Mark Mulligan

Mark Mulligan is a music analyst and the founder at MIDiA Research. He is a long-term tech analyst and a leading digital thinker with more than 20 years of experience, working with leading global music, entertainment, and tech companies. At MIDiA, Mark focuses on the streaming and creator economies, as well as music business trends and market metrics such as forecasts and market shares.

State of the music creator economy
The consumer era

Mark Mulligan

December 2023

Product Strategy

The pandemic triggered a surge in the music creator economy, which brought with it an influx of external interest and investment. 2022 saw growth moderate, but the long-term outlook is not only strong,...

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Patchwork / Fortnite

Case Study

Mark Mulligan and Kriss Thakrar

December 2023

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Spotify re-positions two-tier licensing (we are getting closer, and it can be even better)

Mark Mulligan

24 Nov 2023

Two tier licensing

Streaming Royalties

Streaming

Spotify released a blog post laying out how it wants the world to understand its new two-tier royalty system. The positioning is clear, leading with the statement that it will drive “an additional $1...

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Why artist subscriptions are the perfect partner to two-tier licensing

Mark Mulligan

2 Nov 2023

Streaming

Spotify

Podcasts

With two-tier licensing now a thing , it is time to focus the discussion on how to add new components to the DSP ecosystem that will help long-tail artists continue to thrive in this brave new world. There...

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Solid progress
German music consumer user profile

Mark Mulligan

October 2023

Audience Insight

This report presents MIDiA consumer data for key music behaviours of German consumers All data is for Germany except when ‘all country average’ is referred to. This is the weighted average of all countries...

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Two-tier licensing is about to become a reality

Mark Mulligan

24 Oct 2023

Streaming

Spotify

Streaming Royalties

With the dust still far from settled on the UMG / Deezer streaming royalty proposal, something even bigger is coming: Spotify is turning the concept into reality in Q1 2024. The behind-the-scenes conversations...

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Music has become a ‘just-in-time’ economy

Mark Mulligan

16 Oct 2023

Just in time

supply chains

Music creators

The modern day economy is built upon ‘just-in-time’ supply chains. This framework has enabled the benefits of consumerism that we have come to enjoy, such as next day delivery, out of season foods...

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Spotify’s audiobooks move is another brick in the audio wall

Mark Mulligan

4 Oct 2023

Audiobooks

Spotify

Podcasts

Streaming has come a long way since its days as a pure music service for super fans. Spotify’s announcement that it is making 15 monthly audiobook hours available to premium subscribers is simply the...

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Latent potential
Japan music consumer user profile

Mark Mulligan and Tatiana Cirisano

September 2023

Music streaming

Audience Insight

This report presents MIDiA consumer data for key music behaviours of Japan’s consumers. The data covered includes streaming app usage, social app usage, key audio formats (radio, streaming, and podcasts),...

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Streaming’s problems will not be fixed by royalties alone

Mark Mulligan

15 Sep 2023

Streaming Music

Music streaming

Streaming Royalties

UMG and Deezer’s artist-centric royalty proposal got the amount of attention both parties probably wanted , if not necessarily the type of attention they were after. However, the intent was to kick start...

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How to make artist centric artist centric

Mark Mulligan

6 Sep 2023

Streaming Royalties

Music streaming

Music Royalties

Deezer and UMG announced a major (in both senses of the word) shake up of streaming music royalties. This is arguably the biggest streaming market development in years, as it will set the tone for market-wide...

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AI, music rights, and known unknowns

Mark Mulligan

31 Aug 2023

AI

Music AI

artificial intelligence

The music industry is approaching a tipping point, with the building blocks of what will be the post-streaming era beginning to fall into place.The streaming era will make way for something new. Innovation,...

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Artist subscriptions are the superfan opportunity

Mark Mulligan, Kriss Thakrar and Tatiana Cirisano

August 2023

Business Strategy

Streaming is at a tipping point. Revenue growth slowed to 6.0% in 2022, labels want new royalty systems, consumption is commodified, TikTok is diluting cultural capital, creators are questioning effort...

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Dance Cry Dance Break innovates subscriptions with artist storytelling

Case Study

Mark Mulligan, Kriss Thakrar and Tatiana Cirisano

August 2023

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Superfans may not be super enough

Mark Mulligan

4 Aug 2023

Fandom

monetizing fandom

Superfans

There has been a lot of talk recently of music superfans and how they may be the shining light of the industry’s future. Little surprise, given how record labels are trying to establish superfans as...

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Making sense of global music forecasts

Mark Mulligan

20 Jul 2023

music forecasts

streaming music forecasts

streamign music revenues

MIDiA has been building global music forecasts for nearly a decade now, and I personally have been building them for nearly two decades. Throughout those years there have been many calls for the numbers...

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MIDiA Research 2023-2030 global music forecasts
Speed bump

Mark Mulligan

June 2023

Business Strategy

2022 was a tumultuous year for the global economy, with factors such as high rates of inflation, rising interest rates, a growing cost-of-living crisis, post-Covid supply chain issues, and the Russo-Ukrainian...

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The music industry’s tipping point is Right Here, Right Now

Mark Mulligan

29 Jun 2023

AI

virtual artists

streaming remuneration

Streaming is buckling under its own weight. The economics and structure that served it well in its first decade are not the ones that will get it through the next ten years. You might say that streaming...

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Apple’s Vision Pro is about a better today rather than a shinier tomorrow

Mark Mulligan

6 Jun 2023

Media and Marketing

Business Strategy

Apple’s long anticipated VR move finally saw daylight in the shape of Vision Pro . What is particularly interesting about the launch and its subsequent coverage is that the conversation is more about...

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Data briefing
South Korea music market

Mark Mulligan

June 2023

Business Strategy

This report presents key music market metrics for South Korea. All data is domestic SouthKorean data unless otherwise stated below. The datasets leveraged for this report include: Music company financials...

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