Kriss Thakrar

Kriss is one of MIDiA’s consultants and music analysis contributors. His main areas of interest are creator tools, music sync, and rights.

Cover image for Dance Cry Dance Break innovates subscriptions with artist storytelling

Dance Cry Dance Break innovates subscriptions with artist storytelling

Mark Mulligan, Kriss Thakrar and Tatiana Cirisano

30 Aug 2023

Dance Cry Dance is a boutique record label that positions itself as ‘a young and growing record collective with an equitable profit-sharing model created for artists by artists’. In 2022, the label launched Dance Cry Dance Break , an ‘audio magazine’ featuring new music from independent artists alongside stories and essays inspired by their...

A new era of ‘fan-made’ music is about to begin

Kriss Thakrar

30 Aug 2023

Tik Tok TikTok Music creator tools

Since MIDiA’s comments on TikTok’s music production ambitions more than two years ago, a lot has changed. Consumers have become bolder and more engaged in playing an active role in their music consumption.

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Don’t be fooled by the streams that it’s got, it’s still hip hop from the block

Kriss Thakrar

15 Aug 2023

live music hip hop Fandom

Over its 50 years, hip hop has gone from a block party in the Bronx to a conquering global culture. It now accounts for almost a quarter of Spotify streams , with three-quarters of users listening to hip hop this year.

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Return to live
Post-pandemic music fans

Kriss Thakrar and Tatiana Cirisano

20 Jul 2023

Consumer behaviour live music Music creators

Today’s live music audience skews 45+, with rock concerts and theatres / concert halls dominating sales. Fandom is by far the strongest factor in purchasing tickets, eclipsing price, and location. So, despite challenges like inflation and scalping, most concertgoers plan to attend more or the same number of concerts going forward.

The tap water music industry needs to become a bottled one

Kriss Thakrar

20 Jun 2023

Music streaming Artists direct Creator economy

Music and water are often compared to each other in the streaming age. There are many ways to express this analogy, but the bottom line is that music is becoming commoditised. To clarify, commoditisation is the erosion of a product from one that is highly differentiated and highly priced (with high ...

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Embrace, enhance or hinder: What will AI do for you, the creator?

Kriss Thakrar

3 May 2023

AI Creator economy Artists direct

There has been an abundance of coverage and conversation around AI, and it is unlikely to fade away any time soon. There is a question of how AI will change the music industry and broader creator economy.

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Cover image for US millennial snapshot

US millennial snapshot
A looming generational blind spot

Kriss Thakrar and Tatiana Cirisano

3 Apr 2023

Spotify YouTube Deezer

In the US, 25-34-year-olds are the music industry’s most valuable segment. Yet their relationship with streaming is tenuous. Streaming is not meeting these consumers’ need for a more social, less algorithm-driven experience. What is more, they appear most likely to give their subscriptions up.

Cover image for Apple Music is winning over US 25-34s

Apple Music is winning over US 25-34s

Kriss Thakrar and Tatiana Cirisano

3 Apr 2023

Apple Spotify Apple Music

For streaming services in the US, courting the 25-34 age cohort is important because they are overrepresented as both music streaming subscribers and music aficionados, spending the most time and money on music. However, 25-34s have a slightly tenuous relationship with streaming.

The way AI isn’t used will have a bigger impact on music than how it is used

Kriss Thakrar

2 Mar 2023

artificial intelligence creator tools Fandom

One of the most immediate disruptions of ChatGPT has been in the SEO world. Writing content for Google rankings can be a largely formulaic process of finding and incorporating the right keywords. With the right inputs, ChatGPT can create, draft and edit SEO-friendly content at a scale that humans ar...

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Year of change
Themes that will shape entertainment in 2023

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Kriss Thakrar, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano, Annie Langston, Perry Gresham, Samuel Griffin, Ben Woods and Srishti Das

15 Feb 2023

Spotify YouTube Amazon

This report deep dives into the themes identified in MIDiA’s 2023 predictions report. These themes will drive innovation in the digital entertainment landscape in 2023 across music, video, games, audio, cultural trends, and the creator economy. Expect 2023 to be a of period significant disruption and innovation forced upon the digital entertainme...

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Pivot point
MIDiA 2023 predictions

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Kriss Thakrar, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano, Annie Langston and Ben Woods

12 Jan 2023

Free Report

Business Strategy

MIDiA analysts dive into our 2023 predictions, and why we believe it will be the ' pivot point '. Watch the webinareither on YouTube or LinkedIn ....

Cover image for Music discovery snapshot Q3 2022

Music discovery snapshot Q3 2022
Fandom under threat

Kriss Thakrar and Tatiana Cirisano

4 Jan 2023

Spotify YouTube YouTube Music

Despite the hyper-saturated music landscape, music discovery is generally not a problem for most consumers. Gen Z and millennials have similar music discovery habits, but gen Z struggle slightly more with discovery and are more influenced by TikTok, while millennials are perhaps the last generation to see radio as a main source of music discovery.

Cover image for YouTube is paving a new music discovery pathway — will it work?

YouTube is paving a new music discovery pathway — will it work?

Kriss Thakrar and Tatiana Cirisano

4 Jan 2023

Music

Song discovery ideally kicks off a fandom journey for the consumer, who then goes on to learn about the artist, stream their wider catalogue, become a fan, and buy merchandise and concert tickets. But, too often today, music discovery both starts and ends with the song.

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2023 MIDiA predictions
Pivot point

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Srishti Das, Kriss Thakrar, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano, Annie Langston, Perry Gresham, Samuel Griffin, Kazia Rothwell and Ben Woods

20 Dec 2022

Apple YouTube Amazon

In this report, MIDiA Research analysts present their predictions for what will be the big trends in digital media and tech across music, video, games, marketing, audio and cultural trends in 2023 and beyond. Themes for 2023: Cost-of-living crunch: Entertainment spending will weaken, but some formats will fare better than others Perceived value wil...

Cover image for Closing the background gap

Closing the background gap
Focused versus background audio listening

Kriss Thakrar, Tatiana Cirisano and Annie Langston

30 Nov 2022

Spotify Radio YouTube

The rise of attention inflation means that consumers are maximising their limited time by multitasking between various formats, spurring a rise in background consumption. This creates a “new” space for platforms to compete for consumers’ time. Among entertainment formats, audio is best placed to conquer background listening, but music streami...

Cover image for Amazon Music caters to both passive and active listeners

Amazon Music caters to both passive and active listeners

Kriss Thakrar, Tatiana Cirisano and Annie Langston

30 Nov 2022

Critical Developments

Across its numerous tiers, Amazon Music has a relatively older userbase that mainly streams music passively. Amazon Music can play to these habits to differentiate itself from other streaming services, becoming a home for the more casual music listener.

Artists and managers: Help shape the future of artist services

Kriss Thakrar

7 Nov 2022

Independent artists Artists direct Music

It has arguably never been harder for artists to break through on social media, streaming, and in the real world. We repeatedly hear how artists and their teams are overextended, burned out and overwhelmed by the demands of the modern music industry.

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Cover image for State of the music creator economy

State of the music creator economy
Post-lockdown growth

Mark Mulligan, Kriss Thakrar and Tatiana Cirisano

30 Sep 2022

Apple Spotify live

The Covid pandemic created a unique catalyst for the music creator economy. More time on hands and more cash in pockets gave novices and veterans alike the opportunity to spend both more time and money making music. Though the pandemic was a peak, it also marked the start of a new era for the music creator economy across every one of its aspects, f...

Cover image for Re-creating the creator economy

Re-creating the creator economy

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Srishti Das, Kriss Thakrar, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano, Annie Langston and Richard Broadhurst

18 Aug 2022

Apple Spotify YouTube

Streaming first democratised the means of consumption, then distribution, and now production. Though the promise of the long tail may not have materialised quite as expected, long-tail and mid-tail creators are now a central component of the digital-entertainment economy.

TikTok Music: Here is what it would mean for you

Kriss Thakrar

2 Aug 2022

TikTok Music streaming creator tools

TikTok has filed a US trademark for TikTok Music , building speculation on whether the platform is gearing up to launch a streaming service. It already has the tools at its disposal with Resso, its streaming service for emerging markets.

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