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Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

ARC Raiders is disrupting the games industry: What developers can learn from its success

Brandon Sutton

27 Nov 2025

Business Strategy Social Gaming

ARC Raiders has quickly become one of 2025’s standout releases. Developed by Embark Studios, founded by former EA-owned studio DICE leaders, the game has quickly exceeded commercial and critical expectations for smaller developers.

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Valve announces new Steam Hardware: What the launch means for gaming

Brandon Sutton

21 Nov 2025

Business Strategy Gaming Games

In true Valve fashion, the company unveiled a surprise suite of new devices aimed at consumers last week – consisting of a PC-console hybrid, a new virtual reality headset, and a controller (via Valve ).

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The future of record labels: Shifting sands

Tatiana Cirisano

20 Nov 2025

Business Strategy Music streaming Music

The question of whether artists still need record labels never seems to fade from industry discussion. It has invariably surfaced in conference panels, think pieces, and behind-closed-doors conversations for years.

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Why ignoring creator wellbeing is a financial risk for the creator economy

Ben Woods

20 Nov 2025

Audience Insight Video Creators

Each day, millions of hours of video content are uploaded onto social video platforms. The stream of creative output is so vast that it can be easy to forget that behind each one of these videos there is often a creator putting in a significant amount of work.

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(di)Vine is back: Is there space for another short-form video app?

Hanna Kahlert

19 Nov 2025

Business Strategy Video Creators

Long before we had TikTok, Reels, or Shorts, we had Vine. An app arguably well before its time, the original short-form platform for 6-second video clips was a huge moment for millennial culture. Compilations of archived content still rack up millions of views on YouTube, indicating its longevity, p...

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The audio drama renaissance: The curious case of Sherlock & Co.

Laura Fisher

14 Nov 2025

Product Strategy Podcasts Entertainment

The audio drama, a format once consigned to history, is enjoying a remarkable revival. At its epicentre is a compelling case study in modern audience engagement: Goalhanger’s Sherlock & Co . a narrative podcast now approaching one million monthly downloads.

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Amazon winding down New World may signal the end of Western-developed MMORPGs

Brandon Sutton

13 Nov 2025

Business Strategy Amazon Gaming

Amazon’s announcement that it will wind down support for its flagship title, New World , raises major questions about the future of Western-developed Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) and about Amazon’s own role in the gaming industry (via Amazon Game Studios ).

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AI music creators: music’s superfans

Mark Mulligan

13 Nov 2025

Audience Insight Fandom Creators

Not a week seems to go by without some big news in the world of music AI. Hot on the heels of UMG’s Udio deal , GEMA just secured a favourable ruling against OpenAI (via Reuters ). Over the course of the year, however, court rulings have fallen roughly evenly for media companies and AI companies, ...

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Accessing the internet: How AI will reshape digital discovery, consumption, and ad revenues

Hanna Kahlert

12 Nov 2025

Cultural trends Social Digital

In last week’s blog, I wrote about whether AI is the new “world wide web”. Having a www-dot address was once a path towards making millions. With the benefit of hindsight, this oversimplification seems absurd.

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Online radio and community building: A closer look at NTS’ Don’t Assume Day

Laura Fisher

6 Nov 2025

Business Strategy Streaming Music

By any measure, streaming defines today’s music landscape. It’s a period in which digital platforms determine how audiences access, discover, and share music. Yet as algorithmic playlists saturate the experience, a counter current has emerged: listeners are seeking context and connection, not ju...

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Is AI the new “world wide web”?

Hanna Kahlert

5 Nov 2025

Cultural trends AI dot com

Back in the days of the dot-com era, anything online could become a hype-driven investment. The big losses when the bubble burst are almost comical with the benefit of hindsight. Pets.com burned through millions of investor capital and collapsed a year after its IPO.

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Brands and social TV: The next big entertainment power move

Ben Woods

5 Nov 2025

Business Strategy Audience Insight Video

One question is often asked when traditional entertainment companies start exploring a social-first strategy: how do we make it pay? It’s a valid line of inquiry that does not come with a neat answer.

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The end of the Console Wars? What Xbox’s shift means for the future of gaming

Brandon Sutton

30 Oct 2025

Business Strategy Gaming Games

With the remake of Halo: Combat Evolved , once the definitive Xbox exclusive, coming to PlayStation 5 in 2026, many are proclaiming that the ‘console wars’ may finally be over. For decades, these ‘console wars’ – a colloquialism for competition among major gaming platforms – were defined...

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The future of trust in media: Why transparency is key

Laura Fisher

29 Oct 2025

Content Media audience

What is the future of trust in media? It feels like a multi-million-pound question. A recent webinar by The Media Leader explored the topic, which then prompted me to crystallise some of my own thoughts on the subject.

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The music industry remains divided on generative AI. Where will that leave us?

Olivia Jones

27 Oct 2025

Product Strategy Music Music creators

The past year has seen music industry discourse around generative AI shift from disruption to strategy. Yet the strategies being employed vary widely, and there is no one “industry perspective” on how to approach it.

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The new gaming economy: Why gamers are buying less but playing more

Brandon Sutton

23 Oct 2025

Audience Insight Consumer behaviour Gaming

A new reality is emerging in the gaming economy that is being obscured by projections of growth, and its long-term effects are only beginning to be felt. Despite more money being spent on games than ever before, most consumers are spending less on a smaller number of games.

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Beyond listening: What podcast libraries can tell us about consumer identity

Laura Fisher

22 Oct 2025

Audience Insight Podcasts Consumer behaviour

Podcast libraries have evolved beyond a simple log of listening habits, becoming a telling indicator of personal identity. Increasingly, the most revealing source of who someone is may not be their social media feed or viewing history, but the podcasts they choose to follow.

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How social’s reach is undermining its culture

Hanna Kahlert

21 Oct 2025

Cultural trends Fandom Content

Despite all the promise of digital interconnectivity, the internet has become more isolated than ever. The major platforms are now so focused on entertainment-style content that the original concept of a ‘social’ network has become diluted – seeing a post from a friend has now become a rarity.

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Why digital natives and data science are key to embracing the creator economy

Ben Woods

17 Oct 2025

Cultural trends Creators Creator economy

Social platforms and the creator economy have been re-writing the rules of audience engagement for some time now. Together, they have accelerated the fragmentation of entertainment and made niche the new mainstream.

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Saudi Arabia’s $55 billion EA acquisition: What it means for gaming and global investment

Brandon Sutton

16 Oct 2025

Video Entertainment Gaming

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) will purchase Electronic Arts (EA), alongside private equity firms Silver Lake and Affinity Partners – a move which sent shockwaves through both the gaming and investment worlds (via Electronic Arts ).

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