Blog: Music

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.

Streaming is both retail and radio – it shouldn’t be

Cover image for Streaming is both retail and radio – it shouldn’t be

Mark Mulligan

26 Jun 2025

Business Strategy

In a brutally simplified view of the past, the recorded music industry had two lanes: retail and radio. Piracy killed retail. Streaming killed piracy, then went on to, if not kill, then seriously maim radio.

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Why 'Global South' is a limiting label for the music industry

Cover image for Why 'Global South' is a limiting label for the music industry

Laura Fisher

20 Jun 2025

Business Strategy

At MIDiA, we have started critically reassessing the use of the term‘ Global South’ , a phrase entrenched in industry and geopolitical discourse but increasingly unfit for purpose in today’s complex entertainment landscape.

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The ‘pure’ songwriter is disappearing – and it’s everyone’s problem

Cover image for The ‘pure’ songwriter is disappearing – and it’s everyone’s problem

Tatiana Cirisano

19 Jun 2025

The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) annual meeting is known for making headlines. At last year’s event, CEO David Israelite used his state-of-the-union speech to announce a formal complaint against Spotify’s audiobook bundling, lodged with the Federal Trade Commission.

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Why HYBE expanding into China is a bigger deal than you think

Cover image for Why HYBE expanding into China is a bigger deal than you think

Olivia Jones

17 Jun 2025

Business Strategy

Music streaming

Korean and Chinese labels have been a hot topic in the news lately. First, HYBE sold its entire 9.38% stake in fellow South Korean entertainment company SM Entertainment to Chinese music streaming giant Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) for approximately $177 million USD (per Music Business Worldwid...

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MIDiA Music Creator Survey 2025

Cover image for MIDiA Music Creator Survey 2025

Mark Mulligan

16 Jun 2025

Audience Insight

It is that time of the year again: the annual MIDiA Music Creator Survey is here. Every year, we field this survey to take the pulse of music creators globally, diving into topics such as career aspirations, services and tools used, challenges and hurdles faced, and much more.

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Live isn’t dead, it just needs a WhatsApp group: why gatekeeping is due for a comeback

Cover image for Live isn’t dead, it just needs a WhatsApp group: why gatekeeping is due for a comeback

Hanna Kahlert

12 Jun 2025

Cultural trends

The live scene is, allegedly, in an uphill battle. Festivals face cancellations, travel costs are rising, and grassroots venues are struggling. Success stories like the ‘Eras’ tour and the Oasis reunion boosted year-on-year stats within the industry, but is this a sign of long-term growth or mer...

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Welcome to entertainment’s ‘Mad Max’ era. Here’s where it leads

Cover image for Welcome to entertainment’s ‘Mad Max’ era. Here’s where it leads

Tatiana Cirisano

11 Jun 2025

Business Strategy

Recall the opening scene of Mad Max: Fury Road: a brutal desert, where survival hinges on speed, strategy, and access to precious resources. Water and gasoline are everything in this dystopia, and there is never enough to go around.

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What Western DSPs can learn from Tencent Music’s SVIP Tier

Cover image for What Western DSPs can learn from Tencent Music’s SVIP Tier

Olivia Jones

29 May 2025

Business Strategy

Music streaming

Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) has had a lucrative Q1 2025, with Super VIP (SVIP) subscriptions driving revenue growth. According to the company’s earnings report, music subscription revenue grew 16.

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20 years ago, labels targeted fandom. Will it work the second time around?

Cover image for 20 years ago, labels targeted fandom. Will it work the second time around?

Tatiana Cirisano

27 May 2025

Business Strategy

Music streaming

The New York Times headline “ The New Deal: Band As Brand ” would not look out of place in today’s pages. In the article, the writer explores how record labels are responding to a need to diversify revenue streams by seeking to monetise fandom, via expanded rights deals.

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Culture always starts as grassroots: The rise of bardcore raves

Cover image for Culture always starts as grassroots: The rise of bardcore raves

Hanna Kahlert

22 May 2025

Cultural trends

The entertainment industry is facing a cultural crisis. Demands for more , faster to feed the algorithms are undermining longevity and impact. Songs fade quickly, while films fail to fill cinemas. If much of current mainstream culture is nostalgia and clickbait, what will be the legacy that defines ...

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Built for the split: how Create Music Group is positioning itself for a bifurcated industry

Cover image for Built for the split: how Create Music Group is positioning itself for a bifurcated industry

Tatiana Cirisano

15 May 2025

Business Strategy

The music industry is entering a new phase – less a fork in the road, than a slow but steady divergence . On one path sits the traditional record label model, which monetises music rights via scale of streams.

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The paradox of scale and success: What music can learn from gin distilleries

Cover image for The paradox of scale and success: What music can learn from gin distilleries

Hanna Kahlert

14 May 2025

Business Strategy

The digital world is becoming less reliable. Platforms are flooded with AI content ranging from banal, to amusing, to concerningly incorrect . Advertising crowds the feed alongside creators desperately trying to sell something: themselves, a lifestyle, products, businesses.

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Unintended consequences – the year ahead for streaming

Cover image for Unintended consequences – the year ahead for streaming

Mark Mulligan

8 May 2025

Business Strategy

Streaming may be maturing from a revenue perspective but with two-tier (‘artist centric’) licensing and supremium, 2025 is set to be a year of transformative change in both product and business terms.

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Has music reached peak fragmentation?

Cover image for Has music reached peak fragmentation?

Tatiana Cirisano

2 May 2025

Audience Insight

If you have read any of MIDiA’s work, you will know we keep a close eye on the fragmentation of music consumption. Thanks to both the internet’s democratising force and the rise of recommendation algorithms, consumers are spreading their listening across more songs and artists than ever, while t...

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Are we reaching peak fandom?

Cover image for Are we reaching peak fandom?

Mark Mulligan

1 May 2025

Business Strategy

With streaming revenue growth slowing to 6.2% in 2024, the recorded music industry’s attention is firmly fixed on superfans as the ‘get out of jail free’ card. The growing sophistication of artist merch has reached the stage where fans can buy Taylor Swift fashion bags and shop her jewelry ran...

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“Just because a song is viral doesn’t mean it’s good” and that’s a real problem for artists

Cover image for “Just because a song is viral doesn’t mean it’s good” and that’s a real problem for artists

Laura Fisher

1 May 2025

I saw this statement shared (ironically, virally) as a post on Instagram over the weekend. My initial thought – from the perspective of someone who has never paid much mind to chart placements – was: “ well , yeah .

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How economic volatility will impact US labels’ fandom monetisation push

Cover image for How economic volatility will impact US labels’ fandom monetisation push

Olivia Jones

25 Apr 2025

Business Strategy

It has been an eventful few weeks for the global economy, to put it mildly. Since President Trump’s initial announcement calling for a universal baseline tariff on foreign imports to the US at the beginning of this month, global financial markets have been in flux, affecting nearly every sector fr...

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IMS Business Report 2025

Cover image for IMS Business Report 2025

Mark Mulligan

23 Apr 2025

Today I presented the 11th edition of the IMS Business Report at the ever-brilliant annual electronic music industry conference in Ibiza. And who doesn’t like a conference in Ibiza?! The full report is available via the IMS website.

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The music industry wants solutions. But do listeners see problems?

Cover image for The music industry wants solutions. But do listeners see problems?

Tatiana Cirisano

17 Apr 2025

Business Strategy

Music streaming

Key takeways from this blog: The music industry’s next phase of growth depends on solving real problems faced by multiple stakeholders – not just one group in isolation Areas like live music demand, fan engagement, and discovery offer clues about where meaningful overlaps might exist MIDiA spotl...

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Online culture is fragmenting: Why White Lotus spoilers are not flooding the internet

Cover image for Online culture is fragmenting: Why White Lotus spoilers are not flooding the internet

Hanna Kahlert

9 Apr 2025

Cultural trends

Key takeaways from this blog: Audience fragmentation is growing, with platforms like TikTok losing influence and shows like White Lotus thriving in niche, offline conversations Oversaturation of content is making it hard for entertainment to create shared cultural moments As MIDiA explores in our 'A...

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