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Just two weeks after Spotify CEO Daniel Ek ripped Apple for “bullying” app owners in a Nov. 30 tweet thread, the executive doubled down on his comments during an interview that aired Thursday (Dec. 15) on the streamer’s For The Record podcast. During the appearance, Ek said Apple’s controls over payments and data on its app store create an anticompetitive environment that is “harmful for the economy and consumers.”
“They continue to give themselves unfair advantages really at every turn and setting themselves up as both the referee and player in this game,” stifling competition and hurting competitors and consumers, Ek said.
A vocal critic of the iPhone maker over the years, Ek has ramped up calls against Apple’s policies in recent months. The U.S. Senate has just weeks left in its current term to pass a bill that would rein in the control Apple and Alphabet Inc.’s Google exert over their apps marketplaces.
Introduced last year by Democratic Senators Amy Klobuchar and Richard Blumenthal along with Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn, the Open App Markets Act would block app store owners from requiring app developers to use its payments platform. The bill would also ban app stores from pushing their own products over competitors’ products and permit app developers to communicate more freely with customers and open the door to apps being downloadable from more platforms.
Speaking on the podcast, Senator Blackburn said the bill is gaining support daily.
“The reason we need this is to open up the marketplace to allow more competition, to allow developers to be able to take their product directly to the consumer,” which would lower some costs for developers at a time of high inflation in the U.S., Blackburn said.
App stores run by Apple and Google have traditionally taken a cut of in-app purchases. Prior to 2016, Spotify charged users 30% more if customers upgraded to a premium subscription inside Apple’s App Store to offset Apple’s 30% fee. To save on fees, Spotify has not allowed in-app purchasing on its Apple app since 2016.
Ek threw the weight of his company behind Blackburn’s bill on the podcast, saying that Spotify believes there needs to be regulation in this space to make clear that developers or companies can interact with consumers.
“There is an enormous concentration of power where one company here [is] dictating the rules for how millions of companies should be able to conduct business,” Ek said on the podcast.
This is not the first time Ek has taken on Apple’s App Store in the regulatory arena. In 2019, Spotify filed a complaint with the European Commission against Apple, alleging that rules governing its App Store “purposely limit choice and stifle innovation at the expense of the user experience — essentially acting as both a player and referee to deliberately disadvantage other app developers.”
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Defense attorneys for one of the four men charged with the 2018 murder and robbery of XXXtentacion have listed a handful of notable rappers and celebrities — including Drake, Quavo, Offset, late Migos rapper Takeoff, Tekashi 6ix9ine and Joe Budden — as witnesses, according to court documents.
The move stems from unsubstantiated Internet rumors that swirled following XXXtentacion’s death, in connection with Drake’s 2017 beef over what the late artist believed to be a rip-off of his flows from breakout track “Look at Me!” on the OVO rapper’s “KMT.” A year after the drama, a story was posted to XXX’s Instagram page that read, “If anyone tries to kill me it was @champagnepapi,” tagging Drake’s Instagram handle. XXXtentacion claimed his account was hacked and four months later, he was killed in Deerfield Beach, Fla.
At a Thursday (Dec. 15) hearing reported on by the Miami Herald, prosecutors called the move a stunt and Broward Circuit Judge Michael Usan demanded answers in writing as to why the superstars were relevant. Prosecutors also noted that the defense did not provide addresses where the notable celebs could be served subpeonas, or any contact information. “It is apparent from the deliberate, late disclosure of the defendant’s witnesses and comments made between the parties that [the] defendant intended to ‘surprise’ the state and create a trial by ambush,” wrote prosecutor Pascale Achille, as reported by the Herald.
The amended witness list was submitted by Miami defense attorney Mauricio Padilla, who is representing 27-year-old Dedrick Williams, the alleged getaway driver. Padilla denied Achille’s claims, blaming delayed depositions.
“They are high-profile people. And it’s not easy for me to subpoena. I don’t have numbers, but it doesn’t mean I won’t be able to,” Padilla told the judge. “Trying to subpoena Drake is not easy — you need a drone.”
The all-star rappers being listed as potential witnesses does not mean they will be obligated to show up to court. Their appearance would be contingent upon Padilla proving relevance, which remains to be seen.
XXXtentacion was shot to death on June 18, 2018, at age 20. Leaving Riva Motorsports Motorcycle & Marine Superstore, the late rapper was attacked by two armed men. After a brief struggle, XXXtentacion was robbed and shot multiple times and later pronounced dead at the Broward Health North Hospital.
Ryan Seacrest will usher in 2023 on “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” from Times Square, with iconic bands from the 1980s and 1990s as well as a member of BTS and a TikTok sensation.
Duran Duran, fresh off an induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, will play from a catalogue that includes hits like “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “The Reflex” and “Rio.” R&B and pop group New Edition will celebrate their 40th anniversary by performing a medley of chart-toppers and solo hits like “Rub You The Right Way,” “My Prerogative,” “Poison,” “If It Isn’t Love,” and “Cool It Now.”
J-hope, South Korean songwriter and member of BTS, will play a medley of his “= (Equal Sign),” “Chicken Noodle Soup” and the band’s “Butter.” And Tik-Tok star Jax will sing pop hits “Victoria’s Secret” and “90s Kids.” Singer and rapper Farruko will perform from Puerto Rico.
Actress and producer Liza Koshy will return as co-host alongside Seacrest, actor-singer Roselyn Sanchez will co-host from Puerto Rico and Billy Porter will be back in New Orleans for the Central Time Zone countdown.
There will be pre-taped performances in Disneyland from Aly & AJ, Bailey Zimmerman, Ben Platt, Ciara, Fitz & The Tantrums, Halle Bailey, Lauren Spencer Smith, Maddie & Tae, Shaggy and TXT. And from Los Angeles, there will be performances by Armani White, Betty Who, Dove Cameron, Finneas, Nicky Youre and Wiz Khalifa.
Seacrest, inheritor of ABC’s legendary “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” from Dick Clark, reached 19.6 million viewers between 11:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m., last New Year’s Eve, according to Nielsen. During the 15-minute interval where the ball dropped in New York’s Times Square, his audience jumped to 24.2 million people.
“New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” will air Dec. 31 on ABC.
Carly Rae Jepsen interpreted her The Loneliest Time track, “Surrender My Heart,” for the Broadway stage in her theatrical new music video released on Wednesday (Dec. 14).
In the Brantley Gutierrez-directed clip, the 37-year-old singer enlists the help of 30 Rock actress Jane Krakowski to put on an atmospheric stage production of “Surrender My Heart,” complete with ballerinas, sparkling costumes and colorful backdrops.
When the performance was met by roaring applause, Krakowski says offstage, “I do such — she’s doing such good work.”
“What I really want to capture in this music video … is that there is like a no-good, terrible, horrible bad day going down for a few different women within the production, maybe myself, maybe a ballerina, maybe somebody else involved, and through the support of each other and the behind-the-scenes kind of chaos, that we’re able to pull off the mini miracle of what it is to be in a Broadway situation,” Jepsen told Rolling Stone of the concept behind the video.
“There was something that sparked in that moment for me of kind of crossing the idea of bringing a ballerina, maybe bringing some other kind of true-blue Broadway stars in line with this project and making it a crossing of worlds in the best possible way,” she added.
“Surrender My Heart” is featured on Jepsen’s sixth studio album, The Loneliest Time, which was released back in October. The LP peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard 200 albums chart dated Nov. 5, 2022.
Watch the “Surrender My Heart” music video below.
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Travis Scott’s heavily anticipated Air Jordan Retro 1 Low “Black Phantom” sneaker and a six-piece collection dropped on Nike’s SNKRS app and on Scott’s website on Thursday (Dec. 15).
For his latest Jordan sneaker collab, the 31-year-old rapper maintains the classic Air Jordan 1 Low design “while staying true to his love of vintage style.” The black suede shoe features a backwards swoosh with crisp white stitching and a Cactus Jack logo on the tongue.
Another unique touch: A small beetle stitched on the left heel of the shoe symbolizing “progress, stability, love and nature,” according to the Nike description.
Scott’s Air Jordan 1 Low “Black Phantom” retail price for $150 on the SNKRS app. If you missed out but don’t mind paying more out of pocket, the sold-out sneaker is available on resell sites like StockX, Fight Club and Goat.
In addition to the new sneaker, Scott collaborated with Nike on a sold-out apparel collection. The limited collection, priced from $45-$150, includes black and green hoodies, matching cargo pants and shorts — all featuring premium embroidered graphics.
The Jordan Brand x Travis Scott collection also includes a T-shirt designed with a stylized graphic of Cactus Jack superimposed over a photo of Michael Jordan, stretch-knit shorts that feel like suede, along with two pairs of cargo pants (in black and green) made from a light, durable cotton ripstop and loaded up with lots of pockets.
You can find pieces from the collection on StockX for approximately $139 and up, although prices are subject to change depending on size and availability.
Shop the Jordan Brand x Travis Scott Air Jordan 1 Low “Black Phantom” and apparel collection below.
Air Jordan 1 Low x Travis Scott Black Phantom (Stockx)
Travis Scott x Jordan Brand Washed Suede Hoodie (Olive)
Jordan Brand x Travis Scott Washed Suede Hoodie (Black)
Jordan Brand x Travis Scott Washed Suede Short
Jordan Brand x Travis Scott Cargo Pant (Olive)
Jordan Brand x Travis Scott Cargo Pant (Black)
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