‘Record companies have me on a dartboard’: the man making millions buying classic hits

Hit songs can be a better investment than gold – and by snapping up the rights, Merck Mercuriadis has become the most disruptive force in music...
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/feb/27/merck-mercuriadis-the-man-who-is-shaking-up-the-music-industry?CMP=twt_a-culture_b-gdnculture?source=Snapzu

Why Is Facebook Launching An All-Out War On Apple's Upcoming iPhone Update?

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Apple's Tim Cook are fighting over iPhone privacy rules. At stake is the future of how iPhone user data is used by data brokers and advertisers.
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2021/02/26/971367875/why-is-facebook-launching-an-all-out-war-on-apples-upcoming-iphone-update?source=Snapzu

U.S. SEC suspends trading in 15 securities due to 'questionable' social media activity

The U.S. securities regulator on Friday suspended trading in the securities of 15 companies because of "questionable trading and social media activity," the latest in a string of temporary trading halts amid volatile trading in so-called "meme stocks."
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-retail-trading-sec/u-s-sec-suspends-trading-in-15-securities-due-to-questionable-social-media-activity-idUSKBN2AQ2VZ?source=Snapzu

Nikola admits ousted chairman misled investors as legal costs mount

Embattled electric truck start-up Nikola has admitted its ousted founder and chairman, Trevor Milton, made several inaccurate statements from 2016 through the company’s IPO last year that misled investors. The company highlighted nine comments by Milton from July 2016 through July 2020 that were “inaccurate in whole or in part, when made,” according to its annual filing Thursday to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/25/nikola-is-paying-8point1-million-in-legal-fees-for-ousted-chairman-milton.html?source=Snapzu

AT&T spins out DirecTV as a $16B company, a quarter of what it paid in 2015

AT&T today announced plans to spin out its various video businesses — DirecTV, AT&T TV, and U-Verse — into a new company that it will jointly control with TPG Capital. The deal sees AT&T holding on to a 70 percent stake in the company, with TPG getting the other 30. “The transaction to separate AT&T’s US video business into New DirecTV implies an enterprise value for the new company of $16.25 billion.”
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/25/22301840/att-tpg-directv-tv-uverse-new-company-announced?source=Snapzu

Welcome to McDonald's. A machine will take your order now

Drive-thrus are a lead generator of fast-food sales during the pandemic, and many chains, like McDonald's are trying to speed up the process by deploying new tech, including artificial intelligence for ordering.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/26/tech/mcdonalds-drive-thru-artificial-intelligence/?source=Snapzu

Gig Workers Gather Their Own Data to Check the Algorithm’s Math

Drivers for Uber, Lyft, and other firms are building apps to compare their mileage with pay slips. One group is selling the data to government agencies.
Read more: https://www.wired.com/story/gig-workers-gather-data-check-algorithm-math/?source=Snapzu

How a Shadow Army of Ghost Kitchens Took Over America’s Restaurants

Inside the brave new world of data-driven, search-optimized virtual restaurants that exist only on DoorDash and GrubHub
Read more: https://marker.medium.com/how-a-shadow-army-of-ghost-kitchens-took-over-americas-restaurants-b7ac1a099c8c?source=Snapzu

Spotify: Price rise 'could push users into piracy'

Prices have been anchored at £9.99 for years, and Spotify says the situation isn't likely to change.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-56169237?source=Snapzu

Apple buys a company every three to four weeks

Apple has acquired about 100 companies over the last six years, the company’s chief executive Tim Cook has revealed. That works out at a company every three to four weeks, he told Apple’s annual meeting of shareholders on Tuesday.
Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56178792?source=Snapzu

The way we eat could lead to habitat loss for 17,000 species by 2050

Each year, billions of animals are slaughtered to put food on our plates. The animal welfare and climate change implications of this are well-documented — most animals are factory-farmed, and global meat production accounts for 14.5 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions.
Read more: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22287498/meat-wildlife-biodiversity-species-plantbased?source=Snapzu

Australian News Sites Shocked & Upset To Learn They Don't Need To Rely On Facebook For Traffic!

I am still perplexed and confounded at how many people seem to think that Facebook is the one at fault for blocking links to news in Australia. Again, the law (that was about to be approved by the Australian Parliament despite Facebook warning them...
Read more: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20210220/23410646285/australian-news-sites-shocked-upset-to-learn-they-dont-need-to-rely-facebook-traffic.shtml?source=Snapzu

Inside the Next Housing Crisis

Housing advocates predict both a tsunami of evictions and a significant rise in homelessness
Read more: https://time.com/5940505/housing-crisis-2021?source=Snapzu

This 28-year-old turned his college side hustle into a $1.3 billion start-up backed by Jeff Bezos

Francis Davidson rented out his college apartment over the summer for extra cash. Now, Sonder is a $1.3 billion start-up that may be the next big hospitality brand.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/20/how-francis-davidson-started-sonder-in-college-apartment.html?source=Snapzu

Why Walmart's CEO says Americans urgently need another stimulus check

When Walmart CEO Doug McMillon went to the White House last week, he said he gave a clear message: Americans urgently need another round of stimulus checks. Walmart’s stores and websites reflect consumers’ spending patterns, the retail chief said in an interview with CNBC’s Courtney Reagan on “Squawk Alley.”
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/18/why-walmarts-co-says-americans-urgently-need-another-stimulus-check.html#:~:text=Walmart%20CEO%20Doug%20McMillon%20said,President%20Joe%20Biden%20last%20week.?source=Snapzu

Uber drivers are workers not self-employed, Supreme Court rules

Uber drivers must be treated as workers rather than self-employed, the UK's Supreme Court has ruled. The decision could mean thousands of Uber drivers are set to be entitled to minimum wage and holiday pay. The ruling could leave the ride-hailing app facing a hefty compensation bill, and have wider consequences for the gig economy.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56123668?source=Snapzu

Huawei is apparently cutting its smartphone shipments in half this year

The fact that Huawei’s smartphone business isn’t doing so well is not new knowledge. Ongoing US sanctions have crippled Huawei’s phone sales, and it looks like 2021 is going to be one of the worst years for the company when it comes to shipping new handsets.
Read more: https://www.androidauthority.com/huawei-smartphone-shipments-2021-1202411/?source=Snapzu

Uber Loses U.K. Court Battle Over Worker Rights

The U.K.’s top court ruled that a group of former drivers for Uber Technologies Inc. were entitled to a minimum wage and other benefits while working for the company, dealing a setback to Uber and other gig-economy firms in world-wide battles over their employment model.
Read more: https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/uber-faces-setback-as-u-k-court-rules-drivers-are-entitled-to-worker-rights-11613729882?source=Snapzu

Biden’s Health Plan Shifts Even More Public Dollars Into Private Hands

Biden’s American Rescue Plan, like the Affordable Care Act, does not move us any closer toward a single-payer system.
Read more: https://truthout.org/articles/bidens-health-plan-shifts-even-more-public-dollars-into-private-hands/?source=Snapzu

Adidas Permanently Bans Fur - Receives Praise For Expanding Vegan Range

Adidas has committed to banning fur. While the sportswear giant doesn’t currently use fur in its collections, it has now become the becomes 1,500th apparel company to join Fur Free Retailer.
Read more: https://plantbasednews.org/lifestyle/fashion/adidas-permanently-bans-fur-praised-for-vegan-range/?source=Snapzu

Don’t Let Amazon and Airbnb Get Their Tentacles in Vaccine Distribution

The vaccine rollout in the United States has been a national embarrassment. A doctor in Houston was fired for using ten doses of vaccine that would have otherwise expired and gone to waste. Local and state sign-up portals are impossible to navigate, even for tech-literate adult children trying to enroll their elderly parents. There is seemingly unending confusion about overall supply, which states are desperately low on shots, and when the country can expect vaccine production to scale up to meet the urgency of the demand.
Read more: https://newrepublic.com/article/161395/dont-let-amazon-airbnb-get-tentacles-vaccine-distribution?source=Snapzu

Automating scam call blocking sees Telstra prevent up to 500,000 calls a day

Telstra has said it is now blocking approximately 6.5 million suspected scam calls a month, at times up to 500,000 a day, thanks to automating the former manual process that sat at around 1 million monthly scam calls.
Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/automating-scam-call-blocking-sees-telstra-prevent-up-to-500000-calls-a-day/?source=Snapzu

Robocalls and scam calls persist during pandemic, so Americans have stopped answering the phone

During the coronavirus pandemic, robocalls slowed, but still 45.9 billion were made. And the calls appear to be rising again as call centers reopen.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/02/12/robocalls-scammers-fraud-phone-calls-increase-fcc-ftc-efforts/6706727002/?source=Snapzu

CEOs of Reddit and Robinhood and ‘Roaring Kitty’ slated to testify in GameStop hearing

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, Robinhood co-CEO Vlad Tenev, and Keith Gill (aka Roaring Kitty) are all on the witness list for an upcoming hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, according to a release from Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA). The hearing, to be conducted virtually, will probe the recent volatility in shares of GameStop following a rally fueled by a group of day traders active on the r/WallStreetBets Reddit board.
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/13/22281698/ceo-reddit-robinhood-roaring-kitty-testify-gamestop-hearing-congress-stocks?source=Snapzu

Mastercard to open up network to select cryptocurrencies

Mastercard Inc said on Wednesday it was planning to offer support for some cryptocurrencies on its network this year, joining a string of big-ticket firms that have pledged similar support. The credit-card giant’s announcement comes days after Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc revealed it had purchased $1.5 billion of bitcoin and would soon accept it as a form of payment.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currency-mastercard/mastercard-to-open-up-network-to-select-cryptocurrencies-idUSKBN2AA2WF?source=Snapzu

UK economy shrank by 9.9% in 2020, its largest contraction on record

The U.K. economy experienced its largest contraction since records began in 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged economic activity.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/12/uk-economy-shrank-by-9point9percent-in-2020-its-largest-contraction-on-record.html?source=Snapzu

Global green recovery plans fail to match 2008 stimulus, report shows

Efforts by governments around the world to forge a green recovery from the coronavirus pandemic are so far failing even to reach the levels of green spending seen in the stimulus that followed the 2008 financial crisis, new analysis has shown.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/12/global-green-recovery-plans-fail-to-match-2008-stimulus-report-shows?source=Snapzu

All of Disney's streaming services are booming

Very quickly, Disney has become perhaps the dominant force in the video streaming world. Just about six months after the company announced it had over 100 million streaming video subscribers, Disney has revealed it has almost that many on Disney+ alone. In today’s earnings report covering the last quarter of 2020, Disney announced that it now has 94.9 million Disney+ subscribers, 39.4 million Hulu subscribers and 12.1 million ESPN+ subscribers. Overall, Disney is up to 146 million streaming video subscribers all told, with Disney+ a force to be reckoned with.
Read more: https://www.engadget.com/disney-q4-2020-earnings-224854835.html?source=Snapzu

Dwindling cash use is pushing central banks to race toward digital currencies

Central banks are accelerating their work on digital currencies and investors are taking note. Earlier this year, the Bank of International Settlements published its latest survey showing that 86% of the 65 central banks it spoke to are doing some form of work on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), be it research, proofs of concept or pilot development.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/12/cryptocurrency-dwindling-cash-use-is-pushing-central-banks.html?source=Snapzu

The pandemic leaves 27% of British adults struggling financially

The pandemic has left more than a quarter of British adults financially vulnerable, with too much debt or not enough savings to cope with a "negative life event" such as redundancy, loss of hours, or ill health.
Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/11/economy/uk-economy-covid/index.html?source=Snapzu

Disney says it now has 94.9 million Disney+ subscribers, will no longer provide quarterly numbers

Disney announced Thursday that its streaming platform surpassed 94.9 million subscribers.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/11/disney-says-it-now-has-94point9-million-disney-plus-subscribers.html?source=Snapzu

GameStop surge reportedly under federal investigation for possible manipulation

Last month, GameStop’s stock price rose more than 500 percent in a two-week period.
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/11/22278799/gamestop-surge-federal-investigation-manipulation-robinhood-reddit?source=Snapzu

After a year of Working from Home where are we going from here?

In February 2020, we were just realizing we'd need to work from home for a while. We had no idea just how drastic the change would be. Now, a year in, thanks to the Coronavirus vaccines, we're beginning to think about returning to the office. Or, are we?
Read more: https://www.idginsiderpro.com/article/3606589/after-a-year-of-working-from-home-where-are-we-going-from-here.html?source=Snapzu

Oatly's Super Bowl ad was dubbed one of the worst, yet we're still talking about it

Many of us are still talking about the strange Super Bowl commcercial featuring Oatly oat milk and its CEO singing "wow, now cow."
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2021/02/08/oatly-super-bowl-commercial-we-cant-stop-talking-oatly-ceo/4437030001/?source=Snapzu

Facebook vs. Apple: Here's what you need to know about their privacy feud

A coming update to Apple's iOS will let you opt out of app tracking. Facebook isn't a fan.
Read more: https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-vs-apple-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-their-privacy-feud/?source=Snapzu

Biden’s claim that with a $15 minimum wage, ‘the whole economy rises’

Biden is bullish on a big increase in the minimum wage, but economists are sharply divided on the impact on jobs.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/02/09/bidens-claim-that-with-15-minimum-wage-whole-economy-rises/?source=Snapzu

Doctors Urge White House To Stop 'Detrimental' Impact Of Animal Agriculture

Agroup of doctors is urging the White House to stop the ‘detrimental’ impact of animal agriculture. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is a nonprofit organization featuring 12,000 physicians including Dr. Neal D. Barnard.
Read more: https://plantbasednews.org/news/environment/doctors-urge-white-house-stop-detrimental-impact-of-animal-agriculture/?source=Snapzu

New restaurant owners get shut out of PPP loans despite their financial losses

Every month, Andrew Darneille says his Smokecraft Modern Barbecue in Arlington, Va., has been losing between $15,000 and $20,000, and the numbers would be uglier if not for breaks from his bank and landlord. December was the worst yet: The owner and pitmaster says he suffered $30,000 in losses, even with a skeleton crew and a separate ghost kitchen selling fried chicken sandwiches.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2021/02/06/ppp-loans-new-restaurants/?source=Snapzu

How a Family of Scammers Made Millions Off Fake 5-Hour Energy

Counterfeit energy drinks were lightning in a bottle for Adriana and Joseph Shayota, netting them a million dollars a month until the feds closed in. But they had one chance to clear their name: President Donald Trump.
Read more: https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/5-hour-energy-scam-shayota-trump-pardon?source=Snapzu

Top open source, tech-smart, board-ready women executives

Many open source organizations and companies are already headed by women, but there are many others who are ready for the boardroom.
Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/top-open-source-tech-smart-board-ready-women-executives/?source=Snapzu

Don’t Stop at Big Tech—We Need to Bust Big Agriculture, Too

Amid Congressional investigation and federal, state and private antitrust cases, all eyes are on Big Tech. The step up in antitrust enforcement against the digital technology behemoths and their alleged abuses of market power is, by all accounts, good news. Successful cases could restore competition, which would benefit smaller businesses and American consumers alike.
Read more: http://modernfarmer.com/2021/02/opinion-dont-stop-at-big-tech-we-need-to-bust-big-agriculture-too/?source=Snapzu

Ford Makes $29 Billion Commitment to Electric and Self-Driving Cars

The automaker, which starts producing the electric F-150 in 2022, announced it will invest heavily in the future of powertrains and mobility through 2025.
Read more: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a35432253/ford-ev-commitment-announced/?source=Snapzu

The Economy Does Much Better Under Democrats. Why?

A president has only limited control over the economy. And yet there has been a stark pattern in the United States for nearly a century. The economy has grown significantly faster under Democratic presidents than Republican ones.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/opinion/sunday/democrats-economy.html?referringSource=articleShare?source=Snapzu

Does Vertical Farming Actually Work?

In the outskirts of Newark, New Jersey, tucked between a packaging manufacturer and an aquatics center lies a farm. Except, if you're driving down the nearby highway you probably wouldn't be able to tell that this particular farm is churning out thousands of pounds of greens each year. In fact, all you'll see is a bunch of buildings, because this is a vertical farming operation called AeroFarms, which grows all their food in a warehouse.
Read more: https://www.ecowatch.com/vertical-farming-2650271709.html?source=Snapzu

Apple versus Facebook on ad-tracking: Harvard sides with Apple

We’ve seen an increasingly heated Apple versus Facebook battle over the upcoming App Tracking Transparency feature, which will require apps to seek permission to capture data that can be used to deliver personalized ads. Facebook has claimed that the change will hurt small businesses by making their ads much less effective. But a piece in the Harvard Business Review says that this is misleading...
Read more: https://9to5mac.com/2021/02/05/apple-versus-facebook-harvard/?source=Snapzu

Big name corporations more likely to commit fraud

Fortune 500 firms with strong growth profiles are more susceptible to “cooking the books” than smaller, struggling companies, according to a recent study published in Justice Quarterly. Researchers from Washington State University, Pennsylvania State University and Miami University examined the characteristics of more than 250 U.S. public corporations that were involved in financial securities fraud identified in Securities and Exchange Commission filings from 2005-2013. They were then compared to a control sample of firms that were not named in SEC fraud filings.
Read more: https://news.wsu.edu/2021/02/02/big-name-corporations-likely-commit-fraud/?source=Snapzu

Who’s Making All Those Scam Calls?

Every year, tens of millions of Americans collectively lose billions of dollars to scam callers. Where does the other end of the line lead?
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/magazine/scam-call-centers.html?source=Snapzu

Trump People Were the Worst Restaurant Guests, Too

Stephen Miller grilled me about caviar. Paul Manafort came in under a fake name. Wilbur Ross always got the cheapest wine (by the glass).
Read more: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/02/trump-administration-tippers-fine-dining-dc.html?source=Snapzu

Robert Downey Jr. is launching a new ‘rolling’ venture fund to back sustainability startups

A little less than two years ago, when the actor, producer and investor Robert Downey Jr. unveiled his new, sustainability focused initiative called the FootPrint Coalition at Amazon’s re:MARS conference it was little more than a static website and a subscription prompt.
Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/27/robert-downey-jr-is-launching-a-new-rolling-venture-fund-to-back-sustainability-startups/?source=Snapzu

Uber buying booze delivery company Drizly for $1.1 billion

Uber on Tuesday announced an agreement to buy Drizly, a Boston-based alcohol delivery startup, for $1.1 billion in cash and stock.
Read more: https://www.axios.com/uber-buying-booze-delivery-company-drizly-dbd001d7-e23e-4bf0-9213-1889385536de.html?source=Snapzu