Universal Music Group will stop licensing its music library to TikTok after both companies failed to reach an agreement over several issues‚ including artist payments and AI-generated content‚ the label announced Tuesday. In a statement‚ Universal said its existing licensing deal with TikTok will expire on Wednesday‚ after which its songs will be removed from the service. UMG said during contract renewal discussions‚ the company pressed TikTok on three issues: “appropriate compensation for our...

Money-bleeding start-up The Messenger — the news site that launched to great fanfare last May — was expected to shut down Wednesday in what sources called “the Titanic of publishing disasters.” “The site will go dark‚” an insider at the publication told The Post‚ adding that none of the roughly 300 staffers will get severance. Co-founder and CEO Jimmy Finkelstein‚ who launched the site in May after raising $50 million‚ had been scrambling to secure funding this week as employees braced to...

The Messenger‚ a digital media company that launched less than a year ago‚ will soon shut down‚ according to multiple reports. News of the startup’s plans to shutter was first reported by The New York Times on Wednesday‚ citing a person familiar with the decision. The Hill has reached out to a representative for the outlet. Last spring‚ founder Jimmy Finkelstein‚ who previously owned The Hill‚ told the Times and other media outlets his vision for The Messenger was one that he described...

The Messenger‚ a news website that pledged to shake up the media industry with a playbook borrowed from the doomed publishing start-ups of yesteryear‚ will be closing down. In an email to staff‚ the site’s founder‚ Jimmy Finkelstein‚ said that The Messenger’s shutdown was “effective immediately.” “This is truly the last thing I wanted‚ and I am deeply sorry‚” Mr. Finkelstein wrote. By closing less than a year after it launched‚ The Messenger will now be one of the biggest busts in the...

A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed Disney’s free speech lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis‚ leaving the company’s remaining hopes of regaining control of the district that governs Walt Disney World to a separate state court challenge. U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor in Tallahassee said in his decision that Disney lacked standing in its First Amendment lawsuit against the Republican governor‚ the secretary of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and DeSantis’ appointees...

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday warned that Chinese hackers are preparing to “wreak havoc and cause real-world harm” to the US. “China’s hackers are positioning on American infrastructure in preparation to wreak havoc and cause real-world harm to American citizens and communities‚ if or when China decides the time has come to strike‚” Wray told the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Though cyber officials have long sounded the alarm about China’s...

The U.S. central bank held rates at their current range for the fourth straight time‚ signaling that the hiking cycle may be over setting up the stage for possible rate cuts in 2024. The possible reduction of rates‚ which‚ at their current two-decade highs‚ have helped push up borrowing costs across the economy‚ could be a boost for President Joe Biden as they could reduce the cost of buying a home and business investment. Beginning in March of 2022‚ the Federal Reserve raised rates at the...

U.S. officials said on Wednesday they disrupted a sweeping Chinese cyber-spying operation that targeted critical American infrastructure entities and could be used against the United States in a future geopolitical crisis. The operation‚ conducted jointly by the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI‚ weeded out malicious Chinese software from a network or "botnet" of hundreds of compromised U.S. routers‚ both agencies said in a statement. The U.S. and its key allies disclosed the Chinese...

After Stanley fans posted home lead test results on social media‚ the company confirmed the viral insulated tumblers do contain lead. Here’s what experts are saying. Stanley‚ the makers of the tumblers that have become a viral sensation‚ have come under scrutiny this week. Social media users‚ specifically on TikTok and Instagram‚ have been sharing videos showing at-home lead test findings‚ and the results are worrying faithful Stanley sippers. Dozens of consumers are posting videos...

Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade settled his divorce case‚ canceling a Wednesday hearing that would have featured his testimony discussing his relationship with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. The settlement also saves Willis from likely having to testify in the case and gives further insight into her relationship with Wade. The alleged affair risks jeopardizing one of the central cases against former President Donald Trump‚ which threatens to jeopardize his 2024...