The upcoming movie Amsterdam has a star-studded cast and 20th Century Studios has shared 15 character posters featuring all of the big names!
25.08.2022 - 23:19 / variety.com
Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor YouTube is reminding everyone that it offers variable playback speeds — which can add up to a ton of time savings if you’re able to keep pace with life in the fast lane. The video giant first introduced features in 2010 to allow users to control just how quickly or slowly they want to watch content. As you might expect, most YouTube users watch on the default speed. Among those who pick a different playback speed, 85% watch at a faster speed. According to YouTube, 1.5X is the No. 1 most-selected option, followed by 2X as a close second and 1.25X in third. The net effect: In the month of June 2022, YouTube users in aggregate saved an average of over 900 years of video time per day when watching at faster speeds, the Google-owned video service says. As YouTube helpfully (?) explains, that is the equivalent of watching PSY’s “Gangnam Style” almost 113 million times or “Baby Shark” nearly 210 million times (at normal playback speeds, of course).
To watch a YouTube video at a different speed, on the video’s watch page, select “Settings” and then select one of eight “Playback speed” choices: 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, Normal (the default), 1.25, 1.5, 1.75 or 2 times. You can also pick your own custom playback speed between 0.25-2X. YouTube notes that the variable playback speed options may not be available on all smart TVs and streaming devices. “While plenty of our users love this feature, for some there’s still no speed high enough,” Reid Watson, product manager at YouTube, wrote in a blog post — noting that YouTube has received requests from users to add up to 4X playback speed. Other findings from YouTube on how viewers use the variable playback speeds:
The upcoming movie Amsterdam has a star-studded cast and 20th Century Studios has shared 15 character posters featuring all of the big names!
Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The YouTube Streamy Awards are coming back this year in-person for the first time since 2019. The 2022 Streamys — the annual awards recognizing the internet’s most notable video creators, shows and brands — will be held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Dec. 4. The show will stream exclusively on YouTube for the fifth straight year. Marking its 12th year, the 2022 Streamys will feature more than 45 award categories, including Creator of the Year, Show of the Year and Breakout Creator. The program also features the Streamys Brand Awards, launched in 2018, which spotlights brand advertising innovation.
Taylor Swift has announced three new collectable editions of her forthcoming 10th studio album, ‘Midnights’, all of which will boast unique features and will only be available to purchase for a limited time.The three different variants are a ‘Jade Green’ edition, a ‘Blood Moon’ edition and a ‘Mahogany’ edition. Each is named for the colour it represents – for example, the ‘Jade Green’ edition has the title and tracklisting on the album’s front cover (as well as the left-side bar of the CD version’s jewel case) printed in a muted gradient of deep greens, while the original version is laid out in blue.Similarly, the ‘Blood Moon’ edition of ‘Midnights’ features a gradient of deep red to orange, and the ‘Mahogany’ edition comes with brown and gold accents.
Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor More than 10 years after its debut, the official music video for “We Are Young,” the chart-topping hit by Fun. featuring Janelle Monáe, has surpassed 1 billion views on YouTube. The milestone marks both artists’ first entry into YouTube’s Billion Views Club. The music video, directed by Marc Klasfeld, was shot at L.A.’s David Sukonick Concert Hall. The four-minute, 12-second video shows Fun. performing in a nightclub — before a slow-motion riot breaks out among the bar’s patrons. It features an appearance by Monáe, who sings opposite Fun. frontman Nate Ruess on the song’s bridge (with the refrain “Carry me home tonight / Just carry me home tonight”).
Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Robert Kyncl will exit YouTube in early 2023 after more than 12 years as a senior exec at video giant. He most recently served at YouTube’s chief business officer, helping to grow it into a multibillion-dollar powerhouse. Kyncl’s departure was announced in a memo Monday to YouTube staff by CEO Susan Wojcicki, a copy of which was obtained by Variety. Kyncl is leaving “to start the next chapter in his career,” Wojcicki wrote. “Under his leadership, YouTube forged new relationships and partnerships in music, traditional media and tech, and our creator ecosystem – without him, the term ‘YouTuber’ wouldn’t be a mainstream term.”
Taylor Swift dropped a bombshell at the 2022 MTV VMAs on Sunday - she would be releasing a "brand new album" on 21 October 2022.MORE: Joe Alwyn opens up about relationship with Taylor Swift in very rare interviewThe news came out of the blue for fans as she shared the details at the end of her acceptance speech for the Video of the Year Award.WATCH: Taylor Swift reveals details of new album"I made up my mind that if you were this generous and give us this, I thought it might be a fun moment to tell you that my brand new album comes out October 21st," she said to screams in the stadium.Taylor then took to social media at midnight east coast time to reveal more information, including confirming that this would be an album of brand new material ,and not a rerecording of her previous work.MORE: Inside Taylor Swift's incredible $81m property portfolio: from New York to Nashville"Midnights, the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life, will be out October 21. Meet me at midnight," she shared on her website.The album will come almost a year after her last release, the rerecording of Grammy nominated album Red.
Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix is looking at a price point as low as $7 per month for its forthcoming ad-supported streaming plan, set to bow in early 2023, according to a new report — less than half its standard two-stream HD package without advertising, which costs $15.49/month in the U.S. The streamer is considering pricing the ad plan at $7-$9 per month, with an advertising load of four minutes per hour, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources. An ad-supported version of Disney+ is set to debut in December at $7.99/month, also with four minutes of ads per hour. Asked to comment, Netflix said the Bloomberg report is “speculation at this point” and that the company hasn’t finalized decisions about pricing or other details for the advertising plan. “We are still in the early days of deciding how to launch a lower priced, ad-supported tier and no decisions have been made,” a spokesperson said.
Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Gabbie Hanna was visited by police officers at her L.A. home Wednesday, after the social-media star raised serious concerns among her followers with a string of about 100 bizarre TikTok videos she posted over a 24-hour period. Amid her torrent of recent TikToks, Hanna said police had checked on her and left her a “wellness card.” The LAPD, after receiving multiple calls urging cops to check on Hanna, brought in a psychological evaluation team, which after a consultation with her determined “she didn’t pose a threat to herself or anyone else” and allowed her to remain in her home, TMZ reported. Hanna’s recent TikTok videos have shown her in various states of crying, screaming and laughing, talking about a range of topics including religion and death and declaring herself the smartest person on Earth. Several videos showed a message scrawled on her bathroom mirror in lipstick. Hanna previously has said she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Taylor Swift is being sued by a poet and author named Teresa La Dart who claims a book Swift released alongside her 2019 album ‘Lover’ copied elements of La Dart’s book of the same name.In a complaint filed in Tennessee federal court on August 23, La Dart claims that “a number of creative elements” from her book – a collection of “poems, anecdotes and photos” self-published in 2010 – were copied in Swift’s book that accompanies a deluxe version of her ‘Lover’ album.As the Daily Mail reports, in the filing, La Dart alleges Swift copied both “the vibe and design” of her own book, as well as its “format” of “a recollection of past years memorialized in a combination of written and pictorial components”.In her allegations, La Dart specifically references the similarities of both books sharing a title, having covers that use “pastel pinks and blues”, images of their author “photographed in a downward pose” and the designs comprising of “interspersed photographs and writings”.La Dart is reportedly seeking in “excess of one million dollars” in damages.NME has reached out to representatives for Swift for comment. In a statement shared with Pitchfork, La Dart’s lawyer said her client “feels strongly that her full work needs to be compared with [Swift’s] before a conclusion is made here”.They added that the decision to file the complaint “was not made nor taken lightly considering the other side is quite formidable”, and they “hope the masses can understand these issues from her perspective”.Earlier this month, responding to a separate copyright lawsuit, Swift denied she had copied the lyrics of her 2014 hit ‘Shake It Off’ from ‘Playas Gon’ Play’ by the American pop trio 3LW.
Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Fans of NBC’s current-season shows will no longer find them on Hulu as of next month — they’ll be flying over to NBCUniversal’s Peacock. NBCU announced that starting Sept. 19, Peacock Premium will become the streaming home for next-day access to current seasons of NBC shows the day after they air on the network. The media conglom had clawed back the next-day rights for NBC shows from Disney-controlled Hulu, in which NBCU still owns a one-third stake, earlier this year. NBC series that will become exclusively available on Peacock include franchises like Dick Wolf’s “Law & Order” trifecta and One Chicago shows, the network’s late-night lineup including “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Late Night With Seth Meyers” and “Saturday Night Live,” returning series such as “La Brea,” “New Amsterdam” and “Young Rock” and competition shows including “The Voice” and “America’s Got Talent.” Also streaming exclusively on Peacock are new series bowing on NBC this fall including a reboot of “Quantum Leap” and “Lopez vs. Lopez.”
The University of Texas at Austin is offering a new class this fall and it's all about musical icon Taylor Swift. Elizabeth Scala, an English professor will be teaching the class that is new to the university this fall.
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck enjoyed a relaxing moment at a Savannah, Georgia coffee shop ahead of their three-day wedding celebration this weekend. Lopez, 53, and Affleck, 50, stopped into Gallery Espresso on Thursday to enjoy some coffee with their children in tow.The group ordered frozen lattes, some tea and bought a shirt from the "old school" location, the shop manager told Fox News Digital. "They weren't on top of each other," the manager, Jessica, recalled to Fox News Digital.
Twilight: New Moon director Chris Weitz has admitted he somewhat regrets his decision not to cast Taylor Swift in the series’ second film.In a new interview on The Twilight Effect, the podcast of Ashley Greene (who starred as Alice Cullen in the film franchise), Weitz revealed that while Swift had wanted to be an extra in 2009’s New Moon, he turned the opportunity down.“Taylor Swift and I had the same agent at the time, and he said, ‘Taylor would like to be in this movie – not because of you, but she’s a Twi-hard,” Weitz said during the episode, as The Independent points out. Though it was made clear Swift only wanted to appear as “someone at the cafeteria, or the diner, or whatever,” Weitz nevertheless thought her presence in the film would be too distracting.“The hardest thing for me was to be like, the moment that Taylor Swift walks onto the screen, for about five minutes, nobody is going to be able to process anything,” he said on the podcast.