Blog: Music Industry

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.

Some artists are leaving Spotify (again). Here’s what’s different now

Cover image for Some artists are leaving Spotify (again). Here’s what’s different now

Tatiana Cirisano

7 Aug 2025

Product Strategy

Over the past few weeks, a growing list of indie bands have decided to leave Spotify, the most prominent being Deerhoof and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard (a partial list has been compiled by Fader ).

min read

What is the value of a stream in 2025?

Cover image for What is the value of a stream in 2025?

Olivia Jones

31 Jul 2025

Product Strategy

Streaming Music

More parties than ever are becoming frustrated with streaming. For evenmany successful artists, streaming is a minority income stream, as fandom-related endeavours like live performances, merchandise, and brand deals prove to be more lucrative.

min read

Why Drake’s ‘Which One’ single is not a TikTok-first track

Cover image for Why Drake’s ‘Which One’ single is not a TikTok-first track

Hanna Kahlert

29 Jul 2025

Drake’s new single ‘Which One’, featuring Central Cee dropped on July 25, 2025 –not abnormal. Less normal: he launched it with no warning halfway through a 41-minute episode of Iceman , a YouTube series he is streaming in advance of his album of the same name.

min read

The music business is splitting in two. Here’s why songwriters are reinventing their role

Cover image for The music business is splitting in two. Here’s why songwriters are reinventing their role

Tatiana Cirisano

24 Jul 2025

Business Strategy

When systems fail, there are two options: try to fix what is broken, or build something new. In our ’s landmark ‘bifurcation theory’ report , MIDiA pinpointed a new class of music creators taking the latter path.

min read

Why fandom’s ‘more is more’ era could backfire

Cover image for Why fandom’s ‘more is more’ era could backfire

Olivia Jones

9 Jul 2025

Marketing Strategy

‘Less is more’ has long been a pillar of entertainment marketing strategy, promoting the importance of quality over quantity. However, in the past decade, the new phrase has effectively become “more is more” as all forms of entertainment push to release as much content as possible, as often ...

min read

MIDiA Research 2025-2032 global music forecasts | Recalibration

Cover image for MIDiA Research 2025-2032 global music forecasts | Recalibration

Mark Mulligan

1 Jul 2025

Business Strategy

We are pleased to announce the release of MIDiA’s annual music forecasts report. This is always a labour of love and takes a bit longer than some other entities’ forecasts as our approach is more Etsy than Amazon, with every single line of data (and there are thousands of them) being hand crafte...

min read

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.

min read

The ghost of the 2000s lingers over the catalogue acquisition market

Cover image for The ghost of the 2000s lingers over the catalogue acquisition market

Kriss Thakrar

23 Jun 2025

Product Strategy

music catalogue

Sign up here for MIDiA’s Masterclass webinar on catalogue investment, this Thursday June 26, 2025, with Kriss Thakrar and Tatiana Cirisano. In the second quarter of 2025, a range of catalogue acquisition deals have broken the typical mould: Sony acquired Hipgnosis Songs Group from Recognition Musi...

min read

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.

min read

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.

min read

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...

min read

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.

min read

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...

min read

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.

min read

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.

min read

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.

min read

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.

min read

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.

min read

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

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

Olivia Jones

9 May 2025

Audience Insight

Music streaming

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.

min read

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.

min read

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
›

Showing 1 to 20 of 221 results.