title: Smiling Friends

text: "Smiling Friends" was created by animators Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack, noted for their individual successes as content creators for Newgrounds and YouTube. Already well-acquainted with each other online, the pair conceived the idea for the show in 2017 whilst dining at Gus's Chicken in Burbank, California, where Cusack, who is based in Melbourne, Australia, was visiting at the time. Hadel stated in an interview that the pair's goal for the show was to base it around "a group of loveable characters, with a simple kind of concept, which we could take anywhere we wanted to." They settled upon the premise of a hotline for people who were unhappy, which became "the connective tissue that made it all click together." However, Hadel stated that although "the company is an important aspect of the show, it’s really the springboard. We have episodes where it’s not even about the job at all." The pair singled out "South Park" and "Seinfeld" as amongst the show's biggest influences. The duo developed the show's art style as a 50/50 blend of their own individual styles, though Cusack noted that his own drawings tend to go through a "final Zach gloss".


title: Smiling Friends

text: Hadel and Cusack pitched the series to Adult Swim which subsequently greenlit production on the pilot in 2018. Hadel had previously attempted to sell his and Chris O'Neill's webseries "Hellbenders" to the network, but the project was not picked up while an independently produced pilot was shelved during production. Meanwhile, Cusack created the Rick and Morty short "Bushworld Adventures" which premiered during an April Fools stunt on the network in 2018, and also created the series "" which premiered on August 10, 2020.


title: Smiling Friends

text: The "Smiling Friends" pilot, which the pair consider the first official episode, aired on Adult Swim on April 1, 2020, to positive reviews and became the most viewed episode of any show on the network's website. The network subsequently ordered seven additional episodes in May 2021. Serving as showrunners, Hadel and Cusack were hands on in all aspects of production, from writing, storyboards, character designs, final animation and sound design, which the duo considered unusual for an adult animated series. According to Hadel, the budget for the entire first season was equivalent to that of a single episode of "Family Guy" (an estimated US$2,000,000).


title: Smiling Friends

text: On May 18, 2022, Hadel announced on Twitter that a special would be released sometime before the second season. A listing for an episode titled "The Smiling Friends Go To Brazil!" appeared on Rotten Tomatoes on July 21, and was confirmed by Hadel and Cusack at Adult Swim's San Diego Comic Con panel the next day. It aired on August 6, 2022.


title: Smiling Friends

text: The pilot initially premiered on Adult Swim in the United States and Canada on April 1, 2020, during the network's April Fools premiere event.


title: Smiling Friends

text: The series officially premiered on January 10, 2022, at 12:00 a.m. with the episodes "Mr. Frog" and "Shrimp's Odyssey". The rest of the series was then broadcast in an unannounced premiere marathon in its entirety starting from 12:30 a.m. followed by a repeat at 3:00 a.m. The episodes would re-air with two separate episodes airing in the intended premiere slots for the following 4 weeks afterwards, including another marathon on the night of February 13, most likely to pick up viewers tuning away from the end of Super Bowl LVI, as well as to promote the series' availability through HBO Max and the recent news of renewal for the series.


title: Smiling Friends

text: In Canada, the series premiered simultaneously on Adult Swim with new episodes airing weekly. The series later premiered on E4 in the United Kingdom on January 21, 2022, and Adult Swim in France on January 24, 2022.


title: Smiling Friends

text: The series was made available to stream on HBO Max in the United States and StackTV in Canada on February 9.


title: Honorific nicknames in popular music

text: When describing popular music artists, honorific nicknames are used, most often in the media or by fans, to indicate the significance of an artist, and are often religious, familial, or (most frequently) royal and aristocratic titles, used metaphorically. Honorific nicknames were used in classical music in Europe even in the early nineteenth century, with figures such as Mozart being called "The father of modern music" and Bach "The father of modern piano music". They were also particularly prominent in African-American culture in the post-Civil War era, perhaps as a means of conferring status that had been negated by slavery, and as a result entered early jazz and blues music, including figures such as Duke Ellington and Count Basie.


title: Honorific nicknames in popular music

text: In U.S. culture, despite its republican constitution and ideology, honorific nicknames have been used to describe leading figures in various areas of activity, such as industry, commerce, sports, and the media; "father" or "mother" have been used for innovators, and royal titles such as "king" and "queen" for dominant figures in a field. In the 1930s and 1940s, as jazz and swing music were gaining popularity, it was the more commercially successful white artists Paul Whiteman and Benny Goodman who became known as "the King of Jazz" and "the King of Swing" respectively, despite there being more highly regarded contemporary African-American artists.


title: Honorific nicknames in popular music

text: These patterns of naming were transferred to rock and roll when it emerged in the 1950s. There was a series of attempts to find (and a number of claimants to be) the "King of Rock 'n' Roll", a title that became most associated with Elvis Presley. This has been characterized as part of a process of the appropriation of credit for innovation of the then new music by a white establishment. Different honorifics have been taken or given for other leading figures in the genre, such as "the Architect of Rock and Roll", by Little Richard from the 1990s, but this term, like many, is also used for other important figures, in this case including pioneer electric guitarist Les Paul.


title: Honorific nicknames in popular music

text: Similar honorific nicknames have been given in other genres, including Aretha Franklin, who was literally crowned "Queen of Soul" by disk jockey Pervis Spann on stage in 1968. Michael Jackson and Madonna have been closely associated with the terms "King and Queen of Pop" since the 1980s. Some nicknames have been strongly promulgated and contested by various artists and occasionally disowned or played down by their subjects. Some notable honorific nicknames are in general usage and commonly identified with particular individuals.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, marketed simply as Ghostbusters, is a 2016 American supernatural comedy film directed by Paul Feig and written by Feig and Katie Dippold. Starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Neil Casey, Charles Dance, Michael K. Williams, Andy García, and Chris Hemsworth, it is a reboot of the 1984 film of the same name and the third film in the "Ghostbusters" franchise. The story focuses on four eccentric women (and their incompetent assistant) who are interested in parapsychology and start a ghost-catching business in New York City.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: A third "Ghostbusters" film had been in various stages of development following the release of "Ghostbusters II" in 1989. Because of original cast member Bill Murray's refusal to commit to the project, and the death of fellow cast member Harold Ramis in 2014, Sony decided to reboot the series instead. Many of the original film's cast members and their family members make cameo appearances in new roles, and Ramis is commemorated in the film's closing credits. The announcement of the female-led cast in 2015 drew a polarized response from the public and an internet backlash, leading to the film's IMDb page and associated YouTube videos receiving low ratings before the film's release.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Produced by Village Roadshow Pictures and distributed by Columbia Pictures, the film premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on July 9, 2016, and was released in the United States on July 15 in IMAX, 4DX, 3D, Real D 3D and IMAX 3D. The film received mixed reviews, and grossed $229 million worldwide against its $144 million budget, making it a box office bomb with losses of over $70 million following theaters taking their revenue cut. Columbia abandoned plans for a sequel, opting instead to continue the original film canon with "" (2021).


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Particle physicists and estranged friends Abby Yates and Erin Gilbert co-authored "Ghosts from Our Past", a book detailing their investigations of the paranormal since high school. Erin later disowned the work, while Abby continues her research at an inadequate research college, the Kenneth P. Higgins Institute of Science in New York City, with engineering physicist Jillian Holtzmann as her partner. Erin, now a professor at Columbia University, is in line for tenure when she discovers that Abby republished their book. Erin convinces her to cease its publication after helping Abby and Jillian at an alleged haunted house. They encounter a malevolent ghost before she escapes, restoring Erin's belief in the supernatural and friendship with Abby. Erin loses her bid for tenure at Columbia after their vlog becomes viral. She offers to join Abby and Jillian, but the dean of the Higgins Institute fires them as well. After stealing equipment, they establish temporary headquarters above a Chinese restaurant. They verbosely name themselves "Conductors of the Metaphysical Examination", build technology to track ghosts and hire jock Kevin Beckman as a receptionist.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) staffer Patty Tolan encounters a ghost in a subway terminal built under a haunted prison in Auburn and contacts the team. They find the ghost and test Jillian's prototype for the proton packs on the entity but fail to capture him. They advertise their services with a "no ghosts allowed" logo that Jillian made based on a graffiti artist's defacement, and the name pundits have labeled them—"Ghostbusters". Patty joins the team, providing extensive knowledge of New York City, rail personal protective equipment, and a repurposed hearse from her mortician uncle Bill Jenkins, named "Ecto-1".


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: The supernatural events have been triggered by mad scientist Rowan North, an occultist with a god complex who attracts ghosts over Manhattan with self-developed ionizers that correspond to the Ghostbusters' technology, allowing him to experiment and create a dimensional vortex powered by turned psi energy. When Rowan plants another device at a concert, the Ghostbusters are called and capture a gargoyle-like spirit there, becoming city sensations but antagonizing Rowan. While debunker Dr. Martin Heiss challenges the quartet, Erin releases the ghost as proof; it throws him out of a window and escapes. The Ghostbusters are brought to Mayor Bradley and his deputy Jennifer Lynch, who reveal that they and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are aware of the city's supernatural activities. While privately acknowledging the team's work, they publicly denounce them as fraudsters.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: The Ghostbusters realize Rowan is planting his devices along ley lines, with their alignments intersecting at the Mercado Hotel in Times Square, a site of violent occurrences. They find that Rowan's vortex will breach a ghostly dimension at the intersection, potentially triggering an apocalypse. During a confrontation, Rowan electrocutes himself with his main machine, after which Jillian deactivates it. Jillian finds an annotated copy of "Ghosts from Our Past" in Rowan's underground laboratory, explaining the similarity between their technologies. Erin later discovers that Rowan planned to commit suicide so he could become a ghost himself. Rowan returns as a deity-like ghost and attempts to kill the Ghostbusters at their headquarters by possessing Abby, but Patty stops him. He then possesses Kevin and escapes to the hotel, opening the portal and releasing galvanized ghosts. The authorities are subdued, but the Ghostbusters fight through Rowan's spectral army to reach the portal.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: After leaving Kevin, Rowan appears as the ghost in the Ghostbusters' logo, grows to a kaiju-like size, and goes on a rampage. The team turns Ecto-1's reactor as a makeshift bomb, detonating a nuclear explosion inside the vortex. This reverses the portal and forces Rowan and the ghosts back in, restoring the city. Rowan tries to drag Abby with him in retaliation, but Erin leaps into the portal and rescues her.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Despite the city's fascination with the supernatural and lauding the Ghostbusters as heroes, the mayor's office continues to denounce them publicly but covertly funds their operations. With new resources, the Ghostbusters move to a disused firehouse, where they build more equipment, including an ecto-containment system. While investigating electronic voice phenomenon (EVP), Patty hears the word "".


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Also, original director and producer Ivan Reitman has a cameo as a passerby, while original cast member Harold Ramis' son Daniel cameos as a metalhead. Ramis' likeness is used on a bust outside Gilbert's office.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Karan Soni, Bess Rous, Eugene Cordero, and Milana Vayntrub, who co-starred with Casey on director Paul Feig's series "Other Space", portray deliveryman Benny, the ghost of Gertrude Aldridge, a bass guitarist, and a woman attacked by rat ghosts. Brian Baumgartner has a cameo appearance as hotel guest Frank the Mercado in the extended cut.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Also appearing as ghosts are Dave Allen as the electrocuted ghost, Steve Bannos as the flasher ghost, Robin Shelby as the voice of Lady Slimer, and Adam Ray as the voice of Slimer, who also portrays the lead singer of a band. Former Saturday Night Live writer Steve Higgins plays Thomas Shanks, while his son, Saturday Night Live star John Higgins plays the Baba Booey Shouter. Michael McDonald plays Jonathan, Zach Woods plays Garett, Nate Corddry plays Leif, Toby Huss plays Officer Stevenson, Katie Dippold plays a rental agent, Sam Richardson plays a police officer, and Jessica Chaffin and Jamie Denbo play waitresses. Ozzy Osbourne, Al Roker, Pat Kiernan, Greg Kelly, Rosanna Scotto, and Chris Gethard portray themselves.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: A third "Ghostbusters" film had been in various stages of development following the release of "Ghostbusters II" in 1989. Bill Murray, who played Ghostbuster Peter Venkman in the original films, was reluctant to participate. He felt "Ghostbusters II" was lackluster and was critical of the new scripts he had read. Murray later clarified that his reluctance was due in part to his relationship with Columbia Pictures and Sony, rather than any of his co-stars from the first two films. Dan Aykroyd, who co-starred in and co-wrote the original films, said the studio was aware that "without Murray there may be nothing there" for a sequel, and was considering a way to introduce a new generation of Ghostbusters.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: One script, "Ghostbusters 3: Hellbent", written by Aykroyd in 1999, had Venkman leaving the Ghostbusters to spend time with Sigourney Weaver's character Dana Barrett; the remaining Ghostbusters, including a new younger member, fought souls evicted from a hellish version of Manhattan known as Manhelltan. The "Hellbent" script was revised as "Ghostbusters in Hell", with plans to replace Murray with Ben Stiller. The story had the Ghostbusters finding a portal to an alternate dimension where "all the worst things about modern urban life" are "magnified"; traffic is stuck in perpetual gridlock, and nobody speaks the same language. Another story idea had Venkman transformed into a ghost.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: While the third film remained in development, Terminal Reality developed "" and released it in 2009. Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, cowriters of the original films, used the game to explore the Ghostbusters history. The four original actors, including Murray, voiced their characters, along with other actors from the original films. Aykroyd considered the game "essentially the third movie". The game sold over a million units, prompting Columbia Pictures to move forward with the "Ghostbusters" franchise. Ramis said the new film would feature the original Ghostbusters but introduce new characters in a script written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, co-writers of his 2009 comedy "Year One". The film was to be filmed in 2010 and released in 2011.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Around March 2010, while the new script was being developed, "Vulture" reported Columbia wanted to target a younger audience and that original "Ghostbusters" director Ivan Reitman was under pressure to step down in place of a younger director. Reitman, along with Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis, had long-standing contracts in place with Columbia that effectively allowed any of them to veto the development of a "Ghostbusters" film. Murray told "GQ" that he felt the script written by Eisenberg and Stupnitsky was poor and "that dream just vaporized", but said that Columbia was pressuring him to make it. Aykroyd defended the script, saying it offered Murray "the comic role of a lifetime". In January 2012, Aykroyd revealed that the film was in "suspended animation" as Murray was still uncooperative. Aykroyd refused to recast the role as he would not make a film that "exploits the franchise". By July, the Eisenberg and Stupnitsky script had been discarded and new writers were working on a script.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Murray's reluctance to commit to the project resulted in the decision to reboot the franchise instead. In September, Reitman suggested a remake of the original "Ghostbusters", which would allow them to introduce a new cast. Reitman was working on a "Ghostbusters" reboot that would be written by Reitman, Etan Cohen, and Aykroyd and filmed in 2013. Following Ramis's death in February 2014, Reitman left the director's role to focus on smaller projects, but remained a producer to help Columbia and Sony find a new director. At this point, the script featured the original Ghostbusters in minor roles.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: In August 2014, Paul Feig was selected as director, with the plans featuring an all-female cast in the reboot. Feig announced the film and his involvement, along with co-writer Katie Dippold, in October, and confirmed his intention to have "hilarious women" star in the film. He added the TV series "The Walking Dead" partly inspired him, and his goal was to "tell a story you haven't seen before. Or tell a story you've seen before, but in a way you haven't seen it".


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Feig said that Sony Pictures Entertainment's co-chairman Amy Pascal had been pushing for comedy writers to produce a script for a new "Ghostbusters" film for some time. He believed that most of these writers, like himself, did not want to ruin the original film's canon. He also wanted to avoid a premise similar to "Ghostbusters II", where the Ghostbusters have to lose their success to begin a new story. This led to the idea of a reboot featuring a new set of characters, an idea that Pascal supported.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: In January 2015, Feig confirmed his intention to use Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones in the lead roles. At that point, McCarthy had already committed to the film while Sony was in negotiations with the other actresses. Emma Stone was approached to star, but declined in part because she did not want to commit to a franchise. Cecily Strong, who appears in a supporting role, was also considered for a leading role. Aykroyd said he and his family were "delighted" that "these most magnificent women in comedy" had inherited "the "Ghostbusters" torch".


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Bill Murray has a cameo role in the film. In a 2019 interview, he said his decision to participate in the film was because of his friendships with McCarthy and McKinnon, and he felt it was important to support their project.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Principal photography began on June 17, 2015, in Boston. Feig and the set dressers Carolyn Lassek and Claudia Bonfe consulted with MIT physicists on set details before shooting. Filming took place in Boston's Chinatown for a few days in early July. Hemsworth was spotted filming some scenes on the "Ghostbusters" bike in August. After finishing at the old Naval Air Station in South Weymouth, Massachusetts, filming began in Tribeca in New York City on September 12. Three days later, filming took place in Waltham, Massachusetts, and then outside of Columbia University in New York. Filming wrapped on September 19 in New York City. The subway scenes were filmed on a sound stage, as there is no Seward Street station in the New York City Subway. Reshoots took place in Los Angeles in May 2016, and included new scenes that served as a metafictional comment on the internet controversy the film aroused.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Six companies dealt with the 1,700 visual effects shots, under the supervision of Pete Travers. The main studios were Sony Pictures Imageworks, with 300 shots that included the climactic Times Square sequence and all the proton beams. Moving Picture Company (MPC), had 250 shots that centered on the final battle which included Rowan's monster form. The Australian company Iloura, worked with 500 shots encompassing various ghosts. While most of the work involved computer-generated imagery, there was an attempt to use various practical effects akin to the original movies, with Travers explaining it was done "not to pay homage, but because it was the best way to achieve the effect".


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Stand-ins for the ghosts were created on the set for the actors to interact with. These included actresses suspended by wires, drones as references for flying ghosts, a Slimer puppet and giant balloons for a Stay Puft Marshmallow Man parade balloon. As the ghosts in the film glow, the doubles were covered in light-emitting diodes to provide lighting references for the effects crew.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: The climactic Times Square sequence, which starts with the antagonist proclaiming, "Welcome to the glory days of New York City", used special effects to transform it into a bygone mix of stores, buildings and billboards dating back through the decades. These included the Bond Clothing Store, neon signs for the defunct airlines Braniff International Airways (ended in 1982) and BOAC (ended in 1974), billboards advertising the release of the 1976 film "Taxi Driver", the 1971 film "Isle of the Snake People", and the 1962 to 1964 Broadway theatre production of "Beyond the Fringe". The scene also included a combination of the Sony, Canadian Club, and Coca-Cola neon signs that lit up Times Square in different eras, marquees for the long departed Times Square movie theaters showing pornographic films and the 1971 film "Fists of Fury", and other chronological anachronisms.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Following a test done by stereoscopic supervisor Ed Marsh, Feig decided to take a different approach to the 3D effects, as the movie was letterboxed even in theaters, so that some objects, mostly regarding the ghosts manifesting themselves, would reach beyond the black bars.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: The film soundtrack album, Ghostbusters: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, was released by RCA Records on July 15, 2016. Four versions of "Ghostbusters" are included on this soundtrack, each performed by Walk the Moon, Pentatonix, Fall Out Boy featuring Missy Elliott, and the original by Ray Parker Jr. The film score, composed by Theodore Shapiro, was released via digital download on July 8, and CD on July 15 by Sony Classical Records.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: "Ghostbusters" received criticism on social media following word of Feig's involvement and the all-female cast, which some felt was a "gimmick". On its first day of release, the first trailer for the film collected 12,000 "likes" and 13,800 "dislikes" from YouTube viewers which, according to David Griner of "Ad Week" made it "one of the most polarizing in recent memory". By May 2016, the trailer had become the most disliked film trailer on YouTube, and the ninth-most-disliked YouTube video, with 280,000 likes to over one million dislikes. ScreenCrush described the reaction as a campaign "to downvote [the film] into oblivion" by "a certain subset of people on the internet [with] an unhealthy fixation with hating on the "Ghostbusters" remake". In one interview, Melissa McCarthy felt it was a "very, very, very tiny, tiny group of people" who were misogynistic. Other reasons proposed for the negative reaction to the trailer included a lack of interest in reboots, nostalgia for the original film and a perceived lack of humor in the trailer. The film's IMDb page was also subject to a coordinated effort to lower its rating before the film's release. Some media outlets dubbed it "The Female Ghostbusters".


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Todd Martens of the "Los Angeles Times" suggested fans felt "entitled" to a film that preserved the original as they imagined it. In an interview with Mashable, Ivan Reitman said, "I think there's way too much talk about gender [when it comes to this film]", and "I think that many of the people who were complaining were actually lovers of the [original] movie, not haters of women". Some saw the portrayal of Leslie Jones' character, a "street-smart New Yorker", as a stereotype of African Americans. Jones responded to this criticism on Twitter writing: "Why can't a regular person be a Ghostbuster?" Elizabeth Flock, writing for PBS, said that racism toward Jones may have motivated the vote brigading targeted at the film.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Journalists from "The Washington Post" and "The Atlantic" claimed a majority of the criticism constituted misogynistic and anti-feminist comments about the female cast. Wiig was "bummed out" that "there was so much controversy because we were women". Feig said he believed a group of fans had "real issues with women. But there's also a huge group of people who are just concerned about the property, and I completely understand. I'm completely sympathetic to that". In May 2016, additional scenes were shot for the film, which served as a meta-reference to the controversy. In those scenes, the characters upload a video to YouTube and react to unpleasant comments left by viewers.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Filmmaker James Rolfe, creator of the web series "Angry Video Game Nerd", declared that he would not see the new film and disliked how it was based in a new universe with no continuity with the previous films. Brooks Barnes of "The New York Times" and Daniel Friedman of "Polygon" considered Rolfe's views an example of "fan entitlement", criticizing his haste to judge the film without seeing it and his lack of concern for other remakes of films he admired, such as "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". Rolfe received personal attacks online for his position; according to commentators for "The Washington Post", "Salon", and "Polygon", though Rolfe had not mentioned gender, some people considered his motivation misogynistic. Richard Roeper's negative review of the film was also met with criticism on social media and from "Salon", who accused him of male bias. Roeper responded: "How insulting would it be to give a film a pass because of good intentions and diversity in the casting? That's not equal treatment; that's condescension". Journalists from "The Atlantic" and "NBC News" saw the controversy as part of the culture war and gender divide engaged across social media. They, along with Feig, noted commonalities to the events and reactions of the Gamergate controversy in video games.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Following the release of the film, cast member Leslie Jones became the target of racist and sexist abuse on Twitter. A number of users, including Feig, showed support for Jones and criticized Twitter's handling of the situation. Feig was highly critical to the haters on his tweet. On July 19, Twitter suspended the account of then "Breitbart" writer Milo Yiannopoulos, who had criticized Jones, allegedly for abusive behavior over the previous 48 hours. Conversely, Jones and her character in the film were also accused of promoting negative stereotypes about black people.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: In November 2017, Feig expressed regret that the social issues surrounding "Ghostbusters" affected its public perception and commercial performance. He defended the film, saying: "It was a great regret in my life that the movie didn't do better, 'cause I really loved it. It's not a perfect movie. None of my movies are perfect. I liked what we were doing with it. It was only supposed to be there to entertain people".


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: In 2018, while promoting the all-female led film "Ocean's 8", Sandra Bullock said the reaction that "Ghostbusters" received was "unfair on a level that I can't even not be mad about talking about. They literally walked into a firing squad. You had five of the most gifted comedian actresses on the planet — I'm just gonna leave it at that. And it doesn't just take five people to make a movie. It takes about 300, so, you know what? Let's back off the meanness. Let's have a year of kindness. The women are here — we're not going anywhere. But this isn't about just women. We like sitting at the table with men. We just want to be invited to their table as well because we like them at our table".


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: "Ghostbusters" premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on July 9, 2016. It was theatrically released on July 11 in the United Kingdom and on July 15 in the United States. The film was not released in the Chinese market. A Chinese executive reported that China Film Group Corporation believed it was "not really that attractive to Chinese audiences. Most of the Chinese audience didn't see the first and second movies, so they don't think there's much market for it here".


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: The first "Ghostbusters" trailer was released on March 3, 2016. It was viewed 24 million times in 24 hours on Facebook and YouTube, and more than 60 million times across all social media platforms in its first week.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Original "Ghostbusters" cast members Murray, Aykroyd, Hudson and Potts joined the new cast on the June 8 episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", which was entirely dedicated to the new film.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Sony partnered with Snapchat to promote the film with "busting" and "sliming" features. The filter, which features the Ghostbusters logo, allows users to shoot at the character Slimer with their front-facing cameras and a virtual proton pack. In addition, 10-second video teaser ads ran within Snapchat's Discover section.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: The end credits use the title "Ghostbusters: Answer the Call". Feig said this was added by the studio, which wanted to avoid confusion by having two films with the title "Ghostbusters". He rejected the title "Ghostbusters 2016", feeling it would date it. The studio chose "Answer the Call"; according to Feig: "I just said, 'Don't put it on the front of the movie. If you put it on the end, I don't care'".


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: "Ghostbusters" was released on DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and Ultra HD Blu-ray on October 11, 2016. The release includes the extended cut of the film, which incorporates over 17 minutes of some deleted scenes:


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: In December 2021, director Paul Feig's film was omitted from publicity material for an announced eight-disc boxed set titled "Ghostbusters Ultimate Collection" containing all other "Ghostbusters" films in the franchise up to 2021 for release in February 2022. Feig considered this "a mistake […] So, I guess this was just an oversight?" by the distributors.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: "Ghostbusters" grossed $128.3 million in North America and $100.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $229.1 million, with a net production budget of $144 million. Because of the large amount spent on marketing, the studio stated the film would need to gross at least $300 million to break even. Before the release, director Paul Feig said: "A movie like this has to at least get to like $500 million worldwide, and that's probably low".


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: "The Hollywood Reporter" estimated the film's financial losses would be over $70 million. A representative of Sony found this loss estimate to be "way off": "With multiple revenue streams ... the bottom line, even before co-financing, is not even remotely close to that number". According to "Variety", sources familiar with the film's financing estimate the total loss to be about $75 million, of which, due to co-financing with Village Roadshow, Sony would lose about $50 million. Sony insiders have projected, along with co-financing, a total loss of about $25 million. Bloomberg News estimated the film lost $58.6 million. By August 2016, sources such as "Forbes" and "The Wall Street Journal" had begun calling "Ghostbusters" a box office bomb. The film's performance contributed to Sony taking a $1 billion writedown in January 2017.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: In the United States and Canada, the film opened Friday, July 15, across 3,963 theaters, and was projected to gross $40–50 million in its first weekend. It earned $17.2 million on its first day, including $3.4 million it made from Thursday preview screenings, later going on to earn $46 million in its opening weekend, finishing second at the box office behind "The Secret Life of Pets" ($50.8 million). It procured the biggest opening weekend ever for director Feig and star Melissa McCarthy and was the biggest live-action comedy debut since "Pitch Perfect 2" in May 2015. In its second weekend, the film dropped 54% to $21 million (compared to the first film increasing in its sophomore week by 11%), dropping to fifth at the box office.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Outside North America, "Ghostbusters" earned $19.1 million in its opening weekend from a handful of markets on 3,900 screens. IMAX contributed $1 million from 105 IMAX screens. It had number one openings in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland ($6.1 million), number one in Australia ($3.7 million), and number three in Brazil ($2.2 million). It debuted at number one on the DVD and Blu-ray charts after its release on home media in North America.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: In a June 2017 television appearance, Aykroyd blamed the film's underperformance on Feig. According to Aykroyd, Feig refused to shoot additional scenes requested by Aykroyd and Sony until test screenings demonstrated they were necessary, costing an additional $30–40 million in reshoots (although Sony claimed reshoots only cost $3–4 million). He wrote a few days later: "Paul Feig made a good movie and had a superb cast and plenty of money to do it. We just wish he had been more inclusive to the originators. It cost everyone as it is unlikely Kristen, Leslie, Melissa and Kate will ever reprise their roles as Ghostbusters which is sad".


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, "Ghostbusters" has an approval rating of , based on reviews from critics, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, ""Ghostbusters" does an impressive job of standing on its own as a freewheeling, marvelously cast supernatural comedy—even if it can't help but pale somewhat in comparison with the classic original". On Metacritic, the film has a score of 60 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave a 57% "definite recommend".


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times" praised the film as "that rarest of big-studio offerings—a movie that is a lot of enjoyable, disposable fun". In "The Guardian", Nigel M. Smith awarded the film four out of five and wrote that the "mean-spirited reception to the film before anyone had seen it does not seem to have put a dampener on the movie itself. Fun oozes from almost every frame; likewise the energy of a team excited to be revolutionising the blockbuster landscape". Mike Ryan of "Uproxx" gave the film a positive review, praising the characters but feeling CGI was overused. J.R. Kinnard of "PopMatters" praised the performances and the lack of cynicism, but concluded "it feels like a safe, flavorless recipe prepared from gourmet ingredients". "The Village Voice" said the film "suffers from the anxiety of influence" of the original, but praised the actors. Mara Reinstein of "US Weekly" gave the film 2.5 out of 4, commending its actors but criticizing its "lazy script that takes forever to get going" and "uninspired" action sequences.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: "Observer" critic Mark Kermode awarded the film three out of five and wrote: "It would have been great to report that the finished film is good enough to shut the bigoted naysayers up once and for all ... The harsh truth is that it isn't". He felt that the film was "generally likeable but uneven". Richard Lawson, writing for "Vanity Fair", said the film "spends so much time doing battle with its legacy that it forgets to be its own movie, putting a talented cast to waste and marking another disappointment in this dreadful summer movie season". James Berardinelli felt it was mediocre, and, like many recent comedies, "too long and not funny enough". Richard Roeper of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film one out of four, criticizing its acting, script, and "cheesy" special effects. In his radio review, Roeper said that the film was one of the worst movies of the year, rating it a D−.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: After its opening weekend, Sony's president of worldwide distribution, Rory Bruer, told "TheWrap" that "while nothing has been officially announced, there's no doubt in [his] mind [a sequel] will happen". He also said that "Ghostbusters" was expected to become an important Sony franchise. The principal cast and Feig had signed on for two sequels.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Some tabloids, such as "The Hollywood Reporter", expressed doubts about a sequel because of the film's box office performance. Box office analyst Jeff Bock said: "I just can't fathom the creative talents behind it—Feig, McCarthy, Wiig, etc—slogging out another one when the reception to the first one was so mediocre".


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: In an October interview the same year, Feig told "Bustle" that a sequel was not in the works, but could be possible if the film performed well on its home release. By November, Feig confirmed that a direct sequel would not be made due to the film's mediocre box office performance.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: The same month, Reitman said in an interview that other "Ghostbusters" projects were in development. Before Reitman's announcement, an animated series, "Ghostbusters: Ecto Force", was slated to be targeting an early 2018 debut. Reitman further clarified plans for future animated films within the "Ghostbusters" franchise during the July 2017 San Diego Comic-Con, including having one set from the viewpoint of the ghosts rather than the Ghostbusters, and a work as a potential tie-in to the 35th anniversary of the original film in 2019.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: IDW Publishing released a six-part limited series comic, "Ghostbusters 101", featuring the original Ghostbusters teaming up with the 2016 team. The first issue was released in March 2017. A five-issue limited series, "Ghostbusters: Answer the Call", which continues the adventures of the 2016 team, began in October.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: In November 2018, during an appearance on AXS TV's "The Big Interview" with Dan Rather, Dan Aykroyd announced that the script for "Ghostbusters 3" was still being written, saying there is "a possibility of a reunion with the three remaining Ghostbusters".


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: In 2019, Ivan Reitman's son Jason was confirmed to be directing a new "Ghostbusters" film set in the same universe as the first two films, with Ivan serving as a producer and Gil Kenan co-writing the script with Jason. The film was projected for a July 10, 2020 release, but was delayed to March 5, 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was eventually pushed back to November 19, 2021.


title: Ghostbusters (2016 film)

text: Eventually, all four of the newer Ghostbusters were added to the toys-to-life game "Lego Dimensions" as playable characters featured in a Story Pack with a new design for the portal, six new levels to play which retell the story, and access to playing as Abby Yates, but also Erin Gilbert, Jillian Holtzmann and Patty Tolan if the player completes the story mode for Ghostbusters 2016.


title: Universal Music Group

text: Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its operational headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California. The biggest music company in the world, it is one of the "Big Three" record labels, along with Sony Music and Warner Music Group. Tencent acquired ten percent of Universal Music Group in March 2020 for €3 billion and acquired an additional ten percent stake in January 2021. Pershing Square Holdings later acquired ten percent of UMG prior to its IPO on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. The company went public on September 21, 2021, at a valuation of €46 billion.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In 2019, "Fast Company" named Universal Music Group the most innovative music company and listed UMG among the Top 50 most innovative companies in the world and "amid the music industry's digital transformation, Universal is redefining what a modern label should look like." UMG has signed licensing agreements with more than 400 platforms worldwide.


title: Universal Music Group

text: The company's origins go back to the formation of the American branch of Decca Records in September 1934 and its name and company logo originates from Carl Laemmle's Universal Pictures. Although the movie studio and the music business share a common history, today the former is part of NBCUniversal and the latter an independent commercial entity. The Decca Record Co. Ltd. of England spun American Decca off in 1939. MCA Inc. merged with American Decca in 1962.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In November 1990, Japanese multinational conglomerate Matsushita Electric agreed to acquire MCA for $6.59 billion. In 1995, Seagram acquired 80 percent of MCA from Matsushita. On December 9, 1996, the company was renamed Universal Studios, Inc., and its music division was renamed Universal Music Group; MCA Records continued as a label within the Universal Music Group. In May 1998, Seagram purchased PolyGram and merged it with Universal Music Group in early 1999.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In May 2004, Universal Music Group was cast under separate management from Universal Studios, when French media conglomerate Vivendi sold 80% of the latter to General Electric, who subsequently merged it with NBC to form NBCUniversal. This came two months after the separation of Warner Music Group from Time Warner. In February 2006, Vivendi (which own UMG since 2000) purchased the remaining 20 percent of UMG from Matsushita Electric.


title: Universal Music Group

text: On September 6, 2006, Vivendi announced its €1.63 billion ($2.4 billion) purchase of BMG Music Publishing; after receiving European Union regulatory approval, the acquisition was completed on June 25, 2007.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In June 2007, UMG acquired Sanctuary, which eventually became UMG's entertainment merchandising and brand management division, Bravado. The company represents artists such as Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, and Kanye West, and has partnered with retailers including Barneys, Bloomingdale's and Selfridges.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In 2008, Universal Music Group agreed to make its catalog available to Spotify, then a new streaming service, for use outside the U.S. on a limited basis.


title: Universal Music Group

text: Doug Morris stepped down from his position as CEO on January 1, 2011. Former chairman/CEO of Universal Music International Lucian Grainge was promoted to CEO of the company. Grainge later replaced him as chairman on March 9, 2011. Morris became the next chairman of Sony Music Entertainment on July 1, 2011. With Grainge's appointment as CEO at UMG, Max Hole was promoted to COO of UMGI, effective July 1, 2010. Starting in 2011 UMG's Interscope Geffen A&M Records began signing contestants from "American Idol". In January 2011, UMG announced it was donating 200,000 master recordings from the 1920s to 1940s to the Library of Congress for preservation.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In 2011, EMI agreed to sell its recorded music operations to Universal Music Group for £1.2 billion ($1.9 billion) and its music publishing operations to a Sony-led consortium for $2.2 billion. Among the other companies that had competed for the recorded music business was Warner Music Group which was reported to have made a $2 billion bid. IMPALA opposed the merger. In March 2012, the European Union opened an investigation into the acquisition The EU asked rivals and consumer groups whether the deal would result in higher prices and shut out competitors.


title: Universal Music Group

text: On September 21, 2012, the sale of EMI to UMG was approved in the European Union and the United States by the European Commission and Federal Trade Commission respectively. However, the European Commission approved the deal only under the condition the merged company divest one third of its total operations to other companies with a proven track record in the music industry. UMG divested Mute Records, Parlophone, Roxy Recordings, MPS Records, Cooperative Music, Now That's What I Call Music!, Jazzland, Universal Greece, Sanctuary Records, Chrysalis Records, EMI Classics, Virgin Classics, and EMI's European regional labels to comply with this condition. UMG retained The Beatles (formerly of Parlophone) and Robbie Williams (formerly of Chrysalis). The Beatles catalogue was transferred to UMG's newly formed Calderstone Productions, while Williams' catalogue was transferred to Island Records.


title: Universal Music Group

text: Universal Music Group completed their acquisition of EMI on September 28, 2012. In November 2012, Steve Barnett was appointed chairman and CEO of Capitol Music Group. He formerly served as COO of Columbia Records. In compliance the conditions of the European Commission after purchase of EMI, Universal Music Group sold the Mute catalogue to the German-based BMG Rights Management on December 22, 2012. Two months later, BMG acquired Sanctuary Records for €50 million ($58 million).


title: Universal Music Group

text: On February 8, 2013, Warner Music Group acquired the Parlophone Label Group (consisting of Parlophone Records, Chrysalis Records, EMI Classics, Virgin Classics and EMI Records' Belgian, Czech, Danish, French, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Slovak and Swedish divisions) for $765 million (£487 million). Later in February, Sony Music Entertainment acquired UMG's European share in "Now That's What I Call Music" for approximately $60 million. Play It Again Sam acquired Co-Operative Music for £500,000 in March 2013. With EMI's absorption into Universal Music complete, its British operations consist of five label units: Island, Polydor, Decca, Virgin EMI and Capitol. In the Greek market, as part of its divesture plans, Universal Music retained Minos EMI and sold Universal Music Greece to Greek investors who renamed it Cobalt Music. Edel AG acquired the MPS catalogue from Universal in January 2014.


title: Universal Music Group

text: On March 20, 2013, UMG announced the worldwide extension of their exclusive distribution deal with the Disney Music Group, excluding Japan. As a result of this deal DMG's labels and artists have access to UMG's roster of producers and songwriters on a worldwide basis. The exclusive deal also saw UMG granted unlimited access to all rights pertaining to Disney's 85-year back catalog of soundtracks and albums.


title: Universal Music Group

text: On April 2, 2013, the gospel music divisions of Motown Records and EMI merged to form a new label called Motown Gospel. In May 2013, Japanese company SoftBank offered $8.5 billion to Vivendi for the acquisition of UMG, but Vivendi rejected it. In July 2018, JPMorgan said that UMG could be worth as much as $40 billion and then increased the valuation to $50 billion in 2019.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In August 2013, UMG became the first company in the US to have nine of the Top 10 songs on the digital charts, according to SoundScan and weeks later, became the first company to hold all 10 of the Top 10 spots on the "Billboard" Hot 100 Chart.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In September 2013, UMG received a SAG-AFTRA American Scene Award for the company's commitment to diversity as exemplified by its "entire catalog and roster of artists."


title: Universal Music Group

text: On April 1, 2014, Universal Music announced the disbandment of Island Def Jam Music, one of four operational umbrella groups within Universal Music. Universal CEO Lucian Grainge said of the closure, "No matter how much we might work to build 'IDJ' as a brand, that brand could never be as powerful as each of IDJ's constituent parts." Island Records and Def Jam now operate as autonomous record labels. David Massey and Bartels, who worked respectively at Island and Def Jam Records, were named to the new record labels independently. Barry Weiss, who previously moved from Sony Music to lead Island Def Jam Music in 2012 when Motown Records was incorporated into Island Def Jam, stepped down from Universal Music. Additionally, as part of the changes to the labels, Motown Records transferred to Los Angeles to become part of the Capitol Music Group and previous Vice President Ethiopia Habtemariam was promoted to Label President for Motown Records.


title: Universal Music Group

text: Universal Music Group entered into film and TV production with the 2014 purchase of Eagle Rock Entertainment. UMG's first major film production was "Amy", which won an Oscar for Best Documentary, while taking part in "" and "" documentaries. In January 2016, UMG hired David Blackman from Laurence Mark Production where he was president of production as head of film and television development and production, and theater producer Scott Landis as special advisor on theatrical development and production. UMG Executive Vice President Michele Anthony and Universal Music Publishing Group Chairman and CEO Jody Gerson have oversight of the pair. On February 11, 2017, PolyGram Entertainment was relaunched as a film and television unit of Universal Music Group under David Blackman.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In 2015, UMG's Capitol Records earned all the major Grammy Awards for the year, with Sam Smith receiving Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year awards and Beck winning Album of the Year.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In March 2016, Universal Music Canada donated the archives of EMI Music Canada to the University of Calgary.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In May 2016, UMG acquired Famehouse, a digital marketing agency. That same year, Paul McCartney and the Bee Gees both signed to UMG's Capitol Records, including their catalog releases.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In April 2017, UMG signed a new multi-year licensing agreement with Spotify, the world's leading streaming service, and in May 2017, UMG signed a deal with Tencent, China's biggest gaming and social media firm.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In July 2017, "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and featuring Justin Bieber, became the most streamed track of all time. By 2018, the song had broken several "Guinness World Records", including Most Weeks at Number 1 on Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and most-viewed video online.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In August 2017, UMG and Grace/Beyond agreed to develop three new music-based television series, "27", "Melody Island" and "Mixtape". "27" would focus on musicians at the age of 27, an age at which several iconic musicians died. "Melody Island" was an animated series based on tropical island music with live craft segments. "Mixtape" had twelve episodes, with each episode connected to a song.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In October 2017, UMG announced the launch of its Accelerator Engagement Network, an initiative aimed to help develop music-based startups around the world.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In November 2017, USC Annenberg announced UMG's partnership in the "Annenberg Inclusion Initiative", becoming the first music company to do so. The initiative is meant to create change for representation of women and underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in the media industry.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In December 2017, Universal Music Group acquired Stiff and ZTT labels, along with Perfect Songs Publishing, from Trevor Horn's SPZ Group; BMG Rights Management, through Union Square Music subsidiary, retained its back catalogues. That same month, UMG signed a global, multi-year agreement with Facebook becoming the first of The "Big Three" to license its recorded music and publishing catalogs for video and other social experiences across Facebook, Instagram and Oculus. Sony and Warner signed similar contracts with Facebook the following year. Furthermore, on December 19, 2017, UMG signed a multi-year licensing agreement with YouTube.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In June 2018, Universal Music Japan announced an exclusive license agreement with Disney Music Group. With the addition of Japan, UMG distributes releases from Disney Music Group globally.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In July, The Rolling Stones signed a worldwide agreement with UMG covering the band's recorded music and audio-visual catalogues, archival support, global merchandising and brand management. That same month, Vivendi announced it would explore selling as much as half of Universal Music Group to one or more investors.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In Nielsen's 2018 US Music Mid-Year report, UMG made history with eight of the Top 10 artists, including all of the top five, as well as all of the top eight artists ranked by on-demand audio streams. In August 2018, UMG announced a strategic expansion in Africa, opening an office in Abidjan to oversee French-speaking Africa, and also unveiling a Universal Music Nigera office in Lagos to focus on signing local artists and taking them global. In September 2018, singer Elton John signed a global partnership agreement with UMG across recorded music, music publishing, brand management, and licensing rights.


title: Universal Music Group

text: On November 19, 2018, singer-songwriter Taylor Swift signed a new multi-album deal with UMG, in the United States, her future releases will be promoted under the Republic Records imprint. In addition to the promised ownership of her master recordings, UMG agreed to, in case it sells portions of its stake in Spotify, distribute proceeds among its artists and make them non-recoupable.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In December 2018, Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" became the most-streamed song from the pre-streaming era and the most-streamed classic rock song of all time. In February 2019, UMG fully acquired music distributor INgrooves.


title: Universal Music Group

text: UMG was named to "Fast Company's" annual list of the World's 50 Most Innovative Companies for 2019, the first major music company to be included on the list in a decade. UMG is also ranked number 1 in the music category. UMG was named by "Forbes" as one of America's Best Midsize Employers in 2019.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In June, YouTube and UMG announced that they were upgrading more than 1,000 popular music videos to high definition, releasing them through 2020.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In August 2019, Tencent and Vivendi started negotiation to sell 10% Vivendi's stake of Universal Music to Tencent. The deal is expected to be of $3.36 billion.


title: Universal Music Group

text: On June 16, 2020, Universal rebranded Virgin EMI Records as EMI Records and named Rebecca Allen (former president of UMG's Decca label) as the label's president, bringing back the EMI brand. The same day, UMG announced launch of its new affiliates in Morocco and Israel.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In July 2020, UMG signed a new multi-year licensing agreement with Spotify to provide value for artists and immense experiences for music fans.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In June 2021, Pershing Square Tontine Holdings, a special-purpose acquisition company run by investor Bill Ackman, announced it would acquire 10 percent of UMG before it went public, in a $4 billion transaction. The deal collapsed in July 2021 due to regulatory concerns, and it was announced that Ackman's Pershing Square Holdings would complete the purchase instead.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In September 2021, IPO, Euronext Amsterdam announces an introduction price of €18,50 and Vivendi set an initial valuation for UMG at €33 billion ($38.3 billion). Vivendi distributed 60% of its UMG shares and retaining 10%.


title: Universal Music Group

text: The family of French businessman Vincent Bolloré is revealed as the majority shareholder with 28% of UMG shares, through its holding company Bolloré (18%) and its subsidiary Vivendi (10%), headed by his son Yannick Bolloré. Tencent emerged as UMG's biggest corporate shareholder with 20% of shares. Pershing Square Holdings held 10% of UMG shares. In its IPO, UMG hits €54 billion ($62.6 billion) valuation which is over a third bigger than initial valuation.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In January 2022, UMG acquired the Icelandic record label Alda Music, which owned the rights to nearly 80 percent of all music released in Iceland.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In February 2022, Universal Music Group announced a partnership with Curio, an NFT platform, to create NFT collections for its record labels and artists.


title: Universal Music Group

text: On May 31, 2022, Universal Music Group announced Baa1/BBB long-term credit ratings from Moody's and S&P.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In October 2022, Mercedes-Benz launched a new in-car audio collaboration with Apple Music and Universal Music Group. With this new audio standard, UMG allows its artists to base their song approval process on how the final mix sounds in a Mercedes‑Benz and introduced the “Approved in a Mercedes‑Benz” label as a standard.


title: Universal Music Group

text: Universal Music Group co-developed with Google Vevo, a site designed for music videos inspired by Hulu.com, which similarly allows free ad-supported streaming of videos and other music content.


title: Universal Music Group

text: On May 24, 2018, Vevo announced that it would no longer continue distributing videos to Vevo.com, instead opting to primarily focus on YouTube syndication.


title: Universal Music Group

text: UMG's operational headquarters are located in Santa Monica. Interscope-Geffen-A&M and Universal Music Enterprises (UME), the company's catalog division, are headquartered in Santa Monica. Def Jam, Island and Republic Records also maintain offices there. UMG chairman & CEO Lucian Grainge is based at the company's Santa Monica offices. Universal Music Publishing is also headquartered in the city.


title: Universal Music Group

text: Capitol Music Group is headquartered at the Capitol Records Building in Hollywood. Universal Music Latin Entertainment is also headquartered in Hollywood.


title: Universal Music Group

text: Universal Music Group operates a secondary office in Woodland Hills that includes finance, royalty, and operations functions.


title: Universal Music Group

text: UMG has offices in New York City where Island Records, Def Jam Recordings, Republic Records, Verve Label Group, and Spinefarm Records are headquartered.


title: Universal Music Group

text: Universal Music Group Global (formerly known as "Universal Music Group International (UMGI)") operates offices in London.


title: Universal Music Group

text: Universal Music GmbH, the German subsidiary, is headquartered in Berlin. It moved in 2002 from Hamburg to the district Friedrichshain at the river Spree.


title: Universal Music Group

text: UMG operates in more than 60 territories around the world including Australia, Central America, Brazil, France, India, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Sub-Saharan Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, New Zealand, Russia, Ukraine, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and more. Company's legal headquarters are in the Netherlands. Universal Music Group's largest corporate shareholder, Tencent, is headquartered in Shenzhen, China. Tencent's ultimate largest controlling corporate shareholder, Naspers, is headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa.


title: Universal Music Group

text: On March 8, 2022, UMG suspended all its operations in Russia, following the country's invasion of the Ukraine.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In 2000, music companies including UMG entered into consent agreements with the Federal Trade Commission, with no admission of liability, whereby they agreed to discontinue the use of Minimum Advertised Price programs under which subsidized cooperative advertising was provided to retailers that agreed to adhere to minimum advertised pricing.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In 2002, a similar settlement was entered into with music publishers and distributors Sony Music, Warner Music, Bertelsmann Music Group, EMI Music and Universal Music Group and certain retailers, without admission of liability or wrongdoing, with various states. In settlement of the claim, the companies collectively agreed to pay a $67.4 million fine and distribute $75.7 million in CDs to public and non-profit groups. It was estimated that consumers were overcharged by $500 million and up to $5 per album.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In May 2006, an investigation led by then New York Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer, concluded with a determination that Universal Music Group bribed radio stations to play songs from Ashlee Simpson, Brian McKnight, Big Tymers, Nick Lachey, Lindsay Lohan and other performers under Universal labels. The company paid $12 million to the state in settlement.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In 2007, with the help of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Stephanie Lenz sued UMG's publishing company for allegedly improperly requesting that, pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, YouTube remove a 29-second home video in which Lenz's child danced to a recording of Prince's song "Let's Go Crazy". After years of litigation, the suit settled in 2018, prior to the court holding a trial on whether UMG had a subjective belief that the video was infringing and not fair to use before sending its request to YouTube. In April 2016, UMG had the audio muted of a video clip showing Katherine Jenkins singing the British national anthem. They claimed that the recording of "God Save the Queen" was copyrighted, and YouTube initially complied with this request, but subsequently offered the video with the original audio track.


title: Universal Music Group

text: In December 2007, UMG announced a deal with Imeem which allows users of the social network to listen to any track from Universal's catalogue for free with a portion of the advertising generated by the music being shared with the record label. All traffic was redirected to MySpace after that company acquired Imeem on December 8, 2009.


title: Universal Music Group

text: According to Jody Rosen of "The New York Times", the fire which swept through Universal Studios Hollywood on June 1, 2008, caused "the biggest disaster in the history of the music business". In space rented from NBCUniversal, according to an official document marked "Confidential", the fire destroyed at least 118,230 "assets" (master recordings), or about 500,000 song titles, owned by UMG. "The vault housed tape masters for Decca, the pop, jazz and classical powerhouse; it housed master tapes for the storied blues label Chess; it housed masters for Impulse!, the groundbreaking jazz label. The vault held masters for the MCA, ABC, A&M, Geffen and Interscope labels; as well as some smaller subsidiary labels. Nearly all of these masters—in some cases, the complete discographies of entire record labels—were wiped out in the fire." In a statement issued on June 11, 2019, UMG said "The New York Times" article contained "numerous inaccuracies, misleading statements, contradictions and fundamental misunderstandings of the scope of the incident and affected assets."


title: Universal Music Group

text: Following the publication of the "New York Times" story, Questlove of The Roots confirmed that the master tapes for two of the band's albums, including unused material and multi-track recordings, were lost in the fire. Similarly, Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic said he believed the masters for the band's 1991 album "Nevermind" were "gone forever" as a result of the fire. Representatives for R.E.M. announced they would investigate the effects the fire may have had on the band's archival materials, while Hole, Steely Dan, Rosanne Cash and Geoff Downes made statements on their possible losses from the fire.


title: Universal Music Group

text: A representative for Eminem confirmed that the rapper's master recordings were digitized months before the fire, but could not confirm whether the physical master reels of his recordings were affected. UMG archivist Patrick Kraus assured that the Impulse! Records, John Coltrane, Muddy Waters, Ahmad Jamal, Nashboro Records, and Chess Records masters survived the fire and were still in Universal's archive.


title: Universal Music Group

text: Howard King filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles on June 21, 2019, on behalf of Soundgarden, Hole, Steve Earle, the estate of Tupac Shakur and a former wife of Tom Petty that seeks class action status for artists whose master recordings were believed to have been destroyed in the Universal Studios fire.


title: Universal Music Group

text: On December 9, 2011, Megaupload published a music video titled: "The Mega Song", showing artists including Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Alicia Keys and will.i.am endorsing the company. The music video was also uploaded to YouTube, but was removed following a takedown request by UMG. Megaupload said that the video contained no infringing content, commenting: "we have signed agreements with every featured artist for this campaign". Megaupload requested an apology from UMG, and filed a lawsuit against the company in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, on December 12, 2011.


title: Universal Music Group

text: UMG denied that the takedown was ordered under the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and said that the takedown was "pursuant to the UMG-YouTube agreement," which gives UMG "the right to block or remove user-posted videos through YouTube's CMS (Content Management System) based on a number of contractually specified criteria." The video was subsequently returned to YouTube, with the reasons for the UMG takedown remaining unclear. Lawyers for will.i.am initially claimed that he had never agreed to the project, and on December 12, he denied any involvement in the takedown notice. Megaupload dismissed its case against UMG in January 2012.


title: Universal Music Group

text: On February 5, 2019, John Waite and Joe Ely filed a class-action lawsuit against UMG claiming the company is violating their right to terminate grants of copyright after 35 years in accordance with copyright law of the United States by ignoring Notices of Termination. On May 3, 2019, UMG filed a motion to dismiss the case, stating the Notices of Termination were not valid because the songs were not grants of copyright but works for hire.


title: Voice of America

text: Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content in 48 languages which it distributes to affiliate stations around the globe. It is primarily viewed by a non-American audience.


title: Voice of America

text: VOA was established in 1942, and the VOA charter (Public Laws 94-350 and 103–415) was signed into law in 1976 by President Gerald Ford.


title: Voice of America

text: VOA is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and overseen by the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), an independent agency of the U.S. government. Funds are appropriated annually under the budget for embassies and consulates. In 2016, VOA broadcast an estimated 1,800 hours of radio and TV programming each week to approximately 236.6 million people worldwide with about 1,050 employees and a taxpayer-funded annual budget of .


title: Voice of America

text: While Voice of America is seen by some foreign listeners as having a positive impact, others consider it to be a form of propaganda and a mouthpiece for the US government.


title: Voice of America

text: The Voice of America website had five English language broadcasts as of 2014 (worldwide, Learning English, Cambodia, Zimbabwe and Tibet). Additionally, the VOA website has versions in 47 foreign languages (radio programs are marked with an "R"; TV programs with a "T"):


title: Voice of America

text: The number of languages varies according to the priorities of the United States government and the world situation.


title: Voice of America

text: Before World War II, all American shortwave stations were in private hands. Privately controlled shortwave networks included the National Broadcasting Company's International Network (or White Network), which broadcast in six languages, the Columbia Broadcasting System's Latin American international network, which consisted of 64 stations located in 18 countries, the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation in Cincinnati, Ohio, and General Electric which owned and operated WGEO and WGEA, both based in Schenectady, New York, and KGEI in San Francisco, all of which had shortwave transmitters. Experimental programming began in the 1930s, but there were fewer than 12 transmitters in operation. In 1939, the Federal Communications Commission set the following policy:


title: Voice of America

text: A licensee of an international broadcast station shall render only an international broadcast service which will reflect the culture of this country and which will promote international goodwill, understanding and cooperation. Any program solely intended for, and directed to an audience in the continental United States does not meet the requirements for this service.


title: Voice of America

text: This policy was intended to enforce the State Department's Good Neighbor Policy, but some broadcasters felt that it was an attempt to direct censorship.


title: Voice of America

text: Shortwave signals to Latin America were regarded as vital to counter Nazi propaganda around 1940. Initially, the Office of Coordination of Information sent releases to each station, but this was seen as an inefficient means of transmitting news. The director of Latin American relations at the Columbia Broadcasting System was Edmund A. Chester, and he supervised the development of CBS's extensive "La Cadena de las Americas" radio network to improve broadcasting to South America during the 1940s.


title: Voice of America

text: Also included among the cultural diplomacy programming on the Columbia Broadcasting System was the musical show "Viva America" (1942-1949) which featured the Pan American Orchestra and the artistry of several noted musicians from both North and South America, including Alfredo Antonini, Juan Arvizu, Eva Garza, Elsa Miranda, Nestor Mesta Chaires, Miguel Sandoval, John Serry Sr., and Terig Tucci. By 1945, broadcasts of the show were carried by 114 stations on CBS's "La Cadena de las Americas" network in 20 Latin American nations. These broadcasts proved to be highly successful in supporting President Franklin Roosevelt's policy of Pan-Americanism throughout South America during World War II.


title: Voice of America

text: Even before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government's Office of the Coordinator of Information (COI, in Washington) had already begun providing war news and commentary to the commercial American shortwave radio stations for use on a voluntary basis through its Foreign Information Service (FIS, in New York) headed by playwright Robert E. Sherwood, who served as president Roosevelt's speech writer and information advisor. Direct programming began a week after the United States’ entry into World War II in December 1941, with the first broadcast from the San Francisco office of the FIS via General Electric's KGEI transmitting to the Philippines in English (other languages followed). The next step was to broadcast to Germany, which was called "Stimmen aus Amerika" ("Voices from America") and was transmitted on February 1, 1942. It was introduced by "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and included the pledge: "Today, and every day from now on, we will be with you from America to talk about the war... The news may be good or bad for us – We will always tell you the truth." Roosevelt approved this broadcast, which then-Colonel William J. Donovan (COI) and Sherwood (FIS) had recommended to him. It was Sherwood who actually coined the term "The Voice of America" to describe the shortwave network that began its transmissions on February 1, from 270 Madison Avenue in New York City.


title: Voice of America

text: The Office of War Information, when organized in the middle of 1942, officially took over VOA's operations. VOA reached an agreement with the British Broadcasting Corporation to share medium-wave transmitters in Britain, and expanded into Tunis in North Africa and Palermo and Bari, Italy, as the Allies captured these territories. The OWI also set up the American Broadcasting Station in Europe. Asian transmissions started with one transmitter in California in 1941; services were expanded by adding transmitters in Hawaii and, after recapture, the Philippines.


title: Voice of America

text: By the end of the war, VOA had 39 transmitters and provided service in 40 languages. Programming was broadcast from production centers in New York and San Francisco, with more than 1,000 programs originating from New York. Programming consisted of music, news, commentary, and relays of U.S. domestic programming, in addition to specialized VOA programming.


title: Voice of America

text: About half of VOA's services, including the Arabic service, were discontinued in 1945. In late 1945, VOA was transferred to the Department of State.


title: Voice of America

text: The VOA ramped up its operations during the Cold War, which also increased its influence. Foy Kohler, the director of VOA during the Cold War, strongly believed that the VOA was serving its purpose, which he identified as aiding in the fight against communism. He argued that the numbers of listeners they were getting such as 194,000 regular listeners in Sweden, and 2.1 million regular listeners in France, was an indication of a positive impact. As further evidence, he noted that the VOA received 30,000 letters a month from listeners all over the world, and hundreds of thousands of requests for broadcasting schedules. There was an analysis done of some of those letters sent in 1952 and 1953 while Kohler was still director. The study found that letter writing could be an indicator of successful, actionable persuasion. It was also found that broadcasts in different countries were having different effects. In one country, regular listeners adopted and practiced American values presented by the broadcast. Age was also a factor: younger and older audiences tended to like different types of programs no matter the country. Kohler used all of this as evidence to claim that the VOA helped to grow and strengthen the free world. It also influenced the UN in their decision to condemn communist actions in Korea, and was a major factor in the decline of communism in the "free world, including key countries such as Italy and France. In Italy, the VOA did not just bring an end to communism, but it caused the country to Americanize. The VOA also had an impact behind the Iron Curtain. Practically all defectors during Kohler's time claimed the VOA helped in their decision to defect. Another indication of impact, according to Kohler, was the Soviet response. Kohler argued that the Soviets responded because the VOA was having an impact. Based on Soviet responses, it can be presumed that the most effective programs were ones that compared the lives of those behind and outside the iron curtain, questions on the practice of slave labor, as well as lies and errors in Stalin's version of Marxism.


title: Voice of America

text: In 1947, VOA started broadcasting to the Soviet citizens in Russia under the pretext of countering "more harmful instances of Soviet propaganda directed against American leaders and policies" on the part of the internal Soviet Russian-language media, according to John B. Whitton's treatise, "Cold War Propaganda". The Soviet Union responded by initiating electronic jamming of VOA broadcasts on April 24, 1949.


title: Voice of America

text: Charles W. Thayer headed VOA in 1948–49. Over the next few years, the U.S. government debated the best role of Voice of America. The decision was made to use VOA broadcasts as a part of its foreign policy to fight the propaganda of the Soviet Union and other countries.


title: Voice of America

text: The Arabic service resumed on January 1, 1950, with a half-hour program. This program grew to 14.5 hours daily during the Suez Crisis of 1956, and was six hours a day by 1958. Between 1952 and 1960, Voice of America used a converted U.S. Coast Guard cutter "Courier" as a first mobile broadcasting ship.


title: Voice of America

text: Control of VOA passed from the State Department to the U.S. Information Agency when the latter was established in 1953 to transmit worldwide, including to the countries behind the Iron Curtain and to the People's Republic of China. From 1955 until 2003, VOA broadcast American jazz on the "Voice of America Jazz Hour". Hosted for most of that period by Willis Conover, the program had 30 million listeners at its peak. A program aimed at South Africa in 1956 broadcast two hours nightly, and special programs such as "The Newport Jazz Festival" were also transmitted. This was done in association with tours by U.S. musicians, such as Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington, sponsored by the State Department. From August 1952 through May 1953, Billy Brown, a high school senior in Westchester County, New York, had a Monday night program in which he shared everyday happenings in Yorktown Heights, New York. Brown's program ended due to its popularity: his "chatty narratives" attracted so much fan mail, VOA couldn't afford the $500 a month in clerical and postage costs required to respond to listeners' letters. During 1953, VOA personnel were subjected to McCarthyist policies, where VOA was accused by Senator Joseph McCarthy, Roy Cohn, and Gerard David Schine of intentionally planning to build weak transmitting stations to sabotage VOA broadcasts. However, the charges were dropped after one month of court hearings in February and March 1953.


title: Voice of America

text: Somewhere around 1954, VOA's headquarters were moved from New York to Washington D.C. The arrival of cheap, low-cost transistors enabled the significant growth of shortwave radio listeners. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, VOA's broadcasts were deemed controversial, as Hungarian refugees and revolutionaries thought that VOA served as a medium and insinuated the possible arrival of the Western aid.


title: Voice of America

text: Throughout the Cold War, many of the targeted countries' governments sponsored jamming of VOA broadcasts, which sometimes led critics to question the broadcasts' actual impact. For example, in 1956, Polish People's Republic stopped jamming VOA transmissions, but People's Republic of Bulgaria continued to jam the signal through the 1970s. Chinese language VOA broadcasts were jammed beginning in 1956 and extending through 1976. However, after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union, interviews with participants in anti-Soviet movements verified the effectiveness of VOA broadcasts in transmitting information to socialist societies. The People's Republic of China diligently jams VOA broadcasts. Cuba has also been reported to interfere with VOA satellite transmissions to Iran from its Russian-built transmission site at Bejucal. David Jackson, former director of Voice of America, noted: "The North Korean government doesn't jam us, but they try to keep people from listening through intimidation or worse. But people figure out ways to listen despite the odds. They're very resourceful."


title: Voice of America

text: Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, VOA covered some of the era's most important news, including Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech and Neil Armstrong's 1969 first walk on the Moon, which drew an audience estimated at between 615 and 750 million people. In 1973, due to the detente policies in the Cold War, Soviet jamming of the VOA ceased.


title: Voice of America

text: In the early 1980s, VOA began a $1.3 billion rebuilding program to improve broadcast with better technical capabilities. During the implementation of the Martial law in Poland between 1981 and 1983, VOA's Polish broadcasts expanded to seven hours daily. Throughout the 1980s, VOA focused on covering events from the 'American hinterland', such as 150th anniversary of the Oregon Trail. Also in the 1980s, VOA also added a television service, as well as special regional programs to Cuba, Radio Martí and TV Martí. Cuba has consistently attempted to jam such broadcasts and has vociferously protested U.S. broadcasts directed at Cuba. In September 1980, VOA started broadcasting to Afghanistan in Dari and in Pashto in 1982. In 1985, VOA Europe was created as a special service in English that was relayed via satellite to AM, FM, and cable affiliates throughout Europe. With a contemporary format including live disc jockeys, the network presented top musical hits as well as VOA news and features of local interest (such as "EuroFax") 24 hours a day. VOA Europe was closed down without advance public notice in January 1997 as a cost-cutting measure. It was followed by VOA Express, which from July 4, 1999, revamped into VOA Music Mix. Since November 1, 2014, stations are offered VOA1 (which is a rebranding of VOA Music Mix).


title: Voice of America

text: In 1989, Voice of America expanded its Mandarin and Cantonese programming to reach the millions of Chinese and inform the country about the pro-democracy movement within the country, including the demonstration in Tiananmen Square. Starting in 1990, the U.S. consolidated its international broadcasting efforts, with the establishment of the Bureau of Broadcasting.


title: Voice of America

text: With the breakup of the Soviet bloc in Eastern Europe, VOA added many additional language services to reach those areas. This decade was marked by the additions of Standard Tibetan, Kurdish (to Iran and Iraq), Serbo-Croatian (Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian), Macedonian, and Rwanda-Rundi language services.


title: Voice of America

text: In 1993, the Clinton administration advised cutting funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty as it was felt post-Cold War information and influence was not needed in Europe. This plan was not well received, and he then proposed the compromise of the International Broadcasting Act. The Broadcasting Board of Governors was established and took control from the Board for International Broadcasters which previously oversaw funding for RFE/RL.


title: Voice of America

text: In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed the International Broadcasting Act into law. This law established the International Broadcasting Bureau as a part of the U.S. Information Agency and created the Broadcasting Board of Governors with oversight authority. In 1998, the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act was signed into law and mandated that the Broadcasting Board of Governors, or BBG, become an independent federal agency as of October 1, 1999. This act also abolished the United States Information Agency (USIA) and merged most of its functions with those of the State Department.


title: Voice of America

text: In 1994, Voice of America became the first broadcast-news organization to offer continuously updated programs on the Internet.


title: Voice of America

text: The Arabic Service was abolished in 2002 and replaced by a new radio service, called the Middle East Radio Network or Radio Sawa, with an initial budget of $22 million. Radio Sawa offered mostly Western and Middle Eastern popular songs with periodic brief news bulletins. Today, the network has expanded to television with Alhurra and to various social media and websites.


title: Voice of America

text: Radio programs in Russian ended in July 2008. In September 2008, VOA eliminated the Hindi-language service after 53 years. Broadcasts in Ukrainian, Serbian, Macedonian and Bosnian also ended. These reductions were part of American efforts to concentrate more resources to broadcast to the Muslim world.


title: Voice of America

text: In September 2010, VOA began its radio broadcasts in Sudan. As U.S. interests in South Sudan have grown, there is a desire to provide people with free information.


title: Voice of America

text: In 2013, VOA ended foreign language transmissions on shortwave and medium wave to Albania, Georgia, Iran and Latin America, as well as English-language broadcasts to the Middle East and Afghanistan. The movement was done due to budget cuts.


title: Voice of America

text: On July 1, 2014, VOA cut most of its shortwave transmissions in English to Asia. Shortwave broadcasts in Azerbaijani, Bengali, Khmer, Kurdish, Lao, and Uzbek were dropped too. On August 11, 2014, the Greek service ended after 72 years on air.


title: Voice of America

text: Voice of America has been a part of several agencies. From its founding in 1942 to 1945, it was part of the Office of War Information, and then from 1945 to 1953 as a function of the State Department. VOA was placed under the U.S. Information Agency in 1953. When the USIA was abolished in 1999, VOA was placed under the BBG which is an autonomous U.S. government agency, with bipartisan membership. The Secretary of State has a seat on the BBG. The BBG was established as a buffer to protect VOA and other U.S.-sponsored, non-military, international broadcasters from political interference. It replaced the Board for International Broadcasting (BIB) that oversaw the funding and operation of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a branch of VOA.


title: Voice of America

text: In 2021, Voice of America launched 52 Documentary, a series that publishes weekly films about human experiences. They publish on the streaming app, VOA+, and YouTube. Films average 10-15 minutes and are translated with captions in several languages, including Russian, Persian, Mandarin, Urdu, and English. Euna Lee directs the program.


title: Voice of America

text: From 1948 until its amendment in 2013, Voice of America was forbidden to broadcast directly to American citizens under § 501 of the Smith–Mundt Act. The act was amended as a result of the passing of the "Smith-Mundt Modernization Act" provision of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2013. The intent of the legislation in 1948 was to protect the American public from propaganda actions by their own government and to have no competition with private American companies. The amendment had the intent of adapting to the Internet and allow American citizens to request access to VOA content.


title: Voice of America

text: Under the Eisenhower administration in 1959, VOA Director Henry Loomis commissioned a formal statement of principles to protect the integrity of VOA programming and define the organization's mission, and was issued by Director George V. Allen as a directive in 1960 and was endorsed in 1962 by USIA director Edward R. Murrow. The principles were signed into law on July 12, 1976, by President Gerald Ford. It reads:


title: Voice of America

text: The long-range interests of the United States are served by communicating directly with the peoples of the world by radio. To be effective, the Voice of America must win the attention and respect of listeners. These principles will therefore govern Voice of America (VOA) broadcasts. 1. VOA will serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news. VOA news will be accurate, objective, and comprehensive. 2. VOA will represent America, not any single segment of American society, and will therefore present a balanced and comprehensive projection of significant American thought and institutions. 3. VOA will present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively, and will also present responsible discussions and opinion on these policies.


title: Voice of America

text: The Voice of America Firewall was put in place with the 1976 VOA Charter and laws passed in 1994 and 2016 as a way of ensuring the integrity of VOA's journalism. This policy fights against propaganda and promotes unbiased and objective journalistic standards in the agency. The charter is one part of this firewall and the other laws assist in ensuring high standards of journalism.


title: Voice of America

text: According to former VOA correspondent Alan Heil, the internal policy of VOA News is that any story broadcast must have two independently corroborating sources or have a staff correspondent witness an event.


title: Voice of America

text: On 30 June 2022, VOA Turkish's () domain name "amerikaninsesi.com" was blocked in Turkey upon the request of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK). RTÜK had already ordered VOA in February 2022 to pay a license fee or to terminate their service in Turkey. In order to circumvent censorship, they moved to "voaturkce.com" domain name.


title: Voice of America

text: "VOA Radiogram" was an experimental Voice of America program starting in March 2013 which transmitted digital text and images via shortwave radiograms. There were 220 editions of the program, transmitted each weekend from the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station. The audio tones that comprised the bulk of each 30 minute program were transmitted via an analog transmitter, and could be decoded using a basic AM shortwave receiver with freely downloadable software of the Fldigi family. This software is available for Windows, Apple (macOS), Linux, and FreeBSD systems.


title: Voice of America

text: Broadcasts can also be decoded using the free TIVAR app from the Google Play store using any Android device.


title: Voice of America

text: The mode used most often on "VOA Radiogram", for both text and images, was MFSK32, but other modes were also occasionally transmitted.


title: Voice of America

text: The final edition of "VOA Radiogram" was transmitted during the weekend of June 17–18, 2017, a week before the retirement of the program producer from VOA. An offer to continue the broadcasts on a contract basis was declined, so a follow-on show called "Shortwave Radiogram" began transmission on June 25, 2017, from the WRMI transmitting site in Okeechobee, Florida.


title: Voice of America

text: The Bethany Relay Station, operational from 1944 to 1994, was based on a site in Union Township (now West Chester Township) in Butler County, Ohio, near Cincinnati. The site is now a recreational park with a lake, lodge, dog park, and Voice of America museum. Major transmitter upgrades first happened around 1963, when shortwave and medium-wave transmitters were built, upgraded or rebuilt. Other former sites include California (Dixon and Delano), Hawaii, Okinawa, Liberia (Monrovia), Costa Rica, Belize, and at least two in Greece (Kavala and Rhodos).


title: Voice of America

text: Between 1983 and 1990, VOA made significant upgrades to transmission facilities in Botswana (Selebi-Phikwe), Morocco, Thailand (Udon Thani), Kuwait, and Sao Tome (Almas). Some of them are shared with Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia.


title: Voice of America

text: Currently, VOA and USAGM continue to operate shortwave radio transmitters and antenna farms at International Broadcasting Bureau Greenville Transmitting Station (known as "Site B") in the United States, close to Greenville, North Carolina. They do not use FCC-issued call signs, since the FCC does not regulate communications by other federal government agencies. (The FCC regulates broadcasting by private companies and other businesses, state governments, nonprofit organizations [NPOs] and non-government organizations [NGOs], and private individuals.) The IBB also operates transmission facilities on São Tomé and Tinang, Concepcion, Tarlac, Philippines for VOA.


title: Voice of America

text: In late September 2001, VOA aired a report that contained brief excerpts of an interview with then Taliban leader Mullah Omar Mohammad, along with segments from President Bush's post-9/11 speech to Congress, an expert in Islam from Georgetown University, and comments by the foreign minister of Afghanistan's anti-Taliban Northern Alliance. State Department officials including Richard Armitage and others argued that the report amounted to giving terrorists a platform to express their views. In response, reporters and editors argued for the VOA's editorial independence from its governors. VOA received praise from press organizations for its protests, and the following year in 2002, it won the University of Oregon's Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism.


title: Voice of America

text: On April 2, 2007, Abdul Malik Rigi, the leader of Jundullah, a militant group with possible links to al-Qaeda, appeared on Voice of America's Persian language service. The interview resulted in public condemnation by the Iranian-American community, as well as the Iranian government. Jundullah is a militant organization that has been linked to numerous attacks on civilians, such as the 2009 Zahedan bombing.


title: Voice of America

text: In February 2013, a documentary released by China Central Television interviewed a Tibetan self-immolator who failed to kill himself. The interviewee said he was motivated by Voice of America's broadcasts of commemorations of people who committed suicide in political self-immolation. VOA denied any allegations of instigating self-immolations and demanded that the Chinese station retract its report.


title: Voice of America

text: After the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, several tweets by Voice of America (one of which was later removed) seemed to support the widely criticized statements by White House press secretary Sean Spicer about the crowd size and biased media coverage. This first raised concerns over possible attempts by Trump to politicize the state-funded agency.<ref name="salon/01/24/2017">Donald Trump sends two aides to Voice of America studios, raising fears he's going to politicize the outlet , "Salon"</ref> This amplified already growing propaganda concerns over the provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, signed into law by Barack Obama, which replaced the board of the Broadcasting Board of Governors with a CEO appointed by the president. Trump sent two of his political aides, Matthew Ciepielowski and Matthew Schuck, to the agency to aid its current CEO during the transition to the Trump administration. Criticism was raised over Trump's choice of aides; Schuck was a staff writer for right-wing website "The Daily Surge" until April 2015, while Ciepielowski was a field director at the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity. VOA officials responded with assurances that they would not become "Trump TV". BBG head John F. Lansing told NPR that it would be illegal for the administration to tell VOA what to broadcast, while VOA director Amanda Bennett stressed that while "government-funded", the agency is not "government-run".


title: Voice of America

text: On April 10, 2020, the White House published an article in its daily newsletter critical of VOA coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Emails revealed in a Freedom of Information Act request showed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) press official Michawn Rich had sent a memo to agency employees stating in part, "as a rule, do not send up [interview] requests for Greta Van Susteren or anyone affiliated with Voice of America," referencing the White House story. On April 30, "The Washington Post" reported Vice President Mike Pence's office "threatened to retaliate against a reporter who revealed that Pence's office had told journalists they would need masks for Pence's visit to the Mayo Clinic — a requirement Pence himself did not follow."