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.

We’re hiring!

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Mark Mulligan
MIDiA Research is hiring for a consultant to join our fast growing consulting division. Want to be a part of exciting strategic projects, helping some of the world’s biggest entertainment companies solve market shaping projects? Then send us your CV! More details on the role and how to apply here.
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Among Us: What brands can learn from gamer communities

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Hanna Kahlert
Last Tuesday, 27 October, a new record was set for the third-largest games stream in Twitch history , with an audience of between 300,000 and 400,000 over three and a half hours. It was not driven by a big-name gamer or high-profile tournament, however – but by Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (AOC), the young US senator, urging people to vote by taking to the wildly popular game.
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PS5 and Travis Scott partnership illustrate PlayStation’s/Sony’s cross-entertainment future

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Karol Severin
ps5
PlayStation5
Travis scott
Over the last year we have written a number of times that Sony’s future is cross-entertainment , while Xbox’s future is cross platform . This stems from their respective strengths and weaknesses. Sony would find it, at best, incredibly challenging to compete with Microsoft on cloud, cross-platform, or the depth of its pockets.
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Spotify Q3 2020: What price growth?

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Mark Mulligan
Spotify reported another strong quarter in Q3 2020, with subscriber growth up 27% year-on-year (YoY) and ad-supported user growth up 21%. Spotify continues to set the pace for the global streaming market and has demonstrated that streaming has proven resilient to lockdown.
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Post-Pandemic Programming

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Mark Mulligan
COVID-19 caused dislocation and disruption to the global entertainment business. Now, the recession and the prospect of further pandemic peaks create an unprecedented outlook for entertainment companies.
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How YouTube can be a music industry growth driver

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Mark Mulligan
In the coming weeks MIDiA will be presenting the third edition of its biannual YouTube music report, State of the YouTube Music Economy 3.0: End of the Beginning. This is a major report that presents the definitive traits of the YouTube music economy, including revenues, royalty payments, streams, subscribers, user behaviour and user demographics.
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Podcasts Q2 2020: Spotify takes an early lead

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Mark Mulligan
MIDiA has just published its latest Podcast report, P odcasts Q2 2020: Spotify Takes an Early Lead . In it we present data from MIDiA’s quarterly survey that presents a comprehensive view of podcast user behaviour, who podcast listeners are, how it stacks up against radio and music streaming listening and which platforms listeners are going to for their podcasts.
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Live streaming and the role of music artist empowerment in the digital era

Cover image for Live streaming and the role of music artist empowerment in the digital era
Hanna Kahlert
Music streaming
live streaming
coronavirus
As the coronavirus lockdowns have forced venues to close and people indoors, artists have been unevenly impacted across the music industry. While many bigger studios were forced to cease operations, and some artists unable to release or record music – often relying on previous recordings they could still send to post-production – smaller independent artists took advantage of being home-bound.
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More consumers intend to buy PS5 than Xbox Series X, but both companies will be content with their trajectory

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Karol Severin
Xbox
PlayStation
games consoles
With both PS5 and Xbox Series X having sold out their pre-order stock, the winter holiday race is heating up. Following Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax Media, we wrote that the acquisition is unlikely to have a short-term impact on console sales, and rather play a larger role in the conversion of existing and new users to Game Pass.
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HomePod Mini: Apple’s pandemic-era product

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Mark Mulligan
Music
Apple’s Tuesday product announcement showcased its 5G iPhones, but also included the launch of the new $99 HomePod Mini. Though it might have looked like a supporting act for the launch, its strategic importance should not be underestimated – especially in the context of how Apple competes with Amazon, the company that is arguably becoming Apple’s most important competitor among the Western Tech Majors (Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook).
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