In the music industry, having access to reliable information is essential. In the past, high-quality data was primarily reserved for the biggest players, leaving smaller entities at a disadvantage. Viberate, a pioneering music data company, is changing this dynamic by making comprehensive music analytics affordable for everyone in the business. Their full professional suite is available for just $19.90 a month, a significant reduction from the previous price of $129.
Having access to high-quality data is a game-changer for anyone working in the music industry. It allows for quicker and more informed decision-making when it comes to discovering promising talent, monitoring your roster, building reports, analyzing the impact of music releases and tours, and more. While big record labels have long leveraged this advantage, the high cost has been prohibitive for many in the field. Viberate aims to democratize access to these vital tools, stating, "We're making cutting-edge music analytics accessible to every music industry professional."
Comprehensive Music Stats Covering All Channels
Viberate's platform is designed to map and analyze the entire music industry ecosystem, encompassing artists, tracks, festivals, playlists, and labels, all in one place. By converting streaming and social data into actionable insights, they help professionals discover new talent, track their roster, plan promotional campaigns, and create business reports more efficiently. Currently, Viberate monitors over a million artists, providing in-depth stats for Spotify (and others) and their performance across various channels.
Detailed Spotify Statistics
A standout feature of Viberate's platform is its extensive Spotify analytics. The platform offers an in-depth tracker for Spotify monthly listeners, followers, and streams, incorporating both historical and real-time data. This tool showcases an artist's most popular songs and enables users to assess the performance of all their Spotify releases in a single, accessible location. Furthermore, the platform monitors every playlist feature an artist has received, allowing users to observe changes in playlist placements and reach over time, as well as identify the songs and playlists that have made the greatest impact.
Extensive Playlist Analyzer
Viberate's playlist analyzer goes beyond just monitoring an artist's playlist stats. The platform includes a chart of more than 12 million Spotify playlists ranked by popularity. Users can sort these playlists by the number of followers, recent growth, and the number of tracks featured. This makes it easy to identify playlists that match an artist's genre and compile a shortlist of those that could potentially boost the artist's listener base. The playlist analyzer also allows users to filter charts by playlist type, including user-generated and editorial playlists, making it a powerful tool for promoting music releases.
Tailored for Different Industry Profiles
Viberate's platform is highly customizable to meet the specific needs of various industry professionals, including A&Rs, labels, managers, and agents. The company emphasizes that their insights are not only smart but also beautifully designed. Besides their subscription plan, Viberate offers custom services such as custom dashboards, database matching, and API access, ensuring that every user can tailor the platform to their unique requirements.
The Impact of Affordable Music Stats
By drastically reducing the cost of their professional music stats suite, Viberate is making high-quality data accessible to a broader range of industry professionals. This inclusivity is pivotal for independent labels and artists who previously couldn't afford such services. Viberate's mission is to create a more inclusive music business by offering premium music analytics at an unbeatable price.
In-Depth Artist Performance Analysis
Viberate's platform excels in providing detailed performance analysis for artists on Spotify. Users can track monthly listeners, followers, streams, and playlisting data, viewing both historical and daily metrics. The platform also offers a comprehensive overview of all songs released by an artist, with filtering options based on streams, release date, and more. Additionally, there is a breakdown of an artist's monthly listeners by country and city, providing valuable insights for targeted marketing and promotional efforts.
Powerful Playlist Analysis Tools
The playlist analyzer feature is particularly valuable for promoting new music releases. By analyzing an artist's Spotify playlist performance, the platform identifies the best-performing playlists and songs. Users can monitor playlist reach and the number of active playlists over time, helping them understand the impact of specific song or album releases. The chart of 12 million playlists offers extensive filtering options, allowing users to find the most relevant playlists for an artist's genre and career stage. Sorting options by genre, type, song popularity, and release date further enhance the utility of this tool.
A Comprehensive Solution for Music Industry Professionals
Viberate's platform is a comprehensive solution for music industry professionals seeking to leverage data for better business decisions. The platform's ability to map and analyze the entire music industry ecosystem, coupled with its user-friendly design and affordable pricing, makes it an invaluable resource for anyone looking to succeed in the music business. Whether you're an A&R, label, manager, or agent, Viberate's tools can help you discover new talent, track your roster, plan promotional campaigns, and create business reports more efficiently.
By making high-quality music analytics accessible to everyone, Viberate is democratizing the music industry, ensuring that all professionals, regardless of their size or budget, have the tools they need to thrive. With detailed Spotify statistics, extensive playlist analysis, and a highly customizable platform, Viberate is poised to revolutionize the way music industry professionals work, making data-driven decisions a standard practice across the board.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Viberate is setting a new standard in the music industry by providing affordable, high-quality music analytics to all professionals. Their platform's comprehensive coverage of artists, tracks, festivals, playlists, and labels, combined with its user-friendly interface and customizable features, makes it an essential tool for making informed decisions. The drastic price reduction to $19.90 per month underscores Viberate's commitment to inclusivity and support for independent labels and artists. With Viberate, the power of data is now within reach for everyone in the music industry, enabling smarter, faster, and more effective decision-making.
Condé Nast, the media conglomerate that owns publications such as The New Yorker, Vogue and Wired, has sent a cease-and-desist letter to AI-powered search startup Perplexity, according to The Information. The letter, which was sent on Monday, demands that Perplexity stop using content from Condé Nast publications in its AI-generated responses and accused the startup of plagiarism.
The move makes Condé Nast the latest in a growing list of publishers taking a stand against the unauthorized use of their content by AI companies, and comes a month after similar action taken by Forbes. Perplexity and Condé Nast did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Engadget.
Perplexity, a San Francisco-based startup, is valued at $3 billion and backed by high-profile investors including the Jeff Bezos family fund and NVIDIA, has recently come under scrutiny for not respecting copyright and ripping off content to feed its AI-generated responses. The controversy surrounding the company extends beyond copyright concerns.
A recent investigation from Wired reveled that the startups web crawlers do not respect robots.txt, a type of file that website owners can use to block bots from scraping their content. Last month, Amazon Web Services reportedly launched an investigation to determine whether the startup broke its rules around web scraping. Shortly after, a report from Reuters showed that Perplexity was just one of the many AI companies ignoring robots.txt.
This practice has sparked concerns about the ethical and legal implications of AI development and its impact on content creators and publishers. In response, Perplexity executives have talked about starting a revenue-sharing program with publishers, although it is still unclear what its terms will be.
Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch has warned that many media companies could face financial ruin by the time it would take for litigation against generative AI companies to conclude. Lynch has called upon Congress to take immediate action by asking AI companies to compensate publishers for the use of their content and striking licensing deals in the future. Earlier this month, three senators introduced the COPIED Act, a bill that aims to protect journalists, artists and songwriters from AI companies using their content to train AI models.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/conde-nast-has-reportedly-accused-ai-search-startup-perplexity-of-plagiarism-191639677.html?src=rss
Wireless food probes are some the best grilling gear for keeping tabs on meat and other items while cooking. You don't have to dodge cords when you're flipping a steak or trying to wrap a brisket. Several companies make these, Traeger-owned Meater being one example, but existing products rely solely on Bluetooth and have ambient temperature sensors that may not be the most accurate. ThermoWorks, the company that's known for its Thermapen instant-read thermometers, has officially announced its take on the wireless meat probe: the RFX Meat.
Like ThermoWorks' more robust grill and smoker temperature-tracking devices, the RFX Meat uses radio technology to transmit data rather than Bluetooth. The company explains that its "patent-pending sub-GHz RFX wireless technology" provides a more reliable connection with up to 2,132 feet of direct line of sight range. When placed inside a grill or smoker, ThermoWorks promises up to 659 feet of range. Similar to the competition, the RFX Meat has four internal sensors that provide an accurate measure of food temps with 0.9-degree accuracy between 14 and 212 degrees Fahrenheit. This probe is also IP69K rated, so it's safe to use for deep frying and sous vide. Plus, it can withstand temperatures of up 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which makes it well-suited for high-heat searing, and you can stick in in the dishwasher when you're done.
Since the RFX Meat utilizes radio frequency and not Bluetooth, you'll need a RFX Gateway receiver to use it. This small device sends cooking data to ThermoWorks Cloud when it's connected to WiFi, or it can be used offline with your phone via Bluetooth. Either way, you get timely updates on your phone to keep tabs on meat and other foods. And when the RFX Gateway is connected to WiFi, you can monitor what's on the grill or smoker from anywhere. The RFX Gateway is also capable of handling readings for up to 70 RFX Meat probes at once.
ThermoWorks
Most of these wireless probes come with a charging dock that doubles as a Bluetooth transmitter. RFX Meat resides in one of these (minus the Bluetooth), and ThermoWorks says you can get over 50 hours of use with a 10-minute charge. The dock uses a single AAA battery which should be enough for over 175 full charges, according to the company.
One thing the RFX Meat doesn't have is a built-in ambient temperature sensor. Meater's products, for example, have one situated at the far end of its wireless probes. But, ThermoWorks argues this component doesn't provide accurate readings. Due to the fact that it's close to cold meat at the start or in an evaporative cooling zone around food, a built-in ambient temperature sensor can't accurately keep tabs on the grill, according to the company. So, ThermoWorks devised a solution that uses a wired Pro-Series Air Probe from its other products that plugs into the RFX Gateway. Since this probe is only monitoring grill or smoker temps and can be placed out of the way, it's not as essential that it be wireless.
The RFX Meat starter kit is available for preorder today for $159. That price includes the RFX Meat probe, the RFX Gateway and a Pro-Series Air Probe. The same bundle with four RFX Meat probes is $349 and individual probes are $89. You can also purchase the RFX Gateway for $79, which comes with a Pro-Series Air Probe. ThermoWorks says it will start shipping the grilling devices on September 10th.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/thermoworks-rfx-meat-wireless-probe-uses-radio-waves-instead-of-bluetooth-to-monitor-food-on-the-grill-183446728.html?src=rss
Warner Bros. just announced the acquisition of Player First Games, the developer behind the popular free-to-play platform fighter MultiVersus. This makes a whole lot of sense as the hit Smash Bros-esque brawler pulls its entire roster from WB properties. The game includes characters like Batman, Bugs Bunny, Agent Smith from The Matrix and, of course, both Rick and Morty.
It doesnt look like much will change with regard to the day-to-day workings of Player First Games. Co-founders Tony Huynh and Chris White will still lead the company, though the pair will report to Carlos Barbosa, Vice President and Studio Head of Warner Bros. Games.
Huynh says the team is excited about the acquisition and that it should be great for MultiVersus overall. There has been no announcement as to what comes next for the fighting game. However, Player First regularly drops new characters into the roster, so this will likely continue. I for one would like to beat up Tom and Jerry as Tony Soprano. Make it happen WB.
MultiVersus is available now on just about every platform out there, including PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Even better? Theres crossplay between platforms. The game isnt available for the Nintendo Switch just yet, but maybe thatll change whenever the Switch 2 makes its grand entrance.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/warner-bros-has-bought-the-developer-behind-its-multiversus-brawler-180355445.html?src=rss
The European Commission really isn't happy about a Meta business model that gives users in the EU, European Economic Area and Switzerland the generous choice of continuing to use Facebook and Instagram with targeted ads without paying anything, or signing up for a monthly subscription that's said to offer an ad-free experience.
Officials from the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network a group of national authorities that enforce EU consumer protection laws have suggested that Meta may be violating consumer legislation with the "pay or consent" approach. The Commission, which is the European Union's executive arm, coordinated the group's action against Meta.
The CPC Network sent Meta a letter laying out numerous ways in which it believes the company may be violating consumer laws. The company has until September 1 to reply and propose solutions to officials' concerns. If CPC officials find that Meta doesn't take appropriate steps to solve the problems, they could take enforcement actions against the company, which may include sanctions.
CPC authorities have suggested that Meta is misleading users by describing its platforms as free to use if they opt not to pay for a subscription, when Meta in fact monetizes their personal data by displaying targeted ads. They further say that Meta is "confusing users" by requiring them to access different areas of the privacy policy and terms of service to see how their data is being used for personalized ads.
Officials have also taken aim at Meta's "imprecise terms and language" that suggest subscribers will not see ads at all, even though those still might be displayed "when engaging with content shared via Facebook or Instagram by other members of the platform." Furthermore, they claim Meta is pressuring users who have long used Facebook and Instagram without forking over any payment "to make an immediate choice, without giving them a pre-warning, sufficient time and a real opportunity to assess how that choice might affect their contractual relationship with Meta, by not letting them access their accounts before making their choice."
Meta introduced its "pay or consent" options last year in an attempt to comply with the EU's data protection laws while maintaining its advertising model. CPC officials say they are concerned that "many consumers might have been exposed to undue pressure to choose rapidly" between consenting to data collection or paying a monthly fee, "fearing that they would instantly lose access to their accounts and their network of contacts."
This action is separate from other investigations the EU is carrying out against Meta over the "pay or consent" model. Earlier this month, the EU said Meta had potentially breached the Digital Markets Act with this approach. If found guilty, Meta could be on the hook for a fine of up to 10 percent of its global annual revenue.
In addition, the Commission requested more information from the company in March about the "pay or consent" model under the Digital Services Act, another law the bloc designed to keep the power of major tech companies in check. Not only that, consumer rights groups have filed complaints arguing that the approach violates the EU's General Data Protection Regulation.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/eu-officials-say-meta-may-be-violating-consumer-laws-with-paid-ad-free-plan-175834177.html?src=rss
Apple has been accused of underreporting the prevalence of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on its platforms. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), a child protection charity in the UK, says that Apple reported just 267 worldwide cases of suspected CSAM to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) last year.
That pales in comparison to the 1.47 million potential cases that Google reported and 30.6 million reports from Meta. Other platforms that reported more potential CSAM cases than Apple in 2023 include TikTok (590,376), X (597,087), Snapchat (713,055), Xbox (1,537) and PlayStation/Sony Interactive Entertainment (3,974). Every US-based tech company is required to pass along any possible CSAM cases detected on their platforms to NCMEC, which directs cases to relevant law enforcement agencies worldwide.
The NSPCC also said Apple was implicated in more CSAM cases (337) in England and Wales between April 2022 and March 2023 than it reported worldwide in one year. The charity used freedom of information requests to gather that data from police forces.
As The Guardian, which first reported on the NSPCC's claim, points out, Apple services such as iMessage, FaceTime and iCloud all have end-to-end encryption, which stops the company from viewing the contents of what users share on them. However, WhatsApp has E2EE as well, and that service reported nearly 1.4 million cases of suspected CSAM to NCMEC in 2023.
There is a concerning discrepancy between the number of UK child abuse image crimes taking place on Apples services and the almost negligible number of global reports of abuse content they make to authorities, Richard Collard, the NSPCC's head of child safety online policy, said. Apple is clearly behind many of their peers in tackling child sexual abuse when all tech firms should be investing in safety and preparing for the roll out of the Online Safety Act in the UK.
In 2021, Apple announced plans to deploy a system that would scan images before they were uploaded to iCloud and compare them against a database of known CSAM images from NCMEC and other organizations. But following a backlash from privacy and digital rights advocates, Apple delayed the rollout of its CSAM detection tools before ultimately killing the project in 2022.
Apple declined to comment on the NSPCC's accusation, instead pointing The Guardian to a statement it made when it shelved the CSAM scanning plan. Apple said it opted for a different strategy that prioritizes the security and privacy of [its] users. The company told Wired in August 2022 that "children can be protected without companies combing through personal data." This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-accused-of-underreporting-suspected-csam-on-its-platforms-153637726.html?src=rss
The iRobot Roomba Combo Essential vacuum and mop hybrid robot is on sale for just $200. Thats a discount of $75 and one of the best prices weve seen on this particular model. This version just came out back in April, so a sale this significant (outside of Prime Day) comes as something of a surprise.
This is squarely a budget-friendly entry in the companys lineup of robot vacuums, but its certainly no slouch. As the name suggests, it can handle both vacuuming and mopping duties, which is always nice. The company says this model actually outperforms the popular Roomba 600 Series, with 20 times more suction power.
It boasts a similar smart navigation algorithm as other iRobot vacuums and offers a robust battery life of 120 minutes. Thats certainly long enough to both vacuum and mop an entire home, with time left over to chase the cats around. Like most of the companys vacuums, theres an affiliated app that lets people customize various settings and set up cleaning schedules.
Theres one major downside, though this is true of most robovacs in this price range. Theres no dedicated waste bin so youll have to stay on top of emptying and cleaning the vacuum yourself. I own a budget-friendly robot vacuum and have never found this to be a huge deal. The emptying process takes under a minute, though you do have to do it after every cleaning session.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/irobots-roomba-combo-essential-robot-vacuum-and-mop-is-on-sale-for-200-151836301.html?src=rss
We called Google's Pixel 8a the best Android phone for less than $500 upon its release in May, and now it's even cheaper than usual. The handset is down to $449 at Amazon, Target, Best Buy and the Google Store, which is a $50 drop. Though we've technically seen the phone go for less, those deals have required you to trade in an older device or tie yourself to a specific carrier. Another pre-order deal threw in a $100 gift card, but only if you bought the phone at full price. This newest deal, though, marks the largest cash discount we've seen for the unlocked model.
This price applies to the base version of the phone, which includes 128GB of storage space. If you need more room, the 256GB model is also $50 off at $509. Again, that's the lowest price we've seen for the unlocked variant. Both of these deals have been available for about a week now, but they still represent good value if you've been waiting for a price drop.
Engadget's Sam Rutherford gave the Pixel 8a a score of 90 in his review. Like past A-series devices, it takes most of the headline features from last year's flagship Pixel phone the Pixel 8 in this case and puts them in a slightly cheaper design. You still get a bright and vivid OLED display with a smooth 120Hz refresh rate, superb camera performance and enough battery life for a typical day. It runs on the same Tensor G3 chip and 8GB of RAM, which means it can get warm under heavy load but can handle virtually any task. The stock software is just as clean, and Google promises the same seven years of OS and security updates. The handful of actually useful AI features from the standard Pixel 8 are here as well, including a Magic Eraser tool that lets you remove unwanted objects from photos.
If you can afford to step up to the Pixel 8, you still should. That device is a few months older but offers faster wired and wireless charging speeds, thinner bezels and slightly better photo quality, particularly in darker settings and with zoomed-in shots. It has a glass back rather than one made from matte plastic, plus its screen is a tiny bit bigger (6.2 inches versus 6.1 inches). It's currently on sale for $549 for a 128GB model or $609 for a 256GB one. If you really want to save the extra $100, though, the Pixel 8a isn't far behind. And if money is no object, keep in mind that Google has already confirmed that new Pixel 9 devices will arrive next month.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-google-pixel-8a-is-on-sale-for-a-low-of-449-145943989.html?src=rss
London-based fashion label Miista is making a bold statement with the opening of its New York store, its first physical space outside Europe. Addressing the current state of (political) affairs, the female-owned brand introduced a rage room. As Miista says, "It feels like our collective anger with the status quo is heavier than ever which is no surprise considering the relentless political stupidity and human suffering we see in the news every day." As an emotional outlet, Miista transformed part of its new Orchard Street store into a temporary corporate office-themed rage room before it officially opened on 19 July 2024. The space was decorated with discarded supplies found around the city, and Miista invited members of its NYC community to physically express their frustrations by smashing and destroying everything in sight.
A faulty update from cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike caused a global outage last Friday, apparently affecting some 8.5 million Windows devices, according to Microsoft itself.
The update triggered a blue screen of death (BSOD), knocking offline systems used by hospitals, airlines, and banks. Only machines running Windows were affected according to CrowdStrike, the total number of devices affected was less than one percent of all Windows machines.
The update was designed to target newly observed, malicious named pipes being used by common C2 frameworks in cyberattacks, according to CrowdStrike. Unfortunately, it included a logic error, crashing the OS. In the blog post on Saturday, Microsofts VP of enterprise and OS security, David Weston, wrote that the company is working with CrowdStrike to develop a scalable solution to fix the faulty update. Microsoft has also called for help from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
Unfortunately, not everything is fixed quite yet just ask Delta flyers over the weekend.
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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review
The foldable king, but for how much longer?
Engadget
No one has been making foldable phones longer than Samsung. But the pace of innovation from the company has slowed while new challengers, like the OnePlus Open and Pixel Fold, have arrived. Now for 2024, Samsung has reinforced the Galaxy Z Fold 6 with a stronger but significantly lighter frame, a new ultra-wide-angle camera and a bunch of AI-powered tools. Its better, sure, but it feels like complacency is eroding Samsungs foldable lead.
Read the full review.
Kunitsu-Gami review: Demonic delights
Come to defend humanity, stay for the beautifully rendered desserts.
Kunitsu-Gami is a game of two halves: frenzied combat and peaceful base building. Demon enemies are often gross (intentionally!), filled with pus, and armed with claws. The game blends real-time combat with tower-defense mechanics, with all of it taking place in a zoomed-out third-person view. With so many samey action RPGs and Soulslikes, Kunitsu-Gami takes a refreshingly different approach. Oh, and so much delicious-looking, hyper-detailed video game food.
Continue reading.
NASAs Curiosity rover accidentally found pure sulfur crystals on Mars
It shouldnt be there.
NASA scientists say pure sulfur has been found on Mars for the first time after the Curiosity rover inadvertently uncovered a cluster of yellow crystals when it drove over a rock. And it looks like the area is filled with it. While minerals containing sulfur have been observed on the red planet, elemental sulfur has never been seen before. Ashwin Vasavada, Curiositys project scientist, said: It shouldnt be there, so now we have to explain it.
Continue reading.
Rivian opens its first Charging Outpost, a not-gas station near Yosemite
Theres trail mix and coffee too, for your own refueling.
Rivian
Rivian just opened its first EV charging rest stop, 24 miles outside Yosemite National Park. Alongside the five DC fast chargers, only for Rivian owners, there are bathrooms, a lounge with a small library, a water refill station, free coffee, and make-your-own trail mix. These other amenities are open to anyone, and Rivian says its planning more Charging Outposts around national parks and other high-traffic areas across the country.
Continue reading.This articleoriginally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-blue-screen-of-death-outage-affected-around-85-million-devices-112012903.html?src=rss
