Actors Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield are guests this week on digital-first series “Celebrity Substitute,” debuting with host Julian Shapiro-Barnum. The 25-year-old comedian is best known for his work on the viral online series “Recess Therapy,” in which he interviews young children playing in New York City for Instagram and YouTube videos. The new series, designed for mobile platforms, features celebs serving as substitute teachers in 5- to 8-minute episodes released on YouTube, with clips also shared via TikTok and Instagram. Amazon serves as a sponsored partner of the series as part of the tech giant’s push into branded entertainment. Continue reading Branded Content Series Challenges Celebs to Teach Classes

YouTube global head of music Lyor Cohen announced that the platform paid $6 billion to the music industry between July 2021 and June 2022, a 50 percent increase over the $4 billion distributed in the same period in the prior frame. The amount includes monetization across all formats — short and long form video, audio only, live, user-generated content and more — on all platforms (desktop, tablet, mobile, and TV), in over 100 countries. For the second consecutive measurement period, UGC drove more than 30 percent of the payouts for artists, songwriters and rights-holders, according to the company. Continue reading Annual YouTube Music Payments Up 50 Percent to $6 Billion

Spotify will debut a Hi-Fi option later this year, the company announced during its recent “Stream On” presentation. Chief executive and co-founder Daniel Ek also revealed that the company paid $5 billion in royalties during 2020, and chief content officer Dawn Ostroff added that, over the last four years, 800+ recording artists have made more than $1 million a year in recording and publishing, up over 82 percent. About 7,500 artists made more than $100,000 a year, up 79 percent. Spotify also announced that it will launch paid podcast subscriptions. Continue reading Spotify to Introduce Hi-Fi Option, Paid Podcast Subscriptions