Ben Woods

Ben is a Creator Economy Analyst at MIDiA. He holds a BA in American literature with creative writing from the University of East Anglia. Before joining MIDiA, Ben spent 13 years as a journalist, where he won several industry awards. He previously worked as the tech and media correspondent for the Sunday Times and The Telegraph. His focus spans the creator tools industry, social video platforms, and streaming TV services. He is also a big video games and anime fan.

How CapCut is challenging Adobe Premiere Pro’s dominance of the video editing market

Cover image for How CapCut is challenging Adobe Premiere Pro’s dominance of the video editing market
Ben Woods
Capcut
Adobe Premiere Pro
Video
Social platforms have brought a significant number of new creators into the market. With this has come a whole host of creator tools companies looking to capitalise on the opportunity. While their features may vary, they share a common goal: each app wants to secure steady, long-term engagement as a user progresses from a beginner to an advanced creator.
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The video creator economy’s challenge: not all creators want to pay for editing tools

Cover image for The video creator economy’s challenge: not all creators want to pay for editing tools
Ben Woods
Video creator tools
editing
Adobe Premiere Pro
Video creation has never been more accessible. More and more entertainment consumers are shifting from passive to lean-through consumption by creating their own content. However, those creators have different priorities from professional editors and videographers who have made up the video creator economy for decades.
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MIDiA launches video creator economy vertical as AI delivers transformative growth

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Ben Woods
Social video
Video
Business Strategy
Keeping step with AI’s impact on the video creation industry can be a daunting prospect. Ways of working that have existed for decades are being reorientated around generative AI tools. With these changes comes opportunities, risks and plenty of questions: AI is poised to open the gates to more entry-level creators, but to how many? And how will well-established creators – and the wider value chain – adapt to a new tool kit that majors on speed and productivity? Demystifying AI’s impact has been a key focus for MIDiA Research in recent months.
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Why video creation tools must go niche to survive AI streamliners like Apple Intelligence

Cover image for Why video creation tools must go niche to survive AI streamliners like Apple Intelligence
Ben Woods
Social video
creator tools
Apple
Amid the flurry of recent generative AI announcements, Apple had been strangely quiet. This changed on Monday (June 11, 2024) when it announced Apple Intelligence at its WWDC24 developer conference. In short, Apple Intelligence is a suite of consumer-focused tools embedded into Apple products to enhance productivity and enable creativity.
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Chasing the zeitgeist: why speed trumps creativity in social video marketing

Cover image for Chasing the zeitgeist: why speed trumps creativity in social video marketing
Ben Woods
Video creators
creator tools
TikTok
TikTok has redefined what it means to be part of a cultural moment. In the past, engaging with trends meant being a consumer of content that captured the spirit of the time. For video, this was largely expressed through watercooler moments, where discussing the most popular TV shows and movies with friends, family, and colleagues was a symbol of one’s cultural capital.
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