Popular streaming music service Spotify plans to take on radio and podcasts from Apple and others by introducing news and political coverage to its content offerings. Spotify’s new Spotlight feature will include programming from partners such as BuzzFeed and Refinery29. BuzzFeed, for example, will provide daily newscasts that run four to seven minutes in duration. Spotify’s 70 million users already have access to music and new video and podcast offerings; Spotlight will add news, politics, pop culture and sports coverage. The strategy could position Spotify as a competitor to YouTube and Apple. Continue reading Spotify Adds Content to Compete With Radio, YouTube, Apple

The Television Academy has added Emmy Award categories for short-form variety, nonfiction/reality and animation series as well as new actor and actress awards. The move reflects recognition of the growing popularity of original content produced primarily for online video services. Contenders on the 2016 ballot include digital series such as Maker Studios’ “Epic Rap Battles of History;” “Scare PewDiePie,” available on YouTube Red; AwesomenessTV’s “Guidance;” and New Form Digital’s “Oscar’s Hotel for Fantastical Creatures,” produced with Jim Henson’s Creature Workshop and available on Vimeo. Continue reading Emmy Awards to Debut New Short-Form Categories This Year

Streaming service Vimeo is planning to team up with YouTube network Maker Studios to fund and distribute projects this year that will get exclusive release windows via Vimeo On Demand, the platform’s premium VOD tier. As part of the deal, Vimeo On Demand will be made available to Maker Studios’ 55,000 creators. Disney-owned Maker Studios has started looking into distribution options, including its own Maker.TV player and a new programming partnership with Dish’s soon-to-launch streaming service, Sling TV. Continue reading Vimeo Enters into Deal with Maker Studios for Original Content