Blog: Gen Z

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.

Multi-dimensionality in music isn’t new – but it’s overdue for a comeback

Olivia Jones

23 Apr 2026

Business Strategy Spotify Streaming

Multi-dimensionality in music – that is, engaging in ways beyond simply listening to a song – has existed for decades. In the vinyl era, fans could read liner notes and look at album artwork while listening.

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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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The digital generation wants to go offline: the roots of an analogue revival

Hanna Kahlert

17 Sep 2024

analogue Vinyl Social

In March of 2020, the world went largely virtual. With no way to go out and live normal day-to-day lives in the physical sense, the digital world took over – from Zoom calls with family members to social storms around Netflix shows, replacing the workplace ‘watercooler moment’.

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Cutting through the clutter: why an analogue revival is inevitable

Hanna Kahlert

9 May 2024

AI Digital analogue

The jury is very much still out on generative AI and its copyright obligations. Yet the Pandora’s box of AI-generated content has already been opened, and there is no going back. For a world which has become almost entirely reliant on digital content– be it song mp3s or job applications – the ...

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We need ‘real’ artists for the return to reality

Kriss Thakrar

1 May 2024

Algorithms TikTok Gen Z

The big theme of MIDiA’s 2024 predictions is that ‘ the algorithm is not listening ’. A third of the way into the year, we are seeing more and more evidence that this is the case. The past few years have seen social media feeds become hyper-personalised to the point where algorithms now know u...

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Paramount’s marketing for the new Mean Girls movie was totally fetch, but like, did it pay off?

Ashleigh Millar

18 Jan 2024

musicals Mean Girls TikTok

It’s official: the Mean Girls 2024 movie is the new Regina George of cinema (for now), topping last weekend’s US box office by bringing in $28 million, raising to $32 million on Martin Luther King Jr.

Cover image for Paramount’s marketing for the new Mean Girls movie was totally fetch, but like, did it pay off?

Alex Cooper’s new podcast network questions her future at Spotify and fuels competition for creators

Annie Langston

16 Aug 2023

Alex Cooper Spotify Gen Z

Call Her Daddy’s Alex Cooper has launched her own podcast network. A subsidiary of Trending , the media company Cooper launched earlier this year, The Unwell Network is targeting Gen Z audiences. In addition to producing both scripted and unscripted podcasts, the network will also explore live eve...

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BBC Radio 1’s Giant DJ Hunt shows what radio does right

Annie Langston

26 Jul 2023

BBC Greg James Fandom

What would happen if one of the biggest radio stations in the world shut down? BBC Radio 1 turned off midday last Friday because Radio 1 host Greg James failed Radio 1’s Giant DJ Hunt. In this scavenger hunt, James had one week to find all the missing radio DJs that were hidden in various location...

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A new era of music fluidity is here

Tatiana Cirisano

23 May 2023

Music fandom User-generated content Social media

What do AI Drake, adaptive music, and TikTok open-verse challenges have in common? All reflect a major shift of music consumption from a passive, static, and uni-directional experience to an active, dynamic, multi-directional one.

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Spotify is radio’s middleman to podcasts – but will this guarantee new listeners?

Annie Langston

19 Apr 2023

Spotify Radio Gen Z

Although radio set the stage for podcasts, its transition into the digital space has been challenging. Now, Spotify is simplifying this process. With its 2021 acquisition of podcast tech company Whooshkaa, Spotify is rolling out its “broadcast-to-podcast” technology, which allows broadcasters to...

Community and influencers are poised to lead a video monetisation revolution

Ben Woods

18 Apr 2023

DAZN Twitch Recurly

Streaming TV and social video services are enduring a bout of uncertainty from high inflation and sluggish economic growth. Traditional monetisation strategies that have underpinned these platforms are now being sorely tested by the economic tumult.

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Music streaming’s looming generational blind spot

Tatiana Cirisano

6 Apr 2023

Music streaming millennials Gen Z

Music streaming platforms have clamoured to attract Gen Z, with good reason. The cool, new kids out-stream everyone and are pioneering new ways to engage with music, yet they are spending more time on TikTok than streaming services might like.

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Sports broadcasting is ripe for disruption…and creators know it

Ben Woods

4 Apr 2023

Twitch Kings League soccer

The former Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique made a surprising claim last month (March 2023). To promote his Twitch football channel, the Kings League, the retired centre back unfurled a giant banner in the Catalonian capital that read: “The thought of us filling up Camp Nou really scares them”.

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Why TikTok and YouTube are poised to capture smart TV viewing

Ben Woods

14 Mar 2023

Social video Smart TV YouTube

The entertainment consumption habits of Gen Z remain an ongoing source of anxiety for traditional media companies. They are digital natives who mix up their social media bingeing by watching big-budget TV series and movies on their smartphones.

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Party in the front, business in the back: Why Apple Music Sing is so savvy

Tatiana Cirisano

13 Dec 2022

karaoke Fandom Music streaming

Streaming services are increasingly taking steps to diversify their offerings , and the latest example came last week from Apple Music. Just in time for holiday sing-a-longs, the service introduced a new, subscriber-only karaoke feature called Sing, where users can sing along to “tens of millions�...

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The YouTube advantage: How social video platforms could seize the podcast market

Annie Langston

7 Dec 2022

YouTube TikTok Spotify

After launching a podcasts page for US users in August, YouTube is debuting its first official trends podcast . Like & Describe: The Official YouTube Trends Podcast is hosted by Matpat , a long-time YouTuber with 16.

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Spotify and Emma Chamberlain kick off new era of gen Z podcasts

Annie Langston

30 Nov 2022

Spotify Gen Z Podcasts

Spotify has already begun its pursuit of gen Z on the music side, and now is doing the same for podcasts. Emma Chamberlain, the 21-year-old YouTuber and coffee company owner, has signed an exclusive podcast deal with Spotify.

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The cost of music streaming just went up — here is what must come next

Tatiana Cirisano

3 Nov 2022

Music streaming music industry Apple Music

It is finally happening. Apple Music raised its music streaming subscription price for the first time ever, following price rises from the likes of YouTube and Deezer, and Spotify indicates that it will do the same in 2023.

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Not just music: How TikTok could enter the podcast market

Annie Langston

2 Nov 2022

TikTok Podcasts Gen Z

It increasingly feels like it is TikTok’s world, and we are all just living in it. With the anticipation of TikTok Music , parent company ByteDance is steadily expanding into every form of entertainment, and podcasts may be next.

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Spotify launches audiobooks in the US – but you have to buy them

Annie Langston

22 Sep 2022

Spotify Audiobooks audience

Spotify has officially launched its audiobook vertical for US listeners. Spotify previewed this vertical at its Investor Day in June, in addition to announcing its purchase of Findaway , an audiobook distributor.

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