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.

Songwriters Aren’t Getting Paid Enough and Here’s Why

Mark Mulligan
cmos
Drake
Google
Music Business Worldwide recently ran a story on how Apple has proposed a standard streaming rate for songwriters, with Google and Spotify apparently resistant. Of course, Apple can afford to run Apple Music at a loss and has a strategic imperative for making it more difficult for Spotify to be profitable, so do not assume that Apple’s intentions here are wholly altruistic.
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Netflix’s Binge-Watching Problem

Tim Mulligan
Binge-watching
Neflix
Video
Netflix has announced that it is going to start releasing new episodes of The Great British Bake Off and reality series Rhythm + Flow on a weekly basis . For a company which de-facto created the phenomenon of binge-viewing, this decision brings it more into line with current market trends in streaming where scheduled releases for big-budget originals with significant marketing clout are increasingly becoming the norm.
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How Technology Is Radically Reshaping Politics

Mark Mulligan
alternative facts
Boris Johnson
brexit
As I write this, the UK is in the midst of a potential constitutional crisis following the UK government’s proposed changes to political norms in order to push through Brexit. In some ways this is what you get when a country only has a part-written constitution and never quite got round to phasing out archaic tools such as proroguing parliament (a monarchical prerogative that was used by medieval Plantagenet kings such as Edward I and Edward II in the 13thand 14thcenturies).
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Sports Fans Consumer Trends 2019

Hanna Kahlert
Fans
Marketing
Media
This post features excerpts from MIDiA’s recently published Sports and Marketing and Brands report, Sports Fans Consumer Trends 2019 by Alistair Taylor . Sports-centric subscription video on demand (SVOD) services have largely struggled to entice subscribers, based on their current value propositions which consist mainly of niche rights.
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Yao Ming 2.0: NBA & House of Mouse – Who Needs Who More?

Alistair Taylor
Media and Marketing
Disney’s Q2 quarterly results illustrate the growing importance of its direct to consumer (D2C) streaming offering. With the launch of Disney+ coming up on November 12 , Disney looks set to take on streaming incumbent Netflix both domestically and internationally by presenting a unique opportunity to advance its stake as the go-to destination for consuming content.
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Summer Report Highlights

Cover image for Summer Report Highlights
Hanna Kahlert
We thought summer was over. Then it came back. Now (maybe) it's gone again. Impossible to predict how many more heat waves there will be before Autumn descends – but we're prepared for anything, anyway.
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Anyone Order Latency? Mediaset Falls at the First Hurdle

Alistair Taylor
Strategy
telco
Media and Marketing
Mediaset’s newly launched Spanish subscription video on demand (SVOD) service, MiTele Plus, has suffered a succession of technical issues during the debut stream of its domestic La Liga coverage. Latency issues and Smart TV distribution plagued the streaming services broadcast, with complaints galore of transmission issues and reported delays of up to five minutes from disgruntled subscribers.
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Why Spotify and Netflix Need to Worry About a Global Recession

Mark Mulligan
economic downturn
entertainment spend
global recession
A growing body of economists is becoming increasingly convinced that a global recession is edging closer. The last time we experienced a global economic downturn was the 2008 credit crunch. Although the coming recession will likely be a bigger shock to the global economy, it nonetheless gives us a baseline for what happens to consumer spending habits.
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What Happens When Tencent Owns 10% of UMG?

Zach Fuller
Innovation
Media
umg
To sound like a broken record, things are about to get difficult for Spotify. To the company’s credit, since its launch a decade ago rumours of its demise have always been greatly exaggerated, with the company regularly proving sceptics wrong through its ability to consistently retain the largest market share of the music streaming industry despite competing against the deep pockets of its tech major rivals.
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