Entertainment News Roundup: Apple raises subscription prices for TV+, News+; Spotify posts quarterly profit, user growth beats expectations and more

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Apple raises subscription prices for TV+, News+

Apple on Wednesday increased the subscription prices of Apple TV+ and Apple News+, according to its website, the latest company to raise rates following similar moves by media giants.

The per month price of Apple TV+ has been increased by $3 to $9.99, while Apple News+ has been priced at $12.99, up from $9.99.

Greece opens Maria Callas museum for a glimpse into opera diva's life

From a sample of her hair to a blue velvet dress she wore after the memorable 1955 performance of Verdi's La Traviata in Milan's La Scala, visitors to Athens can now marvel at items belonging to opera diva Maria Callas in a new museum dedicated to the legendary soprano. Housed in a three-storey neoclassical building in the heart of the capital, it opens its doors on Thursday and coincides with the influential singer's 100th birthday on Dec. 2.

Vivaldi's Four Seasons gets climate change makeover

A Spanish music director has adapted Antonio Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" to the grim reality of global warming, adding prominence and drama to the summer concerto while shortening the other three, and he believes the Italian great would not mind. "I think Vivaldi would have been a lot more aggressive and gritty. If today someone were to compose 'The Four Seasons' from an absolutely realistic perspective, it would be frankly daring," composer and producer Hache Costa told Reuters.

'The Hunger Games' to be turned into London stage play

"The Hunger Games" is set to open at a London theatre next year in the first live stage adaptation of Suzanne Collins' novels and the hugely successful film franchise. Irish playwright, screenwriter and director Conor McPherson has adapted for theatre the first book in Collins's young adult dystopian trilogy and the first film from "The Hunger Games" Lionsgate movie franchise, which starred Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence as heroine Katniss Everdeen.

Spotify posts quarterly profit, user growth beats expectations

Spotify on Tuesday swung to a quarterly profit aided by price hikes in its streaming services and growth in subscribers in all regions, and forecast that its number of monthly listeners would reach 601 million in this quarter. The company posted a third-quarter operating income of 32 million euros ($34.1 million), its first quarterly profit since 2021, helped by a higher gross margin and lower marketing and personnel costs.

(With inputs from agencies.)