Spotify Paywalls Lyrics; TikTok & Universal Music Group Finally Cut Deal; Google Payed Apple $20 Billion to Get Default Search Engine Spot; Amazon CEO Anti-Union Remarks Broke Federal Laws

Spotify has come up with a new way to wring cash from free users by pushing them into a paid subscription…they are locking lyrics up behind a paywall. Techcrunch.com reports that there has been a flood of angry posts by users on Reddit complaining about the new paywall. Spotify hasn’t come out and admitted it, but did put out a statement saying that their features can vary over time, between markets, and across devices. It may be that if there is enough blowback, they will claim this was just a test, and open up lyrics to free users again. Meanwhile, you will see a message that says ‘Enjoy lyrics on Spotify Premium.’ 

After Taylor Swift went direct with TikTok, and got her music back on the platform (no doubt for some serious bucks), Universal Music Group has finally cut a so-called ‘multi-dimensional’ deal with TikTok that will see its entire roster of artists…including Swift…to the platform. According to theverge.com, the deal includes ‘new monetization opportunities’ that flow from TikTok’s growing e-commerce capabilities. 

Google spent a whopping $20 billion on holding the default search engine spot with Apple in 2022. Appleinsider.com says this nugget came out of the continuing antitrust suit against Alphabet that the DOJ is prosecuting. Some tech watchers had estimated that such a princely amount was being paid to Cupertino, and now it’s a fact. In 2020, the revenue from Google for search engine status amounted to 17.5% of Apple’s total operating income! Apparently, Microsoft had tried to displace Google with its Bing product by offering Apple 90% of its ad revenue…and even offered to sell Bing to Apple in 2020! Closing arguments for the case are today and tomorrow, but we likely won’t see a decision for months. 

A federal labor judge has ruled that Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s anti-union remarks in 2022 violated federal labor laws. Engadget.com reports that the Amazon chief said if employees voted for and joined a union, they would become less empowered and could expect things to become “much slower” and “more bureaucratic.” He added, “If you see something on the line that you think could be better for your team or you or your customers, you can’t just go to your manager and say, ‘Let’s change it.’”

I’m Clark Reid and you’re “Technified” for now.