ay 1 of Facebook’s F8 conference was packed with announcements and updates. Here are 10 big takeaways from Mark Zuckerberg’s keynote on Day 1. You can find full coverage and analysis of F8 here. Facebook is launching a dating feature where you can volunteer to make a profile that’s only visible to non-friends who’ve also opted in to looking for … Read more
Despite her aversion to putting music up on Spotify’s platform, Beyoncé broke a new record on the streaming site, proving once again that she doesn’t even have to play the game to win it. As pointed out by MTV UK, the inventor of “Lemonade” is now the first artist in history to have three of her albums reach over a … Read more
Amazon’s range of smart speakers and their artificial intelligence assistant Alexa have proved to be a huge sales hit. But the product is still a shadow of what the man in charge – Dave Limp – and indeed their owners, hope it will become. “We have thousands of engineers inside Amazon adding to [its] capability … Read more
Kanye West is fighting back against a lawsuit by a fan who says the rapper duped listeners into subscribing to the Tidal music service to hear his last album. The lawsuit — filed as a class-action suit, in which other disgruntled fans could join and win damages — is one of the first to test … Read more
Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito,” whose reggaeton beat has swept the globe, on Wednesday was named the most streamed song of all time. The song’s label, Universal Music Latin Entertainment, said “Despacito” in its original and remixed versions had reached 4.6 billion streams across platforms including YouTube and Spotify. “Despacito” — a racy track … Read more
Rap mogul Jay-Z on Sunday extended his record as the solo artist with the most number-one US albums, after a one-week delay when his Tidal streaming service declined to release data. “4:44” debuted at the top of the Billboard album sales chart for the week through Thursday, replacing rapper DJ Khaled’s “Grateful” and marking Jay-Z’s … Read more
Psy’s Gangnam Style is no longer the most-watched video on YouTube. The South Korean megahit had been the site’s most-played clip for the last five years. The surreal video became so popular that it “broke” YouTube’s play counter, exceeding the maximum possible number of views (2,147,483,647), and forcing the company to rewrite its code. But … Read more
Music streaming service Spotify has denied that some of its playlists contain music tracks by “fake artists”. A music industry publication listed 50 artists it claimed were not real. They have racked up millions of streams by appearing on mood-based playlists such as Sleep and Ambient Chill, but many have no other visible profile. However, … Read more
Grammy award-winning artist Wyclef Jean has been announced as the headline performer for the 2017 FACE List Awards, taking place on Saturday, July 15th in New York City. In its 6th annual edition, the FACE List Awards is the most prestigious celebration of pan-African achievement in the United States. The 2017 honorees include renowned civil rights leader, Rev. … Read more
Official videos from Prince started appearing Friday on YouTube, a year after the death of the pop star who was a sworn foe of the omnipresent site. Videos for some of his classic songs — including tracks from his 1984 movie “Purple Rain” such as “When Doves Cry” and “Let’s Go Crazy” — became available … Read more
A week after Jay-Z released his latest album as an exclusive on his Tidal streaming service, the rap mogul made it available Friday on Apple platforms — but not on rival Spotify. “4:44,” the 13th album by the leading name in hip-hop, was available starting at midnight in the eastern United States for download on … Read more
Award-winning Ghanaian-British actress Ama Konadu Abebrese will be hosting this year’s FACE List Awards slated for Saturday, July 15 in New York City, USA. Dubbed the pan-African achievement honours, The FACE List Awards celebrate the icons and heroes of today who have paved the way for the younger generation and impacted the discourse on pan-Africa’s … Read more
This file photo taken on June 29, 2017 shows a New York City bus with an advertisement for rapper Jay-Z’s album “4:44” which was released exclusively on his Tidal streaming service. The music industry has enjoyed several years of fast-growing revenue thanks to streaming after two decades of decline or stagnation The boom in streaming … Read more
Jay-Z’s upstart Tidal streaming service has enjoyed a surge of interest after the rap mogul released his latest album exclusively on the platform. Tidal — which Jay-Z acquired in 2015 but trails far behind streaming leader Spotify as well as Apple Music — has seen a jump in downloads coinciding with the release of Jay-Z’s … Read more
Award-winning Ghanaian-British actress Ama K. Abebrese will be hosting the 2017 FACE List Awards in New York City on Saturday, July 15th. Dubbed the pan-African achievement honors, The F. A.C.E. List Awards celebrate the icons and heroes of today who have paved the way for the younger generation and impacted the discourse on pan-Africa’s image, its future, … Read more
Jay Z revealed his mother is a lesbian on his new album 4:44. The superstar made the revelation about Gloria Carter in the lyrics to the soulful track Smile. ‘Mama had four kids but she’s a lesbian / Had to pretend so long, that she’s a thespian,’ raps Jay-Z, who has spoken of how his … Read more
Jay-Z’s jaunty anthems made him one of rap’s all-time greats and then, as he amassed a business empire and married fellow superstar Beyonce, he drew an ever thicker curtain over his private life. Releasing an album after a four-year gap, Jay-Z has bared himself like rarely before. He apologizes to Beyonce for cheating and pours … Read more
Pandora co-founder Tim Westergren on Tuesday stepped down as chief executive and from the board of directors, as the internet radio pioneer strives to win more listeners in the face of competition from Apple and Spotify. Chief financial officer Naveen Chopra will take over as interim CEO during the search for a permanent replacement for … Read more
Pan-African Media Company Face2Face Africa has officially announced the honorees for the 2017 FACE List Awards taking place on Saturday, July 15th in New York City. Dubbed the pan-African achievement honors, The F. A.C.E. List Awards celebrate the icons and heroes of today who have paved the way for the younger generation and impacted the … Read more
It has never been easier to become insta-famous, but for some celebrities, fame and fortune are perennial. Take Diddy: Nearly two decades after appearing on the cover of the first-ever Celebrity 100 issue, Diddy tops FORBES’ annual ranking of the highest-earning entertainers in the world, banking $130 million pretax in our 12-month scoring period. “I ain’t … Read more