
Getting 33% off three months of Game Pass is always fantastic, but the timing on this sale makes it truly exceptional – not only are this year's biggest shooters fresh on the catalogue, but you'll also get day-one access to two of Xbox's biggest upcoming games. You can snag three months of Game Pass Ultimate for just $27.99 at CDKeys right now – that's $14 off the usual price of $42.09 – while Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl are still fresh on the service. But that's not all: those three months will cover the launch of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, set to release on December 9, and Obsidian's upcoming RPG Avowed in February. Throw in the rest of Game Pass' catalog, and this is one of the best Cyber Monday Xbox deals you'll find around. Three months of Game Pass Ultimate would set you back $60 when buying month-by-month through Microsoft and three months are still $50 at Amazon , so the value in this is pretty wild. It's up there with the best Cyber Monday gaming deals of the week, and I'd be surprised to see a better Game Pass deal emerge so late into the sale. Should you buy 3 months of Game Pass? If you can live without owning your games forever, three months of Game Pass is absolutely worth buying. The obvious drawback is that you only have the service's games for those months - which could be an issue if you end up sinking time into beefier games like Avowed - but from my experience, I tend to wrap up Game Pass titles with plenty of time to spare. Besides that, it really is a stacked few months in the world of Game Pass. Despite a rough launch, Stalker 2 is my favorite shooter of 2024 – which you can read more about in my Stalker 2 review – and Black Ops 6 continues to eat up my free time most evenings. Meanwhile, our Indiana Jones and the Great Circle preview and Avowed preview have left me buzzing for both launches. Indy could be ten hours of whipping vases and I'd be thrilled, while the mere thought of finally getting more of Obsidian's companion goodness – no, you've played too much New Vegas problem – fills me with joy. Some of the games are worth these three months alone, so if you don't mind having a limited amount of time with them (presuming you don't just renew Game Pass) then go for it. If you want your Xbox catalog fully decked-out, check out our best Cyber Monday gaming deals and Cyber Monday Xbox Series X deals .Queensland State of Origin great Corey Parker has questioned whether NSW would have been wiser to go with a younger coach with recent experience in the environment. The on Monday, bringing back the NSW legend after he previously served in the role from 2013 to 2017. Part of Daley's appeal was the fact he could , and the NSWRL board went with the Canberra Raiders legend ahead of Blues assistant coach Matt King. Many had predicted King would get the gig to replace Michael Maguire after he served as Madge's main assistant in 2024 and helped mastermind the Blues' series victory. But by bringing back Daley the NSWRL board have gone with a coach with little experience this decade. King has worked with the NSW team for the last few seasons, and has been an assistant at the Sydney Roosters since 2017. And according to Parker, the Blues might have made a huge mistake in not appointing someone like King or Michael Ennis. “I was a little surprised,” Parker said on SEN radio on Tuesday about Daley's selection. “He was up against a really formidable Queensland during that (first stint) and it was during eight consecutive series wins for Queensland. He’s a terrific guy and I know him well (but) he’s left-field for me. He’s been there and done that and I guess it suits the powers above. "I thought there was a real opportunity to go with someone like Matt King, Michael Ennis or Brett White. One of these younger guys who have been inside systems week in and week out of NRL sides. “You just have to look at Billy Slater and his innovative ideas and what he’s been able to provide Queensland over the past few seasons...Billy had no head coach (experience) and he handled (Queensland) beautifully. “I think Michael Ennis would be a terrific appointment but they’ve gone back in time to Laurie. I just thought it was a strange call from NSW. If I’m being fair, I was just really surprised.” If I am being brutally honest, I was a little surprised." However Parker did admit the Bellamy factor is a big win for NSW. "[Daley] brings great passion and great belief in the Blues jersey, but from a coaching perspective he has been out of the loop for some time," Parker added. "That is why you need someone like a Craig Bellamy. "X and O's do play a part, but it is what is between the ears. It is about harnessing what that is all about...collectively as a unit you need people to believe in the Blues jersey. Don't underestimate what Bellamy does for this team. While Daley is the head coach, Bellamy will command respect." Speaking on SEN in Sydney, leading commentator Andrew Voss admitted it was a concern that Daley has been out of the coaching game for so long. "By the time Origin rolls around in 2025 it will have been eight years since Laurie last coached," Voss said. "It's impossible to escape the fact he was sacked, and he hasn't done any coaching since then. That's the unusual aspect of it. He hasn't actually gone away and coached anywhere." Despite not coaching for so long, Daley is confident he has what it takes. Many remember Daley as the man who broke Queensland's eight-year streak, but he lost three in a row after that. "I'd like to think I am a better coach and I've learned a lot," Daley said on Monday. "The thing about rugby league people is you never lose the love or the passion for the game. You watch it a lot. "The position I have in radio, people are always asking you about that. And you are giving an opinion on what you see is happening. Even as a person who just sits and watches rugby league, if I see something I'll write it down, or I'll record it. I have it in my own memory bank. I think I am always trying to stay relevant and up to speed with the game."
In the ‘00s, The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan looked at the disruptive nature of early social media platform MySpace and saw the death of the record label. It didn’t exactly work out that way — not with MySpace, not with Facebook, not with TikTok. In fact, the major music companies became adept at using these platforms to break artists and perpetuate their market power; if there’s a breakout song on TikTok, labels rush into an old-fashioned bidding war. While social media certainly disrupted the music business, it didn’t uproot the traditional record label model. There have been numerous other game-changers over the years that failed — on their own, at least — to radically alter how major labels do business, including independent distribution. After TuneCore launched in 2006, major labels continued to sign artists and own their intellectual property, albeit to broader “360” deals that incorporated more than recorded music rights. Nor did the advent of streaming by itself reshape the structure of major record labels. The artists with the most streaming success are involved with major labels in one way or another, be it a traditional record contract, a joint venture or, in rare cases like Taylor Swift , a distribution deal. Corgan may have misjudged social media’s sole impact on record labels, but he wasn’t entirely wrong about its ultimate influence. When combined, social media, independent distribution and streaming form a potent combination that has changed the balance of power and induced major labels to change how they promote music around the world. This dynamic isn’t exactly new, but it was never clearer than in 2024. This year, major labels have increasingly embraced the role of being service providers to those parties who prefer to remain independent and retain ownership of their intellectual property. A few years ago, Universal Music Group (UMG) was pouring money into superstar acquisitions such as Bob Dylan ’s and Sting ’s song catalogs. More recently, the company has been focusing on its artist services model. In the last three months alone, UMG acquired indie label group [PIAS] and agreed to acquire Downtown Music Holdings for $775 million, though the proposed deal has encountered opposition from the independent music community and will need to pass regulatory scrutiny before being finalized. The company also purchased Outdustry — which has an artist- and label-services arm that focuses on China, India and other high-growth emerging markets — and bought a stake in Chord Music Partners, giving UMG distribution and publishing administration duties for the more than 60,000 songs in the investment vehicle’s catalog. In fact, 2024 played out much like UMG CEO Lucian Grainge said it would. His January memo predicted the company would continue to expand globally and offer labels outside of mature markets a “full suite of artist services” while “acquiring local labels, catalogs and artist services businesses.” To be fair, UMG was already on that path: In 2022, it acquired m-theory’s artist services company and installed its founders, JT Myers and Nat Pastor , as co-CEOs of Virgin Music Group to expand Virgin’s independent music division globally. Warner Music Group (WMG) appears to have sensed the shifting landscape, too, as there has been a noticeable shift in messaging during Robert Kyncl ’s tenure as the company’s CEO. In the Stephen Cooper era, WMG was the music community’s leading investor in Web3 startups. In contrast, Kyncl has chosen to focus on expanding WMG’s footprint globally. WMG briefly signaled its interest in acquiring Believe in March and April after the French company announced a CEO-led effort to take the company private . Notably, Believe has a global label services business and a presence in developing markets that take advantage of the “glocalization” of local markets and global streaming platforms’ ability to help music travel across borders. WMG ultimately passed on pursuing Believe, but Kyncl has followed his peers’ interest in emerging markets, purchasing stakes in Indian companies Divo and Global Music Junction. The service model isn’t an entirely original approach. Grainge wrote that UMG is “creating the blueprint for the labels of the future,” but UMG is doing what major music companies have always done: following trends and buying independent companies that established a particular market. Sony Music already bought into the service model with The Orchard and AWAL, the latter purchased in 2022 for $430 million. Independents such as Believe, OneRPM and Symphonic Distribution have become established players by combining distribution and artist services, while investors have poured money into independents such as Create Music Group — which this year raised $165 million at a $1 billion valuation — and gamma, which is backed by $1 billion. But the well-established blueprint was never more of a hot commodity than in 2024. In the music business, nothing signifies the relevance of a business model like the major labels’ desire to buy it and integrate it into their systems — especially when the largest music companies feel they have no choice. The holy trinity of social media, independent distribution and global streaming platforms has given artists an alternative to the much-derided major label record contract. Artists who want to own their intellectual property and have more creative control have never had more of the tools necessary to be independent. That includes financing options, such as advances from well-funded independents or royalty advances from a new breed of financial services companies. When there’s no need for radio promotion and shelf space at brick-and-mortar retailers, the independent model looks a lot more attractive — not only for artists but for the major labels that have become increasingly keen on buying into it. Ironically, the major labels’ acceptance of the independents’ business model means the music business is becoming less independent. Trade groups such as the Association of Independent Music and IMPALA quickly spoke out against UMG’s agreement to purchase Downtown, just as they did with Sony Music’s purchase of AWAL. U.K. regulators ultimately concluded that AWAL was a “relatively small player” and that the deal did not substantially reduce competition. Time will tell if competition watchdogs feel the same about UMG’s much larger purchase of Downtown. In any case, the independents have proved that artist and label services businesses are a good fit for the modern music business. The next step was always going to be consolidation.West Ham beat Wolves after edgy Premier League match and heap more pressure on O'Neil
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