Quick Hits: Lofi YouTube radio; Michael Barbaro profile; Humble Angle Records; and music videos

Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web:

Examining a decidedly modern YouTube radio trend: If you’ve spent much time on YouTube, it’s likely that the video platform has, at some point, recommended a channel with an image from an animated film as the thumbnail and a title along the lines of “lofi hip hop radio.”Millions of people have subscribed to this particular flavor of relaxing online radio. Vice profiled this trend, where a loop of mellow downtempo electronic plays, sometimes 24/7. It’s both an intriguing study of online culture and a reminder of how much clout YouTube commands in the music space.

Is Michael Barbaro the next Ira Glass? Michael Barbaro is both the face and the voice of The Daily, the weekday news and current events podcast from The New York Times. Vanity Fair published a profile of the show’s host and his development from journalism editor to a rising star of podcasting. And it seems unlikely that he’ll be departing the Times any time soon. “I came here when I was 25 and I very much became an adult inside this building,” he said. “Despite all the generational discussions about job loyalty and institutions no longer having a hold on people, the Times has a deep hold on me.”

Shifting strategies at a streaming-only label: Six-month check-up for Humble Angel Records. The company is the work of Kieron Donoghue, former vice president of global playlists strategy for Warner Music, spoke with Billboard about the first six months of the streaming-only label. “I’ve moved to more of an artist-development model, as I feel that both Humble Angel and our artists can have longer-term success if we sign artist deals for, say, three to five songs, or even for entire albums,” he said. “That gives us time to develop the artist further and put stronger PR and marketing plans in place.”

What is the future of music videos? From the early days of VH1 and MTV, music videos have come a long way. Billboard interviewed several experts in a conversation about the future of music videos. Read the conversation with Lyor Cohen, YouTube’s global head of music; Nick Bell, Snapchat’s VP of content; Rachel Ghiazza, Spotify’s head of content experiences, shows and editorial; and Roy Lamanna, CEO of video content management platform Vydia here.