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 Changing Streaming Sports Landscape Is A Pre-Cursor For What Is To Come

Alistair Taylor
The sports landscape fundamentally changed when tech major Amazon won the exclusive rights to package F in the landmark English Premier League (EPL) rights deal in June. The acquisition of key rights previously held by traditional TV networks represents the culmination of a succession of market shifts: Declining traditional broadcast sports viewingAn ageing TV sports audienceTransition of sports consumption to online and mobile,The emergence of SVOD sports services In light of this downturn and a fall in the consumption of sports content on traditional linear TV, moves are being made into the subscription video on demand (SVOD) space, with Disney’s new direct-to-consumer flagship sports SVOD service ESPN+ leading the charge.
min read
Read more …

Are Record Labels Facing an A&R Crisis?

Mark Mulligan
A succession of conversations with record labels over the last couple of months has made me start to ponder whether we are approaching a tipping point in streaming era A&R. At the heart of the conversations is whether the growing role of playlists and the increased use of streaming analytics is making label A&R strategy proactive or reactive? Is what people are listening to shaped by the labels or the streaming service? To subvert Paul Weller’s 1980s Jam lyrics: Does the public get what the public wants or does the public want what the public gets? An old dynamic reinvented Radio used to be the main way in which audiences were essentially told what to listen to.
min read
Read more …

What Netflix’s Missing $9 Billion Tells Us About Spotify’s Business Model

Mark Mulligan
On Monday (July 16th), Netflix’s quarterly earnings missed targets, resulting in$9.1 billion being wiped off its market capitalisation due to twitchy investors jumping ship . To be clear, Netflix had a strong quarter, continuing to grow strongly in both the US – a much more saturated market for video subscriptions than for music – and internationally.
min read
Read more …

Streaming and the News Cycle: The Posthumous Success of XXXTentacion

Zach Fuller
Three weeks after his death and XXXTentacion remains a strong presence within the higher echelonsof the Billboard chart in the US. The late Florida rapper is far from the first artist to enjoy posthumous success and, although his death plays into the well-trodden narrative of the talented artists gone before they had the chance to release greater work, the velocity of his music’s commercial ascent is part of a wider trend.
min read
Read more …