Blog: revenue

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.

How economic volatility will impact US labels’ fandom monetisation push

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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...

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

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Tatiana Cirisano

3 Apr 2025

Business Strategy

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....

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How PlayStation broke its hardware and active user records in Q4

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Rhys Elliott

13 Feb 2025

Business Strategy

Sony released its financial results for calendar Q4 2024. Here are the high-level results: Sony generated revenues of $27.9 billion As always, its Game & Network Services (G&NS) Segment – PlayStation...

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Why Spotify only hit profitability now (but will do so again)

Cover image for Why Spotify only hit profitability now (but will do so again)

Mark Mulligan

13 Feb 2025

Business Strategy

Spotify finally registered its first profitable year in 2024. It has hit net profit in individual quarters before – most recently in Q3 2023 – but this is the first year it was profitable throughout...

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

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Tatiana Cirisano

7 Feb 2025

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...

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The unflattening of music

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Mark Mulligan

30 Jan 2025

Cultural trends

[This post builds on two other recent MIDiA posts: Background music and What got you here ] At the half way point of the decade it is a good time to reflect on how the business of music is reshaping the...

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What got you here won’t get you there: how Spotify built a new business

Cover image for What got you here won’t get you there: how Spotify built a new business

Mark Mulligan

17 Jan 2025

Business Strategy

Since its inception, Spotify has been, and continues to be, the streaming music market’s lightning rod. This is due to its continued ability to maintain leading market share and the fact it is the only...

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Can subscriptions keep the lights on for social?

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Hanna Kahlert

19 Oct 2023

User generated content

Digital advertising has long been the financial backbone of the digital world. It has underpinned the business models of the likes of Google and Meta, and its absence has been the value proposition of...

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Are mobile game advertisements a legitimate trojan horse for podcast downloads?

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Annie Langston

12 Oct 2022

podcast downloads

real podcast listener

Podcast marketing is still somewhat new terrain in the digital audio market. Not only are podcasts a niche activity, but the market is fragmenting with the development of more shows. This oversaturation...

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Key takeaways for podcasting from SiriusXM and Spotify’s earnings

Cover image for Key takeaways for podcasting from SiriusXM and Spotify’s earnings

Annie Langston

4 Aug 2022

Two audio giants with investments in podcasting — Spotify and SiriusXM — published their second quarter earnings for the year. SiriusXM saw marginal year-over-year growth in revenue – around 4% –...

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Quick take: Overwolf hints that UGC is the future of entertainment

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Hanna Kahlert

18 Nov 2021

Media and Marketing

The gap between creation and consumption is closing. Entertainment behaviours no longer follow simple dynamics of viewing or listening. Increasingly, they comprise a variety of activities from sharing...

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WWE Q3 Earnings – An innovative digital strategy helps WWE overcome COVID-19 disruption

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Alistair Taylor

12 Nov 2020

World Wrestling Entertainment

WWE’s Q3 2020 results provide a fascinating insight into how a live event-focused entertainment business has successfully navigated a global pandemic. In its financials for the quarter , WWE saw a 19%...

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DAZN financials: Growth reliant on premium domestic rights

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Alistair Taylor

14 Sep 2020

DAZN’s 2018 financials highlighted the difficulty of encouraging a transition to consume live sports digitally with its existing portfolio of rights. DAZN has not yet released its 2019 financials, but...

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COVID fallout: BBC no longer considers UK Athletics value for money

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Alistair Taylor

19 Aug 2020

COVID-19 exposed live entertainment as a vulnerable asset class , specifically following the pandemic-enforced postponement of live sports . One of the hardest hit during this hiatus and ensuing uncertainty...

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FuboTV adds key sporting rights to portfolio following Disney deal

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Alistair Taylor

2 Jul 2020

Sporting rights

FuboTV, the US over-the-top (OTT) internet-delivered TV service launched back in January 2015 as a soccer-centric proposition. In that time it has established itself as a niche distributor of live streams...

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Move Over Mickey, The NBA is Set to Become Disney World’s Star Attraction

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Alistair Taylor

27 May 2020

Australian Rules Football

COVID-19 forced sports leagues to think outside the box for restarting live sports. The UFC wanted to rent a private island , the NRL to ferry players to and from games, and the WWE performed to empty...

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Can BT Lay the Smackdown on Its Rivals?

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Alistair Taylor

3 Jan 2020

addressable audience

This Saturday at 1am GMT BT will debut its live broadcast for WWE Smackdown, having acquired the exclusive rights from long-term UK broadcaster Sky in June 2019 . This signalled the end of Sky’s tenure...

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Why the UFC Wants to Replicate the Yao Ming effect

Alistair Taylor

25 Jun 2019

audience culture

The NBA is the third highest grossing league globally, generating $7.4 billion in 2017, behind domestic rivals MLB and NFL. Whereas the MLB and NFL have largely struggled to entice a truly global following,...

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Is Spotify’s Acquisition of Gimlet (the ‘HBO for audio’) the Beginning of the Audio Influencer Boom?

Georgia Meyer

7 Feb 2019

Audio ad engagement

Following six days of speculation, Spotify announced yesterdaythat it is acquiring Gimlet Media (comprising Gimlet – the production house, and Anchor – the production, distribution and monetisation...

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Knockout Blow For Eleven Sports?

Alistair Taylor

13 Dec 2018

additive service

Audience behaviour

Eleven Sports, the insurgent subscription video on demand (SVOD) service, is considering closing its operations in the UK and Ireland after failing to secure distribution via traditional TV operators....

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