Blog: Independent artists

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.

NewJeans never die: What the year-long scandal means for K-pop’s global expansion

Olivia Jones

4 Dec 2025

Business Strategy Music Artists

The biggest scandal in modern K-pop turned one year old last Friday – and may have officially reached a resolution. To recap: on November 28, 2024, K-pop girl group NewJeans announced they were terminating their exclusive contract with ADOR, citing a breach of trust and failure to meet requests fo...

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Music discovery is not dead, just evolving – the industry needs to evolve with it

Olivia Jones

9 May 2025

Audience Insight Music streaming Social media

Music streaming algorithms have changed the way we listen to music – for better and for worse. While the radio used to be the main way to find new music, streaming and social algorithms now drive discovery as listeners crave (and have come to expect) more personalised recommendations.

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A model for a new music streaming industry

Mark Mulligan

18 Mar 2025

Business Strategy Spotify YouTube

The music industry is approaching a pivot point. On the one hand, things look positive: we have UMG’s Streaming 2.0 , artist centric licensing, the impending launch of supremium and expanded rights revenue hitting $4.

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Global recorded music revenues grew by 9.8% in 2023

Mark Mulligan

18 Mar 2024

recorded music 2023 recorded music revenues music revenues

Growth is back! After a slower 2022, global recorded music revenues grew by 9.8% in 2023 to reach $35.1 billion, compared to 7.1% in 2022, which means that the market is now more than double (124.5%) the size it was in 2015.

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What is at stake in the TikTok-UMG showdown

Tatiana Cirisano

1 Feb 2024

Music streaming TikTok Universal Music Group

Music’s biggest on-again, off-again relationship just took a turn for the ugly, as Universal Music Group is pulling its music off TikTok. We have seen this movie before: Every time the music industry negotiates licenses with social platforms, the battle boils down to a question of who needs the ot...

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The tap water music industry needs to become a bottled one

Kriss Thakrar

20 Jun 2023

Music streaming Artists direct Creator economy

Music and water are often compared to each other in the streaming age. There are many ways to express this analogy, but the bottom line is that music is becoming commoditised. To clarify, commoditisation is the erosion of a product from one that is highly differentiated and highly priced (with high ...

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Embrace, enhance or hinder: What will AI do for you, the creator?

Kriss Thakrar

3 May 2023

AI Creator economy Artists direct

There has been an abundance of coverage and conversation around AI, and it is unlikely to fade away any time soon. There is a question of how AI will change the music industry and broader creator economy.

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The industry’s narrative is not always the same as the artist's narrative: Redefining success for independent artists

Keith Jopling

6 Mar 2023

Streaming Creator economy Marketing

Last weekend, there was a fascinating quote from Maseo of hip hop legends De La Soul in the UK Guardian: “On our second album, we learned the importance of controlling the narrative. I learned early on that a hit record can hurt your entire body of work if you let the industry control your narrati...

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What comes next in the music streaming model makeover

Tatiana Cirisano

17 Jan 2023

Music streaming Major labels Independent artists

The independent music community has been rallying for change to the streaming payment model for years. Now, major labels are joining the chorus. Why? The pro-rata model has long benefited bigger record labels, but their cut of the pie is now diminishing due to a number of factors: The growth of inde...

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What ChatGPT can do for independent music

Tatiana Cirisano

21 Dec 2022

music industry independent music Independent artists

Everyone is talking about ChatGPT , the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that could potentially change the music industry. While the conversation has mainly focused on how ChatGPT can help with music creation, it is worth considering how it could also assist early-stage artists with marketing an...

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Artists – take our survey and get a free MIDiA report

Mark Mulligan

15 Nov 2022

Artists Independent artists Artist survey

With 2022 coming to a close, and Spotify’s Wrapped just around the corner, artists are beginning to look back across the year at how they performed and what they have achieved, and whether it lines up with their hopes for the coming year.

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Artists and managers: Help shape the future of artist services

Kriss Thakrar

7 Nov 2022

Independent artists Artists direct Music

It has arguably never been harder for artists to break through on social media, streaming, and in the real world. We repeatedly hear how artists and their teams are overextended, burned out and overwhelmed by the demands of the modern music industry.

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TikTok Music: Here is what it would mean for you

Kriss Thakrar

2 Aug 2022

TikTok Music streaming creator tools

TikTok has filed a US trademark for TikTok Music , building speculation on whether the platform is gearing up to launch a streaming service. It already has the tools at its disposal with Resso, its streaming service for emerging markets.

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Beatport’s LabelRadar acquisition is the latest sign of the platforms era

Tatiana Cirisano

22 Jul 2022

Beatport Record labels music industry

This week, online music marketplace Beatport acquired LabelRadar, a service that streamlines the demo submission process for artists and labels. Following previous strategic acquisitions, the deal represents another step in Beatport’s path towards becoming a creative hub for creators and labels al...

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Artists survey 2022 - MIDiA asks music creators: how will you grow your audiences, earnings and career?

Keith Jopling

8 Feb 2022

Music streaming Content Creators creator tools

As the music industry continues to debate the many pros and cons of ‘the streaming era’ (while enjoying the unprecedented industry growth that it has brought), the spotlight can sometimes move away from those artists and songwriters who make a living from music but are not the big stars or house...

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Creator consolidation: Fender becomes the next creator tools major

Kriss Thakrar

2 Nov 2021

creator tools music production Independent artists

When Francisco Partners brought together Native Instruments and Izotope, it created the first creator tool major . Now a second player has staked its claim: Fender has made one of the biggest creator tools moves of the year through its acquisition of guitar-focused creator tools company, PreSonus .

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Creator tools will drive the (equal opportunity) future of music

Hanna Kahlert

17 Sep 2021

women in music creator tools synth

The last two years under a pandemic have driven more music creators in a DIY direction. Equipment and instrument sales reported record-breaking growth over lockdown – Sweetwater, for example, had its best year ever, breaking over a billion in sales .

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How Bandcamp could really fix the music business

Mark Mulligan

25 Jun 2021

Independent artists Artists Streaming Music

“A thought: has streaming become the place to address consumers and the likes of Bandcamp the places to engage fans? i.e., fans and fandom inherently matter less on streaming because it/they are a minority.

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When women don’t make music: The sunset of Indian Folk

Hanna Kahlert

29 Mar 2021

women in music India indian folk music

MIDiA recently released a study on the experiences of women in the music industry ( free to download here ), discussing both the broad-level challenges they face – but also pointing to the positives, the opportunities, and the methods that are working and can work to build a better industry of the...

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BE THE CHANGE: WOMEN MAKING MUSIC 2021

Dara Jegede

25 Mar 2021

Content Creators music industry Independent artists

BE THE CHANGE: WOMEN MAKING MUSIC 2021 TuneCore and Believe Partner with MIDiA for First of its Kind Global Study LONDON, BROOKLYN AND PARIS —Thursday, March 25 2021: MIDIA Research and TuneCore/Believe today release a new study on women creators, revealing the challenges, experiences, inspiration...

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