Blog: Music streaming

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.

Overanalysing our 2025 Spotify Wrapped: what MIDiA’s stats say about the industry

Tatiana Cirisano

11 Dec 2025

Fandom Spotify Streaming

Nothing signifies the holiday season like snowy days, Christmas jingles – and for many of us, Spotify Wrapped. The streaming platform’s annual listenership stats are back, and so is MIDiA’s tradition of over-analysing them.

Cover image for Overanalysing our 2025 Spotify Wrapped: what MIDiA’s stats say about the industry

The future of record labels: Shifting sands

Tatiana Cirisano

20 Nov 2025

Business Strategy Music streaming Music

The question of whether artists still need record labels never seems to fade from industry discussion. It has invariably surfaced in conference panels, think pieces, and behind-closed-doors conversations for years.

Cover image for The future of record labels: Shifting sands

The future of music streaming: Change or be changed

Mark Mulligan

13 Oct 2025

Business Strategy Music streaming Fandom

The music business, entertainment as a whole – even the world – are at turning points. The future may be unknown, but there is always one certainty: things are going to be different. The change that got us here was paradoxically both fast and slow.

Cover image for The future of music streaming: Change or be changed

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

Olivia Jones

17 Jun 2025

Business Strategy Music streaming Fandom

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...

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

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

Olivia Jones

29 May 2025

Business Strategy Music streaming Fandom

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.

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

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

Tatiana Cirisano

27 May 2025

Business Strategy Streaming 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.

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

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.

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

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

Tatiana Cirisano

17 Apr 2025

Business Strategy Music 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...

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

We pinpointed the right price for Super Premium. Here is how

Tatiana Cirisano

8 Apr 2025

Business Strategy Music streaming subscribers

There is broad consensus across the music industry that it is time to introduce new tiers for streaming, including one with extra benefits that is often nicknamed “Super Premium”, or “Supremium” for short.

Cover image for We pinpointed the right price for Super Premium. Here is how

Is streaming music's final form? And if not, what's next?

Tatiana Cirisano

3 Apr 2025

Business Strategy Spotify Streaming

Key takeaways from this blog: Music is not stuck – it is shifting. Fans now engage through remixes, memes, and behind-the-scenes content, not just through streaming Streaming is losing cultural ground.

Cover image for Is streaming music's final form? And if not, what's next?

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.

Cover image for A model for a new music streaming industry

How the DNA of a hit changed in the last five years

Olivia Jones

14 Mar 2025

Cultural trends Music Music streaming

Key insights from this blog: The second installment of MIDiA's "DNA of a hit" blog series looks at how the hits on Billboard's Top 10 chart have changed in the last five years Key MIDiA data highlights the struggles for songwriters and the importance of YouTube for music consumption We predict that ...

Cover image for How the DNA of a hit changed in the last five years

Recorded music market 2024: $36.2 billion, up 6.5%

Mark Mulligan

13 Mar 2025

Music Recorded music Business Strategy

MIDiA has just released its annual recorded music market shares report. Clients can access the full report and the accompanying massive (!) data set here . For the rest of you, here are some highlights from the report.

Cover image for Recorded music market 2024: $36.2 billion, up 6.5%

Social came for music streaming’s lunch – now is the time for streaming to bite back

Tatiana Cirisano

27 Feb 2025

Audience Insight Spotify Facebook

In the battle of music streaming versus social, the major (at least Western) music streaming services have never fully committed to implementing social features. Spotify has come the closest: an early version offered direct messaging, and the company even acquired a handful of social media-related s...

Cover image for Social came for music streaming’s lunch – now is the time for streaming to bite back

Bootlegging is the scourge of many industries. Could it be music’s greatest strength?

Tatiana Cirisano

7 Feb 2025

Fandom Streaming Music

The word “bootleg” has long left a bad taste in brands’ mouths. Quite literally defined as “illicit goods,” these unauthorised versions or replications of clothes, handbags, concert tees, and other items have long plagued brands.

Cover image for Bootlegging is the scourge of many industries. Could it be music’s greatest strength?

Brazil climbs the global top 10: a new era for the music market

Leo Morel

3 Oct 2024

brazil music market LATAM Music streaming

In recent years, Brazil’s music market has transformed, echoing the nation’s broader economic and cultural dynamics. After facing a severe economic crisis that began in 2017, Brazil is now experiencing a resurgence which has propelled it to the ninth largest global economy, according to the Inte...

Cover image for Brazil climbs the global top 10: a new era for the music market

Brasil ingressa no top 10 global: uma nova era para o mercado brasileiro de música

Leo Morel

3 Oct 2024

brazil music market LATAM Music streaming

O mercado musical brasileiro se desenvolveu significativamente nos últimos anos em decorrência de uma ampla dinâmica econômica, cultural e tecnológica no país. Depois de enfrentar uma grave crise econômica que começou em 2017, o Brasil agora está retornando ao crescimento, com um produto in...

Cover image for Brasil ingressa no top 10 global: uma nova era para o mercado brasileiro de música

AI podcasts: Google’s NotebookLM will disrupt — not destroy — podcasting

Rutger Rosenborg

2 Oct 2024

AI Podcasts Google

On the heels of a North Carolina man being indicted for music streaming fraud, questions about AI and audio — especially as it pertains to intellectual property (IP) rights — continue to swirl. Now, Google's new NotebookLM and its "audio overview" feature are raising questions for audiobook and ...

Cover image for AI podcasts: Google’s NotebookLM will disrupt — not destroy — podcasting

Will more artists release full songs to social media in 2025?

Tatiana Cirisano

19 Sep 2024

Social media TikTok Music streaming

It is now a standard part of most music rollouts to release a clip of the song on social video platforms before it hits streaming. This makes sense when you think of social media as a marketing tool. But as social video has ascended (and arguably become more about entertainment than connecting socia...

Cover image for Will more artists release full songs to social media in 2025?

Q2 2024 music market metrics: bifurcation is here

Mark Mulligan

19 Sep 2024

Music streaming Streaming Bifurcation

There are so many music industry metrics and financial results flying around these days that it can be difficult to keep up with them all. Don’t worry, we’ve got you. MIDiA has just published the first edition of a brand-new report series: quarterly music metrics.

Cover image for Q2 2024 music market metrics: bifurcation is here

© 2025 MIDiA Research Ltd. All Rights Reserved.