hello, everyone. this is business briefing. the headlines: stream of social consciousness — spotify drops r kelly from its playlists on the day it unveils a new ‘hate content and hateful conduct‘ policy. plus, cash cloud — dropbox impresses investors with its first post ipo results. but can it compete with the likes of microsoft and google? and on the markets, asian investors are reassured after president trump says he has high hopes for his summit with kim jong—un in singapore next month. we start with the world's biggest music streaming service spotify. it has become the latest of wall street's tech giants to make a public commitment to ethical business values, announcing a wide ranging policy on

‘hate content and hateful conduct‘. the first move — to drop us r&b star r kelly from its playlists and recommendations. of allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denies. our tech reporter in san francisco dave lee explains. if you still have r kelly music in your own playlist and you want to search for r kelly and play his music, it will still be available on the service. spotify say they were never sent to someone in that way for something they do outside their own music, as it were alleged to have done in this case. what they have done in this case. what they have done in this case. what they have done it what a powerful statement. they say he will no longer be included in any playlist that the country —— company self creates. that could be through algorithmic playlists generated

based on a person of a type of music they like to listen to. that letter will no longer be automatically suggested to people, nor will the peak —— company include his music in playlist the company puts together. those playlists are incredibly popular. this could have an impact on the revenues that r kelly and his record label made from his music. his most popular song, ignition has been strained to millions of times. having his music in fewer places, push to fewer spotify users may have an impact, particularly given the streaming is now the main way that most people hear their music. a symbolic move fight spotify, i think. let's go to wall street now, where it's been a very big day for this guy. 35—year—old drew houston is ceo of dropbox, the tech company he founded with his friend arash ferdowsi. the company floated in march

and since then shares have surged 50%, valuing dropbox at almost $13 billion. thursday was their first set of results since the ipo and sales are growing strongly. dropbox has benefited from the rush to cloud computing, using the internet to store your data remotely rather than on your own computers. it lets users share digital files over the net. dropbox has 500 million registered users. most of them have signed up for free. but only 2% of those pay for the premium service, a number dropbox is trying to grow. it's a huge potential market. global revenues from cloud services are expected to be worth $160 billion this year, soaring to $277 billion by 2021. but that also means some very big rivals. microsoft, amazon and google are all rapidly growing their cloud computing businesses,

asjoe miller in new york explains. in its first financial filings since going public to great fanfare in march, the cloud storage firm dropbox did not disappoint, beating wall street's revenue predictions. the company which faces stiff competition from amazon, apple and google, said it had 11.5 million paying subscribers, up an impressive 35% from the same period last year. that number is a small fraction of the compa ny‘s 500 that number is a small fraction of the company's 500 million users will stop the vast majority of whom use dropbox‘s free option which offers enough space to satisfy the needs of most casual users. but dropbox‘s offering for businesses, which includes collaborative tools and presentations of wear, continues to attract subscribers. it should help

the company maintain a foothold in the company maintain a foothold in the online storage market. it is estimated to be worth some $400 billion by 2022. rob kniaz is founding partner at hoxton ventures, which invests in early stage tech firms. we were talking about the share price will stop the company floated in march and its shares have surged 50%, valuing dropbox at $13 billion. a great investment. what would you say to people looking at dropbox in this way? i think it is a great business. things like snap chat are a fad business. things like snap chat are afad and business. things like snap chat are a fad and this is a durable business. it just works. a fad and this is a durable business. itjust works. it is seamless, it is nice. it is there and itjust seamless, it is nice. it is there and it just works seamless, it is nice. it is there and itjust works nicely. is it a good thing that it is just there, like your boring uncle at a party who sits in the corner and drinks whiskey quietly with himself. what i am getting at is that one of the

reasons why it does so well is it doesn't have as much churn as other websites because it sits in the corner and does its job. that is the beauty of it. it is always there, it is nice, you don't have to think about it. things that you rely on are always there. looking at the wider tech sector, where did you think dropbox fits in amongst the other big companies who are all falling over themselves to get into cloud computing? i think it is a beautiful business, the users are sticking around. if you look at the metrics, things like renewable rates, average valuable perske customer, it shows you the product works and people are continued to use it and spending more each year. the competitors, google, microsoft, there will be competing products in there will be competing products in the market but it is hard for any of them to displace dropbox. dropbox will remain a cornerstone of the

sector. only a small percentage of this is paid to the service. what does it mean in terms of cash flow and getting money? if you look at their numbers, they are continually increasing their numbers. they are focusing on increasing the renewal rate and increasing the actual payment per customer. there is a huge upside, if only 15% are paying, 85% are potential players in the future. ok. good to talk you and get your insight. let's go to asia now, where investors are being reassured by president trump's comments ahead of his planned summit with north korean leader kimjong—un in singapore next month. sharanjit leyl is in singapore. asian markets alike in what he says and he is coming to where you are on june 12. much excitement in singapore. that's right. there is much excitement. it has been called

historic, the first time the leaders of the united states and north korea will meet, all happening right here injune12. tune in. it is all happening from singapore. there will bea happening from singapore. there will be a lot of interest in it. president trump says he will try to make it a very special moment for world peace and as you mentioned, markets are responding to this by ticking higher in the region. ahead of the meeting, though, there were lots of concerns that still remain about the us china trade war, but a nalysts a re about the us china trade war, but analysts are saying the us korea summit will ensure the rhetoric around the trade war takes a back seat for now, and that is leading to some relief amongst investors. we know there has been a variety of contenders in terms of location, mongolia, the demilitarised zone on the border of the two koreas. singapore was seen by top us officials as a good neutral choice

for the trump kim talks. in 2015, the leaders of china and taiwan held historic talks right here, the first in more than 60 years. the us and singapore have a close relationship will stop singapore have also has diplomatic ties with north korea, but they suspended all trade with the country in november last year. interesting to hear the reasons why singapore was chosen. now, let's brief you some other business stories. uk supermarkets sainsbury‘s and asda will have to sell off at least 73 stores for their merger to get the go—ahead according to new research. the new supermarket group would become the largest in the uk by market share. but the £15 billion deal is set to face huge scrutiny by britain's competition and markets authority. music streaming app tidal has been accused of inflating audience figures for albums by beyonce and kanye west, unfairly boosting their royalty payments. tidal denies the allegations in a norwegian—language newspaper, saying the data has been stolen and manipulated. tidal is part—owned by jay z,

beyonce's husband and a long—term friend of kanye west. and now, what's trending in the business news this morning. on business insider, saudi arabia is about to ramp up its oil production. that's in response to the expected decline in iranian crude oil for international markets following president trump's withdrawal from the iran nuclear deal. from wired, ‘who pays the most and least in silicon valley?‘ well, the median pay at facebook tops $240,000 a year, that's more than eight times the $28,000 median at amazon. 0n bloomberg, christine lagarde says imf is seeking a rapid resolution with argentina over credit line. the country, of course, faces a crunch as about $30 billion in short—term debt is due on may 16.

and don't forget — let's us know what you are spotting online. use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. but before we go, here are the markets. everything looking pretty positive. stay with us because the news briefing is coming up very shortly. bye for now. the aa says there have been more insurance claims so far in 2018 from drivers hitting potholes than in the whole of last year. it says the number of potholes is a national disgrace and the damage is costing a million pounds a month to deal with. here's our personal finance correspondent, simon gompertz.

a pothole down there. mind pothole! another pothole. this one near a busyjunction in another pothole. this one near a busy junction in west another pothole. this one near a busyjunction in west sussex filmed a driver last weekjust busyjunction in west sussex filmed a driver last week just after he busyjunction in west sussex filmed a driver last weekjust after he hit it. he says the hole had been there to make weeks, putting traffic in danger and damaging his car.|j to make weeks, putting traffic in danger and damaging his car. i heard a big start, and if you look at my tyre down here, the steering is gone as well. when i drove back, i had to drive the car with the wheel at about nine, ten o'clock to drive in about nine, ten o'clock to drive in a straight line. the steering is com pletely a straight line. the steering is completely out. there has been an astonishing increase in pothole insurance claims. 4200 so far in 2018. that is nearly three times the number at the same stage last year. the average repair cost £1000.m

number at the same stage last year. the average repair cost £1000. it is almost a national embarrassment, actually. the state of main roads, residential streets and even motorways where an potholes are appearing after the harsh winter we have had, and the amount that insurers are beginning to pay out has really skyrocketed. governments say it has provided enough money to repair6 say it has provided enough money to repair 6 million potholes but the aa says councils need more cash for the job. this one has now been fixed. the longer they are left, though, the more havoc they can cause. coming up at 6:00 on breakfast, charlie stayt and naga munchetty will have all the day's news, business and sport, and they'll have more on transport for london's ban on junk food adverts. do stay with us here on bbc news. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: a month before his historic meeting with the north korean leader, kim jong—un, president trump has predicted the summit will be a big success. the danger zone around hawaii's kilauea volcano widens.

fears of a major blast could mean mass evacuations. now it is time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in media across the world. we begin with the times and israel, who claims to have wiped out almost all iran's military infrastructure in syria. the military confrontation has stoked fears of a regional war breaking out in the middle east. the new york times has an article that looks at the frustration felt by european leaders whilst engaging in diplomacy with president trump. recent efforts to preserve the 2015 iran nuclear pact have highlighted concerns the tra ns—atla ntic relationship between the us and europe has weakened. the guardian says the royal bank of scotland has agreed a $4.9bn penalty payment with the us department ofjustice to end an investigation into sales of mortgage products in the run—up to the 2008 financial crisis. the independent reports on music streaming giant spotify who has introduced

a new "public hate content and hateful conduct" policy that will prevent controversial artists such as r kelly featuring on spotify algorithmic playlists. and finally on the reuters website, lovers of art who aren't crazy about wearing clothes may finally have found their perfect place. paris museum, palais de tokyo, has opened its doors for the first time to nudist visitors, granting them special visiting hours to tour an exhibit in a one—off naturist event. he