Amazon launches free channels, check marks come to Gmail and OpenAI raises more moolahIt’s that time of week again, folks — Week in Review (WiR) time. For those new to the scene, WiR is TechCrunch’s regular newsletter that recaps the biggest tech stories over the past few days. There’s no better digest for the person on the go, we’d argue — but of course, we’re a little biased.
Before we get into the meat of the thing, a quick reminder that TC City Spotlight: Atlanta is fast approaching. On June 7, TechCrunch is headed to Atlanta, where we’ll host a pitch competition, a talk on the economics of equality, a panel discussion on investing in the Atlanta ecosystem and more.
Elsewhere, there’s a TechCrunch Live event with Persona and Index Ventures on May 10, which will touch on how Persona keeps pace with new threats and how Index made a prescient move to spot and back Persona early on. And we have Disrupt in San Francisco from September 19–21 — our annual conference is jam-packed with expert-led sessions and interviews with movers and shakers in the tech space.
Now, with that out of the way, here’s the top headlines.
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Amazon debuts free channels: Amazon is doubling down on free, ad-supported content with this week’s introduction of Fire TV Channels. The new, free and ad-supported video experience, which came to Fire TV devices this week, will be continuously updated throughout the day and integrated into several areas across the Fire TV interface, Sarah reports.
Bio update for a check: Briefly, a bug on Twitter let legacy blue check holders get their badge back by updating their bio. Readers will recall that blue checks on Twitter once signified that a user was “verified,” but now serve as an indication that they’re paying for Twitter’s premium subscription service, Twitter Blue. Verified users who chose not to pay recently faced the prospect of blue check removal — but not necessarily permanently, judging by the bug.
Google ditches passwords for passkeys: This week Google rolled out passkeys to Google Account users globally, roughly a year after the company — alongside Apple, Microsoft and the FIDO Alliance — announced a partnership to broadly advance passkey adoption. With passkeys, users’ authentication synchronizes across devices through the cloud using cryptographic key pairs, allowing them to sign in to websites and apps using the same biometrics or screen-lock PIN they use to unlock their devices.
Microsoft debuts Pegasus: Microsoft this week announced that it’ll extend the Startup Founders Hub, its self-service platform that provides founders with free resources, including Azure credits, with a new incubator program called the Pegasus Program. Pegasus will select startups with products that “fill a market need” and give them up to $350,000 in Azure, GitHub and LinkedIn credits plus backing from advisors, as well as “access to the best Microsoft tech,” Microsoft says.
Blue check marks come to Gmail: Google is going to start displaying a blue check mark next to select senders’ names on Gmail to verify their identity, the company said on Wednesday. The check marks will automatically appear next to companies that have adopted Gmail’s existing brand indicators for message identification feature, reports Aisha.
OpenAI rakes in the dough: OpenAI, the startup behind the widely used conversational AI model ChatGPT, has picked up new backers. In an exclusive report, Jagmeet and Ingrid reveal that VC firms, including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive, K2 Global and Founders Fund, have put just over $300 million into OpenAI, valuing the company at between $27 billion and $29 billion.
Apple releases security fix: On Monday, Apple released its first batch of publicly available “rapid security” patches, aimed at quickly fixing security vulnerabilities that are under active exploitation or pose significant risks to its customers. Apple says that these patches, which are enabled by default, were intended to let customers update their devices faster than a typical software upgrade.
Musk settles for less: A defamation case brought against Tesla chief executive Elon Musk by critic Randeep Hothi is coming to a close, reportedly costing the billionaire ten big ones. Lawyers representing Hothi — a vocal member of the TSLAQ short-seller community on Twitter who rose to prominence as a skeptic of Tesla’s gigafactory plans and “full self-driving” tech — said in a statement that Musk asked to settle the nearly three-year-old case back in March.
A new LLM for Alexa: Amazon is building a more “generalized and capable” large language model to power Alexa, said Amazon CEO Andy Jassy during the company’s first-quarter earnings call this week. He added that although Amazon has had an LLM powering Alexa, Amazon is working on one that’s more capable than the current one.
Left out to dry: Ann Lai, a general partner at Bullpen Capital, was fired from the firm in what she describes as a “discriminatory and retaliatory” experience. Lai helped raise Bullpen Capital’s most recent fund, a $145 million investment vehicle, the first investment vehicle in which she was named an equal partner.
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TechCrunch’s stable of podcasts grows by the day — and it’s all quality stuff. This week, the Equity folks covered First Republic Bank, Poparazzi’s shutdown, Databricks’ acquisition, who’s going head-to-head with Stripe, the rise of down rounds and why Bluesky had them feeling less gray. Meanwhile, Found spoke with Stefan Bauer about how his company, Marker Learning, is cutting the cost of learning disability assessments by conducting them remotely. Chain Reaction interviewed Jake Chervinsky, the chief policy officer at Blockchain Association, a nonprofit organization focused on promoting “pro-innovation” policy for the digital asset world. On The TechCrunch Podcast — which, like WiR, covers the week in tech news — Devin talked about whether Meta’s cavalier approach to compliance might finally be coming to a close. And last but not least, TechCrunch Live profiled Sam Chaudhary, the founder of ClassDojo, and Chris Farmer, the founder and CEO of SignalFire, about playing the long game in edtech, investing in companies that aren’t rushing to monetize and the “outsider advantage.”
TechCrunch+
TC+ subscribers get access to in-depth commentary, analysis and surveys — which you know if you’re already a subscriber. If you’re not, consider signing up. Here are a few highlights from this week:
A cloudy future: Lyft’s equity is selling off in the wake of the U.S. ride-hailing giant’s first-quarter results and its comments regarding the current quarter, and how its new strategic posture will affect its growth and economics in the coming quarters. But there’s not necessarily cause for panic. Alex and Anna write about Lyft’s new tack and the potential upsides, of which there are several.
Down but not out: For the past year, everyone’s been predicting that the muted exit environment and bone-dry funding market would bring a reckoning for many late-stage companies. Down rounds carry a negative connotation and are often interpreted as the fault of the company or founder. But in a market where everything seems to be heading downward, they shouldn’t imply a company or its founders made a mistake — you often simply can’t help it, Rebecca writes.
ChatGPT, meet edtech: Shares of edtech company Chegg fell off a cliff this week even after the company reported Q1 results that bested analyst expectations. In its earnings call, the company’s executives noted that ChatGPT was slowing its ability to add new subscribers, not only potentially slowing growth but also throwing uncertainty into its ability to predict its future financial results. Alex and Natasha M dig deeper.

Get your TechCrunch fix IRL. Join us at Disrupt 2023 in San Francisco this September to immerse yourself in all things startup. From headline interviews to intimate roundtables to a jam-packed startup expo floor, there’s something for everyone at Disrupt. Save up to $800 when you buy your pass now through May 15, and save 15% on top of that with promo code WIR. Learn more.
Amazon launches free channels, check marks come to Gmail and OpenAI raises more moolah by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

Vicious Antelope Scoring Synths Vol.2 - Omnisphere 2 Scoring Synths Vol.2 for Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2 contains 140 cinematic focused presets. The sounds are based mainly on Omnisphere's 2 great Soundsources. The presets are inspired by... Read More

Getting It Done: The Week in D.I.Y. & Indie MusicThis week, our tips and advice for the independent, do-it-yourselfers out there covered how to navigate a record deal, the 101 off EPKs, and more… Beginners guide to Vevo For. Continue reading
The post Getting It Done: The Week in D.I.Y. & Indie Music appeared first on Hypebot.

REWIND: The New Music Industry’s Week in ReviewA busy week by any definition, the music industry was no exception, with Google introducing new AI, Boygenius’ influence of folk-pop, and more… Live Nation offers $25 all-in tickets to. Continue reading
The post REWIND: The New Music Industry’s Week in Review appeared first on Hypebot.

Edmsoundware Tal J-8 Tech Trance Soundpack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YBjXhGgeK0 Edmsoundware.com released 'Tal J-8 Tech Trance Soundpack' a payware soundpack for the Tal J-8 synthesizer, and 3 DAWs. ... Read More

Omnitech-436C compressor plug-in by Black Rooster Audio Omnitech-436C has been modelled on Altec's 436C Vari-Mu valve compressor, but also includes some helpful modern side-chain and stereo linking features. 

Artist to Artist: Book Your Own ShowsBooking yourself isn’t hard. But the work is definitely not cut out for everyone. It is a relentless grind that is full of rejections, and a constant wondering about whether it was ever worth the time spent. But if you keep at it… it totally is! In the following article, Nashville-based artist Canaan Cox shares his hard-won advice with you:

At first, all I knew is that I wanted to play anywhere for anyone who would listen. Legitimately found a hot restaurant in my hometown of Hendersonville, NC, saw they had an electrical outlet on their patio, and asked if I could come play there one evening. They said yes and all I asked in return was a plate of food. I took that same mentality with me to Nashville when I was done with the Broadway scene. Here’s what I did.

1) Make a One Sheet. Doesn’t matter how elegant it is. Just make one. If you don’t know what it is, Google it.

2) In your notes or word doc, write a generic email stating who you are, what kind of music you play, and attach your socials / music links.

3) Google “Live music in Wherever, State.” Go to their website, MOST of them will have a booking email. The ones that don’t, go to their socials.

4) Either on their emails or socials, copy and paste your email, attach one sheet. Rinse and repeat.

I used to (still do) sit in coffee shops from opening to close looking up every bar, grill, cider house, you name it, to see if they’d want live music. In the beginning it was actually easier as you could convince most spots to let you play for $100-$200 plus a meal in the corner to play some music. And that’s how I booked my first acoustic tour in 2017 touring the Midwest and everywhere along the East Coast from New York City to Charleston, SC with over 250 shows a year.

It was a grind. It was me, my guitar, 1 small Alto Professional speaker and mic stand in the back of a Ford Ranger. I remember one gig in Illinois — they set me up right beside the men’s toilet at the back of the bar so everyone's back was facing away from me. You pay your dues for sure but as some shows were like that, I was building a fan base in others. Now, some of those $150, 3 hour cover gigs turn into a couple grand, original, 90 minute sets!

I’m well over playing cover gigs now, but the hustle remains the same to book the original shows. The only thing that’s changed is my one sheet, the info in the email, and the check at the end of the night.

HELPFUL TIPS:

Create an email that’s like BookingName@gmail.com and pretend to be someone else who

books you.

Look at the venue's calendar ahead of time and request to play dates that are open. They’re

more likely to get back to you if they know what they’re looking for.

For timing sake, have everything in a folder on computer that way when you’re copy and

pasting to emails, socials, etc it’s all right there for attaching. By Canaan Cox

About Canaan Cox: North Carolina-native, Nashville-based artist Canaan Cox is the definition of a triple threat: singer/songwriter, actor, and dancer. His music is a fusion of contemporary country, pop, with a touch of rhythm and blues — which comes as no surprise as he grew up in a musically eclectic household. Canaan has not only co-written his songs, but has also created, directed and produced all of his music videos. Since moving to Nashville in 2016, Canaan has been diligently honing his craft while building a loyal fan base. Website: https://www.canaancox.com/

Eligible Celsius users can withdraw all 'Distributable Custody Assets' following court approvalCertain Celsius users, largely those who only ever held funds in custody accounts, had previously been limited to withdrawing up to 94% of their funds.

Confusion sets in as Meta content moderators go without payContent moderators under Sama, Meta’s content review sub-contractor in Africa, earlier today picketed at the company’s headquarters in Kenya demanding April salary, while urging it to observe the court orders that barred it from conducting mass layoffs.
The demonstrations came after Sama, in an email, instructed moderators to clear with the company by May 11, a move the employees say is against the existing court orders.
The 184 moderators sued Sama for allegedly laying them off unlawfully, after it wound down its content review arm in March, and Majorel, the social media giant’s new partner in Africa, for blacklisting on instruction by Meta.
The court issued a temporary injunction on March 21 barring Sama from effecting any form of redundancy, and Meta from engaging Majorel, which was also instructed to refrain from blacklisting the moderators. Sama was directed to continue reviewing content on Meta’s platforms, and to be its sole provider in Africa pending determination of the case. However, Sama sent the moderators on compulsory leave in April saying it had no work for them as its contract with Meta had expired.
Sama told TechCrunch that it had sent the notice “to staff whose contract had expired to go through our regular clearance process. This clearance process involves the return of company equipment to make sure that all final dues can be paid without deduction for that equipment, in accordance with Kenyan law.”
It said the moderators’ contracts had ended in March after its deal with Meta expired, saying that it was only processing the moderators final dues.
“We understand our former employees’ frustration because they were led by others to believe that they would all receive salary indefinitely while on leave, but that is not what the court dictated,” said Sama.
Yet, Sama’s VP of global service delivery, Annpeace Alwala, had in an affidavit dated April 12, and seen by TechCrunch, asked the court to set aside the temporary injunction saying that keeping the content moderators came “with a serious cost implication.” Alwala had outlined that it would cost about $90,000 monthly to keep the moderators, and a further $135,000 to process their work permits and security bond.
The moderators filed the suit alleging that Sama failed to issue redundancy notices, as required by Kenyan law. The suit also claims, among other issues, that the moderators were not issued with a 30-day termination notice, and that their terminal dues were pegged on their signing of non-disclosure documents. Sama says it observed the Kenyan law.
Sama, whose long list of clientele includes OpenAI, dropped Meta’s contract and content review services, laying off 260 people in the process, to concentrate on labeling work (computer vision data annotation), following the heat from a 2022 lawsuit in Kenya by its former content moderator, Daniel Motaung.
Motuang, a South African, had accused Sama and Meta of forced labor and human trafficking, unfair labor relations, union busting and failure to provide “adequate” mental health and psychosocial support. He was allegedly laid off for organizing a 2019 strike and trying to unionize Sama’s employees. Sama and Majorel moderators earlier this week voted to form a union.

Meta’s content review in Africa in limbo as moderation partners decry court restrictions

Meta can be sued in Kenya over alleged unlawful layoffs and blacklisting of moderators, court rules

Kenyan court paves way for lawsuit alleging Facebook played role in fueling Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict

Confusion sets in as Meta content moderators go without pay by Annie Njanja originally published on TechCrunch

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Hal Leonard Releases Vocal Selections FoliosHal Leonard has released two vocal selections from a Tony-topping Broadway hit and a fan-favorite motion picture. Some Like It Hot has lit up Broadway this season and garnered the most Tony Award nominations of any show (13!), including Best Musical and Best Original Score. The official matching folio features 15 infectious songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman arranged with vocal line and piano accompaniment. It retails for $27.99.

The composer-approved Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile vocal selections folio features nine songs from the 2022 musical comedy starring Shawn Mendes as the voice of everyone's favorite singing crocodile. Featuring original songs by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, and Shawn Mendes, each song is arranged with vocal line and piano accompaniment. It retails for $22.99.

Booth books are available from music and bookstores everywhere or at halleonard.com.

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From Ed Sheeran’s court victory to Spotify deleting Boomy uploads… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpThe biggest music biz headlines from the past week, all in one place
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