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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, audio and social.

New MIDiA data: Consumers are more accepting of AI music than they admit

Tatiana Cirisano

5 Nov 2026

Clients only

Business Strategy Consumer behaviour Music

Anyone who studies consumer behaviour knows that what people say matters to them does not always align with how they act. Similar to the way that most people agree that eating healthy is important yet still reach for fast food , when it comes to everyday decisions, people tend to prioritise convenie...

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Duel Lingo: Can language unlock music's next growth markets?

Leon Farrell

4 Nov 2026

Cultural trends Music Digital

Historically, the international expansion blueprint for music companies relied on exporting finished media assets from established markets to new ones. However, a new strategic model is emerging. Driven by rising subscription growth, high youth demographics, and expanding digital adoption in Global ...

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Why news analysis podcasts may be a tonic for news avoidance

Laura Fisher

4 Nov 2026

Audience Insight Podcasts Audio

News podcasts generally do what they say on the tin: report events as they happen, with little analysis, because the headlineshave only just come in. Think daily briefings such as NPR’s Up First or News Now : short, tightly scripted, objective, and fast-paced, built to answer who, what, when and w...

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Culture shock: What 10,500 labels reveal about the Global South's genre story

Mark Mulligan

30 Oct 2026

Business Strategy Streaming Global

At MIDiA, we have been pointing to the rise of the Global South for many years, so it is good to see that the message is catching on. And it’s not a moment too late, considering that Global South markets have been the main drivers of subscriber growth throughout this decade.

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The problem with democratisation

Mark Mulligan

29 Oct 2026

Clients only

Letter from the MD Streaming Apple Google

The demise of gatekeepers was part of the internet’s founding mythology – but, in reality, we quickly learned that they were going nowhere. However, the human ones were cast aside as algorithms took their place.

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Taste, space, and scale: working to keep humans at the centre of culture

Laura Fisher

29 Oct 2026

Business Strategy Music Scenes

A scene needs taste, somewhere to put it, and money to keep it going. At ADE last week, the sessions I was part of kept returning to one question: how do you scale all three without losing what made them worth having? “Beyond the Feed” with Bessie-Mae Armitage, Quentin Chambers, and Michail Stan...

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Meta’s Q3 earnings point to turbulence ahead in the social marketplace

Hanna Kahlert

28 Oct 2026

Business Strategy Social media Social

Meta’s Q3 earnings revealed strong revenue growth coming from its core business and “major milestones… toward delivering personal superintelligence for everyone”. Beneath that is a more turbulent picture, however: low user growth, potential ad saturation of its existing audiences, and costly...

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The key to unlocking fandom begins with these fan archetypes

Olivia Jones

22 Oct 2026

Clients only

Fandom Artists Engagement

Fandom is not “one-size-fits-all”, but rather an amalgamation of different engagement types and levels of activity. In last year’s Defining entertainment superfans report, MIDiA began to demystify engagement by creating four core fan archetypes according to how fans engage with their favourite...

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Will the next social media competitor be social at all?

Hanna Kahlert

21 Oct 2026

Business Strategy Social media Creators

With Meta in the regulatory hotseat and western “social” apps becoming increasingly entertainment-first, a natural question arises: is the opportunity ripe for a new competitor? Few saw TikTok coming, but the short-form video app –boosted by the Covid pandemic – has reshaped the social media...

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From creator to capitalist: The creator economy is investing in itself

Hannah Walker

21 Oct 2026

Business Strategy Creators Creator economy

The most successful creators no longer look like online personalities. They now operate as fully-fledged media businesses with capital, networks, and business expertise – and they’re using these attributes to help nurture the next generation.

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The road to 2033: Forecasting ARPU has never been more difficult nor more important

Mark Mulligan

15 Oct 2026

Clients only

Business Strategy Global Music

This client-only series takes a deeper look at the key themes shaping MIDiA’s 2026–2033 global music forecasts report and what they mean for the future of the music business. The growing maturity of the streaming music market brings with it increased sophistication and need for attention to deta...

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When the math stops mathing: Fandom signals in the agentic AI era

Tatiana Cirisano

15 Oct 2026

Fandom Streaming Consumer behaviour

Artists understand their audiences largely through their actions. Following, liking, subscribing, opening an email, buying merch, buying a ticket, waiting in line – each of these efforts creates attachment and signals a different level of commitment.

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First they laugh, then they follow: Comedy’s vertical TV opportunity

Hannah Walker

14 Oct 2026

Business Strategy Audience Insight Social media

With its skits, anecdotes, and punchlines, comedy lends itself well to short-form video. Now that streaming services have built the vertical feed infrastructure, they can leverage original, premium, short-form comedy to draw in new audiences for vertical TV.

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Narrative audio: the case for industry investment

Laura Fisher

8 Oct 2026

Marketing Strategy Cultural trends Entertainment

Narrative audio is on an upward curve. Several forces are converging to sustain it: writers and performers of real standing choosing the format, a hunger for lean-in listening, and technology that is reimagining what an audio story can sound like.

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Beyond the stream: Live’s innovation moment

Leon Farrell

8 Oct 2026

Clients only

Fandom Business Strategy Artists

Is live music approaching a golden era of innovation? At a concert, the merchandise queue asks a slightly absurd question: how much of the show would you miss for merch? A committed fan is ready to spend, yet the experience makes them choose between buying and watching.

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Are AI glasses Meta’s new game changer, or next stumbling block?

Hanna Kahlert

7 Oct 2026

Business Strategy Social media Social

Much controversy surrounds the continued spread of Meta’s AI glasses. With cameras that can record entire interactions, an AI virtual assistant to analyse them live, and small speakers to unobtrusively share those findings with the wearer, its uses are potentially both promising and predatory.

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From newsroom to newsfeed: Why news broadcasters and content creators should partner to reach young people

Hannah Walker

7 Oct 2026

Business Strategy Fandom Social media

As the attention economy fractures traditional media consumption habits, Public Service Broadcasters (PSBs) risk losing reach among young viewers. According to Ofcom , three-quarters of 16–24-year-olds report that they get their news from social media platforms.

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The Audio Academy Festival 2026: Where community and audio combine

Laura Fisher

2 Oct 2026

Podcasts Radio Discovery

Last year I attended the Radio Academy Festival, and while I was there, the organisation announced it would become the Audio Academy. Returning to the first festival under the new name felt significant.

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K-pop as culture: Fandom learnings from BTS and KCON LA

Olivia Jones

1 Oct 2026

Fandom Cultural trends Music

K-pop is known as a genre built around fandom-focused live experiences, whether that’s concerts or fan-run events, and it’s been a busy few months for K-pop fans in the US. In August, I attended CJ ENM’s three-day K-pop convention KCON LA, as well as two dates on BTS’s massive ARIRANG world ...

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Audiences are craving connection – could livestreaming be the answer?

Hannah Walker

30 Sep 2026

Marketing Strategy YouTube TikTok

This year has shown a clear audience appetite for live, shared viewing experiences. The finale of the UK’s The Traitors attracted a live audience of 9.4 million viewers in January. An international audience flooded to watch sporting events like the Super Bowl and World Cup, with both events genera...

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