twitch
Days after a panel of federal judges voted to uphold a new law that would ban TikTok in the United States beginning on Jan. 19, the independent label Artist Partner Group (APG) started assessing how that might potentially impact its marketing campaigns — and how the company should adjust.
“It’s hard to imagine a reality where TikTok actually goes down,” says Alec Henderon, head of digital at APG. “But we need to be prepared. We are doing video shoots ahead of time, so if it does go, we have top-tier content hitting other short-form video platforms very quickly.”
J.D. Tuminski, former digital marketing lead at Def Jam and founder of Casadei Collective Marketing Agency, is also advising clients to be ready. “If folks are being smart right now,” he says, “they’re already putting plans in place for other platforms and thinking about alternative marketing strategies.”
Trending on Billboard
At least most music marketers have been down this road before. President Trump tried to ban TikTok in 2020 but was blocked by the courts. “We’ve had this conversation internally so many times,” sighs Rafael Rocha, CEO of the marketing agency NuWave Digital. “If I was a betting man, I would bet confidently that it will not get banned.”
Or maybe not banned for long. President Trump returns to office on Jan. 20, and recently he has appeared more enthusiastic about TikTok, saying he had “a warm spot in my heart” for the app. In addition, on Wednesday (Dec. 18), the Supreme Court agreed to hear TikTok’s challenge to the law that would ban it in the U.S. TikTok’s stance is that a ban would lead to “massive and unprecedented censorship of over 170 million Americans.”
Marketers are trying to prepare for the app’s potential disappearance nonetheless. No one wants to be caught flat-footed, especially because TikTok has “become such a large part of our execution when music is released and for teasing new music,” says Allison Laughter, vp of digital, marketing and streaming for Red Light Management. If the app were outlawed in the U.S., it would “hurt us in the short run for sure.”
The pain would probably be felt more acutely by rising artists who don’t yet have name recognition. “Where is new artist discovery happening in 2025 if this app completely disappears?” asks Johnny Cloherty, co-founder of the digital marketing company Songfluencer. “There is new artist discovery on Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts — it just doesn’t happen on the same scale as it does on TikTok.”
Some genres that are reaching a new audience abroad might also be more vulnerable if TikTok use is prohibited. “Country music is bigger than it’s ever been, and we’re seeing more global success than we ever have,” Laughter adds. “It would be a shame to have an international platform taken away from us at a moment when we really have leverage with country acts. It’s slowing down a rocket ship while it’s hot for us.”
Many executives got some practice grappling with a TikTok-less existence earlier this year. On Feb. 1, Universal Music Group’s deal with the platform expired, and all its artists’ music was pulled from the app. A month later, many songs from other labels that featured contributions from Universal Music Publishing Group writers were removed as well.
“That was a wake up call for a lot of people,” says Dan Roy Carter, a former TikTok employee who recently launched Carter Projects, his own music marketing company. “That made people look at other platforms [outside of TikTok] and realize they have to develop them.”
But most marketers did not find that other short-form video platforms could fill the void left by TikTok’s absence. “Anyone I’ve spoken to who tried to pivot to another platform during that time frame generally didn’t find anything that was comparable straight away,” Carter says. That was certainly Laughter’s experience: “I don’t think that we found the sweet spot of how to mimic the success or reach we might see on TikTok with any other platform.”
If the TikTok ban did go through in the U.S., however, the platform would still be available for hundreds of millions of users globally (at least for now). And clips that are popular on TikTok often make their way to other social media platforms. “Say TikTok is banned here — that doesn’t mean that internationally it can’t be a part of a strategy to drive streaming,” says Jen Darmafall, director of marketing for ATG Group. “When you see Reels and Shorts make an impact on music consumption, it is often following something that’s going viral on TikTok first.”
Several marketers discussed using VPNs to circumvent a potential ban Stateside and continue to market their acts to audiences in Europe, Latin America and Asia. And digital marketers abroad would almost certainly see an influx of business from American artists and labels. “Hiring companies to be a liaison to TikTok creators outside of the U.S. is something that I would think about if I was a musician,” Tuminski notes.
Artists and labels would also watch carefully to see where TikTok’s large, famously active user base in the U.S. ends up. “If this goes down, we’ll need to be reactive towards where the content and the traffic and energy shifts,” Henderson says. “Short form video is not going away,” Cloherty agrees. “The TikTok audience will go somewhere.”
Reels and Shorts are typically mentioned as potential TikTok substitutes due to their short-form video focus. But other platforms can also serve as potential conduits for conveying music to listeners.
X, formerly Twitter, doesn’t pop up in many music marketing conversations these days, but Henderson has seen it bring in new listeners for rappers. He’s been focused on trying to harness the power of Twitch as well. The APG artist Flawed Mangoes saw a sizable jump in streams after appearing on the stream of Kai Cenat, one of the most popular personalities on the platform.
Marketers are also intrigued by the possibilities of Snapchat. “It’s still very heavily used by kids, but it’s not as heavily used by artists,” says Jenna Rosenberg, former vp of digital marketing at Atlantic Records. “There is an audience on there, it’s just that no one’s talking to them.” Darmafall has observed “more and more artists posting about following them on Snapchat.”
And if TikTok gets outlawed, the audience hunting for a substitute might end up on another app altogether, something that isn’t currently part of everyday conversation. “Platforms ebb and flow,” Rosenberg says. “Kids will find one that they’ll gravitate towards, and then we’re all going to have to learn it really quickly and educate the artists on how to utilize it.”
For now though, TikTok continues to operate in the U.S., driving new listeners to songs like Lola Young’s “Messy” and Sam Barber’s “Indigo.” “As people are building out their plans for any releases that are coming at the start of the year, they are still including TikTok as part of that plan,” Darmafall says. “It just can’t be your only plan.”
Twitch’s head of music, Cindy Charles, has died after being involved in a traffic accident last week in The Netherlands.
Twitch CEO Daniel Clancy confirmed Charles’ death Friday (Oct. 18) on LinkedIn. Clancy remarked that “anyone that uses music on Twitch owes a debt of gratitude to Cindy’s work. She always had a bright smile on her face even as she negotiated unprecedented music licensing agreements for Twitch including the recent DJ agreement.”
That deal, which specifically covers DJs who live-stream on the platform, was announced in June and involved Twitch signing music licensing deals with all three major labels — Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment — as well as many indie labels represented by Merlin.
Charles was meant to speak on a panel Thursday (Oct. 17) at the Amsterdam Dance Event, an annual dance music industry conference in the Dutch capital, offering expertise for DJs using Twitch.
Trending on Billboard
Before her six years at Twitch, Charles worked as an independent digital media consultant and also spent three years at Amazon, where she worked as the head of business development in the music department of Amazon Ticketing, along with working in the Video Shorts department. Earlier in her career, she spent seven years at Viacom, where she managed digital legal and business affairs for entities within MTV Networks.
Beyond those positions, Charles served as an advisor to the board of governors at the Recording Academy, was a co-founder of Women in Digital, which has more than 1,500 members, and co-founded the San Francisco chapter of She is the Music.
Charles was based in Berkeley, Calif., and grew up in Queens, N.Y., majoring in political science at SUNY Buffalo. She is survived by her husband, Ricky Fishman, and her two sons.
“Every success, every setback, every moment of working toward our shared mission felt deeply personal,” Twitch’s Kira Karlstrom wrote in a remembrance of Charles, “because Cindy made it that way. She cared about her team with all her heart, and our work was an extension of that care.”
Reactional Music, which enables music to be personalized within video games in real-time, signed a licensing agreement with Beggars Group, home to indie labels including 4AD, Matador Records, Rough Trade, XL Recordings and Young. “Reactional Music is doing something really interesting in the gaming space,” said Beggars Group director of global commercial strategy Simon Wheeler in a statement. “It compliments our existing licensing team’s work and extends our reach with games developers and over three billion gamers across the world. We know that gamers are music consumers that over-index in their consumption of music and we’re excited to see what this new partnership will bring.” Reactional previously struck partnerships with music companies including Defected Records, Hopeless Records and Hipgnosis Song Management.
The Circuit Group, the recently launched company that aims to maximize the value of intellectual property for electronic artists, struck an exclusive distribution partnership with LabelWorx, the leading independent digital distributor for indie electronic music labels. Under the deal, Labelworx will manage all digital distribution for The Circuit Group’s roster of artists and labels, including Catch & Release and diviine. “We are thrilled to enter into this exclusive partnership with LabelWorx,” said James Sutcliffe, CEO/president of The Circuit Group UK, in a statement. “Their forward-thinking approach to distribution and their shared commitment to enhancing the value of artists’ IP aligns perfectly with our vision for the future. We are excited to provide our artists and labels with the tools they need to thrive in a fast-evolving industry.”
Trending on Billboard
Leading African streaming platform Audiomack partnered with Africa-based consumer payments provider Carry1st in a deal that will allow Audiomack’s customers in Africa to purchase subscriptions using local payment methods via Carry1st’s Pay1st payment solution. Audiomack subscriptions will now be available for purchase via the Carry1st shop in local currencies in Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Morocco, Tanzania, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, Uganda, and Senegal. “Audiomack is incredibly excited to partner with Carry1st to expand our presence across Africa and make it easier for music fans across the continent to access premium features,” said Audiomack vp of marketing Charlotte Bwana in a statement. “Carry1st has been impactful in growing Africa’s gaming industry for creators and users, and we are confident we can replicate this approach in the music space.”
U.K.-based streaming service Mixcloud acquired European online music marketplace Encore, which helps artists connect with customers looking for live acts to book at their events. Encore will continue operating as an independent brand as Mixcloud helps steer the company’s future. Mixcloud co-founder Nikhil Shah will join Encore as its new chairman; Shah has been an angel investor in the company since 2019.
Australian music company Vinyl Group acquired the assets of London-based Web3 company Serenade in exchange for $800,000 in shares. Vinyl Group will additionally purchase Serenade’s U.K. subsidiary on a debt-free, cash-free basis, “for the purposes of expediting the expansion of the Vinyl.com business into the UK and European markets,” according to a press release. As part of the deal, several key Serenade employees have joined Vinyl Group, including CEO Max Shand, who will continue to lead Serenade while helping expand the Vinyl.com business. According to the release, sales of Serenade’s NFC-enabled “Smart Formats” have grown 56% month-over-month since launching in January, with a total of 12,000 units sold in the first half of the year. It adds that Serenade has commercial partnerships with more than 100 record labels including Warner Music Group, Beggars Group, Concord, Glassnote, FUGA and PIAS.
Music Venue Trust (MVT), a U.K. charity that represents hundreds of independent music venues in the country, acquired the 235-capacity Swansea, Wales indie venue The Bunkhouse under its Music Venue Properties’ #ownourvenues scheme with support from Swansea Council and Figurative, formerly part of Nesta. Under the deal, The Bunkhouse will be placed into permanent protected status. Launched in 2022, the crowd-funded #ownourvenues initiative has so far raised more than 2.6 million pounds from more than 1,250 individual investors and funding. MVT previously purchased The Snug in Atherton, Greater Manchester in October 2023 and The Ferret in Preston in May 2024, with additional venues identified for acquisition. Music Venue Properties has offered The Bunkhouse a rent reduction and a contribution to building repairs and insurance while committing to working with The Bunkhouse director Jordan McGuire to develop currently-unused parts of the building. “We can finally focus on continuing to develop the next generation of talent, knowing that The Bunkhouse is secure and will remain a cornerstone of Swansea’s music scene long after I’m gone,” said McGuire in a statement.
Killphonic Rights, a music rights management company specializing in publishing, distribution, neighboring rights and creative synch licensing, received a $3 million investment from Stilwell Creative Capital for a proportional stake of equity in Killphonic. The money will be used to expand services for Stilwell’s roster of artists, songwriters, labels and publishers. Stilwell will tap into Killphonic’s knowledge base and staff to increase collections and licensing opportunities for the catalog of rights it has acquired. The partnership was orchestrated by Amanda Schupf of MAX Music Management and Consulting, who will join the advisory boards of both Killphonic and Stilwell following the deal.
Believe completed its full acquisition of leading Turkish indie label Doğan Music Company (DMC) following the approval of the competition regulator. The Paris-based company previously acquired a 60% majority stake in DMC in 2020 before exercising the call option to acquire the remainder for a total of 38.3 million euros ($41.84 million).
Connyct, a new social network designed exclusively for college students, struck a licensing deal with Warner Music Group (WMG), allowing WMG music to be used in Connyct’s video-creation hub Events Center. “We created Connyct to spark joy and excitement around real-life experiences, a digital reflection of your favorite times,” said Connyct CEO/co-founder Matthew Berman in a statemetn. “We’re all about connection and discovery, meant to help users find people who share the same passions and want to publicize events to enjoy them with their friends. Our partnership with WMG takes this vision to the next level, allowing students to soundtrack their college experiences with an incredible array of music.” Connyct will be available for download on the iOS App Store in the coming weeks at select universities.
Ticketmaster and Tickets For Good unveiled a new partnership that will make it easier for live event organizers to donate tickets to nonprofit workers, healthcare providers and teachers. Via Ticketmaster’s Distributed Commerce API, any artist, sports team or other event organizer using Ticketmaster can allocate a portion of their tickets to Tickets For Good, which provides access to select live events for people who serve their community, for a booking fee of less than five pounds in the U.K. and less than $5 in the U.S.
Symphonic Distribution partnered with Twitch to give Symphonic artists the ability to include their music in the Twitch DJ Program. Once they opt-in, Symphonic artists can have their music used by any DJ on Twitch in their sets and earn royalties in the process.
L.A.-based artist management company Hills Artists struck a joint venture partnership with Firebird, a music company that provides career and brand guidance to more than 1,000 artists globally by leveraging data along with its team of experts. “By leveraging cutting-edge data science, increasing access to vital information, and mobilizing substantial financial power, we are uniquely positioned to build careers and transformative businesses,” said Hills Artists CEO Rupert Lincoln in a statement. “Firebird has cultivated something truly exceptional, and we are excited to take the next steps in our journey with them.” Hills’ roster includes Sasha Alex Sloan, Grandson, Aidan Bissett and LANY.
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Source: Orlando Ramirez / Getty / Dr Disrespect
It was all disrespect after Dr Disrespect revealed why Twitch banned him from the platform permanently.
Guy Beahm, better known as Dr Disrespect, told the world that the reason Twitch dropped an airstrike on his account two years ago was that he got caught in 4K sending private messages to a minor that he said: “sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate.”
In a lengthy and edited post, he shared on X, formerly Twitter, the ridiculously popular YouTube streamer shared details about the banning after former Twitch employees spilled the tea on the platform on Friday, writing that he “got caught sexting a minor.”
Speaking with The Verge, another former employee said, “Beahm was banned over messages sent to a minor that discussed meeting up at TwitchCon.”
In his response, Beahm claims there were no “real intentions” behind the messages with the unnamed minor, adding, “I should have never entertained these conversations to begin with.”
A Masterclass In Fumbling Bags
We bet Dr Disrespect means it when he says he shouldn’t have never entertained these conversations because he is fumbling bags.
The first fumble came when he lost his two-year exclusivity contract to stream on Twitch. At the time, he was one of the biggest stars on the platform, with 4 million.
Twitch never spoke about the ban, and Dr Disrespect played it off as if he didn’t know why his partnership with the platform ended, but he was able to amass over 4.7 million subscribers on YouTube.
But while he still has his YouTube page, he was fired from the video game studio he co-founded, Midnight Society, on Tuesday.
In a post on X, the studio’s head, Robert Bowling, wrote, “If you inappropriately message a minor. I can not work with you.”
The Verge also reports that Dr Disrespect’s partnership with gaming peripheral company Turtle Beach is also a wrap.
Don’t be surprised if other companies he is tied to follow suit.
Despite the cracks in his streaming empire showing, Dr Disrespect vows to keep streaming after he comes back from his “vacation.”
The video game subsection of X has been clowning Dr Disrespect and anyone who fixed their lips to defend him; you can see those reactions in the gallery below.
2. Lol, interesting how the energy changed so swiftly.
3. Smart move
4. Howling
5. Another bag bites the dust
Twitch signed music licensing deals with all three major labels — Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment — as well as “a large number” of indie labels represented by Merlin, according to a blog post. The deals specifically cover DJs who live-stream on the platform; other uses of music are not covered.
Under the deals, starting this summer, DJs will need to opt into a new agreement that will apply to all streaming on their Twitch channels. Thereafter, a portion of DJs’ earnings on the platform will be paid to music companies, with the majority of those earnings subject to a 50-50 split between DJs and Twitch. To help DJs adjust to the change, Twitch says it will offer a one-year subsidy to help cover the difference in revenue that will be paid out to music companies, with the amount of the subsidy gradually reducing over time.
“It’s crucial that DJs understand the status quo on Twitch was not sustainable, and any viable future for the community required we find a solution,” the blog post reads. “We’ve worked with music partners over the past few years to develop this program. Without it, those who stream DJ content on Twitch without the necessary rights do so at the risk of receiving DMCA notifications and copyright penalties which could restrict their ability to stream on Twitch.”
Trending on Billboard
According to Twitch, the number of DJs streaming on the platform has “more than quadrupled” since early 2020.
Tencent and its subsidiary Tencent Music Entertainment acquired a 10% stake in Thailand-based entertainment platform GMM Music for $70 million, valuing the company at $700 million. The stake will be paid for with a combination of cash and a minority stake in the Tencent-owned music streaming app JOOX Thailand. According to a press release, the deal “will strengthen GMM Music’s spin-off plan” and allow it “to expand its business, achieve sustainable growth, acquire world-class expertise, and invest in future music innovations to keep pace with the rapid evolution of the global music industry.” In a statement, GMM Music CEO Phawit Chitrakorn said the deal will help the company “drive the New Music Economy in Thailand towards sustainable growth” while allowing it to expand its business in additional markets, including China.
Neon Gold Records, the independent label known for launching the careers of artists including Tove Lo, Charli XCX and MARINA, signed a global distribution agreement with Virgin Music Group. Recent releases from Neon Gold include Good Neighbours’ debut single “Home” (now receiving global support from Capitol and Polydor) and Mt. Joy’s “Highway Queen”; other acts on the roster include The Knocks and Juliana Madrid. The label also revealed its newest signing: alt-pop band Phantogram, whose new single, “All a Mystery,” was released May 31. Neon Gold previously had joint ventures with Columbia (2010-2013) and Atlantic (2014-2024).
Bandcamp partnered with EMPIRE in a deal that will allow the independent record label to expand retail opportunities for its artists, who include Shaboozey, Key Glock, Conway the Machine, Dinner Party, Olamide, Asake and Black Sherif. With the deal, EMPIRE artists will now have the ability to connect with Bandcamp’s community of more than 47 million fans, to whom they can directly sell digital releases, vinyl and exclusive merchandise through the Bandcamp platform.
L.A.-based record label D36, which centers on aspiring musicians from South Asia and its diaspora, formed a joint venture with Sony Music Entertainment. Through the joint venture, acts of South Asian heritage will better be able to connect with audiences in both South Asia and international markets, including the United States. D36 is run by CEO Abhi Kanakadandila and GM/co-founder Abdullah Ahmad.
The U.K.-based Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) partnered with KUVO Powered by DJ Monitor to help foster the adoption of KUVO’s music identification technology in U.K. venues — all in hopes of ensuring proper royalty payouts for creators of the music DJs play. According to a press release, NTIA will work to make KUVO’s technology “standard practice across the U.K. club and DJ events industry…with a focus on building towards a more transparent and fair music royalty ecosystem within the UK.” There is no cost for venues to participate in the initiative and there will be no effect on the license fees venues pay for music. It also “respects DJ setlist privacy — no details of which DJ played which tracks are captured by the technology and no playlists are publicised,” the release adds.
Downtown Artist & Label Services officially partnered with AI-powered marketing operating system SymphonyOS to offer SymphonyOS marketing tools to Downtown artists at a reduced price. The deal was struck after Downtown ran multiple successful SymphonyOS-driven campaigns with artists including Hunter Hayes, mehro and Ryan Nealon. SymphonyOS offers AI-powered campaign creation, aggregated analytics, a website builder tool and features including Forever Saves, which allows fans to “subscribe” to an artist’s future releases.
1336 Records, a new label venture from System of a Down’s Shavo Odadjian, launched in partnership with Sumerian Music Group. The first release under the deal is “Paradise,” the debut single from Seven Hours After Violet — Odadjian’s new band also featuring Taylor Barber (Left To Suffer), Morgoth (Winds of Plague), Alejandro Aranda (Scarypoolparty) and Josh Johnson.
SURF Music — a platform that allows songwriters, producers and other creators to connect, collaborate, package, pitch and sell their original unreleased music to Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese labels and A&R professionals — has welcomed Universal Music Japan, Sony Japan, Avex and Fujipacific to the platform as official users. By joining SURF Music, the labels will have the ability to explore SURF’s marketplace of unreleased demos using AI-supported search tools.
VNYLab, a new music platform designed to bring independent artists closer to their fans, acquired Patron Empowerment, the developer of the similar Rhythmic Rebellion platform. The multi-million-dollar deal will accelerate the growth of VNYLab, which is set to officially debut this summer. VNYLab was founded by Jon Zeit, Wes Mason and Nikki Fernandez. Patron Empowerment founder/CEO Greg Allen has joined VNYLab as a partner.
Ford signed a 10-year naming rights agreement with Notes Live for a new music amphitheater coming to Colorado Springs, Colo. The 8,000-capacity venue, formerly known as The Sunset and now called Ford Amphitheater, is set to open on Aug. 9 with a performance by Ryan Tedder and his band OneRepublic.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Kaitlyn Morris / Getty / Lil Yachty
Popular streamer Kai Cenat got some high praise from Lil Yachty.
In a recent episode of Cool Kicks that was released on Saturday, Oct.14, Lil Yachty talked his ish in a rant about the streaming platform made popular by gamers, Twitch, boasting that he was one of the first Hip-Hop stars alongside “rapper” Post Malone on the platform.
The “Talk To Me Nice” crafter also used his rant to give props to Twitch’s current superstar streamers Kai Cenat and Adin Ross, both of whom have made successful careers off streaming alone.
Ironically, Cenat has confronted Ross about his use of the N-word.
[embedded content]
“Kai is my brother, shouts out to Kai. Shouts out Fanum, shouts out the whole AMP, shouts out f**kin’ Adin Ross,” Yachty said. “Yeah, for real. The young guys, the young bros, they goin’ crazy. Kai for sure got more money than, I think, 90 percent of rappers. 90 percent of rappers, I think Kai got more money than them. Adin too, sure!”
[embedded content]
Regarding Cenat, what Yachty is saying is definitely not cap. Cenat broke the record for subscriptions in a month, getting over 300,000 subscribers in the month of February alone.
Cenat has also won awards for his for his streaming.
Kai Cenat Drama
But he has also seen his share of drama. Cenat caught some well-deserved flack after allowing a white woman to say the n-word during a stream.
Cenat was also arrested in New York City in August for causing a riot with his impromptu PS5 giveaway. Still, Cenat remains as popular as ever, with people like Travis Scott and Offset vouching for him.
As for Yachty, his claims of being the first rapper on Twitch caught the ire of Soulja Boy, who is first to everything, it seems.
The rapper went on a nonsensical rant about Yachty’s comments.
Per Vibe:
I ain’t gon’ even cap, Lil Yachty, sit yo bi**h-a** down, ni**a,” Soulja Boy barked about Yachty’s claims. “Drake, you and Lil Yachty getting on my muthaf**king nerves. Lil Yachty, you is a bi**h ni**a. Fruity-a** ni**a. Painting yo muthaf**king toe nails and sh*t.”
“I’m getting tired of y’all f**k ni**as,” he continued. “You wasn’t the first ni**a to do sh*t. I’m getting tired of y’all pu**y a** ni**as, man.
Someone needs to tell Soulja Boy to chill, and it’s not that serious.
—
Photo: Kaitlyn Morris / Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Jason Koerner / Getty
It’s been a wild summer for popular game streamer, Kai Cenat. He was arrested earlier this month for “inciting” a riot in New York City but later on won Streamer Of The Year at the Streamy Awards (yes, that’s a thing).
Now, the GOAT streamer is getting some star studded help from Travis Scott. The Utopia rapper is vowing to help Cenat get IShowSpeed show unbanned from Twitch right after Cenat announced that he is considering leaving Twitch if they don’t reinstate fellow content creator IShowSpeed. According to Game Rant, Kai isn’t too happy that Twitch shutdown IShowSpeed’s channel and is doing what he can to assist in their return.
Game Rant reports:
…Kai has solidified his position as the leading streamer on Twitch, thanks to his groundbreaking 2023 subathon that shattered numerous platform records. Similarly, IShowSpeed has amassed a staggering 20 million subscribers, though it’s worth noting that prior to his YouTube venture, IShowSpeed was an active streamer on Twitch. In 2021, IShowSpeed faced a permanent ban from the platform due to making sexist remarks during a show called E-Date.
Kai Cenat and IShowSpeed are known to be friends and frequently collaborate on hosting streams together. However, a prominent issue has arisen due to IShowSpeed’s Twitch ban. Twitch’s policy prevents banned streamers from returning to the platform, and this seems to be why Kai Cenat has been advocating for a reconsideration of IShowSpeed’s ban. His most recent effort took place just before the 2023 Streamy Awards during a livestream. He remarked that if IShowSpeed’s ban remains in place, he might consider leaving the platform. He then followed this up with a light-hearted comment, clarifying that his previous statement was made in jest.
This is a situation that the average Hip-Hopper on the block knows little to nothing about, but now they got Travis Scott riding with them? Could be a monster assist should the “Highest In The Room” rapper decide to flex his muscle in this situation. How? Who knows, but gamers must be excited about the news.
What do y’all think of this situation? Sound off in the comments section below.
HipHopWired Radio
Our staff has picked their favorite stations, take a listen…
08/10/2023
The record-breaking Twitch streamer has already amassed an impressive list of guest stars from the worlds of rap, R&B and pop.
08/10/2023
Amazon plans to eliminate 9,000 more jobs in the next few weeks, CEO Andy Jassy said in a memo to staff on Monday.
The job cuts would mark the second largest round of layoffs in the company’s history, adding to the 18,000 employees the tech giant said it would lay off in January. The company’s workforce doubled during the pandemic, however, in the midst of a hiring surge across almost the entire tech sector.
Tech companies have announced tens of thousands of job cuts this year.
In the memo, Jassy said the second phase of the company’s annual planning process completed this month led to the additional job cuts. He said Amazon will still hire in some strategic areas.
“Some may ask why we didn’t announce these role reductions with the ones we announced a couple months ago. The short answer is that not all of the teams were done with their analyses in the late fall; and rather than rush through these assessments without the appropriate diligence, we chose to share these decisions as we’ve made them so people had the information as soon as possible,” Jassy said.
The job cuts announced Monday will hit profitable areas for the company including its cloud computing unit AWS and its burgeoning advertising business. Twitch, the gaming platform Amazon owns, will also see some layoffs as well as Amazon’s PXT organizations, which handle human resources and other functions.
Prior layoffs had also hit PXT, the company’s stores division, which encompasses its e-commerce business as well as company’s brick-and-mortar stores such as Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go, and other departments such as the one that runs the virtual assistant Alexa.
Earlier this month, the company said it would pause construction on its headquarters building in northern Virginia, though the first phase of that project will open this June with 8,000 employees.
Like other tech companies, including Facebook parent Meta and Google parent Alphabet, Amazon ramped up hiring during the pandemic to meet the demand from homebound Americans that were increasingly buying stuff online to keep themselves safe from the virus.
Amazon’s workforce, in warehouses and offices, doubled to more than 1.6 million people in about two years. But demand slowed as the worst of the pandemic eased. The company began pausing or cancelling its warehouse expansion plans last year.
Amid growing anxiety over the potential for a recession, Amazon in the past few months shut down a subsidiary that’s been selling fabrics for nearly 30 years and shuttered its hybrid virtual, in-home care service Amazon Care among other cost-cutting moves.
Jassy said Monday given the uncertain economy and the “uncertainty that exists in the near future,” the company has chosen to be more streamlined.
He said the teams that will be impacted by the latest round of layoffs are not done making final decisions on which roles will be eliminated. The company plans to finalize those decisions by mid to late April and notify those who will be laid off.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Amazon / Amazon Music
Two new shows set to premiere later this month on Amazon Music will focus on Hip-Hop and Latin music along with pop culture from the Latin perspective.
According to reports, the streaming music platform will be launching two new flagship music series. The first, “Rotation Roundtable,” will be presented in a hybrid format utilizing a podcast-style experience and a Twitch live stream inspired by the platform’s “Rap Rotation” and “R&B Rotation” playlists. The hour-long show will be hosted by Power 105.1 host/ producer Nyla Symone, journalist and executive producer Speedy Morman, “On the Radar” creator Gabe P and veteran journalist Rob Markman.
Related Stories
In a press release about “Roundtable,” Symone expressed her delight about being a part of it. “I’m super excited to finally have a safe space to speak candidly amongst people who actually know the culture. My point of view is that culture isn’t about the clout or politics, it’s just about the music.” The show will debut March 15 at 9 p.m. and air each Wednesday on Amazon Music’s Twitch channel. Episodes will be available as audio podcasts on Amazon Music and all major services.
“La Semanal Live” will cover the biggest releases in Latin music and the most-discussed topics in Latin pop culture. Puerto Rican journalist and podcast host Gio Rosado will host the show from Miami, Florida. “The show will have a lot of energy, humor and debate. My goal is to create a show so captivating and engaging that you’ll regret not having tuned in,” he said.
“La Semanal Live” will debut March 24 on the Amazon Music on Vivo Channel on Twitch. Clips from the show will be available in the Amazon Music app. It will then air every Friday at 9 p.m. Platino DJ Mode radio host Grecia Lopez will also be a recurring guest on the show, which will feature artist interviews and spotlight segments. A special slate of programming for Women’s History Month is in the works for the show, with an in-depth spotlight on Karol G to be included.
Source: Amazon / Amazon Music