The Town with Matthew Belloni

• Is Streaming Killing Music—or Saving It? With a Top Spotify Exec

  Matt is joined by Spotify’s global head of music vertical, Charlie Hellman, to talk about the current state of the music industry, how the music streaming era has impacted artists, how artists actually get paid by Spotify, competing with YouTube, the surge in AI-generated music, and artists’ biggest frustrations with Spotify (02:27). Matt finishes the show with a prediction about President Donald Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit against CBS (26:07). Disclaimer: This podcast is produced by The Ringer, which is owned by Spotify. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ ⁠⁠click here⁠⁠.Email us your thoughts! ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠ Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Lucas Shaw Producers: Craig Horlbeck and Jessie LopezTheme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• The Five Biggest Stories in TV: HBO Max Is Back, NFL Goes Global, and Netflix’s Franchisification

  Matt is joined by CNBC Media and sports reporter Alex Sherman to discuss their five biggest takeaways from the TV upfronts, what the biggest platforms and streamers are prioritizing now, the rebranding of Max back to HBO Max and what it says about the new strategy for Warner Bros. Discovery, an NFL game on YouTube, how the NFL is distributing its media rights, ESPN’s new standalone streaming service costing $30/month, Netflix and Amazon’s heavy push toward franchises, and the growing dominance of YouTube (00:00). Matt finishes the show with a prediction about The Weeknd’s new movie ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow’ (00:00). For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing…’ click here. Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Alex Sherman Producers: Craig Horlbeck and Jessie Lopez Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• How YouTube Quietly Took Over TV, With CEO Neal Mohan

  Matt is joined in person by YouTube CEO Neal Mohan from the annual TV upfronts in New York to discuss YouTube’s relationship with Hollywood in 2025, challenges from TikTok and Instagram, and why creators continue to seek out other platforms after gaining success on YouTube. They also talk about their newest deal with the NFL, which includes a YouTube-exclusive NFL game, and how they plan to reinvent watching sports (0:32). Matt finishes the show with a prediction surrounding the announcement that the streaming service Max is changing its name back to HBO Max (32:51). For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing…’ click here. Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Neal Mohan Producers: Craig Horlbeck and Jessie Lopez Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Hollywood Q1 Report: Disneyland in Abu Dhabi, a Warner Bros. Spinoff, and Streaming is … Stable?

  Matt is joined by Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw to discuss announcements and narratives that emerged from the latest Q1 earnings reports, including Disney’s new theme park in Abu Dhabi, a Bob Iger succession check-in, a potential Warner Bros. Discovery split, Paramount in trouble, and other takeaways following streaming's continued path towards profitability (2:20). Matt finishes the show with a prediction surrounding the latest news of 'Reacher' star Alan Ritchson’s fight with manager Dan Spilo (26:13). Email [email protected] to inquire about Puck’s Stories of the Season event. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing…’ click here. Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Lucas Shaw Producers: Craig Horlbeck and Jessie Lopez Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• The 2025 Summer Blockbuster Power Ranking

  It’s May, which means summer blockbuster season has officially begun. Matt welcomes back Puck’s Scott Mendelson to run through the most highly anticipated films of the summer, ranking each one by their box office potential and sharing their confidence levels for which are most likely to exceed expectations (2:25). Matt wraps up the show with a discussion about the newest Golden Globes category: Best Podcast (43:30)! For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click here Email us your thoughts! [email protected] Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Scott Mendelson Producers: Craig Horlbeck and Jessie Lopez Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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