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.

The Digital Advertising Contest Between Google And Facebook Is Intensifying

Zach Fuller
Brace yourselves for a stats-centric blog. Having gone through this week’s annual reports from big tech, there have been some important developments in the digital advertising space. These of course hold significant implications for content monetisation, as whilst subscriptions remain the core driver of growth, ad-supported content is a vital component of overall revenue.
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Quick Take: Is Pandora Too Big to Fail for the US Streaming Economy?

Zach Fuller
A quick appraisal of the US music streaming space reveals some surprising distinctions in the market, particularly when compared to global trends. The US Streaming market is disproportionately ad-supported: The United States is still the world’s largest music market, despite its dominance being challenged by Japan’s robust physical market (the country even briefly overtook the US as the world’s largest music market in 2010).
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Netflix Is Now A Truly International Player

Tim Mulligan
In light of MIDiA Research ’s Q4 2017 Brand tracker survey data, which revealed that Netflix penetration in the US has reached 49%, Netflix has to look outside the US for future growth. Why is international growth imperative for Netflix? Although a 6% surge in its international subscribers may appear modest, when overall YoY international subscriber growth rate is taken into account, this increase has been spectacular indeed.
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Walled Gardens: How Does Amazon and Google’s Approach Compare to Apple’s?

Zach Fuller
Having begun to embed itself within popular consciousness throughout 2017, voice control is poised to extend its influence and usher in the latest hardware paradigm shift in tech. What is important to consider is that in these early days of the technology, the charge is being led by two companies with a far less decorated history of delivering hardware: Amazon and Google.
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