New York and Los Angeles – for just over a year before selling it to Believe.
“Today’s market requires that companies that embarked on a hiring spree during ‘hyper growth’ now restructure,” wrote Hjelmstedt. “We are a company that is not afraid to adjust when necessary. That means we take active decisions, however hard they may be, to ensure we can deliver our vision to serve the music industry.”
Hjelmstedt went on to say that adjusting to these strategic changes “has been a big, but necessary undertaking” that has optimized the company’s client offering “and already seen an uplift in customers.”
Referencing recent reports by Scandinavian news outlet Breakit that some Utopia employees had not been paid and the company’s Swedish arm, Utopia R&D Tech, owes 8 million SEK ($770,000) to the Swedish tax authorities, the CEO said “all outstanding tax debts have been cleared” and legacy issues regarding staff payments were “in the process of being cleaned up.”
“We continue to actively work on this process to ensure that we never find ourselves in this position again,” said Hjelmstedt, adding that the company – which had a workforce of around 1,000 employees internationally prior to sale of Sentric – will soon share information on “commercial initiatives, deals, and sales strategies” that will drive future revenue growth.
Read the memo in full here:
Dear Utopians,
Since taking on additional responsibilities as your Executive Chairman, I’ve been committed to sharing the steps we must take for Utopia to become a profitable and sustainable business. The new leadership team and I have had to make some important, and sometimes very tough, decisions as part of this ongoing process. Today I need to share news of that nature.
Together, we’ve very carefully reviewed our organization against our refocused product and commercial roadmaps, and specific needs, and must share the unfortunate news that, as part of this strategic shift, we need to say goodbye to around 15% of our Utopian colleagues. Our distribution companies are not affected by this review.
Thomas and I created Utopia by combining two of our great loves – music and technology – and we’ve built it together with you. That’s why this is the most difficult decision we’ve had to make so far, and I fully appreciate that after these past few months this will be hard to read. If you are one of the affected individuals: Please know that this is in no way based on your individual performance – we hired you because we value you and you are great at what you do – this is about doing what is necessary to secure the future of the company. We’re truly sorry to see you go and feel both humbled and grateful for all the amazing work you have done for Utopia.
It’s been very hard to see how Utopia was treated last year and you already know how I feel about decisions taken that put us in a difficult situation. Additionally, like the rest of the tech industry, we’re facing challenges brought on by changed market conditions. We’ve seen several waves of redundancies from companies large and small – Meta, for example, recently announced its “year of efficiency” to cater to its long-term vision. Today’s market requires that companies that embarked on a hiring spree during “hyper growth” now restructure. The likes of Spotify, Microsoft, and PayPal (and so many others) now need to adapt to the new reality of focused sustainable growth – just like we have to at Utopia. We are a company that is not afraid to adjust when necessary. That means we take active decisions, however hard they may be, to ensure we can deliver our vision to serve the music industry with technology for processing royalties, distributing music, and facilitating Fair Pay for Every Play while reducing complexity for our customers.
Adjusting to these changes has been a big, but necessary undertaking. We’ve sharpened our strategic focus these past three months through targeted sales (ROSTR and Sentric) – bringing in further capital as an additional benefit – and we appointed a new, mature leadership team that’s equipped to move Utopia towards profitability. We have optimized our offering and already seen an uplift in customers – we have strong products on the market that we will continue to improve, a top-of-the-line platform, a world-class distribution arm that represents 98% of UK labels (including all majors), and a plan to first break even and then grow even further, sustainably. The legacy from last year is in the process of being cleaned up. All outstanding tax debts have been cleared, including our financial obligations in Sweden. We continue to actively work on this process to ensure that we never find ourselves in this position again. We’re humbled and grateful to all of you who stepped up to support this large, strategic shift, and have shown patience while we do so.
Soon we will share more information on commercial initiatives, deals, and sales strategies that will drive Utopia’s revenue growth. But for now, let’s allow ourselves time to reflect and give the great people that will unfortunately have to leave us a proper goodbye. Some colleagues will receive difficult news and some will lose teammates and friends, so please be there for them.
I want to express my sincere apologies to everyone affected. Utopia was built to be a high-impact company and we have attracted extremely talented people who we truly appreciate and respect. That’s why this decision is so hard to make. I know you will have a lot of questions, please know that more information on next steps will be provided by the P&C team shortly.
Take care of yourselves and each other,
Mattias
“New Home” is a pensive, wordless piano ballad — not the type of song that’s typically thought of as viral trend material on TikTok. But last month, Austin Farwell, who wrote and performed the track, noticed it appearing in a wave of videos. Many of these featured the actor Pedro Pascal munching peacefully on a sandwich — a snippet from the YouTube series Snack Wars — next to a block of text, something along the lines of “when you catch up with your friends and they’re all complaining about their trash men but you can’t relate cos your man is perfect and treats you like a princess every day.”
“I didn’t understand,” Farwell says. “I don’t know Pedro Pascal; I didn’t know why he was eating a sandwich. But if that’s the trend that people want to promote my music with, great.”
The Pascal videos were created using the program CapCut, which is owned by TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance. CapCut, which marketers joke is the new version of Apple’s Final Cut Pro, makes more advanced video editing techniques accessible to the masses, allowing clips like those with Pascal to be easily replicated and adjusted effectively with the click of a button. Chopping his calm chewing footage out of one video and into another is beyond many users’ technical ability. With CapCut, “you’re really not even editing, you’re choosing a template, adding something of your own, and the program is just generating this video for you,” says Abbey Fickley, a TikTok creator.
“They give you these slow motion effects, or make it go from blurry to super clear, or these glitchy cuts, which make the videos more dramatic,” Fickley continues. “That in turn makes the viewer more inclined to stay and watch it. It spices up your content — those editing features really do attract the viewer, instead of them just scrolling past it.”
Songs can be hitched to CapCut templates, so as they have proliferated on TikTok, they have become an important new area of focus for music marketers. “If you can match one of those [templates] to a sound that amplifies the video, or makes it more dynamic, then you suddenly have something that can act as a vessel for the sound to go viral,” explains Sanu Hariharan, co-head of music partnerships at Creed Media, a marketing company focused on Gen Z. “It’s been a really strong facilitator of user-generated content,” which is typically the metric that artist teams use to evaluate the success of marketing campaigns, especially on Tiktok but also on Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.
A major label executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity went further: “If you want to break a song on TikTok right now” — and everybody with commercial aspirations does — “you have to attach it to something from CapCut.” In recent months, these trends have helped drive listeners to “New Home,” Luke Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” (currently No. 32 on the Billboard Hot 100), a mash-up of Ice Spice’s “In Ha Mood” (peaked at No. 58 on the chart dated March 22), Deftones’ “Change (In the House of Flies),” Hollywood Undead’s “Everywhere I Go,” and more.
CapCut launched globally in 2020, and it topped the app charts as early as 2021. Much in the same way that new music production tools like BandLab’s SongStarter have made it simple for those with minimal experience to create credible-sounding tracks, CapCut “makes it a lot easier for your everyday user to be able to create more polished videos,” says Jen Darmafall, director of marketing at ATG Group. “You don’t have to have a particular skill set when it comes to editing — there are templates on the platform for you to go and plug in what you want, whether it’s photos or videos or text overlays or transitions. That’s helped it skyrocket.”
In October, ByteDance made it even easier to jump between TikTok and CapCut: When users encountered a video on the former made with the latter, a new button allowed them to quickly start playing with the template on their own. Partly as a result of that change, “over the last six months or so,” clips made with CapCut are “in your face every day, non-stop, no matter what side of TikTok you’re on,” Darmafall says. CapCut clips are also peppering Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, further amplifying ByteDance’s influence in the social media market at a time when the company is facing intense scrutiny from the U.S. government.
Jess Keifer, director of digital strategy for Sony Music Nashville, noticed a CapCut trend set to “Fast Car” — a blurry scene, often accompanied by heart-warming text, that snaps into focus just as the singer up-shifts into the chorus — gain traction during the last week of March, leading to an “explosion” of similar TikTok clips. “It’s an easy source of inspiration for fans,” she says. Fickley hopped on the Combs trend and amassed a million views within two hours. “I’ve never had a video go viral that fast,” she says.
Much of TikTok’s appeal from the start has been that anyone can go viral, no matter how many followers you have or how long you’ve been using the platform. But to replicate the dance trends that were popular in the app’s early days, for example, a user either had to be good at dancing or comfortable with embarrassment. Neither are required to adjust a CapCut video template that riffs on Stranger Things‘ Finn Wolfhard or the cartoon Tom and Jerry.
“As you hop on the trending templates, you’re gonna get more views and visibility, which is what we all want,” explains Tim Gerst, CEO of digital marketing agency Thinkswell. “And so it becomes about, how can you find ways to take your own music or the things that you’re working on and implement it into templates that are trending?”
CapCut templates are especially useful for music marketers because they often come with songs attached to them. “Some people are having these templates created specifically for their sound or for the artist’s song that they are promoting,” Darmafall says. “And some of them are scouring TikTok for CapCuts every single day, finding the most popular templates, and putting their song to it” — seeing if they can sway a trend in their direction. “It’s so easy to unlink a sound and link a new sound to it,” Darmafall notes.
A common critique of TikTok is that it elevates songs but not artists: Millions of users might get obsessed with a snippet of a track but not bother to even figure out what the singer looks like. One advantage of CapCut templates is that artists can quickly jump on a trend that might otherwise take off without them. “It’s great for artists because it saves them time,” says Cassie Petrey, founder of the digital marketing company Crowd Surf. “We try to encourage our artists to use them as it makes sense for their brand,” Keifer adds.
Hariharan points to a recent video from Rag’n’Bone Man, where the gravel-voiced balladeer posted his own version of a CapCut template that was both set to his track “Human” and also included footage of the singer spinning in place. The Rag’n’Bone Man video earned more than 12 million views, easily outstripping any of his other recent clips. “This is a way that artists themselves can get in on the action,” Hariharan says. “It allows them to kind of unlock another layer, feed themselves in, increase their overall recognizability.”
“This is just going to become more and more important for us to pay attention to,” Keifer adds.
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Source: STEFANI REYNOLDS / Getty / Jack Teixeira
A member of the National Guard is in BIG TROUBLE with the US government for trying to look cool to members of his private Discord channel.
NBC News first reported law enforcement officials linked 21-year-old Texas Airman Jack Teixeira to a trove of confidential documents leaked on Discord, a voice, video, and text chat app popular among gamers and Twitch streamers.
Texiera was arrested at his home in North Dighton, Massachusetts, for his stupid actions, on Thursday, April 13. He appeared in federal court on Friday and was charged with unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents and materials.
He faces up to 15 years in prison if he is found guilty.
“Today, the Justice Department arrested Jack Douglas Teixeira in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorized removal, retention, and transmission of classified national defense information,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
The Pentagon was aware of the sensitive information on Discord, Twitter, Telegram, and 4chan last week. Most of the leaks pertain to the Russian-Ukraine war and information about the United States spying on Russia and its allies.
What Allegedly Was In The Documents
Some experts believe these leaks could strain the US’ relationships with its allies. One of the documents reportedly revealed that Serbia supplied Ukraine with much-needed lethal aid in its fight against its invader, Russia.
Some of the documents even had alterations. In one example, a document found on a Telegram channel falsely claimed that Ukraine had lost more soldiers in the war than Russia than what is being documented.
Further investigations determined that the documents were posted earlier than previously believed, and third parties shared them to other channels. According to an investigation conducted by Bellingcat, the documents might have been published as far back as January.
He Did It For Clout
Per the Washington Post, Teixeira was known as OG in the private Discord server hilariously called “Thug Shaker Central.” In the group, Teixeira and the other members would discuss video games and their love for guns and share racist memes.
Teixeira reportedly typed up the documents first, but when he noticed members didn’t care, he began sharing actual photos of the confidential docs. According to the New York Times, the FBI connected Teixeira to the leak because of the interior decorations, countertops, and flooring on display in the photos.
Marjorie Taylor Greene Thinks Jack Teixiera Is A Victim
Far-Right Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene did not waste time putting on her treasonous cape for the young traitor. She defended him because he was “white, male, Christian, and antiwar,” claiming that makes him an “enemy to the Biden regime.”
Tucker Carlson also got in on defending the treasonous behavior during a segment of his god-awful Fox News show.
Let this be a lesson to you all, don’t use your Discord channel to peddle confidential government information. It won’t work out for you in the end.
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Photo: STEFANI REYNOLDS / Getty
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Source: Capcom / Street Fighter 6 x Lil Wayne
Now this makes all the sense in the world.
On 4/20, the official smokers’ holiday, Lil Wayne will host an upcoming Street Fighter 6 presentation that Capcom says will be the final look at the highly anticipated fighting game before its June 2 release.
The presentation will not only feature the rapper. The game’s developers will also join him, and they will share more details on Street Fighter 6’s World Tour, Battle Hub, and Fighting Ground modes.
Capcom also boasts there will be some “big news” at the end of the 30-minute presentation, and we wonder precisely what it could be.
Barring a huge leak, Capcom has steadily released news about Street Fighter 6’s lineup of characters, old and new, the new game modes, and its better graphics, a direct result of moving to Capcom’s RE Engine.
As for Lil Wayne, this is not the first time for him in the video game space. Weezy, who is a big fan of skateboarding was a playable character in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5.
He also teamed up with Ubisoft for Ghost Recon Breakpoint’s “Squad Up” commercial spot. Street Fighter 6 also reuintes Lil Wayne with Capcom, the Japanese video game company was the sponsor of the Lil Wayne vs. Drake concert tour which used a dedicated Street Fighter theme in the marketing for the concert, tour merchandise and stage choreography.
We have a strong feeling Lil Wayne will have something to do with Street Fighter 6 when it launches.
You can watch the announcement trailer below.
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Photo: Capcom / Street Fighter 6
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Source: Jeff Kravitz / Getty / Max
Do you want to see a dumb idea? Warner Bros Discovery did something nobody wanted them to do dropped HBO from HBO Max, and now, it’s just known as Max.
Wednesday, April 12, during a press event at Stage 14 on its Burbank lot, Warner Bros Discovery officially unveiled Max, which will combine programming from the streaming services formerly known as HBO Max and Discovery, and it will officially go live on May 23.
It will cost potential subscribers $15.99, according to The Verge.
“This is a real moment for us … This is our time,” CEO David Zaslav said during his opening remarks.
He continued, “This is our chance, and I feel like, for our company, this is our rendezvous with destiny.”
The rebrand news comes almost a year after the $43 billion Warner Media-Discovery merger closed. 2023 also happens to be the 100th anniversary of the founding of Warner Bros.
According to JB Perrette, President & CEO of Global Streaming & Games, Warner Bros Discovery, the decision to rebrand and put all of the content in one place is to help Max stand out “in a sea of streaming services.”
He continued, “In this era of peak confusion, we’re trying to simplify and improve the experience for consumers.
Twitter Thinks The Rebrand To Max Is A Stupid Idea
There were also announcements of new original programming coming to Max, including another Game of Thrones prequel show, The Penguin, a Harry Potter reboot, and much more.
The news of the rebrand did not land positively. Variety said in a report that the company’s stock immediately took a hit and was down 6% after the announcement.
Even with the news of all the new shows, Twitter has been roasting Warner Bros Discovery for changing the name of the steaming service.
“Getting rid of the HBO in HBO Max is probably one of the most insane marketing decisions in tv history,” one Twitter user wrote.
You can see more reactions to HBO Max becoming Max in the gallery below.
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Photo: Jeff Kravitz / Getty
3. Love the sarcasm
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Source: Nintendo / The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom
If this latest trailer didn’t excite you even more for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom, you have no pulse.
When Nintendo said they had another trailer for the highly anticipated sequel to Breath of The Wild, many wondered what more the video game company could show us about the game that we have not seen already.
Well, the action-packed, 3-minute final trailer before the game’s impending launch had plenty of eye candy to show while an epic remix of the iconic Legend of Zelda theme blasts through the speakers, pretty much invoking single tears of joy from Zelda fans worldwide.
As far as the game’s plot, Hyrule is in trouble again from some new threats that will require Link, aka Hyrule’s “final hope,” as Princess Zelda calls him in the trailer to link up with allies old and new to take down new enemies, and of course, as always, Ganondorf has found a way to return to stir up trouble.
Link must pick up the Master Sword again and use his new Ultrahand and building abilities to fight on the ground, take to the skies, and even get his Mission Impossible on to defeat his longtime nemesis while trying to find Princess Zelda and save Hyrule from doom.
All in days work for Hyrule’s longtime hero.
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The Hype Is Real For Tear of The Kingdom
Video game Twitter is currently sharing its thoughts about the new trailer, and, yes, they are ready to save Hyrule…AGAIN.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom arrives on May 12; a limited-edition Nintendo Switch OLED is also available for pre-order.
Source: Nintendo / Nintendo Switch – OLED Model – The Legend of Zelda Tears of The Kingdom Edition
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
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Photo: Nintendo / The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom
1. We felt that.
2. We wanna know too
3. Let’s goooooo