Apple unveiled two live radio stations on Apple Music, available in 165 countries, and renamed its flagship station, Beats 1, as Apple Music 1. Apple Music Hits will showcase top songs from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, and Apple Music Country will highlight country music. Apple Music’s Beats 1, which launched in 2015, has become a popular destination for music listening and offers in-depth artist interviews as well as global exclusives and premieres. The station also promotes human curation and artist camaraderie. Continue reading Apple Music Debuts New Stations, Renames Flagship Beats 1

Chicago recently extended its 9 percent “amusement” tax — originally intended primarily for live shows and sporting events — to include an array of online services. Now, subscribers to streaming services such as Netflix, Xbox Live and Spotify are fighting back with a lawsuit that contends taxing such digital entertainment should be ruled illegal. The policy challenge in Chicago could prove significant to the larger media industry since its outcome could possibly shape how cities and states could tax parts of the Internet economy in the future. Continue reading Lawsuit Claims Streaming Tax on Digital Entertainment is Illegal