Blog: tech

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.

Who asked for AI? Why its future is more boring than you think

Cover image for Who asked for AI? Why its future is more boring than you think

Hanna Kahlert

2 Jul 2024

Henry Ford famously once said, “ If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me a faster horse” . This quote is often trotted out by ‘innovators’ when defending a new piece of technology; consumers do not know that they want it, because they don’t have it yet.

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The techification of entertainment (and why it needs to reverse)

Cover image for The techification of entertainment (and why it needs to reverse)

Hanna Kahlert

10 Apr 2024

Entertainment today is almost inseparable from streaming – for better and for worse. The tech infrastructure that underpins today’s entertainment industry has had a huge impact not only on how content is delivered, but who consumes it, how, and why.

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Why TikTok and the future of social is now on trial

Cover image for Why TikTok and the future of social is now on trial

Hanna Kahlert

5 Apr 2023

The last two weeks have seen social platforms, especially TikTok, abuzz with clips of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s hearing before the US congress, answering lawmakers’ questions about the social media app’s data protections for users and its relationship with China.

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The future lies beyond tech – a long(er) read

Cover image for The future lies beyond tech – a long(er) read

Hanna Kahlert

14 Dec 2022

As entertainment companies start planning their next big steps for the coming year, the success and failure of their strategic decisions will hinge on one big, and perhaps surprising, existential question : is this it for the tech industry? Planning for 2023 seems to mean planning for disruption, an...

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Tumult at Twitter shines a light on a deflating tech bubble

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Hanna Kahlert

17 Nov 2022

Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has had a rocky start. A lack of a clear corporate and product strategy has alienated advertisers and users alike. Twitter’s brush with profitability is now being replaced by serious concerns over the platform’s long-term future direction.

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If the cultural ‘in’ cycle is speeding up, what will sustain entertainment?

Cover image for If the cultural ‘in’ cycle is speeding up, what will sustain entertainment?

Hanna Kahlert

19 Aug 2022

Cultural trends

attention recession

When the first season of Stranger Things entered the zeitgeist in 2016, its set, soundtrack, and all-around vibes fit perfectly with the 80’s cultural revival of the time. Americana ‘hipster’ was out, and retro was in; neon clothes took over the streets and House beats dominated the airwaves.

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Reflections on the music industry at NFT.NYC

Cover image for Reflections on the music industry at NFT.NYC

Tatiana Cirisano

23 Jun 2022

At the fourth annual NFT.NYC conference in New York, the sentiment fell somewhere between faint excitement and “so this is still a thing, right?” Unlike this time last year, when the music industry was hooked on crypto, this year’s event arrives at a time when the crypto market, like much of t...

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Quick take: What the Apple event’s creator focus means for lean-in entertainment

Cover image for Quick take: What the Apple event’s creator focus means for lean-in entertainment

Hanna Kahlert

21 Oct 2021

The October 18th Apple event –for all its usual showmanship – did not have anything hugely innovative to unveil. New colours of the Apple HomePod, a new tier of AirPods, and the return of MagSafe charging, distinctive input ports, and actual keys instead of a touchpad on the upgraded MacBook Pro...

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Creator tools will drive the (equal opportunity) future of music

Cover image for Creator tools will drive the (equal opportunity) future of music

Hanna Kahlert

17 Sep 2021

The last two years under a pandemic have driven more music creators in a DIY direction. Equipment and instrument sales reported record-breaking growth over lockdown – Sweetwater, for example, had its best year ever, breaking over a billion in sales .

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Facebook faces anti-trust lawsuits, sounding a warning to big tech

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Hanna Kahlert

16 Dec 2020

Last Wednesday, 48 US State attorneys general and the US Federal Trade Commission filed lawsuits against Facebook, echoing the hearings before Congress earlier this year in declaring that the company’s practices violate fair competition laws.

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Have We Reached Peak Tech?

Cover image for Have We Reached Peak Tech?

Mark Mulligan

27 Sep 2019

In last week’s Take Five I highlighted a Vox story which reported that over the last year the number of companies using terms like ‘tech’ or technology’ in their documents is down 12%. This is an early indicator of a much more fundamental concept – we may have already reached peak in the t...

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Battle of the Docuseries: Who Mirrored Who?

Cover image for Battle of the Docuseries: Who Mirrored Who?

Alistair Taylor

13 Jun 2019

addressable audience

Leeds United are set to become the latest soccer club to feature in an original documentary series, with tech major Amazon securing a deal for a behind-the-scenes look at Argentinian manager Marcelo Bielsa’s dramatic first season in charge of the English Championship side, according to the Daily M...

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The Meta Trends that Will Shape 2019

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Mark Mulligan

16 Nov 2018

2019 tech and media predictions

MIDiA has just published its annual predictions report . Here are a few highlights. 2018 was another year of change, disruption and transformation across media and technology. Although hyped technologies – VR, blockchain, AI music – failed to meet inflated expectations, concepts such as privacy,...

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Slush 2017 – All To Play For

Tim Mulligan

1 Dec 2017

Generation Investment Management

In case you haven’t heard, this week, mainland Europe’s northernmost capital Helsinki is ground zero for tech and media. It all kicked off on Tuesday November 28 with the two-day Slush Music 2017; the main Slush event, which opened yesterday, concludes today.

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Quick Take: Big Tech’s Q3 Earnings Have Big Implications for Media

Zach Fuller

3 Nov 2017

With US listed public companies’ quarterly earnings currently being drip-fed to Wall Street, here are two of the implications for Media and Advertising entities from Tech’s Big Four Q3 earnings: Amazon’s Media Presence is Continuing to Grow: While Amazon did not break out its specific numbers ...

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