Mark Mulligan

The paradox of small

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

18 Jun 2021

When the history books are written about our current times, the rise of creator culture will likely go down as one of the most impactful paradigm shifts. It is a dynamic that extends far beyond music,…

We’re Hiring (again)

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

11 Jun 2021

The pandemic rewrote the rules of digital entertainment, creating new opportunities and threats at an unprecedented rate while also intensifying competition for consumer attention. Never before has the…

The productisation of music rights

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

4 Jun 2021

News that New York-based Pershing Square Tontine Holdings is planning to acquire 10% of UMG is the latest in a wave of financial transactions in the music rights space. Alongside this, Believe’s impending…

Music and podcasts are competing for the same time

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

28 May 2021

The pandemic changed media consumption. Consumers acquired an extra 12% of entertainment time and though everything was up, some categories grew much faster than others. One of the biggest gainers…

Spotify Q1 2021 earnings
Shifting headwinds

Cover image for Spotify Q1 2021 earnings

Report by Mark Mulligan

27 May 2021

£3,000.00

The first quarter of the year is usually a slow one for Spotify, but Q1 2021 saw a few metrics slowing more than in previous years. There were lots of solid performance metrics in Spotify’s results…

Live streamed concert demand
Ready for prime time

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Report by Mark Mulligan, Karol Severin and Kriss Thakrar

21 May 2021

£3,000.00

Virtual concerts went from zero to a hundred at an unprecedented rate during the pandemic-shaped 2020, and the momentum carried through to 2021. But if lockdown years are like dog years, then so too…

Hi-Res audio: It’s all about a maturing market

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

21 May 2021

Apple and Amazon made a splash this week by integrating Hi-Res Dolby Atmos audio into the basic tiers of their streaming services . The timing, i.e. just after Spotify started increasing prices, is –…

Podcast audiences
Competing for attention

Report by Mark Mulligan

20 May 2021

£3,000.00

2020 was a big year for podcasts, with increased investment, M&A activity and industry moves. Audiences grew too, but still lag behind in hype and expectation, and a portion of this growth has come…

Growth drivers – what comes after streaming

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

7 May 2021

The pandemic-defined 2020 was an outlier year across digital entertainment, with the extra 12% of time consumers spent with entertainment boosting everything, including music. One of the effects was…

Spotify pushes prices up, but do not expect dramatic effects

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

27 Apr 2021

Spotify finally announced a significant price increase, raising prices in the UK and some of Europe, with the US set to follow suit. The increases affect Family, Duo and Student plans. The fact that streaming…

Creator culture
The song becomes the feed

Report by Mark Mulligan and Kriss Thakrar

26 Apr 2021

£3,000.00

The creator tools marketplace is creating a revolution in the culture and business of music. The third decade of the millennium represents the opening of a new chapter for the music business, with the…

Rebalancing the Song Economy

Report by Mark Mulligan and Keith Jopling

16 Apr 2021

Free Report

Introduction – Rebalancing the song economy After half a decade of streaming-driven growth the global music business hit a speed bump in the shape of the COVID-19 pandemic. Live music stopped in an instant,…

The music industry’s centre of gravity is shifting

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

16 Apr 2021

Regular readers will know that MIDiA has been analysing the creator tool space for some time now and building the case for why the changes that are taking place will be transformational not just for the…

Music & Gaming
A new way to play

Report by Mark Mulligan, Karol Severin and Keith Jopling

13 Apr 2021

Free Report

In today’s music business, the consumer boom is rapidly leading to a creator bust. For the music industry to untangle itself from this dysfunctional loop, it needs to find new ways of monetizing fandom,…

Assessing the streaming opportunity: You’re doing it wrong

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

9 Apr 2021

Buoyed by lockdown, streaming enjoyed another strong year in 2020, up 17.1% on 2019 according to MIDiA’s recorded music market shares report . But the revenue slowdown will come in 2021, driven by…

Creator tools platforms could become social networks

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

31 Mar 2021

With all the growing interest and investment in creator tools companies, music production platform Bandlab hitting 30 million users points to a longer-term future for the space – one in which the boundaries…

IFPI confirms global recorded music revenue growth

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

23 Mar 2021

Last week MIDiA reported that recorded music revenues grew by 7% in 2020. Today the IFPI confirmed that figure, reporting 7.4% growth. (Similarly, the IFPI reported 19.9% growth for streaming, MIDiA…

Recorded music revenues hit $23.1 billion in 2020, with artists direct the winners – again

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

15 Mar 2021

The global pandemic caused widespread disruption to the music business, in particular decimating the live business and impacting publisher public performance royalties. Although the recorded music business…

Entertainment fandom
Monetise fandom, not attention

Report by Mark Mulligan

12 Mar 2021

£3,000.00

In the attention economy, entertainment consumption is intertwined and competition straddles formats and genres. The same applies to fandom. Entertainment fans are fans of not just multiple subgenres…

Recorded music market 2020
Pandemic-era growth

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Report by Mark Mulligan

11 Mar 2021

£7,000.00

The global pandemic turned the music industry upside down. While live was decimated throughout 2020, after an initial downturn, the recorded music market returned to growth and finished the year with…