Fier By Andrea

The business of streaming
[Reading time: 50 secondil

Currently music streaming is one of the main sources of livelihood for musicians. But how much do they actually get paid?

There are multiple factors that affect the amount of money paid to artists, such as the country of the listener, the type of subscription, the type of subscription, the royalty rate of the specific artist specific and the price and currency of the various states.

According to an aggregate ranking compiled by Statista, Apple Music is the platform that guarantees the highest payments highest payments in proportion to the number of listenings, $1 for every 100 plays.

French streaming service Deezer is in second place with about 185 plays needed to get to $1,
while Amazon is third, with about $1 for every 200 plays.

Spotify is only fourth on the list with 312 listens to earn $1. Although this value is only slightly below average, the Swedish service boasts
nearly three times as many paying subscribers as its main competitors.

Although the payment mechanisms and models payment mechanisms and models still need improvement, music streaming has certainly streaming has certainly become the most important source of revenue in the industry.

In 2020, approximately 62.1% of total revenue came from streaming streaming services, while purchases of physical records and digital downloads accounted for 19.1 percent, respectively.

In 2019, the size of the global streaming market music was valued at $12.8 billion and is estimated to reach $24.7 billion by 2027 with an annual rate of growth rate of +9.8% from 2021 to 2027.

How is the music market impacted by the streaming business?

A BREAST CANCER SCREENING YOU CAN DO AT HOME

Judit Giró Benet, 23, is a biomedical engineer from Tarragona, who won the 2020 James Dyson Award with her Blue Box device. It is a small box that helps women monitor and detect early signs of breast cancer. A non-invasive, painless and low-cost screening that works thanks to artificial intelligence. Judit Girò Benet questioned the timing for a screening, the invasiveness of the screening and the cost. Because of these factors 40% of women skip their mammogram and so 1 in 3 cases of breast cancer is detected late. Hence the idea of finding a “DIY” alternative affordable to all women. To perform biomedical screening Blue Box uses a urine sample. It performs chemical analysis of the sample and transmits the results to the Cloud. The algorithm reacts to specific metabolites in the urine and provides a diagnosis. A connected App monitors communications and, if the sample tests positive, puts users in touch with a healthcare provider.

Source: INTERNATIONAL AND SUSTAINABILITY WINNERS ANNOUNCED, James Dyson Award, 2020

The tech giant has finally decided to move back to chronological feeds after switching to algorithmic feeds in 2016.

This could help prevent the spread of viral misinformation but it may also risk lowering overall user engagement on the platform.

Source: Producthunt

Elon Musk claimed that the first chips of
Neuralinks will be implanted in humans in 2022.

Founded in 2016, Elon Musk's company has stood out the goal of making chips that can stimulate activity cerebral, thus positioning itself at the forefront of the treatment of severe spinal cord injuries and disorders neurological.

According to the latest statements, Neuralink is working well in monkeys and at the moment the project is only in the phase of tests, which will have to confirm 100% its safety e reliability.

Musk had claimed they should be implanted in humans as early as 2021.

Would you implant the new entrepreneur’s technology?



Source: Outpump

Munger vs Bitcoin

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Billionaire investor Charlie Munger is certainly not a fan of cryptocurrencies.

During the Australian Sohn Hearts and Minds conference in Sydney, he stated how he wished these "had never been invented".

Warren Buffett's famous partner has long been skeptical of cryptocurrencies, criticizing Bitcoin in particular for its extreme volatility and for its use to finance illegal activities.

"I think the dot-com boom was more absurd in terms of valuations, but overall I consider the current crypto sector even crazier," said Munger, who continues: "I admire the Chinese, I think they have made the decision. correct, which was simply to ban them ”.

While many investors like Munger, Buffett and Ken Griffin hold a tough stance on crypto, other giants like Skybridge Capital's Anthony Scaramucci increased their exposure to crypto-related assets by nearly + 150% in the third quarter of the year.

Recently, the price of Bitcoin has been affected by the growing uncertainty of the markets. From the peak reached during the day of November 10 to over $ 68,000, in the last few weeks BTC has fallen by -30%, reaching around $ 48,000.

How do the words of the great public figures impact the price of Bitcoin?

Have your say in the comments!

Source: Starting finance

If you're like me, you might sometimes dream about just turning your phone off.

In that dream world, there are no constant pings, no group texts that make you feel trapped, no emails from clients or angry bosses, and no updates that render your phone slower than it was before. Instead, there's just silence.

It sounds idyllic — and completely impossible.

But that's the idea behind the Light Phone, a "dumb" phone that allows the user to do little more than text and make phone calls. Here's what I learned by using it for two weeks.

Instagram has launched its "Take A
Break”, which will remind us when it's time to take a break from scrolling. For some time the platform has been trying to find tricks to ease social addiction. If until now we had a chance to have a warning sent out once you have crossed a threshold of hours on the social network, now Instagram will clearly tell us to take a break and will also advise which alternative activities to pursue. Although Instagram cannot stop us from using the platform, the function allows us to better manage time usage.

We can in fact decide to be notified after a use of 10, 20 or 30 minutes, and at that point choose whether close the application or not.
The new feature has launched in the United States and will later be available also land in Europe.

Virtual Earth

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A virtual parcel of land in the online world known as Decentraland recently sold for a whopping $ 2.43 million, more than double the previous record set in June 2021 of $ 913,000.

Decentraland is an online platform where users, represented by avatars, can interact with each other and exchange cryptocurrencies with the aim of buying land and buildings.

The popularity of the virtual world exploded last month after Facebook changed its name to Meta. Zuckerberg declared his desire to focus more and more on the augmented reality sector, where he will be represented in three dimensions through his avatar.

The purchase of the land was carried out by Metaverse Group, a subsidiary of Tokens.com for an amount of 618,000 MANA, the cryptocurrency used on Decentraland.

The company said it will use its new investment to support the expansion of digital fashion, a sector that even the biggest names in the world such as Nike, Gucci, Burberry and Louis Vuitton are looking to enter.

What will be the future of the metaverse and virtual fashion?

Have your say in the comments!

Source: Starting Finance

THE PARTICULAR RESISTANCE OF GRAPHENE Graphene is one of the most incredible materials known, being 100 times stronger than steel, effective conductor of heat and electricity but above all transparent and invisible to the human eye. The transparency of the graphene is in its structure being formed by a plane of carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal structures and sheets only 1 carbon atom thick. All of this makes the graphene a versatile material for many possible applications, from special engineered fabrics, uses in biomedical, circuits electric, to micro-robots. Soon it will be able to replace the glass and the plastic in creating durable and flexible displays, and it comes already used in appliances with touch screen functionality.

Source: "Graphene", University of Manchester, 2

# curiosity

SpaceX risks bankruptcy

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During the Thanksgiving holiday, Elon Musk sent an email to his employees.

In six paragraphs, he highlighted production delays that could question even the company's survival and therefore asked the staff to forgo the holidays.

The issues concern the development of the 39 Raptor engines designed to power Starship, the spaceship he intends to use to send humans and goods to the Moon and Mars. In April, SpaceX signed a $ 2.9 billion contract with NASA to start this project, beating Bezos and his Blue Origin.

But this isn't the first time Musk has talked about a possible bankruptcy for the company

He has often stated how risky it was to open the company in 2002 and how it almost went bankrupt a few years later.

In 2013, at a Google event, Musk argued that SpaceX nearly went broke after the first three rocket launch attempts, between 2006 and 2008, failed.

Also in 2017 at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) conference in Adelaide, Australia, he again remarked that if the fourth launch failed, SpaceX would have closed permanently.

Will the company be able to avoid bankruptcy this time too?

Have your say in the comments!



Source: Starting finance

The US scientists who created the first living robots say the life forms, known as xenobots, can now reproduce — and in a way not seen in plants and animals. Formed from the stem cells of the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis) from which their name is taken, xenobots are less than a millimeter (0.04 inches) wide.⁠
⁠
With the help of artificial intelligence, researchers tested billions of body shapes. A supercomputer came up with a C-shape that resembled Pac-Man, from the 1980s video game. It was able to find tiny stem cells in a petri dish, gather hundreds of them inside its mouth, and a few days later the bundle of cells became new xenobots.⁠
⁠
The xenobots are very early technology, but this combination of molecular biology and AI could potentially be used in a host of tasks in the body and the environment, according to the scientists. This may include things like collecting microplastics in the oceans, inspecting root systems and regenerative medicine.⁠
⁠


Source: CNN

Stop seeing other peoples’ success as luck.

A new metaverse

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The Gemini cryptocurrency exchange, founded by the Winklevoss twins, has completed a $ 400 million funding round to create a metaverse outside Facebook.

Gemini is currently one of the leading cryptocurrency platforms in the world with a value of approximately $ 30 billion in crypto held. The injection of external funding has brought it to a current value of $ 7.1 billion.

In an interview with Forbes, the Winklevoss brothers talked about the idea of ​​taking a different path from Facebook. The two entrepreneurs contest Zuckerberg's platform of being a “Walled Garden”.

Walled Gardens are closed ecosystems, or services that restrict use to authorized products and make it difficult for their "users" to reach content or applications on external sources.

"There are these two parallel paths in terms of technology right now," reports Cameron Winklevoss. "There is a centralized path, like Facebook, and that's fine, but there is another path, which is the decentralized metaverse, and it's the metaverse in which we believe there is greater choice, as well as opportunities to protect rights and dignity of individuals ".

Back in 2008, twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss had already lashed out at Zuckerberg, vying for Facebook's intellectual property, resulting in a court dispute that culminated in $ 65 million in compensation.

Of these $ 65 million, 11 had been used to buy what represented 1% of the value of all Bitcoin in circulation, making them one of the first "crypto billionaires" a few years later.

What new businesses will arise from this technology?

Have your say in the comments!

Source: Starting finance

Your teachers probably told you grammar is important -but did they mention it could make you a billionaire? A $200 million investment round announced last week by popular grammar checking tool Grammarly didn't just catapult the company's value to $13 billion, but minted billionaires out of two of its founders: Max Lytvyn and Alex Schevchenko. The Ukrainian-born entrepreneurs, who started the automated writing assistant in 2009 with the help of programmer Dmytro Lider, are now worth at least $4 billion each thanks to the recent funding, Forbes estimates.



Source: Forbes

POIMO: THE FIRST ELECTRIC INFLATABLE SCOOTER

Poimo, an acronym for "portable and inflatable mobility", is the first inflatable scooter in the world. Made by the research organization Mercari R4D and a team of students from the University of Tokyo, the scooter comprises a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) body and detachable components including handles, wheels, a battery and a motor. The scooter is designed for short city trips and is light enough to be deflated, folded and carried in the user's bag, allowing them to get on and off wherever they want. The project is the result of technological developments made in light robotics combined with research in the field of personal mobility; the result is what researchers call "soft mobility": means of transport designed to be soft, light and inflatable.

Source: Poimo, 2020 and next tech

# curiosity

It’s that time of year again. Just as the holiday season sets in, Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates—as part of an annual tradition—has released his list of the best books of 2021.

Gates has been a voracious reader since he was a child. His passion for reading became too much for his parents at one point. “He read so much that Bill's mother and I had to institute a rule: no books at the dinner table,” Gates’ father, Bill Gates Sr. (d. 2020), told Forbes in 2016.

Gates revealed his latest selections in a Monday post to his personal blog, GatesNotes. And as in other year’s, the world’s fourth-richest person says his “holiday reading” followed a distinct theme, the genre that enthralled him as a child: science fiction.

This is the list:

- A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence, by Jeff Hawkins.
- The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race, by Walter Isaacson.
- Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro.
- Hamnet, by Maggie O’Farrell.
- Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir.

Source: Forbes

Del Vecchio, 86, is the 36th richest person in the world and the seventh richest in Europe.

Del Vecchio's rise in the ranking of the richest came in parallel with EssilorLuxottica's involvement in the metaverse ( for a few weeks). In fact, in September, the two groups announced the birth of Ray-Ban Stories, smart glasses made by the US company acquired by Luxottica in 1999.



Source: Forbes Italia

Insect-based food: a rapidly growing market in the world
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Insect-based food is becoming increasingly popular in the world with a market that, according to a Research and Markets report published in January 2021, will increase its value with an average of around 25% over the period 2020-2027.

If in 2020 the turnover of the sector, globally, was about 623 million dollars, analysts estimate that it will reach 4.6 billion in 2027. This would be an increase of 643%.

The use of insects for food, in fact, was already widespread in various communities around the world. However, these are mainly low-middle-income areas, where the main economic activities are often those linked to subsistence, with little participation in the markets. The fortune of the new sector is mainly due to the growing success it is starting to enjoy in the Western market, in particular the North American one.

In January 2021, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) approved an insect for the first time as a product for human nutrition. These are flour moths, larvae of the beetle called miller tenebrione. EFSA has verified and certified that they can be consumed without any health risk and, on May 4th, the European Commission ratified and made the decision effective.

EFSA is examining applications for 10 other types of insects. After EFSA's analyzes and ratification by the European Commission, however, Member States can decide whether or not to accept to authorize the sale of the product for food use in their country.

Despite the considerable growth prospects, it is not yet possible to identify leading companies in the sector. In fact, as is almost always the case in emerging sectors, the insect sector is characterized by a large number of small and medium-sized businesses.

How do you imagine Italian dishes based on insects in a possible future?



Source: Starting Finance

PILOT, THE SIMULTANEOUS TRANSLATOR

Thanks to modern technology, we can communicate with anyone whenever we want. There is a big problem however: not all of us speak the same language. There are a lot of text translators out there, and sometimes they do a good job, but
there is no technology on the market that translates quickly and effectively a speech in real time OR
at least until now it is so. Waverly Labs created a tiny wireless earphone that fits in the ear and
translates the language you hear into the language you understand. The system called Pilot, was created to break down the language barrier all over the world. The Earphones work in association with an app and are able to function even offline.



Source: Waverly Labs, 2021

A LIBRARY AGAINST CENSORSHIP ON MINECRAFT

For many people, free speech is not a concern as it is considered a staple in their daily life. However, there is still a huge part of the world where free speech is not recognized and where governments censor their citizens, especially journalists. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has identified an innovative and creative way to spread the news, creating a library, capable of reaching millions of people, in a place where no one would imagine: Minecraft.
Minecraft is an iconic online gaming platform that welcomes over 145 million monthly players. The virtual library built by RSF, known as “The Uncensored Library”, houses articles written by journalists who, in many countries, have been censored by governments. Each item was meticulously selected and permissions were requested before these works were placed in the library.

Source: The Uncensored Library, 2021

The new Tesla?

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Rivian is now the fourth largest automaker in the world.

The American manufacturer of electric SUVs and pick-ups went public on November 10 with one of the largest IPOs of the year.

On its first day of trading, the company opened at $ 106.75 per share and closed on Tuesday at $ 172.01, before falling back yesterday at $ 146.

Its current market capitalization has come in at $ 129 billion, just behind Volkswagen ($ 138 billion), Toyota ($ 255 billion) and Tesla ($ 1 trillion).

According to the data, Rivian made its first deliveries (156 vehicles) just two months ago, the vast majority of which were aimed at employees.

However, it has sparked investor interest thanks to the backing of Amazon, which bought a 20% stake in 2019, and has already ordered 100,000 vehicles by 2030. Bezos plans to have 10,000 Rivian vehicles delivered in packages as early as next year. .

Investor enthusiasm was also fueled by the green policies promoted by President Biden in favor of the transition to electricity. According to the government-backed $ 1.2 trillion infrastructure plan, approximately $ 7.5 billion will be allocated to build a nationwide electric vehicle charging network.

Despite strong investor interest, Rivian has yet to show a sustainable business model. For the third quarter of 2021, no more than $ 1 million in revenue is expected.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of investing in a company of this type?

Have your say in the comments!



Source: Starting finance

Apple introduced a privacy change for iPhones in April this year. The change forces apps to ask users permission to track them for advertising purposes. An ad data firm told The Financial Times that Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Snap lost $10 billion as a result.



Source: techinsider

Penny more, penny less, the Harry Potter brand is worth between 25 and 30 billion dollars, three times the value of a saga like that of James Bond. Putting it all together: books, movies, streaming, all the merchandising. There is everything about Harry Potter, from wands to cases, from t-shirts to key rings. An empire, which has more than one theme park in the world and which is worth as much as the GDP of a state such as Iceland, Estonia or Nepal. Almost double that of the Bahamas and Madagascar.
It all starts with a book written by an initially unknown JK Rowling and rejected by many publishers. In 1996 the manuscript of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" ends up in a corner because the literary agent Christopher Little does not deal with children's books. One employee likes it, however, and in the end the Bloomsbury publishing house offers £ 2,500 for the publication of 500 copies, which will be released on June 26, 1997.
Within ten years, Harry Potter has sold 450 million copies of books translated into 79 languages, including Latin and Ancient Greek, Hindi and other languages ​​of the Indian subcontinent. 20 million is the record number of copies sold of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" on the first day of its release. Some have calculated that one above the other would have exceeded the height of Everest. Before being published, the final volume had already been booked in 160 countries: 2.2 million copies.

All the films in the saga - 8 films from 7 books, first released in theaters on # 16 November 2001 - are among the 50 highest grossing ever, over 8 billion dollars at the box office. Daniel Radcliffe earned $ 110 million to play Harry. A fortune that continues: a few weeks ago he opened a megastore in New York dedicated to the protagonist of the saga. Here everything about Harry is sold as in the London studios where he was filmed, which have become a tourist destination for "just" 150 pounds for two adults and two children. If you have a first edition, keep it dear. A book in the saga sold for $ 78,500. By obtaining double one of the first 500 copies printed with the author's autograph, but that is really a rarity.

Red alert for humanity

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The new document signed by 234 scientists from 66 countries of the UN's International Panel on Climate Change shows extreme concern about the future of our planet.

The report indicates how the increase in CO2 emissions with the consequent rise in sea levels, the increase in the frequency and intensity of rains, hot waves and severe winters are unequivocally due to human activities.

These phenomena are mostly irreversible.

The levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the highest in the last 2 million years, caused an increase in the earth's temperature of about + 1.1 ° C compared to the period 1850-1900. In the next 20 years it is possible that this will increase by + 1.5 ° C and + 2 ° C by the end of the century.

With global warming of + 2 ° C, critical tolerance thresholds for agriculture and health will more often be reached.

Human influence is also the main cause of the retreat of glaciers. Between 1901 and 1971, the average sea rise rate was +1.3 mm per year. Recently, between 2006 and 2018, it reached +3.7 mm.

According to the UN secretary general, António Guterres, the report is a "red code for humanity" calling for deep and immediate cuts in CO2 emissions so that the 2015 Paris agreements can be respected.

If this does not happen quickly with a massive reduction in greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale, governments aim to keep the global average temperature rise below + 2 ° C above pre-industrial levels and to continue efforts to limit it to + 1.5 ° C will become “out of reach”.

What measures will need to be put into practice now to stop global warming?

Have your say in the comments!

# co2

Source: Starting Finance

The Line: a 170km long city in Saudi Arabia
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The Line is the name of the huge linear structure designed by Saudi Arabia which will be 170 km long and around which approximately 1 million residents will live. The colossal building will rise in the north-west of the country, on the shores of the Red Sea, and will be built in such a way as to be as efficient and environmentally sustainable as possible.

The works should begin in April 2021 and will be completed, it is estimated, around 2025. According to press releases, The Line aims above all to become the largest hub for innovation in the Middle East.

The structure will be built in such a way as to leave the surrounding environment as pristine as possible. Furthermore, the city will be completely self-sufficient from an energy point of view, with the necessary electricity produced by solar panels and hydrogen power plants.

The Line will be equipped with a state-of-the-art system for internal travel, which will be built by the US giant Bechtel Corporation. It will be possible to walk the 170 km of the structure from one end to the other in less than 20 minutes. However, key buildings, such as hospitals and offices, and homes will be organized in such a way that it is possible to walk around in most cases.

A new desalination technology will be used to produce food locally and ensure the availability of drinking water, a non-trivial issue for an arid country like Saudi Arabia. This will be carried out by the British company Solar Water and will make it possible to make seawater fresh at much lower costs than currently.

How to interpret the new "green" line of the Saudi government?



Source: Starting Finance

There's no harm in trying

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Reid Hoffman is a famous American entrepreneur, venture capitalist and writer, and co-founder of LinkedIn.

Founded in 2002 (two years before Facebook) and launched in 2003, LinkedIn can be considered the first of the great social networks that have established themselves in recent years.

Hoffman's intent, with this phrase, is certainly not to justify a poor product, but to give importance to the concept of starting to lay the foundations of your business idea as soon as possible.

The truth, according to Hoffman, is that most of the time you will find yourself embarrassed by launching or rethinking the first version of your project, but over time the capabilities will improve, the tools will become more sophisticated and the understanding of the user's needs will increase.

LinkedIn itself was not immediately successful.

At first, the company often struggled to achieve the goals set. Until then, the first experiments with on-line social platforms had not been very successful and being able to make space in a sector that was still in its infancy was a decidedly difficult undertaking.

Over time, the platform grew and, in 2011, it went public with an IPO worth more than $ 1 billion, while in 2017 it was bought by Microsoft for more than $ 26 billion. To this day, Hoffman is still on the board of directors.

Why is it important not to stop at the first difficulties?

Tell us yours in the comments!



Souce: Starting Finance