Ben Woods | MIDiA Research

Netflix, Duolingo, and the art of engagement in a fiercely competitive attention economy

Ben Woods

13 Dec 2024

Netflix is making sure everyone knows that Squid Game 2 is just around corner.The South Korean dystopian survival thriller has been subjected to a major global advertising splash ahead of the shows’ second season release on December 26, 2024.

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MIDiA's 2025 predictions webinar slides
It's social's stage now

Mark Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Tatiana Cirisano, Ben Woods, Rutger Rosenborg, Rhys Elliott and Olivia Jones

6 Dec 2024

Free Report

Spotify YouTube Twitch

MIDiA's expert analysts dive into our 2025 predictions for the music, social, video, audio, and games industries – and explain why we believe "it's social's stage now".

Saving creators’ time is the beginning – not the end – of the AI revolution

Ben Woods

5 Dec 2024

Creator economy Video Product Strategy

Ask content creators about their pain points and they will tell you that time is their greatest challenge. Despite their passion for producing the best possible content, creators often find themselves bogged down by tasks that hinder their creativity.

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Cover image for MIDiA’s 2025 predictions

MIDiA’s 2025 predictions
It’s social’s stage now

Mark Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Tatiana Cirisano, Ben Woods, Rutger Rosenborg, Rhys Elliott and Olivia Jones

5 Dec 2024

Apple Spotify YouTube

The creator economy reshaped entertainment in the first half of the 2020s and social wasthe big winner, now positioned at the centre of the entertainment economy. In 2025 wewill see the second-order effects begin to play out, set against the backdrop of attentionsaturation, content commodification, and increased focus on profit.

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The future of creator software
Maximising AI’s engagement opportunity

Ben Woods

29 Nov 2024

Product Strategy

Artificial intelligence is revolutionising creator software to make it easier for those with little or no skill to produce high-quality content. These innovations are proving highly disruptive to existing workflows meaning traditional creator tools will struggle unless they adapt and evolve.

A message to the entertainment industry: nurture fandom or risk losing control of your IP

Ben Woods

29 Nov 2024

Creator economy Games Video

What makes a fan in 2024? Is it how much they spend? How often they watch, listen or play? Is it how much they broadcast their fandom across social apps? Of course, the answer is all the above – and more.

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Are consumers ready for TikTok’s AI acceleration?

Ben Woods

21 Nov 2024

Generative AI TikTok chat bots

The AI revolution sweeping the entertainment industry will rage on in 2025. In recent weeks, TikTok owner ByteDance has provided a deeper look into how AI will impact social platforms . Through a series of quick-fire announcements, it revealed TikTok’s AI tools for advertisers as well as separate ...

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Are social platforms losing the next generation to Roblox and Fortnite?

Ben Woods

15 Nov 2024

Roblox TikTok YouTube

Unpacking social media strategy is now part and parcel of any election postmortem. From Elon Musk’s ownership of X to Donald Trump’s use of creators to target Gen Z men, understanding social’s role in the US election is to understand how influence is wielded in the digital age.

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How creator hardware companies can adapt to AI’s new creative lane

Ben Woods

7 Nov 2024

Video Product Strategy creator hardware

Companies building creator hardware are used to disruption. The last seismic shift came in the shape of the smartphone. Mass market point-and-shoot cameras were met with an existential crisis when lenses and microphones capable of capturing high-quality video footage began making their way into mobi...

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When Bernie Sanders met Sykkuno: how VTubers are taking over social platforms

Ben Woods

31 Oct 2024

Creators Creator economy Video

It made for a curious sight: the US senator Bernie Sanders discussing the upcoming election with Sykkuno , a creator whose digital identity is an anime inspired demi human with cat ears. These two worlds collided last week (October 23, 2024) when Sanders joined a Twitch live stream hosted by superst...

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The future of creator hardware
AI’s new creative lane

Ben Woods

30 Oct 2024

Twitch Sony Microsoft

AI tools pose a risk to the hardware funnel by becoming the go-to toolkit for beginners and a substitute for recorded footage. With AI providing solutions at every stage of the video creator workflow, hardware must fight to justify its need. Especially because AI makes it easier for all creators to produce professional-grade content.

Want to monetise generative AI tools effectively? Then make them safe for creators

Ben Woods

17 Oct 2024

Creator economy Creators Adobe

Adobe wrapped its creativity conference on Wednesday after a slew of product announcements for creators. Much like last year’s MAX event, artificial intelligence was front and centre. Many of the demos focused on tools being brought to bear by Adobe Firefly, the company’s family of generative AI...

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AI’s creator economy revolution will accelerate if it can join the dots

Ben Woods

11 Oct 2024

Creator economy Video creators Music creators

While generative artificial intelligence (AI) is in its infancy, many people are optimistic about the technology’s potential. Organisations are deploying AI to improve productivity – and creators and general consumers are following suit.

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Unpacking AI’s threat to video creator hardware

Ben Woods

4 Oct 2024

Creator economy Video creators Video creator tools

“AI video generators are just another tool in the box”: this statement has been circulating in recent months as AI adoption gathers pace. It is mostly used to soothe concerns regarding AI disruption to video creator workflows.

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Video creator tools
Hardware user profile

Ben Woods

30 Sep 2024

Product Strategy

The democratisation of video creation has created an unprecedented opportunity for hardware tools companies. However, converting casual creators and beginners into high spenders is difficult given the financial and educational barriers creators must overcome.

Conference season shows video industry sharpening the focus on interactive content and AI tools

Ben Woods

26 Sep 2024

Creator economy Video creators creator tools

Cutting through the noise during conference season is always a challenge. But it becomes easier when comparing the mood and messaging from the previous year’s event. Sometimes a year is all it takes for companies to dial down the hype and take a more sober view on the latest technology trend.

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The price of AI creator tools is on the rise, but will consumers pay for them?

Ben Woods

12 Sep 2024

AI Creator economy Video creators

AI has provided a significant engagement opportunity for creator companies. It has enabled creative platforms to market a raft of new features to consumers on top of what they already offered, whether that is creator-focused platforms like Canva and Adobe Express or social video platforms such as Yo...

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The battle has begun to own the creator through all-encompassing ecosystems

Ben Woods

4 Sep 2024

Creator economy creator tools Video creators

There has always been tension between the goals of creators, social platforms, and creator tools companies. As the creator economy has evolved, a push and pull has ensued between what creators’ feel is fair remuneration for their work, and what the industry feels is the right commercial framework ...

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Understanding creators to harness the monetisation opportunities

Ben Woods

30 Aug 2024

Video Business Strategy Creators

Videos are now the de facto mode of communication. To reach and engage audiences, all creators are now expected to deliver high quality video content that entertains. This has always been a prerequisite for traditional video creators in TV and film and those with vast followings on social video plat...

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Video creator tools
Software user profile

Ben Woods

30 Aug 2024

Product Strategy Creator economy

The video creator software market is evolving fast. AI tools are carving out new workflows, and the democratisation of video creation is increasing demand from social video creators and professional videographers. Editing software and plugins remain key to monetisation, but challenges are emerging from subscription-adverse creators and users brough...