Hanna Kahlert

Hanna is one of our expert analysts, helping drive MIDiA’s research into the future of digital entertainment. Her key areas of interest are cross-entertainment audience behaviour, the creator economy, and social platforms.

TikTok has been banned in Montana: an early blow in a larger battle

Hanna Kahlert

18 May 2023

Media and Marketing

The TikTok ban in Montana does not come as a huge surprise, with the state having threatened to do so in the wake of the recent hearings of the company before congress. It also cannot do much; users who already have the app can continue to use it, and in a state of a roughly 1.

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Social content platforms are set to compete with everything in entertainment

Hanna Kahlert

17 May 2023

Social Twitter TikTok

Or at least, they will try to. TikTok is already a hub of creativity and consumption to match the changing preferences of a digital-native (and increasingly mobile-first) generation who have spent much of their entertainment lives in an environment of attention saturation.

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The new need for scarcity, and why the next big leap in entertainment has not happened yet

Hanna Kahlert

11 May 2023

AI hype cycle scarcity

AI has dominated discourse in the entertainment industry and beyond for most of this year. As a tool it poses opportunities for some and threats for others. As a dynamic shift it will usher in a content boom that will make the previous few years of streaming dilution and attention saturation seem sm...

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Cover image for Web 3.0 is here

Web 3.0 is here
Navigating the new culture of digital entertainment

Hanna Kahlert

2 May 2023

Spotify YouTube Netflix

AI has already hit entertainment at the industry level – and the impacts on audience culture will not be far behind. A variety of AI tools are now readily available on ‘fremium’ tiers at a consumer level. Companies may be looking towards what the new world of web 3.

Cover image for Covers.ai and why Universal Music Group’s call to keep AI away from streaming platforms may be too little, too late

Covers.ai and why Universal Music Group’s call to keep AI away from streaming platforms may be too little, too late

Hanna Kahlert

2 May 2023

Media and Marketing

After a song featuring the voices of Drake and The Weeknd, generated by AI, went viral on TikTok and was posted across streaming platforms, Universal Music made an open appeal to streaming platforms to remove AI-generated songs, and to stop allowing the bots to train on their catalogues.

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AI and the future of music
The future is already here

Mark Mulligan, Hanna Kahlert and Tatiana Cirisano

2 May 2023

Spotify SoundCloud Netflix

Unlike most new technology hype cycles, the impact that artificial intelligence (AI) has on the world is already surpassing expectations. Within the music industry, AI will largely be an enabler and accelerant of already-existing trends and market shifts: the growth of self-releasing artists, the consumerisation of music-making, and the resulting o...

Cover image for An AI-generated Drake and The Weeknd collab is shaking the music industry

An AI-generated Drake and The Weeknd collab is shaking the music industry

Mark Mulligan, Hanna Kahlert and Tatiana Cirisano

2 May 2023

Music

The rapid deployment of musical “deepfakes’’ on social media illustrates just how quickly artificial intelligence (AI) is already reshaping the music industry. Deepfakes are a type of AI that can create convincing replicas of real people, whether in the image, video, or audio format.

The future of entertainment lies in collaborating with audiences themselves

Hanna Kahlert

26 Apr 2023

creat creator tools AI

After two years of the Covid boom, the tide that buoyed tech and digital entertainment companies has begun to recede. The likes of Meta, Netflix, and even Apple and Alphabet have all seen stock dips, largely due to inflation and market uncertainty.

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Solving the problems of AI require defining what it is… and these lines are tricky to draw

Hanna Kahlert

20 Apr 2023

AI Artists direct Media and Marketing

Universal Music Group has released a statement asking streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music to stop allowing AI’s to train on their datasets, and to remove AI music (largely in the wake of the viral AI-generated hit ‘Heart On My Sleeve’, made in the style of The Weeknd and Drake).

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The next AI battleground will be around datasets, not just functionality

Hanna Kahlert

12 Apr 2023

AI privacy data privacy

The conversation about AI has permeated every level of every industry, from architecture to music to politics. What it is, what it can do, and what it should be allowed to do are all hot topics –and yet, the answers are perhaps more simplistic than might be expected from all the hype.

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Why TikTok and the future of social is now on trial

Hanna Kahlert

5 Apr 2023

TikTok Social Twitter

The last two weeks have seen social platforms, especially TikTok, abuzz with clips of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s hearing before the US congress, answering lawmakers’ questions about the social media app’s data protections for users and its relationship with China.

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Social platform user snapshot
Q4 2022

Hanna Kahlert

3 Apr 2023

Audience Insight Media and Marketing

This slide deck presents a snapshot of different social platform users, including age breakdowns, activity on social platforms, and cross-platform usage. It covers Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, WhatsApp, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, Discord, and TikTok.

AI is impacting industry today; here is how it will affect culture tomorrow

Hanna Kahlert

29 Mar 2023

AI chat GPT artificial intelligence

It is clear that AI is here to stay – and its impact on digital entertainment (and beyond) will be as tectonic as the emergence of the smartphone . Already, business developers are using OpenAI’s GPT-4 to write everything from product-centric poems about coffee machines to marketing plans and pr...

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The AI entertainment revolution
How artificial intelligence will reshape media consumption

Hanna Kahlert, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano and Annie Langston

20 Mar 2023

Innovation Creators YouTube

2023 has been jump-started by rapid progression in the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). From the launch of ChatGPT to AI-powered DJs, this technology is revolutionising common practices, impacting consumers, creators, and industry leaders alike.

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AI use cases in the entertainment industry
Electric Sheep, Mubert, Unreal Engine 5, Descript, Uhmbrella, and My AI

Hanna Kahlert, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano and Annie Langston

20 Mar 2023

Cultural trends Critical Developments

Electric Sheep | Using AI to introduce accuracy and efficiency into the VFX industry Rotoscoping, an element of visual effects (VFX) where the background of either an image or video is removed so that effects can be added, has traditionally been an intricate and time-consuming endeavour.

Why TikTok is pushing YouTube into becoming the digital version of broadcast

Hanna Kahlert

15 Mar 2023

YouTube TikTok Video

Social (short-form) video is barely two-decades old, having broken away from traditional TV shows and films by innovating for the digital-first world we now live in. While YouTube was the original innovator, TikTok is booming.

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TikTok’s time limit for teen users is barely a step ahead of regulation

Hanna Kahlert

8 Mar 2023

Media and Marketing

Social platforms have long danced on the outskirts of legal regulations, from Facebook’s issues with misinformation to questions surrounding the mental health implications of apps like Instagram and TikTok.

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Attention economy
Reasons, not ways, to spend attention

Hanna Kahlert

1 Mar 2023

Spotify YouTube Netflix

Audiences are consuming in different ways, on different platforms, and at different times – from lean-back passive viewing, to lean-forward on-demand, lean-in social engagement, and lean-through creation. Web 3.0, largely driven by AI, will not change this.

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Just BeReal
Why simple can be better for social (and beyond)

Hanna Kahlert

1 Mar 2023

Audience Insight Media and Marketing

The battle for consumer attention is more competitive than ever in today’s saturated entertainment economy. Free time is saturated, and ever more competitive propositions are constantly bringing in new features, new content, and new ideas for audiences to engage with and enjoy.

AI accelerationism spells the end of digital entertainment’s golden era

Hanna Kahlert

1 Mar 2023

Media and Marketing Audience Insight

The hamster wheel of digital entertainment’s innovation is spinning faster than ever –but not going anywhere far. Games’ move into streaming is bringing with it the same troubles as music and video are trying to fix .

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