The Tribune

• AMAZON has launched a self-publishing platform for video creators, a move that could make money for the company and budding filmmakers in the same way YouTube has created a community of online celebrities.

Amazon Video Direct, which launched yesterday, shares money with video creators through the method they choose: advertisements, subscriptions, rentals, or simply by the number of hours streamed to tens of millions of subscribers of Amazon Prime.

Amazon keeps about half the revenue, or if the video is restricted to Prime, it pays a set fee of 15 cents per hour viewed in the US.

Several production companies made videos available yesterday including Baby Einstein, Pro Guitar Lessons and Conde Nast.

The service allows creators to publish videos in the US, Britain, Germany, Japan and Austria.

• AOL is looking to connect more with the public so it is building a ground level, public-facing studio in downtown Manhattan for its live programming.

It promises to use top technology to engage more with its audience, including shooting in 360-degrees for virtual reality. The studio is set to be unveiled this fall.

Jimmy Maymann, a company executive, said AOL Build showed the firm’s commitment to “immersive live experiences and creating a studio that will serve as a cultural destination, digitally, as well as within New York City.”

• IN A further sign that the download era is waning, Warner Music Group says it made more money from streaming platforms than any other single source of recorded music revenue in the first quarter of 2016.

Warner said its streaming revenue grew 59 per cent in the quarter through to March, helping boost overall revenue by 10 per cent to $745 million.

Warner claims it is the first of the three majors - Spotify and Apple Music are the others - to hit the milestone. Last month, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said streaming revenue globally grew 45 per cent last year while the number of subscribers who paid for services leapt 66 per cent to 68 million. Meanwhile, the IFPI said download revenue dropped 10.5 per cent.

• EXXON Mobil and FuelCell Energy have announced they will work jointly on technology to reduce the cost of capturing carbon emissions from power plants.

The companies will try to develop technology that uses carbonate fuel cells to generate power while capturing carbon dioxide, which scientists say is the most prevalent greenhouse gas responsible for climate change.

If the fuel-cell approach proves feasible, it could be used in coal or natural gas-fired plants, the companies said.

• HULU is expanding its Internet TV programming with a subscription service offering a mix of live cable and broadcast options that will include news and sports.

The streaming service created by TV networks to counter the threat posed by Google’s YouTube will challenge similar cable-like bundles already being offered over the Internet by Dish’s Sling TV and Sony’s PlayStation Vue.

Hulu, which has connections in Hollywood because it is co-owned by three of the major players in cable and broadcast programming - 21st Century Fox, Walt Disney Co. and Comcast’s NBC Universal - did not provide details of subscription costs or how many channels will be available.