Blog: disruption

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.

Hold or twist? The music industry’s innovation dilemma

Cover image for Hold or twist? The music industry’s innovation dilemma

Mark Mulligan

20 Nov 2024

streaming growth

As Clayton Christensen identified in The Innovator’s Dilemma, there are two types of innovation: sustaining innovation and disruptive innovation. Sustaining innovation is what companies do to enhance existing business models, while disruptive innovation is typically driven by new entrants – insurgents looking to make markets by turning established ones upside down.

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Beyond the obvious: Building future-focused strategy

Cover image for Beyond the obvious: Building future-focused strategy

Mark Mulligan

11 Oct 2024

Business Strategy

Business strategy has long been demarcated across sustaining and disruptive innovation. In the digital realm, the latter has had the upper hand, but now, as digital enters a slower growth phase, sustaining innovation is back in favour.

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Bifurcation theory | How today’s music business will become two

Cover image for Bifurcation theory | How today’s music business will become two

Mark Mulligan

18 Apr 2024

Bifurcation theory

future of music

One of things we pride ourselves on at MIDiA is helping the marketplace peer over the horizon with disruptive, forward-looking ideas and vision. We have a long track record of doing this (you can find a list of report links at the bottom of this post).

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The music industry’s tipping point is Right Here, Right Now

Cover image for The music industry’s tipping point is Right Here, Right Now

Mark Mulligan

29 Jun 2023

virtual artists

streaming remuneration

Streaming is buckling under its own weight. The economics and structure that served it well in its first decade are not the ones that will get it through the next ten years. You might say that streaming is going through its ‘start up to scale up’ phase.

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Does Netflix now need to Disney-fy itself?

Cover image for Does Netflix now need to Disney-fy itself?

Tim Mulligan

18 Aug 2021

Netflix Q2 2021

Q2 2021 has brought global streaming hegemon Netflix up against the irresistible D2C force that is Disney+. Netflix’s 1.5 million net subscriber additions in Q2 contrasted heavily with the 12 million net additions added by Disney+ over the same period.

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DAZN financials: Growth reliant on premium domestic rights

Cover image for DAZN financials: Growth reliant on premium domestic rights

Alistair Taylor

14 Sep 2020

DAZN’s 2018 financials highlighted the difficulty of encouraging a transition to consume live sports digitally with its existing portfolio of rights. DAZN has not yet released its 2019 financials, but MIDiA has constructed a robust and accurate subscriber and revenue model for the sport-centric streaming service which will be published in full as part of our DAZN Financials and Subscriber Deep Dive report.

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Have We Reached Peak Tech?

Cover image for Have We Reached Peak Tech?

Mark Mulligan

27 Sep 2019

In last week’s Take Five I highlighted a Vox story which reported that over the last year the number of companies using terms like ‘tech’ or technology’ in their documents is down 12%. This is an early indicator of a much more fundamental concept – we may have already reached peak in the tech sector, the business sector that has driven the fourth industrial revolution.

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Heavyweight Battle for Premium Sporting Rights Dependent on Three Factors

Cover image for Heavyweight Battle for Premium Sporting Rights Dependent on Three Factors

Alistair Taylor

3 Jun 2019

broadcast rights

The sports rights landscape has changed fundamentally with the emergence of streaming subscription video on demand (SVOD) services. Digital and broadcast rights used to be separate deals entirely, but now the lines are blurred, and competition is heating up for exclusive coverage of the most sought-after sporting rights.

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Advertising Week New York: The Dynamic, the Dead and the Dangerous

Georgia Meyer

9 Oct 2018

activist brands

Colin Kaepernick

Notoriously overwhelming, this week’s AWNY ramped activities up even further, expanding the number of stages from 8 to 12. A disorientating amount of content to navigate and a somewhat amusing metaphor for today’s digital consumer.

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Midem 2018 – Definitive Disruption: Streaming Opportunities in Africa

Georgia Meyer

13 Jun 2018

The Africa focus at this year’s Midem began in April, with four local forums in South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Congo. This culminated in a focused set of talks, seminars and a keynote on the main conference stage from Tencent Africa.

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Experience Should Be Everything In 2017

Mark Mulligan

16 Dec 2016

2017 is going to be a big year for streaming. Spotify will likely IPO, paid subscribers will pass the 100 million mark in Q1, playlists will boom. 2017will build upon an upbeat 2016 in which the major labels saw streaming drive total revenue growth.

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A Glimpse Into the Future Of Video Consumption

Mark Mulligan

19 Jul 2015

Something momentous is happening amongst the future generation of Video consumers. According to a report from Miner & Co Studio, 57% of parents surveyed said that their children now prefer to watch video on a handheld device rather than on a Television.

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Facebook Goes Head To Head With YouTube

Tim Mulligan

3 Jul 2015

A lot can happen in the world of online video in a year. In fall 2014 Facebook was reporting 1 billion views per day for it’s video feature. Fast forward to summer 2015 and the world’s preeminent social network now claims 4 billion daily video views.

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Ali Baba's New Video Streaming Service Sheds A Light on Netflix's Global Strategy

Tim Mulligan

17 Jun 2015

On Monday, Alibaba announced during its CEO’s latest US tour that it will launch a new video streaming service in China. The Tmall Box Office (TBO) will go live in July and will include original content in its programming.

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Pinterest Changes The Rules of Online Advertising

Tim Mulligan

21 May 2015

On Tuesday, Pinterest made a significant announcement. The social networking platform which has become the darling of creatives and the general public for its image focused sharing functionality and carefully curated community ethos has decided to embrace video advertising on the site.

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Verizon Seeks To Future-Proof Its Online Video Strategy

Tim Mulligan

14 May 2015

The May 12th decision to purchase AOL is a bold statement of intent by Verizon. Subject to regulatory approval, the $4.4 billion purchase will provide America’s largest Wifi carrier and significant Internet & TV provider with a crucial competitive edge in the emerging battlefield of OTT.

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Why Netflix Is Worried About Sling TV

Tim Mulligan

17 Apr 2015

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has repeatedly presented HBO as the biggest competitive threat to his online subscription video service. Both companies have highly engaged audiences who respond well to segmented programming (The Sopranos, Orange is the New Black) where programmes are commissioned for niche demographic cohorts.

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YouTube Gets Tough On Content Creators

Tim Mulligan

14 Apr 2015

YouTube CEO Susan Wojicki’s stated goal to move beyond the ad-funded content model for the world’s largest video site is nearing fruition. YouTube has drafted new rules for its partners - content owners- that are scheduled to come out later on this year.

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