Blog: coronavirus

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.

Staggered vaccine rollouts will prime entertainment for (further, faster) innovation

Cover image for Staggered vaccine rollouts will prime entertainment for (further, faster) innovation
Hanna Kahlert
The ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ of COVID-19 is theoretically drawing closer. Yet, as we blogged about last week , staggered vaccine rollouts mean that the ‘new normal’ will begin for some consumers sooner than others – painting a year-ahead picture of a global marketplace as different and difficult to predict as from this time last year.
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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
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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Return of the fan: COVID-19 thwarts fan pilot sporting events amid regional spikes in cases

Cover image for Return of the fan: COVID-19 thwarts fan pilot sporting events amid regional spikes in cases
Alistair Taylor
Just when sports fans thought it was safe to go back into the water, COVID reared its ugly head once more. UK fan pilot sporting events were all set to start allowing fans back into arenas and attend live events, but government restrictions have now been re-imposed to limit the spread of coronavirus, crippling any chances of normality resuming in the near-term.
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Lockdown Listening and the Independent Artist

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Mark Mulligan
After an initial lockdown lull, streaming levels are – on the surface – beginning to normalise. Underlying the macro-level normalisation, ‘lockdown listening’ is in fact resulting in dramatic shifts in listening behaviour, from using the commute time for activities other than listening to music, through using smart devices to listen at home to spending more time on YouTube.
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Film Studios Pause Production; Is This the New Era of Anime?

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Hanna Kahlert
With national lockdowns becoming the norm and the majority of nonessential workers being sent to work remotely, the video industry is set for some interesting changes over the next few months. As recently published in MIDiA Research’s report, COVID-19 | Entertainment and Leisure Industry Impact Assessment (a free, redacted version available for download here ), the new landscape will be a mixed bag for video content.
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Disney+ Launches in the UK on the First Day of a National Lockdown

Tim Mulligan
The last two weeks have been dramatic for public companies in the wake of extreme investor reactions to the still unknown long-term economic impacts of the global coronavirus pandemic. However, media major Disney is in the fortunate position of launching its family-centric Disney+ streaming service in the UK on the first day of a UK national lockdown, with kids now being home-schooled and parents nervous about their financial futures particularly disposed towards the competitive pricing deals being offered for year-long subscription discounts.
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