Aurelia Butler

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    Disney, Hulu and Max Streaming Bundle Will Soon Become Available

    The offering from Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery shows how rival companies are willing to work together to navigate an uncertain entertainment landscape.In a rare moment of solidarity, two entertainment giants are teaming up to try to get consumers to stop canceling their streaming services so frequently.Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery announced on Wednesday that they would start offering a bundle of their Disney+, Hulu and Max streaming services this summer, a sign of how rivals have become more willing to join forces in order to confront an ever-changing media landscape.The companies said that the bundle would be available to buy on any of the three streaming platform’s websites (Disney owns Disney+ and Hulu; Warner Bros. Discovery owns Max), and that there would be a commercial-free version as well as one featuring ads. The companies did not announce prices or a date when the offering would become available.The monthly retail price for subscribing to commercial-free versions of all three services is currently $48; the plans with ads cost a combined $25. A bundled offering is likely to cost less.Media executives have been vexed in recent years as the extremely profitable cable bundle has come undone by cord cutting, and as viewers have rapidly turned to on-demand streaming entertainment. The transition to streaming has been difficult for the companies, which have been bleeding cash.Disney, for instance, announced this week that Disney+ was profitable last quarter for the first time, though its overall streaming division lost money.Adding to the uncertainty, consumers have shown a much greater willingness to cull and cut streaming services over the last year or so, further confounding executives who have slashed costs and reduced the number of television shows to get closer to making meaningful profits.Disney has introduced a bundle for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. The company has said it has seen good results from that offering.Executives have been flirting with the idea of cobbling together a streaming offering across media companies to give consumers less incentive to cancel. The Disney+, Hulu and Max offering is a significant step in that direction.Joe Earley, the president of Disney Entertainment’s direct-to-consumer division, said in a statement that the “new partnership puts subscribers first.” JB Perrette, the chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery’s global streaming unit, called it “a powerful new road map for the future of the industry.”In February, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox said they were forming a joint venture to create a streaming service dedicated to their sports offerings. It is expected to debut in the fall. More

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    Settlements Reached in Travis Scott Astroworld Concert Deaths

    A trial had been set to hear evidence that organizers of a 2021 Travis Scott concert knew the crowd was too large and ignored pleas to stop it as 10 people were crushed.A lawyer for Live Nation, the concert company, said in court on Wednesday that settlements had been reached in all but one of the lawsuits over the deaths of 10 people who were fatally crushed during a performance by Travis Scott at the 2021 Astroworld festival in Houston.The disclosure came as lawyers were preparing for the first trial over the deaths. A lawyer for the plaintiffs in that case confirmed that a settlement had been reached with the defendants, including Mr. Scott, Live Nation and Apple, which live-streamed the event.The trial had been expected to present a jury with harrowing testimony about the chaotic conditions at the Nov. 5, 2021, concert and the warnings raised by some of those working there. The victims, including two teenagers and a 9-year-old boy, suffocated in the midst of the heaving crowd while Mr. Scott performed.For more than two years, details have slowly emerged in court filings and police reports, revealing the behind-the-scenes arguments and backstage wrangling that accompanied one of the worst concert disasters in the United States.Some of the organizers of the Astroworld festival knew that the space was too small, according to evidence uncovered during the preparations for trial. Mr. Scott kept performing as people were suffocating, it showed, signaling a plan to continue the show until after Drake had performed despite efforts to stop the show earlier. A police investigation pointed to what the plaintiffs identified as a potential reason: a $4.5 million contract with Apple requiring Mr. Scott to finish the show in order to get paid.Ten people were fatally crushed during a performance by Travis Scott during the 2021 Astroworld festival in Houston. Jamaal Ellis/Houston Chronicle, via Associated PressWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Steve Albini, Influential Producer of Nirvana and Pixies Albums, Dies at 61

    A musician and audio engineer, he helped define the sound of alternative rock while becoming an outspoken critic of the music industry.Steve Albini, a rock musician and revered studio engineer who played a singular role in the development of the sound of alternative music in the 1980s, ’90s and beyond — recording acclaimed albums by Nirvana, PJ Harvey and Pixies, along with hundreds of others — while becoming an outspoken critic of the music industry, died on Tuesday at his home in Chicago. He was 61.The cause was a heart attack, said Taylor Hales of Electrical Audio, the Chicago studio that Mr. Albini founded in 1997.With a sharp vision for how a band should be recorded — as raw as possible — and an even sharper tongue for anything he deemed mediocre or compromised, Mr. Albini was a visionary in the studio and one of rock’s most acerbic wits.On his own, he led the bands Big Black and Shellac, both of which venerated loud, abrasive guitars and snarling vocals. In those groups, and in virtually every project he worked on, Mr. Albini clung to punk’s defiant do-it-yourself ethic with an almost religious tenacity.He also long maintained an impish zeal to provoke and offend. Big Black’s last, most acclaimed album, from 1987, has a typically unprintable title, and he once dismissed Nirvana — the group that later hired him to record the album “In Utero” (1993), at the peak of their fame — as nothing but “R.E.M. with a fuzzbox.”Nirvana hired Mr. Albini to record the album “In Utero” at the height of the group’s fame.DGCWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Most Wrongful Death Lawsuits Tied to Astroworld Festival Are Settled

    The rapper Travis Scott and the concert promoter Live Nation faced 10 suits after the 2021 tragedy. One case from the family of a 9-year-old victim is pending.Nine of the 10 wrongful death lawsuits that were filed after a stampede at the Astroworld music festival in 2021 have been settled, a spokeswoman for Live Nation confirmed on Wednesday after a court hearing about the latest agreement.Ten people were killed and hundreds more injured as a result of a large crowd surge during a performance by the rapper Travis Scott in Houston on Nov. 5, 2021. The suits alleged that Scott, who was the headliner, the concert promoter Live Nation and other defendants had contributed to the deaths through negligent planning and a lack of safety measures.A lawsuit filed by the family of 23-year-old Madison Dubiski was set to go to trial this week. But a lawyer for Live Nation said in a civil district court in Harris County that the case had been settled along with eight others, according to The Associated Press.In its lawsuit, Ms. Dubiski’s family alleged that the defendants had caused her death by their failure to adequately plan, staff and supervise the concert. “While in attendance at the festival, Madison was trampled and crushed resulting in horrific injuries, pre-death pain and suffering, and her death,” the suit said.The terms of the settlements were confidential.The remaining pending lawsuit was filed by the family of 9-year-old Ezra Blount, the youngest person killed. Lawyers for his family did not respond to requests for comment.Last year, a grand jury declined to indict Scott and five others connected to the festival. A crowd of 50,000 people had gathered for the third iteration of Scott’s event, named after the 2018 album that helped make him a star.Ben Sisario More

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    What Happens Next for Kendrick Lamar and Drake? Let’s Discuss.

    After a week of bitter diss tracks, a conversation about how the rap battle played out for the chart-topping rappers and how their personas and careers might be affected.It’s gotten ugly between Kendrick Lamar and Drake.Over the weekend, the two generation-defining rappers turned a decade of competitive tension into increasingly personal attacks delivered on a barrage of diss tracks filled with taunts, insults, accusations of abuse, alleged inside information and threats.With Lamar’s songs, including “Euphoria” and “Not Like Us,” dominating the online conversation and streaming charts, the battle seemed to cool on Sunday evening, after a resigned-sounding second response this weekend from Drake, who denied some of the most serious claims against him, including pedophilia, even as he doubled down on his allegations against Lamar. Then, on Tuesday, a security guard was shot and hospitalized in serious condition outside Drake’s Toronto home; the authorities said they did not yet have a motive and the investigation was ongoing.As the musical volleys paused, at least for now, the New York Times pop music critic Jon Caramanica and the Times music reporter Joe Coscarelli surveyed the songs, the strategy, the reputational wreckage and where each rapper stands now for an episode of the video podcast Popcast (Deluxe). These are edited excerpts from the conversation.JOE COSCARELLI I don’t think we need to jump in right away to definitively say who we think won this beef, because the fight seems to have been decided by popular vote. Nobody’s really calling this for Drake, right?JON CARAMANICA I think even Drake is not calling this for Drake, because of the tone of what he put out last, “The Heart Part 6.” In the big picture, though, everyone won and nobody won. Thinking about fandom in the stan era, you’re either on one side or the other. But what I’ve realized in the wake of these songs is that Drake fandom comes with different levels of fickleness. His fans are willing to entertain, “Maybe he’s not the person that I thought he was.” Whereas most Kendrick fans are not willing to entertain that idea, despite Drake’s allegations in “Family Matters” that Kendrick at some point hired a crisis management team to cover up that he abused his fiancée, which are quite serious.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Popcast (Deluxe): How Kendrick Lamar Out-Drake’d Drake

    Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTubeThis week’s episode of Popcast (Deluxe), the weekly culture roundup show on YouTube hosted by Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli, includes segments on:The back story of the tension between Kendrick Lamar and DrakeThe early songs: “First Person Shooter,” “Like That” and “7 Minute Drill”Drake responds: “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle”Kendrick Lamar responds: “Euphoria” and “6:16 in LA”Drake responds, and shifts the tone of the battle to the personal: “Family Matters”Kendrick responds, upping the personal ante: “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us”Drake bows out?: “The Heart Part 6”How this battle will play out for Drake and Kendrick Lamar as musiciansHow this battle will play out for Drake and Kendrick Lamar as peopleA snack of the week, chat about TikTok, “Challengers” & the most annoying songs of the N.B.A. playoffsConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica. More

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    Why Britain Keeps Giving Classic Movies New Ratings

    As the attitudes of moviegoers evolve, so do the guidelines of the ratings board, which has reclassified dozens of films including “Mary Poppins” and “Rocky.”The British Board of Film Classification has been busy.Last year, the group rerated more than 30 older films to meet contemporary standards. In February, it gave a stricter rating to “Mary Poppins” because of racial slurs. And last week, it began using an updated set of guidelines after surveying thousands of British moviegoers to gauge shifting public attitudes.Based on that survey, the new guidelines acknowledge that audiences have grown more lenient about depictions of cannabis use but are more concerned about intense violence and, for younger viewers, bad language.“We follow what people tell us, and we update our standards as societal attitudes change,” said David Austin, the board’s chief executive.When distributors rerelease movies in theaters, on streaming services or on DVD, they may be required to resubmit the films to the ratings board. Many voluntarily choose to do so, Austin said, in hopes of receiving a lower rating or to ensure that the rating matches the content. What was once considered acceptable onscreen may no longer be.Under the newest guidelines, the board said, both the 2018 Transformers movie, “Bumblebee,” and the 1963 James Bond classic, “From Russia With Love,” would be rated 12A instead of PG if they were resubmitted for updated ratings.(The ratings for theatrical releases are U, for universal; PG, for parental guidance; 12A, 15 and 18, for certain age restrictions; and R18, for pornographic content.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Israel’s Eurovision Entrant Faces Down Her Critics

    Campaigners have unsuccessfully urged the Eurovision Song Contest to ban Eden Golan because of her country’s war in Gaza. “I won’t let anything break me,” she said.Taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest is nerve-racking, even when the audience welcomes you to the stage.For one singer at this year’s contest, it will likely be a particularly anxious experience. When Eden Golan, 20, performs representing Israel at the second semifinal on Thursday, a significant portion of the audience will not be cheering for her. In fact, many people don’t want her country to be at Eurovision at all.For months, pro-Palestinian groups and some Eurovision fans have been trying in vain to get the contest’s organizers, the European Broadcasting Union, to ban Golan from taking part at this year’s event in Malmo, Sweden, because of Israel’s war in Gaza.Those protests were particularly vocal after the title of Golan’s entry was announced in February: “October Rain,” an apparent reference to last year’s Hamas attacks, in which Israeli officials say about 1,200 people were killed and 240 taken hostage. The European Broadcasting Union objected that the title and some of the song’s lyrics were overly political, and asked Israel to change them. Golan tweaked the song, which is now called “Hurricane.”Golan with members of her team at a recording studio in Tel Aviv last month.Amit Elkayam for The New York TimesEurovision’s organizers have always insisted that the contest is no place for politics, and this year is clamping down on slogans and symbols that could stir up dissent. Bambie Thug, representing Ireland, said at a news conference on Tuesday that, after a dress rehearsal, officials had demanded that the singer remove pro-Palestinian slogans from an outfit.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More