Blog: attention recession

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.

Misaligned incentives make the music business a zero-sum game

Cover image for Misaligned incentives make the music business a zero-sum game

Tatiana Cirisano

17 Aug 2023

streaming services

“Pop Stars Aren’t Popping Like They Used To”, Billboard ’s Elias Leight writes in a recent article, in which record label executives stress over the struggle to break new artists. The article (or at least, the headline) stirred up a storm on Twitter — ahem, X — last week, where many users took the opportunity to slam record labels’ misguided focus on virality.

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Social media platforms are now content platforms (and not all of them are competing the same way)

Cover image for Social media platforms are now content platforms (and not all of them are competing the same way)

Hanna Kahlert

14 Sep 2022

As we move into an autumn that is haunted by the cost-of-living crisis, entertainment propositions are being forced to increasingly compete for what is left of the pandemic-driven entertainment boom of attention and spend.

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Welcome to the era of attention inflation

Cover image for Welcome to the era of attention inflation

Perry Gresham

2 Sep 2022

attention inflation

attention recession

The covid pandemic and associated lockdown dynamic allowed entertainment consumption to reach new heights amongst a temporary surplus of free time. However, after restrictions eased, consumers found the constraints on their newfound time tighten, and had to make sacrifices, often preferring to return to real life activities at the expense of digital entertainment.

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This is not a blip

Cover image for This is not a blip

Mark Mulligan

26 Aug 2022

attention recession

recession impact

When change happens it often takes the perspective of looking back years, or even decades, later to appreciate just how meaningful that change was. Other times, it happens so fast that it can be difficult to appreciate its magnitude because people become desensitised to the perpetual torrent of bad news.

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If the cultural ‘in’ cycle is speeding up, what will sustain entertainment?

Cover image for If the cultural ‘in’ cycle is speeding up, what will sustain entertainment?

Hanna Kahlert

19 Aug 2022

Cultural trends

attention recession

When the first season of Stranger Things entered the zeitgeist in 2016, its set, soundtrack, and all-around vibes fit perfectly with the 80’s cultural revival of the time. Americana ‘hipster’ was out, and retro was in; neon clothes took over the streets and House beats dominated the airwaves.

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Music is not a level playing field — it is a field of all levels

Cover image for Music is not a level playing field — it is a field of all levels

Tatiana Cirisano

18 Aug 2022

Music streaming

fragmented fandom

We have heard it (and said it) many times before: the music industry has never been as competitive as it is today. But the challenge is not just that today’s landscape is ultra-competitive, it is also that new artists chasing success are competing against artists who came up before the landscape became so fragmented , as well as the entire history of music — not just that which is new.

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Beyoncé raises the question: what does commercial success mean in 2022?

Cover image for Beyoncé raises the question: what does commercial success mean in 2022?

Tatiana Cirisano

4 Aug 2022

monetizing fandom

fragmented fandom

Consumer behaviour

It is hard to believe that six years have elapsed between Beyoncé’s last solo album, Lemonade , and her newest, Renaissance . So much has changed in those six years about how listeners consume music, how fandoms organise, and what is competing for our attention.

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If the future of entertainment is niche, how does the Meta approach fit in?

Cover image for If the future of entertainment is niche, how does the Meta approach fit in?

Hanna Kahlert

3 Aug 2022

The last week has undoubtedly been a hectic one for the developers of Instagram, which recently began trialling a TikTok-esque, video-first focus on its app to some users. The update was not well received, with Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian themselves coming out and sharing the plea to “make Instagram Instagram again”.

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The attention recession meets the economic recession

Cover image for The attention recession meets the economic recession

Mark Mulligan

22 Jul 2022

attention recession

cost-of-living crisis

We are living in uncertain times. The cost-of-living crisis is hitting consumers’ pockets, driven by rising fuel and food prices. The effects of the pandemic are still present, the global economy may be entering a recession, and the geo-political landscape is being increasingly shaped by conflict.

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More M&A activity could shift power from games companies closer to big tech

Cover image for More M&A activity could shift power from games companies closer to big tech

Richard Broadhurst

22 Jul 2022

attention recession

The first half of 2022 revealed how fragile the digital economy can be. The gaming industry, after a bullish run over the course of the pandemic, was not exempt from the blend of economic uncertainty, attention recession, and behavioural shifts.

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A counterculture music industry is emerging — welcome to the platform era

Cover image for A counterculture music industry is emerging — welcome to the platform era

Tatiana Cirisano

5 Jul 2022

What do TikTok’s distribution tool , Universal Music Group’s samples marketplace , and Snoop Dogg’s virtual marijuana have in common? On the surface, not much. But beneath, these news headlines are just three more recent reflections of what MIDiA has identified as a new iteration of the music business.

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Reflections on the music industry at NFT.NYC

Cover image for Reflections on the music industry at NFT.NYC

Tatiana Cirisano

23 Jun 2022

At the fourth annual NFT.NYC conference in New York, the sentiment fell somewhere between faint excitement and “so this is still a thing, right?” Unlike this time last year, when the music industry was hooked on crypto, this year’s event arrives at a time when the crypto market, like much of the economy, is in decline.

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Netflix could build a fandom platform with a potential bid for Formula One broadcast rights

Cover image for Netflix could build a fandom platform with a potential bid for Formula One broadcast rights

Srishti Das

10 Jun 2022

attention recession

MIDiA predicted the arrival of the attention recession in February 2021, stating that the lockdown-driven increased demand for entertainment would not continue with in real life (IRL) making a comeback.

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Retention and engagement are both key to streaming resilience in 2022

Cover image for Retention and engagement are both key to streaming resilience in 2022

Tim Mulligan

7 Jun 2022

attention recession

The great video subscriber gains made between the D2C big bang era of 2019 and 2021, and the engagement gains of the Covid-19 pandemic, are being eclipsed by the increasing pressures of the attention economy and the cost of living crisis.

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Snap is the latest victim of the attention recession

Cover image for Snap is the latest victim of the attention recession

Richard Broadhurst

30 May 2022

attention recession

Snap is the latest victim of the attention recession Snap is among the many companies suffering headwinds in the current macroeconomic environment. This past week, following a profit warning memo, sent by founder Evan Spiegel, shares of the California-based company lost 41% in the space of a single trading session.

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The record label addiction to virality is about the attention recession, too

Cover image for The record label addiction to virality is about the attention recession, too

Tatiana Cirisano

26 May 2022

Content Creators

Creator economy

In a painfully-of-the-moment twist of irony, Halsey went viral on TikTok this week for speaking out about the pressure to do just that. “Basically I have a song that I love that I wanna release ASAP, but … my record company is saying that I can’t release it unless they can fake a viral moment on TikTok,” they said .

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The Attention Recession: How inflation and the pandemic are reshaping entertainment

Cover image for The Attention Recession: How inflation and the pandemic are reshaping entertainment

Mark Mulligan

25 May 2022

attention recession

Attention economy

Media and Marketing

Netflix and Meta were the canaries in the proverbial mine for the attention recession and it is looking increasingly likely that difficult times lie ahead. If the attention crunch was not enough on its own, it has been compounded by the perfect storm of headwinds: the cost of living crisis, rising interest rates, energy and global grain supply constraints, and the Russo-Ukrainian war.

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Why the attention and macro economy lights are flashing for subscription video

Cover image for Why the attention and macro economy lights are flashing for subscription video

Tim Mulligan

24 May 2022

attention recession

subscription video on demand

cost of living impacts

Recessions are all about timing. What can make great sense for a consumer and an ambitious business in a time of plenty can flip to being perceived as expensive and profligate in a time of financial uncertainty.

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Welcome to the great streaming reset

Cover image for Welcome to the great streaming reset

Tim Mulligan

10 May 2022

attention recession

Connected TV World Summit

Netflix’s Q1 subscriber loss highlighted the risks facing subscription video services as the expansionary wave of streaming sign ups, unleashed by 15 years of subscription video on demand (SVOD), moves into the consolidation era of 2022.

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Why games could be the winning entertainment sector as disposable income tightens

Cover image for Why games could be the winning entertainment sector as disposable income tightens

Karol Severin

28 Apr 2022

attention recession

Inflation, as well as macroeconomic and geopolitical developments (from Brexit, through chasing Covid-induced debt, right up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine) will likely drive disposable income (and therefore entertainment spending) down in the near future.

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