Tech giants accused of data protection breaches by Austrian activist January 19, 2019 Tech giants Apple and Amazon have been named in a complaint filed by Noyb, claiming they are still failing to comply with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The company, chaired by data privacy activist and lawyer Max Schrems, filed a complaint in Austria also naming Netflix, Spotify and Youtube after it tested the [...]
Uber, Lyft, Airbnb: Unicorn IPOs are coming in 2019 January 18, 2019 | City Talk 2019 is set to be an exciting year for IPOs. Some of the biggest floats in history are planned over the coming months. But the problem with IPOs is that the excitement wanes quickly, as 2018 proved. Here’s a look at some of the most hotly anticipated stock market debuts planned for 2019 and the [...]
Spotify settles $1.6bn lawsuit with independent publisher over songwriters’ rights December 21, 2018 Music streaming service Spotify has settled a lawsuit with Wixen Music Publishing, which had sought damages of $1.6bn (£1.3bn) regarding the hosting of thousands of songs without a sufficient copyright licence. Wixen accused Spotify of infringing the rights of songwriters and publishers on over 10,000 of its songs and underpaying them, while handing “outrageous annual salaries to its executives”. Some of [...]
Facebook shares down after investigation reveals true extent of data-sharing with other tech giants December 19, 2018 Facebook’s shares fell 6 per cent today after an investigation revealed the company gave big tech companies far greater access to users’ personal data than it had previously admitted. The social media giant let Microsoft’s Bing search engine see the names of virtually all users’ friends without their permission, according to reports. The New York [...]
The unstoppable rise of podcasts: How an industry was reborn December 16, 2018 It seems nothing can stop the rise of podcasts. On-demand listening has become the sine qua non of the commuter; the lifeblood of dinner party conversation. Popular podcasters attract millions of listeners, and advertisers are starting to reap the rewards. And yet podcasts are not a new phenomenon. They predate Facebook, Youtube and Twitter, and [...]
Chinese streaming giant Tencent Music raises $1.1bn in IPO December 12, 2018 Chinese tech giant Tencent will raise roughly $1.1bn (£877m) in the US initial public offering (IPO) of its music streaming division. Tencent Music priced its shares at $13 each, at the low end of its $13-$15 range, and will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange today. The share price puts Tencent Music’s value [...]
Own, loan, or Drover: How the subscription economy is shaking up the car industry December 7, 2018 Felix Leuschner looks far too young to have founded three successful businesses. This German-born entrepreneur was just 23 when he launched what became Europe’s largest marketplace for gaming goods, where players could trade virtual products. After selling that company just nine months later, he moved to London and started a fast-fashion website called Stylistpick, collaborating with [...]
Monzo needs a dose of Spotify boldness to go from UK unicorn to Silicon Valley titan November 15, 2018 The end of October saw startup bank Monzo confirmed as the latest British unicorn, hitting a valuation of $1.2bn three years after launching. This isn’t London’s first unicorn by any means, with Deliveroo and Funding Circle leading the way. But so far none have come close to the achieving the global domination or $100bn valuations [...]
The Conservatives must not be afraid to stand up for free markets November 12, 2018 Today’s younger voters were born after the Berlin Wall had fallen and the battle of ideas over economics and the role of the state had been won for a generation. Since then, the world has changed. The Labour party has fallen under the control of people who do not believe in markets, free enterprise, or business. [...]
Break the chain: Spotify backers fund estate agent Nested November 11, 2018 An estate agent that helps homeowners buy their next property chain-free has received £120m from the backers of Spotify, Betfair and Revolut. Nested gives homeowners a cash advance of up to 94 per cent of their property’s value, allowing them to buy a new home before completing a sale. The rest of the value is [...]