Blog: Entertainment and Fandom

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.

Understanding the significance of a play: What the AMP’s new measurement framework means for the audio industry

Laura Fisher

25 Jun 2026

Clients only

Audience Insight Spotify Creators

Podcasting has spent much of the last decade trying to prove its value through metrics inherited from a fundamentally different era of digital media. That era may finally be coming to an end. On 4 June, the Alliance for Measurement in Podcasting (AMP), an industry task force established to address g...

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Calling all audio creators: Take our survey and help shape the future of spoken-word audio

Laura Fisher

11 Jun 2026

Audience Insight Creators Audio

After a successful first year , MIDiA's audio creator survey is back. We are once again inviting spoken-word audio creators to share their experiences and help build a better understanding of this rapidly growing creator segment.

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The renewed value of maximalism in the era of AI

Laura Fisher

3 Jun 2026

Product Strategy Creators Entertainment

The infrastructure of entertainment consumption has never felt more feudalistic. Distribution, discovery, and monetisation increasingly operate through a small number of platforms that shape how audiences find, consume, and pay for content.

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The Podcast Show 2026: The signals worth paying attention to

Laura Fisher

29 May 2026

Podcasts Entertainment Media

The Podcast Show 2026 reflected an industry entering a more mature and commercially sophisticated phase. While previous years of often focused on podcasting proving its value within entertainment and media , this year’s conversations centred far more on sustainability, audience growth, and long-te...

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What official UK industry recognition means for the future of audio and podcasting

Laura Fisher

13 May 2026

Clients only

Product Strategy Audio Podcasting

On 11 May, the UK government announced that podcasting and audio will be assigned dedicated codes under the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 2026 framework, the system used to categorise businesses by economic activity.

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Social media doesn’t feel social anymore – so where does online community go from here?

Laura Fisher

21 Apr 2026

Cultural trends Social media Podcasts

A curious divergence is emerging in the UK's media habits. Earlier this month, Ofcom published its latest report on adults' media use, and one finding stands out. Social media usage remains high, with 89% of UK adults using at least one platform daily.

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Podcasting’s next growth frontier: tackling the unconverted

Laura Fisher

14 Apr 2026

Business Strategy Podcasts consumer

A lot of attention is being paid to the “rules of engagement” for podcasting: format preferences, video versus audio, and platform battles like YouTube versus Spotify. The industry is deeply focused on how and where audiences are consuming podcasts, and rightly so.

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What history really tells us about AI’s potential

Mark Mulligan

5 Mar 2026

Cultural trends Creators Innovation

History is being used to argue both for and against AI, with citations of previous cultural events and practices as evidence. Unfortunately, however, most of the historical references used are just plain wrong.

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From destination to departure point: Legacy IP as a gateway

Laura Fisher

24 Feb 2026

Marketing Strategy Engagement Entertainment

Whether it be the 1940 film, the 1995 television series, the 2005 film, or the recently announced 2026 Netflix series – each generation has its own Mr. Darcy. While this pattern endures, the relationship between intellectual property and audience attitudes is changing.

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From quip to category: What the Golden Globes signifies for podcasting's future

Laura Fisher

17 Feb 2026

Cultural trends Podcasts Entertainment

There was a time, not so very long ago, when mentioning you worked in podcasting required a somewhat defensive preamble about what podcasting actually is. There is a TikTok trend circulating that goes something like this: if you cannot explain your job to a five-year-old or your grandmother, it does...

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The problem with content

Mark Mulligan

3 Feb 2026

Business Strategy Creators Entertainment

Everything these days is content – but the word is as problematic as the implication. ‘Content’ is defined by other . It is defined by filling something else, being part of something else. It is something that only exists within another context.

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From fans to superfans | What’s missing from the games industry

Brandon Sutton

27 Jan 2026

Business Strategy Audience Insight Gaming

The games industry is experiencing a moment of turbulence. A growing list of high-profile, high-budget titles, such as Mindseye and New World , have failed to meet commercial expectations. Increasingly, even investments in the hundreds of millions are no longer enough to guarantee a successful title.

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Why predictions matter – and MIDiA’s take on 2026

Tatiana Cirisano

8 Jan 2026

Business Strategy predictions midia predictions

It’s never been easy to predict the future. It seems to have become even harder in the last few years. As technologies evolve faster than ever, so too does the consumer behaviour surrounding them – the most salient example, of course, being AI.

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A year of change behind us, a new epoch ahead: Predicting 2026

Hanna Kahlert

16 Dec 2025

Business Strategy Social Digital

2025 is drawing to a close. Looking back through the year’s updates and events, it’s been a busy one. The major highlights: entertainment’s relationship with AI has changed dramatically, and there were a number of major mergers and acquisitions, including Netflix purchasing Warner Bros.

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Overanalysing our 2025 Spotify Wrapped: what MIDiA’s stats say about the industry

Tatiana Cirisano

11 Dec 2025

Fandom Spotify Streaming

Nothing signifies the holiday season like snowy days, Christmas jingles – and for many of us, Spotify Wrapped. The streaming platform’s annual listenership stats are back, and so is MIDiA’s tradition of over-analysing them.

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Peter Doig’s ‘House of Music’ and the importance of audio as a shared experience

Laura Fisher

9 Dec 2025

Music Audio Community

The Sound Service at Peter Doig’s House of Music exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery has been open since early October. While the exhibition itself explores themes of music and collective gathering, it is this live element that fully activates its central premise.

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ARC Raiders is disrupting the games industry: What developers can learn from its success

Brandon Sutton

27 Nov 2025

Business Strategy Social Gaming

ARC Raiders has quickly become one of 2025’s standout releases. Developed by Embark Studios, founded by former EA-owned studio DICE leaders, the game has quickly exceeded commercial and critical expectations for smaller developers.

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Valve announces new Steam Hardware: What the launch means for gaming

Brandon Sutton

21 Nov 2025

Business Strategy Gaming Games

In true Valve fashion, the company unveiled a surprise suite of new devices aimed at consumers last week – consisting of a PC-console hybrid, a new virtual reality headset, and a controller (via Valve ).

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The audio drama renaissance: The curious case of Sherlock & Co.

Laura Fisher

14 Nov 2025

Product Strategy Podcasts Entertainment

The audio drama, a format once consigned to history, is enjoying a remarkable revival. At its epicentre is a compelling case study in modern audience engagement: Goalhanger’s Sherlock & Co . a narrative podcast now approaching one million monthly downloads.

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Amazon winding down New World may signal the end of Western-developed MMORPGs

Brandon Sutton

13 Nov 2025

Business Strategy Amazon Gaming

Amazon’s announcement that it will wind down support for its flagship title, New World , raises major questions about the future of Western-developed Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) and about Amazon’s own role in the gaming industry (via Amazon Game Studios ).

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