1 week ago ‘I can see a world where Spotify doesn’t exist’: will a new generation of music streaming companies succeed?

Nimble, open-minded outfits such as Nina Protocol, Cantilever and Subvert are looking to bring more money to artists, and a richer experience for listenersThe noise around Spotify this year has been louder than ever, from Liz Pelly’s book Mood Machine – a biting indictment of the company and its alleged practices – to a slew of indie artists leaving the platform due to political and ethical reasons. There was even a recent music forum in California called Death to Spotify.So the timing is fortuitous for a growing number of independent streaming and music community platforms, such as Nina Protocol, Coda, Subvert, Lissen, Vocana, and just last week a new one launched in the UK: Cantilever. “More people are definitely looking for alternatives,” says Nina Protocol’s chief executive Mike Pollard. “We strongly believe the future of music is independent.” Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago The LA Dodgers won the World Series but for Latino fans, it’s complicated

The fact that Latino stars were at the forefront of the victory over the Toronto Blue Jays sits alongside the club’s near silence on the immigration raids roiling the cityFor Natalia Molina, a lifelong fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers and a third-generation Mexican American, the crowning moment of baseball’s World Series didn’t come in last Saturday’s nail-biting finale, when her team performed one death-defying escape act after another before prevailing in extra innings over the Toronto Blue Jays.It came a game earlier, when two of the team’s second-tier players, Kike Hernández, who is from Puerto Rico, and Miguel Rojas, from Venezuela, pulled off a thrilling, game-winning sequence that simultaneously upended the many negative stereotypes Donald Trump has been touting about Latinos since he first ran for president a decade ago. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Prince Harry and Meghan were invited to LA Dodgers game by billionaire owner Mark Walter who faces fan backlash 'over his company's links to ICE immigration detention centres'

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were the VIP guests of the baseball team's co-owner Mark Walter.

Politics

2 w. ago Witnesses describe horror after two young girls are thrown from Ferris wheel at Louisiana festival: ‘I heard a loud boom’

Two young girls were taken to hospital after the accident, officials said

Events

2 w. ago João Pedro ends goal drought as Chelsea earn narrow victory at Tottenham

The days when Tottenham were capable of ending this fixture with nine men trying to pull off a high line against Nicolas Jackson are over, but on current evidence the decision to replace the excesses of Angeball with something more restrained and grown-up has merely invited soul-searching of a different nature.The loud, sustained blast of booing that broke out when the final whistle arrived at the end of this sorry defeat to Chelsea said much about the identity crisis gripping the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. There are ways to lose a derby but Spurs chose one of the worst routes. They created almost nothing of note during an unremarkable game, so much so that they finished with an xG of 0.05, and it must have been worrying for Thomas Frank to hear unrest flare on more than one occasion in the stands. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Dodgers fan who ran onto field brandishing Stars and Stripes loudly booed in Toronto

Security guards quickly tackled the fan during Game 6 of the World Series as political tensions between the North American neighbors continue

Politics

3 w. ago Laugh out loud literary fiction: Service by John Tottenham, Borderline Fiction by Derek Owusu, The Wax Child by Olga Ravn

Claire Allfree reviews this week's best literary fiction

Politics

3 w. ago Experience: I dressed up as a superhero for Halloween – and then saved a man’s life

The man was unconscious but there was no time to wake him, the smoke and flames were closing inOn Halloween night in 2020, I came home from work in a terrible mood. I’d had a bad day, and was thinking, “F-everybody.” My wife’s sister was hosting a party that night and I had two costume options – Jesus, or Homelander, the psychopathic superhero from Amazon Prime series The Boys. Because of my state of mind, I went with Homelander. I’d already bought the costume, complete with its stars and stripes cape.We live in Greenville, Ohio and the party was a short drive across town. My wife, Chelsey, was behind the wheel, dressed as Starlight, another superhero from The Boys, and my kids were in the back of the car in their Iron Man and dragon outfits. Chelsey took a turn down a road as we neared her sister’s house and that’s when I saw flames shooting out of another house. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Can Democrats harness the energy of the No Kings protests to fight Trump?

Millions took to US streets to oppose authoritarianism as Democrats acknowledge ‘People want to see us fighting’They marched in their millions. Some waved the Stars and Stripes. Some clutched signs with slogans such as: “Nothing is more patriotic than protesting.” And some donned inflatable costumes that included aliens, chickens, clowns, frogs, lobsters, mushrooms, penguins, seahorses, sharks, squirrels, starfish and unicorns.The energy of last weekend’s No Kings protests against Donald Trump’s authoritarianism was palpable and peaceful, drawing an estimated 7 million people to 2,700 rallies across the country. Among them were the Democratic senators Cory Booker, Ed Markey, Chris Murphy, Adam Schiff, Chuck Schumer, Raphael Warnock and Elizabeth Warren as well as the independent Bernie Sanders. Continue reading...

Politics