Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

Would you want to be in a group chat with your favorite sports celebrities and athletes? You’ll have your chance this fall thanks to a collaboration between WhatsApp and OffBall. OffBall, a year-old sports media startup that focuses on careful curation for its followers, announced on Friday that it was bringing back The Chat, which it had previously conducted with sports stars such as LeBron James. The franchise is designed to get users to participate in big group chats and discuss sports or anything else. High-profile personalities—such as professional athletes or others—also take part, and everyone can text or message each other like any other group chat, or s…

In 2021, newly relocated to San Francisco from New York City, Danielle Snyder Shorenstein went with her husband to her first Golden State Warriors game. She wasn’t a sports fan, really, and especially not a Bay Area sports fan. “I identify as a New Yorker,” she says. Having owned and run a fashion and jewelry brand called Dannijo with her sister, Jodie Snyder Morel, since 2008, and looking around at the game merch, she thought to herself how unlikely she’d be to wear any of it. Over the course of the season, Shorenstein continued to go to games with her husband and began experimenting with her own take on fanwear. She cut up a jersey, added a crochet collar, some cry…

The bible tells us to “love your enemies,” and major sports teams seem to be taking that doctrine seriously. Or at least their stadium concession stands are. Fans come to stadiums for the game, but they almost always indulge in the food, too—which typically reflects the cuisine of their home team’s city. But now, baseball and football stadiums have begun offering some local bites of their opponents’ teams in a bid to sell more concessions. On March 27, Major League Baseball’s Opening Day, stadium food for the Washington Nationals will offer a new signature concession item: a platter of loaded nachos dubbed the “Stolen Plate Special.” The toppings on those cheesy…

Utah-based outdoor retailer Sportsman’s Warehouse may be closing some of its stores in the near future. “As part of the Company’s review of its stores, we have identified about five stores for potential closure due to underperformance and lack of profitability,” Sportsman’s Warehouse wrote in its Fiscal Year 2025 financial results press release. Sportsman’s Warehouse did not respond to Fast Company’s request for comment on which stores it identified at the time of publication. Sportsman’s Warehouse has 148 locations spread across 32 different states. The brand is mostly centered around western states, with 17 stores in California, 14 in Washington, and 13 in U…

We’ve written a lot about how AI is coming for your job. Now AI is coming for your music, flooding streaming platforms with “AI music slop.” But instead of curbing it, Spotify’s CEO Alex Norström is doubling down and embracing AI-generated music—claiming it offers artists protection from piracy, and music-lovers more freedom to listen to and create more of the kind of music they want. Last week, Spotify and Universal Music Group (UMG) announced landmark licensing agreements, paving the way for Spotify to launch a new tool for premium subscribers. The tool enables them to create AI-generated song covers and remixes of their favorite songs from participating artists and…

Shares in Spotify Technology SA (NYSE: SPOT), the world’s largest music streamer, are surging this morning. As of this writing, the Swedish company’s stock price is up 18% to above $489 per share after the company reported blowout fourth-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings. Here’s what you need to know. Spotify’s Q4 2025 surpasses expectations On Tuesday, Spotify reported its Q4 2025 earnings, which outpaced investor expectations. Here are the music streamer’s most salient metrics for the quarter, which ended on December 31: Monthly Active Users (MAUs): 751 million (up 11% year over year) Premium Subscribers: 290 million (up 10% year over year) Total Reven…

When a new song attributed to country singer Blaze Foley, “Together,” appeared on his Spotify profile last year, something didn’t seem right. For starters, Foley had been dead for more than two decades, and the cover art featured AI artwork of a man who wasn’t Foley, and the song wasn’t uploaded by Foley’s longtime distributor. Fake tracks have appeared on various artist profiles, including easy-listening act The Sweet Enoughs, and Australian bands Alpha Wolf and Thy Art Is Murder. Smaller artists are not safe either, with musician Catherine Brennan taking to TikTok saying “in the past two weeks I’ve had two albums released under my name that are not mine.” Spoti…

Starting today, you can use Spotify to knock out a 10-minute Pilates session, a weighted glutes circuit, or a bit of morning yoga. The music platform just announced its first foray into the fitness world (not counting the 150 million user-generated playlists on the app, of course). Under the new “Fitness” section, all users will be able to access a library of content, including follow-along videos, from popular fitness creators like Chloe Ting and Yoga with Kassandra. The new feature also includes a partnership with Peloton, which makes a catalog of more than 1,400 ad-free Peloton classes available to Spotify’s Premium subscribers. Whether you’re a runner, weight…

Everything from coffee to a used car is more expensive these days, and now your music streaming service is too. Spotify announced this week that it will raise prices for U.S. subscribers – again. Spotify Premium plans will jump up to $12.99 from $11.99 starting with the next billing date. The streamer last increased prices for U.S. users in 2024 after a decade-plus run of charging $9.99 for ad-free listening on its premium individual streaming plan. The main individual plan isn’t the only Spotify subscription getting a price hike. Discounted student plans are getting bumped up to $6.99 from $5.99, the Duo two-person plan will go to $18.99 from $16.99 and the stre…

Shares of Spotify Technology SA were put on the spot this morning as the Swedish audio-streaming company announced that CEO Daniel Ek will be transitioning out of the role at the end of the year. He will be replaced by two new co-CEOs: Gustav Söderström, Spotify’s current co-president and chief product and technology officer, and Alex Norström, co-president and chief business officer. Ek will remain with the company and oversee its long-term strategy and capital allocation, and provide guidance in his new role as chairman of the board. Kicking and streaming Investors may take some time to absorb the news. Spotify stock, listed in the U.S. and trading on t…

Shares in music streamer Spotify (NYSE: SPOT) are up nearly 9% in premarket trading as of the time of this writing after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings results for its fiscal 2024. It was a quarter that ended the music streamer’s first full year of profitability. And saw many important metrics increase by double-digit percentages. Here’s what you need to know about Spotify’s Q4 2024 earnings. SPOT Q4 2024 earnings by the numbers Spotify posted several investor-pleasing metrics today. Here are the main highlights of Spotify’s Q4 2024: Monthly Active Users (MAUs): 675 million (up 12% Y/Y) Premium subscribers: 263 million (up 11% Y/Y) Tot…

Spotify Wrapped 2025 is here, and it’s inspired by mixtapes, DIY aesthetics, and all things pre-internet. After plenty of anticipation, Wrapped has now debuted for the eleventh year in a row. As public interest in Wrapped has mounted exponentially each year—and other brands have flocked to dupe the format—Spotify has been compelled to continuously up the ante on its own design concept, and this year is no exception. Wrapped 2025 comes with 12 brand new features, each intended to make the experience more personalized than years past. In the music world (and everywhere else), 2025 has been a year dominated by conversation around the explosion of AI technology. In S…

The numbers are in for Spotify Wrapped: After the streaming music app dropped its popular year-in-review recap for 2025, the company said it has already seen a huge increase in user engagement, hitting 200 million users just 24 hours after the recap’s release, a 19% increase year-over-year (YOY). Compare that with last year, when it took 62 hours to hit that same number. Why the uptick in user engagement? One reason could be because the platform is growing. A look at the numbers shows Spotify’s monthly active users grew 11% YOY to 713 million in Q3 of 2025, according to the company’s third quarter earnings report. Spotify Wrapped is for sharing Sharing …

Even before this year’s Spotify Wrapped dropped, I had a hunch what mine would reveal. Lo and behold, one of my most-listened-to songs was an obscure 2004 track titled “Rusty Chevrolet” by the Irish band Shanneyganock. I heard it first thanks to my son, whose friend had been singing it on the swings at school. My son found it utterly hilarious, and it’s been playing in our house nonstop ever since. Like parents all over the world, I rue how my son’s musical tastes have hijacked my listening history. But I’m also tickled to learn that our household is probably one of the few even listening to it. Spotify Wrapped is an annual campaign by the popular streamin…

Since it launched two years ago, Spotify’s AI DJ has been a one-way experience. It curates old favorites and helps listeners discover new tracks based on past listening experience and what similar users like. But now it’s getting interactive. Spotify unveiled the ability to request songs from the DJ based on mood, genre, and vibe. The feature, which launched across 60 markets, is exclusive to Spotify Premium users, who can access the DJ by searching for the tool in the app. It’s the latest AI feature to come from Spotify, which introduced an AI-generated playlist builder for Premium users in the United States last fall. But Molly Holder, Spotify’s senior directo…

Spotify just opened up a new stream of revenue for podcasters. That is, if they’re uploading video. What was once an audio-first medium, podcasting is now increasingly filmed and produced. That started on YouTube, which is now racking up one billion podcast viewers a month. While Spotify has hosted podcasts for a decade now, the company is suddenly racing to stay competitive, rolling out new features and monetization tools. That includes their Partner Program, which allows podcasters to earn money directly from the streams of premium subscribers, so long as they’re using a video aspect. “We decided to focus on video because that’s where we see a lot of audiences…

Today, Spotify is releasing some never-before-seen data to users—and it’s coming in a format that looks strikingly familiar. To celebrate its 20-year anniversary, Spotify is launching Your Party of the Year(s), an in-app experience designed to hit users with a blast of nostalgia by walking them through highlights of their own user journey with the app, including their first song ever streamed. The format is a click-through, interactive infographic, and it looks a whole lot like Spotify Wrapped. Since it debuted in 2014, Wrapped has become a core pillar of Spotify’s business. In 2025, more than 300 million users engaged with the launch, up 20% from 2024. And that’…

We at Fast Company spend all year, every year, researching and assessing companies. When it comes time to identify the Most Innovative Companies in the World, there are four key factors we consider: •Innovation. Did the company create something truly original? •Impact. Did this innovation have a measurable impact on the company and its industry? •Timeliness. Did the innovation happen in the past 12 months? Or, if it’s older, did it bear fruit during this time frame? •Relevance. Does the innovation we’re highlighting connect to larger issues facing industry or society? No company clears the bar unless it meets those criteria. From there, there are p…

Spring is a glorious, warm season after the harsh cold of winter—filled with light and more sun-induced vitamin D. Friday, March 20, 2026 (at exactly 10:46 a.m. ET), marks both its triumphant return in the Northern Hemisphere and the spring equinox. So, get ready for longer days, warmer weather, and flower blooms that may cause sneezing. Let’s take a deeper look at the science behind seasons and what exactly an equinox is. What causes the seasons? The tilt of the Earth’s axis as it orbits around the sun is what causes seasons. Depending on that angle, different parts of the world receive different amounts of sunlight. In the Northern Hemisphere, we experie…

If you’ve ever cracked open an ice-cold Sprite on a hot summer day, or taken a sip of the soda fresh from a McDonald’s machine, you’ve probably experienced that eye-widening first moment that the extra-fizzy, citrusy beverage hits your tongue. That exact second is what Sprite is trying to capture with its new brand refresh, which includes the return of a beloved brand symbol, an updated logo, new visuals, and the brand’s first-ever signature sound. These updates are part of a broader campaign called “It’s That Fresh,” which Sprite says is designed to appeal to younger consumers by strengthening the brand’s presence in music, food, and sports spheres (Sprite also …

Square, the popular business technology platform known for its Point of Sale (POS) systems, has launched a new device designed to allow sellers to ring up various kinds of purchases and perform other tasks without carrying around the extra weight of bulkier hardware. The Square Handheld, with a screen that is slightly bigger than a cellphone, is less than an inch thick, thin enough to fit in your back pocket. Handheld card readers currently on the market are bulkier, requiring sellers to use lanyards or handstraps to carry them around. The Square Handheld frees up hands for a more seamless integration into the user’s workflows. The device supports a full range of…

After a number of big announcements this week, it’s hip to be Square. Square announced several upgrades and features to its platform this week, including an expansion of tools for restaurant owners and operators, new intelligence capabilities under its Square AI suite, the unveiling of Square Bitcoin, allowing platform users to conduct transactions in Bitcoin. As a cherry on top, Cash App, a sister company to Square under its parent firm, Block, also announced Neighborhoods, a feature that connects customers with local businesses, creating local networks in which customers can place orders and accumulate rewards points to spend with nearby businesses, and helps t…

Artificial intelligence company Stability AI mostly prevailed against Getty Images Tuesday in a British court battle over intellectual property. Seattle-based Getty had accused Stability AI of infringing its copyright and trademark by scraping 12 million images from its website, without permission, to train its popular image generator, Stable Diffusion. The closely followed case at Britain’s High Court was among the first in a wave of lawsuits involving generative AI as movie studios, authors, and artists challenged tech companies’ use of their works to train AI chatbots. Tech companies have long argued that “fair use” or “fair dealing” legal doctrines in the …