ShinyShiny snippets: US vinyl sales overtake CDs for first time since 1980s


Vinyl record sales outperformed CDs in the US for the first time since 1987, according to a new report. Just over 41 million vinyl records were sold in 2022, to the tune of $1.2bn (£.99bn). Only 33 million CDs were sold, amounting to $483m. It was the 16th consecutive year of growth for record sales, about 71% of physical format revenues. Recorded music revenue in the US grew for the seventh consecutive year and reached a record high of $15.9bn. Overall, revenue for recorded music in 2022 increased by 6%, according to the report released by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), driven largely by streaming but also by physical music format sales. BBC 

The creator of ChatGPT is releasing an upgraded version of the AI behind its powerful chatbot that can recognise images. OpenAI’s impressive software took the internet by storm late last year with its ability to generate human-like responses to just about any text prompt you throw at it, from crafting stories to coming up with chat-up lines. It proved such a revelation that tech giant Microsoft is using a version of the same tech as the backbone for its new Bing search engine, while rival Google is developing its own chatbot. Sky News 

Fitbit’s $10-a-month subscription service confers a handful of benefits, including detailed sleep analysis (complete with animal-themed Sleep Profiles) and Fitbit’s Daily Readiness Score that aims to quantify how prepared you are for activity each morning. Starting today, though, the free Fitbit experience is getting a little more appealing: Google’s announced that Fitbit’s Health Metrics Dashboard is now a free feature. Android Police 

Spotify
Image: Spotify

No one can blame you if you’ve given up on Spotify HiFi ever becoming a thing. It’s been two years since the initial announcement. However, all hope is not lost as the streaming service recently confirmed that it’s still working on the high-res audio tier. This news comes from Spotify co-president Gustav Söderström who sat down for an interview(opens in new tab) on TheVerge’s podcast, Decoder. Confirming HiFi’s existence was pretty much the only straight answer he gave as the rest of the responses were vague at best. Tech Radar 

The Britishvolt project billed as being the biggest scheme in the North East since the opening of the Nissan factory sold for just £8.6m after hitting huge financial difficulties, new documents have revealed. The company – which had hoped to raise £4bn to create a gigafactory at Cambois that would have employed 3,000 people – went into administration at the start of this year, with an administrators’ report revealing losses of more than £150m. The company had not managed to generate any revenue and did not have any intellectual property, despite efforts to develop its own battery technology. Business Live

The mid-cycle Model S design upgrades that started late in 2021 are the gift that keeps on giving for the future owners of Tesla’s fastest car. Not only does the Model S now ship with the next Hardware 4.0 version of Tesla’s self-driving computer, but it also comes with a new panoramic roof as well as a fresh, albeit paid, color option. The Ultra Red of the Model S and Model X is a darker hue that replaces the Multi-Coat Red that is still available for other Tesla cars, like the Model 3 or the Model Y. Tesla also began shipping Midnight Cherry Red Model Ys in Europe, making the red color option of its vehicles the next one with the most shades available globally.

Chris Price