This is what the Flux.
I'm justin and I'm harsh deep and it's Monday, the twenty seventh of May.
Canvas has just hosted their annual product showcase in LA and it's the first time it's moved outside of Australia and Canvas says it now has more than one hundred and eighty million monthly active users. That means if Canvas monthly uses was a country, it would be the eighth biggest country in the whole world.
Oh my god, Flux fam We're nearing the end of May, and that means if you haven't done your financial hygiene for this month, here is your gentle reminder. Your credit score will update every month in the Flux SAP and you can check it for free. We also have a heap of advanced insights that show you why your score has changed and what you could do to improve it. So download the Flux app and make sure to do your financial hygiene before the end of May.
Three hygienic stories today, Let's get into it for our first news, Corp has signed a deal with open Ai that will help train GPT's engine off the back of its major publications.
I swear a few months ago, News Corp execs were throwing serious shade at open Ai. Tell me what's happening here?
Okay? So News Corp is the media and publishing giant that is ah hued in the US and jazz.
NewsCorp owns a whole bunch of publications around the world like The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post and The Sunday Times.
And in Australia, NewsCorp owns The Herald Sun, The Australian as well as a big chunk of Foxtel.
A few months ago, News Corp CEO called Ai platforms thieves and counterfeiters for training their models on media content.
Without the consent of these media publications.
But now just a few months later, News Corp is calling open Ai a principled partner.
Because plot twist, news Corps announced a new deal with open Ai.
Okay, cut to the chase. How much are they paying.
News Corps giving open Ai access to all of its major news publications for a reported fifty million US dollars a year over five years.
That feels kind of small considering open Ai is literally building its business off this type of content.
That's true, but in news Corps view it's better than getting nothing, which is what they're currently getting with Meta.
So tell me, Jazz, what is the key learning here?
Sometimes doing a bad deal is better than doing no deal at all.
See right now, many publishers are in a pretty poor negotiating position with tech leaders like Google, Meta and of course open AI.
In fact, she NewsCorp CEO said, they've seen a huge shift of power from creators like themselves to distributors like big tech companies.
And we've already seen this shift through the media.
Bargaining code yep, that's where large media organizations like NewsCorp and nine are fining with Meta over compensation for using their content.
But Jazz, now we're starting to see it in the AI space to where even greater extent.
AI platforms are literally training their whole, entire AI models of this content.
So far, we've seen the Associated Press and Axel Springer in Germany signed deals with open ais as well. Let's read it, and now they've landed a big fish in Newscorps.
But for just fifty million US dollars per year. This deal could be a sign of NewsCorp signing its own death warrant in exchange for short term survival for.
Our second story. The owner of Ticketmaster has been sued by the US Justice Department for creating a monopoly in the live events industry and suffocating competition.
What are the odds? This was started by the Taylor Swift fans who missed outed a concert because of Ticketmaster's debacle, So tell.
Me more so bit of background Jazz. Ticketmaster is a ticket sales company that was founded back in nineteen seventy six.
It manages the tickets for some of the biggest shows in the whole world, from sporting events like AFOL matches, Taylor Swift, and Cold Place concerts as well.
Now, back in twenty ten, Ticketmaster merged with Live Nation, which promotes and operates live entertainment around the world, and.
After this merger, the new company became the dominant entertainment company around the whole world, now Jazz.
In late twenty twenty two, Taylor Swift tickets were sold on Ticketmaster, and it's fair to say the ticket buying experience was horrific. This got the US legislators taking out their magnifying glasses to take a closer look at Live Nations control over the industry, and.
Now the US Department of Justice has foilt a lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment for alleged monopolists practices.
They claim that Live Nation suffocates its competition by either acquiring.
Them or throwing out threats and retaliation to artists who agree to sell via arrivals.
And so now the Justice Department want to break up ticket Master so that there is more choice for artists and ultimately consumers.
So what is the key learning here?
Monopolistic practices occur when a company dominates a market so much that competitors just don't stand a chance.
And actually, Ticketmaster is absolutely dominating the ticketing industry.
Get this. In twenty twenty three alone, Ticketmaster distributed over six hundred and twenty million tickets worldwide.
And actually, while dominating the board in the game of monopoly might win you bragging rights. In the real world, this dominance can stifle competition and hurt consumers.
These monopolies can lead to high prices and limit choices for consumers. So the Justice Department is hoping to break up Ticketmaster and Live Nation to reintroduce competition.
Which would hopefully lead to fair prices and.
Less swifty is crying over missed out.
Tickets for our third and final story. Dion Lee, the Australian luxury fashion brand, has gone into voluntary administration and it now joins a growing list of oussie fashion brands with this non desirable status.
Another one bites the dust. This isn't looking good. Tell us what's going on here?
Just kay so. Down Lee is the Australian fashion brand that was started up in two thousand and nine and is one of the few to have actually found international success.
Its designs have been worn by the likes of Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa and Megan Markle.
And let me tell you, aha, I did a little bit of digging and those designs cost a pretty penny. Yep.
Taylor Swift's d on Lee top that she wore to this year's Super Bowl will set you back a casual six hundred and fifty dollars.
And now the Australian arm of down Lee has entered voluntary administration.
And this has come after retail chain Q said that withdrawn their investment from d on.
Lee, which left the brand unable to stand on its own.
But the good news for now is that on Lee will continue operating while under voluntary administration. So what is the key learning here.
Voluntary administration is when a company's in financial trouble so it brings in an exxternal administrator to take control of the company's finances.
Entering administration is bad news and a lot of the time it leads to companies having to shut down.
Think Alice McCall, Sneaker Boy, Arnsdorf.
These are all Australian fashion brands that have collapsed in the last year after entering voluntary administration. But just going into voluntary administration isn't always so doom and gloom.
Sometimes, in the process of pulling a company out of a mountain of debt, administrators can actually give it a new life.
Remember when swimwear brand ce Foley went into administration back in twenty twenty. Its administrators initially thought the company was done for, but.
After selling off some stores restructure its finances, Cefoley was rescued for reported seventy million bucks.
So while it looks like Deon Lee's in its flop era right now, financially speaking, there's always a chance that it could make a comeback in the future.
Fox Fam. Checking your credit score every month is a key part of your financial hygiene. To make sure you download the Flux app and check out your credit score this month.
Thanks for listening and receive you on Wednesday.