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Pharrell Williams to Bring Star Power to Web Summit Tech Event

File photo: Pharrell Williams upon arrival at the Louis Vuitton Foundation on the eve of Paris Olympics opening ceremony, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP)
File photo: Pharrell Williams upon arrival at the Louis Vuitton Foundation on the eve of Paris Olympics opening ceremony, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP)
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Pharrell Williams to Bring Star Power to Web Summit Tech Event

File photo: Pharrell Williams upon arrival at the Louis Vuitton Foundation on the eve of Paris Olympics opening ceremony, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP)
File photo: Pharrell Williams upon arrival at the Louis Vuitton Foundation on the eve of Paris Olympics opening ceremony, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP)

Singer Pharrell Williams is due to kick off one of Europe's biggest tech events on Monday, the Web Summit in Lisbon, with organizers keen to move on from last year's edition when several big firms pulled out.
The event will bring together some 70,000 attendees with more than 3,000 startups and 1,000 investors, according to the organizers.
Google, Meta and a string of other firms pulled out of last year's event after Web Summit chief executive Paddy Cosgrave wrote social media posts accusing Israel of war crimes in Gaza, AFP said.
He was forced to apologize and step down from his role, though he is now back in charge of the organization, which also holds events in other parts of the world.
"Those cancellations revolved more around big tech," Web Summit's head of startups Ricardo Lima told AFP in an interview on Wednesday, stressing the focus on smaller firms and innovation.
"It's safe to say the impacts were felt in 2023 but in 2024 (big tech firms) were all part of the events and part of the discussion."
Trump effect
Google and Meta have a low-key presence this year in Lisbon.
Microsoft President Brad Smith is the highest-profile big tech executive at the event.
He is due to lay out how the software juggernaut envisages the next phase of its artificial intelligence strategy, after spending billions to infuse the technology into most of its products.
AI is expected to be the central theme of the get together.
The conference said in a statement there would be discussions on "the impact of AI on the planet, art, and social interactions, as well as the government's role in regulating technology and the responsibilities of tech giants".
The re-election of Donald Trump as US president, with tech mogul Elon Musk expected to be given a key role in his administration, is also expected to be top-of-mind.
Some of the sessions will deal directly with the election's impact on the tech industry but Lima said it was still too early to judge the reaction.
"I think everyone is still digesting the news, I am also very curious to understand the impact," he said.
The opening night on Monday broadens the agenda with a speaker list that this year includes Pharrell Williams, who is about to star in the latest Lego movie "Piece by Piece".
The summit wrote on its X account that Williams would be talking about "the intersection of culture and commerce".
"Discover how Pharrell's visionary approach has led to extraordinary success across multiple industries," the post said.

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Entertainment

Spotify Adds 11 Mn Active Users in 3rd Quarter to Reach 788 Mn

FILE PHOTO: Small figurines are seen in front of displayed Spotify logo in this illustration taken February 11, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Ilustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Small figurines are seen in front of displayed Spotify logo in this illustration taken February 11, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Ilustration/File Photo
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Spotify Adds 11 Mn Active Users in 3rd Quarter to Reach 788 Mn

FILE PHOTO: Small figurines are seen in front of displayed Spotify logo in this illustration taken February 11, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Ilustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Small figurines are seen in front of displayed Spotify logo in this illustration taken February 11, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Ilustration/File Photo

Music streaming giant Spotify on Thursday said it had added 11 million monthly active users in the third quarter and had reached 788 million active users by the end of September, in line with the company's forecast.

The uptick represented an 11-percent growth in users compared to a year earlier, Spotify said in a statement, adding that paying subscribers had grown by nine percent compared to a year earlier, reaching 306 million, just above the company's forecasted 305 million.

"This was a quarter where we did what we said. We've built a strong business that keeps compounding," AFP quoted co-chief executive Alex Norstrom as saying in a statement.

Revenue for the third quarter came in at 4.97 billion euros ($5.6 billion), up 16 percent from a year earlier.

Operating income meanwhile rose 15 percent to 672 million euros.

Looking forward, the company said it expected to add 30 million additional active users to the platform by the end of the year to reach 818 million.

Spotify also said it expects to reach 316 paying subscribers.

In recent years, the company has started expanding from music, first investing heavily into podcasts and now offering audiobooks.

In early October, the streaming giant announced that it was expanding access to its audiobook service to more than 180 markets, up from the previous 22.

Amid growing concern across the music industry over AI-generated content overwhelming streaming catalogues, the company has recently taken steps to identify and label AI content.

Earlier this week it reported that it had taken "more than 50 million slop and spam tracks" out of recommendations -- meaning the songs would not be suggested to listeners -- this year.

In August it announced that it was launching a new "AI Persona" badge to identify content producers that are AI-generated and not real people.

In April, the company launched its "Verified by Spotify" badge, signaling that a profile has been reviewed and meets its authenticity standard.

Entertainment

UK Actor Noel Clarke Pleads Not Guilty to Six Offence Charges

Actor Noel Clarke poses for photographers at the British Academy Film Awards Nominees Party at Kensington Palace in London, Britain February 11, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall
Actor Noel Clarke poses for photographers at the British Academy Film Awards Nominees Party at Kensington Palace in London, Britain February 11, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall
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UK Actor Noel Clarke Pleads Not Guilty to Six Offence Charges

Actor Noel Clarke poses for photographers at the British Academy Film Awards Nominees Party at Kensington Palace in London, Britain February 11, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall
Actor Noel Clarke poses for photographers at the British Academy Film Awards Nominees Party at Kensington Palace in London, Britain February 11, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall

British actor and filmmaker Noel Clarke appeared in a London court on Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to six charges, including two counts of sexual assault.

Clarke also denied three ‌counts of ‌voyeurism and ‌one ⁠count of exposing himself, ⁠with the allegations spanning 2007 to 2016, Reuters said.

The 50-year-old stood in the dock at Westminster Magistrates' Court ⁠and spoke only to ‌confirm ‌his name, date of birth ‌and address and ‌enter his not guilty pleas.

He was granted bail ahead of his next ‌appearance at Southwark Crown Court on November ⁠18.

Clarke ⁠is best known for writing and starring in "Kidulthood" (2006), which explored bullying, drug abuse and extreme violence among young people in London, and for a recurring role in sci-fi show "Doctor Who".

Entertainment

Netflix Slides as Weak Profit, Ad Outlook Intensify Investor Anxiety

A man stands next to a logo of Netflix during an event in Mumbai, India, February 29, 2024. (Reuters)
A man stands next to a logo of Netflix during an event in Mumbai, India, February 29, 2024. (Reuters)
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Netflix Slides as Weak Profit, Ad Outlook Intensify Investor Anxiety

A man stands next to a logo of Netflix during an event in Mumbai, India, February 29, 2024. (Reuters)
A man stands next to a logo of Netflix during an event in Mumbai, India, February 29, 2024. (Reuters)

Netflix shares dropped 6% ‌in pre-market trading on Wednesday after the company cut its full-year advertising forecast and issued a tepid fourth-quarter profit outlook, deepening concerns about slowing viewership and revenue growth.

The stock has declined more than 26% this year and, if current losses hold, the streaming giant is set to shed about $17 billion of its market value.

The share performance underscores the mounting challenges facing Netflix, from losing a bidding war for Warner Bros Discovery earlier ‌this year to ‌defending its paid subscription model against ‌free ⁠digital rivals and competing ⁠in an increasingly consolidated streaming market.

As viewers shift toward free, user-generated platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, Netflix is also contending with changing preferences in favor of short-form video over premium content.

"Netflix is still the leader in streaming, but the competitive landscape for people's ⁠attention is much broader than streaming alone, ‌particularly with the growth ‌of short-form video," said Ben Barringer, head of technology research at Quilter ‌Cheviot.

The company needs to ensure its content ‌remains compelling enough to keep viewers engaged, rather than simply retaining them as subscribers, Barringer said.

Netflix is also undergoing a restructuring after cutting about 6% of its workforce and reshuffling ‌its leadership team this month.

Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said on Tuesday the company plans to focus ⁠on its ⁠core business of producing quality TV shows and movies to make Netflix a must-have service, and the recent executive shakeup was a step toward that goal.

At least 14 brokerages have lowered their price targets on the stock after the results, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Netflix trades at nearly 18.28 times expected earnings over the next 12 months, compared with 14.76 times for Walt Disney and 6.26 times for Comcast, underscoring the premium investors place on the streaming giant.