When you sing along to a soundtrack or hear your favorite jingle you may not understand the history of that sound. A lot goes into bringing music to your ears. Oscar Hoglund, CEO of the music licensing platform Epidemic Sound, joins Cheddar to discuss its expansion to the U.S. and blending video and audio.
Hoglund explains that the site has created a massive library, to which you can subscribe for unlimited use or license tracks per second. Its clients range from the smallest YouTube content creators to huge production companies. He talks about the trend of blending video and audio and why he's encouraged by other media companies such as Facebook teaming up with music licsening sites.
Plus, artist payment within the music industry is a controversial subject, many thinking the artist doesn't get the proper amount of compensation. Hoglund says Epidemic Sound strives for a 50/50 revenue split with all artists. He hopes that it encourages musicians to stay on the site.
Skype users are scrambling to find an alternative after Microsoft shut down the pioneering internet phone service which let people make cheap long distance calls and chat with other users. Google Voice lets users make calls from a smartphone or a desktop web browser but it's only available to people in the U.S. Viber users can call phone numbers but can't get a number to receive calls. Zoom offers phone options too. You could get a number from a low cost virtual carrier or try other internet phone services. Microsoft says some Skype features will migrate to Teams, but its Teams Phone feature is only for businesses.
Amid a backdrop of ongoing tariff uncertainty, more and more gamers are facing price hikes. Microsoft raised recommended retailer pricing for its Xbox consoles and controllers around the world this week. Its Xbox Series S, for example, now starts at $379.99 in the U.S. — up $80 from the $299.99 price tag that debuted in 2020. And its more powerful Xbox Series X will be $599.99 going forward, a $100 jump from its previous $499.99 listing. The tech giant didn’t mention tariffs specifically, but cited wider “market conditions and the rising cost of development.” Beyond the U.S., Microsoft also laid out Xbox price adjustments for Europe, the U.K. and Australia. The company said all other countries would also receive updates locally.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. in the current fiscal quarter will be sourced from India, while iPads and other devices will come from Vietnam as the company works to avoid the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on its business. Apple’s earnings for the first three months of the year topped Wall Street’s expectations thanks to high demand for its iPhones, and the company said tariffs had a limited effect on the fiscal second quarter’s results. Cook added that for the current quarter, assuming things don’t change, Apple expects to see $900 million added to its costs as a result of the tariffs.
Visa is hoping to hand your credit card to an artificial intelligence “agent” that can find and buy clothes, groceries, airplane tickets and other items on your behalf.
