Blog / 5 Apr 2017

#Newsfeed: Twitter targets tie-ins with pay TV broadcasters in live video push; Spotify Premium users to receive UMG albums 2 weeks ahead of free users; The Life of Pablo becomes the first album to go platinum from streams alone

Plus why it’s getting harder and harder to tell Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter apart.

Facebook has become part of a US$14-million effort to combat fake news. Dubbed the News Integrity Initiative, the group is spearheaded by Craigslist founder and journalism advocate Craig Newmark and will fund research and projects related to improving news literacy and trust in journalism, as well as hosting events at which experts will discuss related issues. “Consumers want news we can trust. I know I do, but trust works both ways,” Newmark told Fortune. “We have to put some demands on news orgs that they be as transparent as possible.”

Read more about this new initiative here.

According to The Telegraph, Twitter is seeking to ink deals with pay-TV companies that would let subscribers watch live channels over the social network as part of a major video push. Under mooted deals with broadcasters such as Sky and ESPN, customers who already have TV subscriptions would be able to link their subscriptions with their Twitter account, giving them access to paid-for channels within the Twitter app.

Read why this social media/TV combo is a gamechanger here.

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Love him or hate him, DJ Khaled is an unstoppable social media force – so much so that he’s landed a new collaboration with music lifestyle brand WeBuyGold. Khaled’s new show The Bless Up – in which he tries to instill joy and happiness into the lives of several lucky fans – will debut exclusively on Instagram next week, and will require fans to follow @WEBUYGOLD on Instagram and direct message the company a video describing an obstacle they’re currently battling in their lives in order to be considered for a visit by Khaled.

Read the full details of the collab here.

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Spotify has agreed to a new licensing agreement with Universal Music Group that will see new albums from Universal artists be restricted to Spotify’s premium service for up to two weeks. In a statement, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek admitted that Spotify understands that its policy of releasing albums across its entire service couldn’t last forever. “We know that not every album by every artist should be released the same way, and we’ve worked hard with UMG to develop a new, flexible release policy,” Ek stated.