Prosecutors in Georgia have filed racketeering charges against several dozen people after a state investigation into ongoing local protests against a proposed police training facility that protestors have named “Cop City,” the Associated Press reported.
Imagine a world where humans live, but giant alien robots rule. A world where you find a mysterious map. A map that leads you to an ancient weapon. A weapon that might be the only thing that can destroy the alien overlords and restore freedom to humanity. Would you use the weapon to save the world?
Spotify is experimenting with the offerings of its Premium service. Over the last few days, several Spotify users on the free tier noticed they no longer had access to in-app lyrics. Instead, they were greeted by a notification bubble saying, “Enjoy lyrics on Spotify Premium,” along with a link to sign up. Spotify says putting the in-app lyrics behind a paywall is just a part of its routine testing.
“At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of tests, some of those tests end up paving the way for our broader user experience and others serve only as an important learning,”
Spotify’s co-head of global communications, CJ Stanley, told The Verge. “We don’t have any further news to share at this time.” It’s possible Spotify could remove the paywall and make in-app lyrics available to all users again, but there is currently no timeline for that.
This test comes at a time when Spotify has laid off employees from its podcast division, which the company poured quite a bit of money into in recent years. And despite raising its prices and actively working to grow its paid subscribers, it’s still losing significant amounts of money. Spotify’s decision to experiment with the possibility of making lyrics a Premium feature shows that the company is searching for ways to get users to pay for a subscription. However, this might not be the best way to do so as some users who have noticed the change are not happy about it.
PLEASE, PLEASE DO NOT MAKE LYRICS A PREMIUM THING PLEASE 🥲
— fatmancat869 (@fatmancat869) September 5, 2023
In-app lyrics was one of Spotify’s most requested features and the company began testing in 2019. In 2021, Spotify officially rolled out the feature, which allowed users to see and sing along to the words of their favorite tracks. This was available to all users — on both free and Premium versions and on all platforms. While charging for a previously free feature will always bring about some negative feedback as people adjust, some users believe this move would be discriminatory to people with disabilities.
Bit ableist of Spotify if this is true.. didn’t choose to be deaf and need lyrics to understand and enjoy music damn https://t.co/1CN7yK6Yim
— Emma 🩶 (@EmLovesYUNGBLUD) September 5, 2023
This is very ableist @Spotify do better deaf and hard of hearing people need the lyrics/subtitles!!!! So do i because of my adhd. When I don’t look at someone I can’t hear them I have to look at them to hear them I need lyrics/subtitles too #spotifyhttps://t.co/zbjjHelB6G
— 🪐⭐️LUKA⭐️🪐(They/He/Ze) (@Gothicglitterxx) September 5, 2023
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spotify-puts-publicly-available-lyrics-behind-a-premium-paywall-in-routine-test-212735457.html?src=rss
“I tried to decode his thoughts through the Buffett songs he chose to play on our drives, as if some secret message to me was hidden in the lyrics.”
Less than one month after enduring public backlash over confusion about how it trains its artificial intelligence tools, Zoom says it’s prepared to plow forward with a ChatGPT-style chatbot to embed in its videoconferences and accompanying chats. Zoom believes its beefed-up AI Companion AI tool could boost…
Edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr., Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology features an introduction by acclaimed horror author Stephen Graham Jones and unsettling tales by a wide range of Indigenous authors. io9 is thrilled to share one of the entries, “Night in the Chrysalis” by…
Apple may be thinking up ways to offer laptops that are cheaper and more pared down than its existing MacBook Air line. As reported by DigiTimes (via MacRumors), industry sources are speculating Apple could be working on a lower-cost version of its MacBooks that would compete in the crowded Chromebook market.
Photographers from around the world recently submitted 20,000-odd images of bird species to the Bird Photographer of the Year contest. The showcase captures the diversity of the class Aves, as well as the dramatically different habitats the animals occupy and the ecological niches they inhabit.
Microsoft is deprecating its WordPad software from Windows, leading to the end of a decades-old staple, the company announced on Friday. WordPad will no longer be available on future versions of Windows and Microsoft says it will no longer update existing software.
We’re getting into the last days of summer in the northern hemisphere. As fall comes into view, many of us will be spending more time at home cooking. Having high-quality equipment (and ingredients) can help ensure you make the best food possible. To that end, you may want to consider picking up a KitchenAid stand mixer and/or immersion blender during a current Amazon sale. The KitchenAid Cordless Variable Speed Hand Blender, for instance, has dropped from $100 to $80. That’s the lowest price we’ve seen for it all year.
This is our pick for the best cordless immersion blender. It could come in very useful if you want to make soups, sauces, smoothies and drinks even if you don’t have much counter space for a full-sized blender.
If you do have some space to plunk down a new gizmo in your kitchen, however, there’s always the option of snagging one of KitchenAid’s classic stand mixers. The KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer is on sale too. Depending on which color you opt for (Ice Blue and Kyoto Glow are particularly fetching), the mixer can be yours for as little as $380 during this sale. That’s $70 off the regular price and close to the cheapest we’ve ever seen it.
This is our choice for the best stand mixer you can own. It’s a powerful and durable machine, plus it looks gorgeous. It makes baking much easier than having to mix dough by hand. Best of all, it works with a variety of attachments. Given the glut of late-summer produce, it might still be worth picking up the ice cream maker attachment as well. Trust me, you can make some delicious mint choc chip and strawberry-basil ice cream with this thing.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/kitchenaid-stand-mixers-and-immersion-blenders-are-up-to-25-percent-off-191228110.html?src=rss
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