Stockholm, Sweden | AFP | The Swedish Academy, which has awarded the Nobel Literature Prize since 1901, said Monday it would expand its prize jury to include outsiders for the first time following a scandal that forced it to postpone this year’s award. The venerable institution has been in crisis …
Read More »Spotify earnings hit sour note on Wall Street
New York, United States | AFP | Spotify shares took a hit Thursday after a disappointing growth outlook offset the first-ever quarterly profit posted by the streaming music sector leader. Shares in the Swedish-based music group slid 5.7 percent to close at $141.16 after the company’s third quarter earnings report. …
Read More »England set up Croatia World Cup semi as Russia crash out
Samara, Russia | AFP | England reached their first World Cup semi-final since 1990 on Saturday, comfortably beating Sweden to set up a last-four clash against Croatia, who ended Russia’s fairytale run in a nailbiting penalty shootout. Gareth Southgate’s young team started their match in Samara as firm favourites and …
Read More »Swedish intellectuals form new literature prize in Nobel protest
Stockholm, Sweden | AFP | What do you do when this year’s Nobel Literature Prize, the world’s most prestigious accolade of its kind, is postponed because of a sexual assault scandal? You create your own award. More than 100 Swedish intellectuals have joined forces to form a new prize-giving body …
Read More »Spotify ramps up free service in bid for expansion
New York, United States | AFP | Spotify on Tuesday announced a major expansion of its free service, hoping that a more option-rich platform will boost its ambitions to make music streaming even bigger worldwide. Weeks after its successful listing on the New York Stock Exchange, the leading streaming company said …
Read More »Dance music superstar Avicii dead at 28
New York, United States | AFP | Avicii, one of the world’s most successful DJs who helped usher in the global boom in electronic music but struggled to cope in the hard-partying lifestyle, died Friday in Oman, his representative said. He was 28. Two years after his unusually early retirement …
Read More »Spotify soars in $26 billion stock debut
New York, United States | AFP | Spotify soared Tuesday to a value of more than $26 billion in its long-awaited stock debut as the market delivered a ringing endorsement of the future of music streaming. In one of the largest public offerings ever in the tech sector, Spotify on …
Read More »Chat with the dead
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A funeral agency in Sweden is currently seeking volunteers for a project that it hopes will offer people comfort by allowing them to speak to their deceased loved ones. The agency called Fenix wants to create chat bots (artificial intelligence) to comfort mourning relatives …
Read More »Spotify files to go public, eying streaming growth despite losses
New York, United States | AFP | Spotify on Wednesday announced a long-awaited public listing, voicing confidence that its streaming model will keep reshaping the music industry but acknowledging that the company has yet to turn a profit. In its filing with US regulators, the Swedish platform that over the course …
Read More »Donors conference set for March for UN Palestinian agency
United Nations, United States | AFP | A donors’ conference will be held next month to help fill a funding gap at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees caused by the US decision to cut support, Sweden’s deputy UN ambassador said Tuesday. The March 15 conference in Rome, hosted by Sweden, …
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