Blog: UK

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.

Has music reached peak fragmentation?

Tatiana Cirisano

2 May 2025

Audience Insight

Streaming

Music

If you have read any of MIDiA’s work, you will know we keep a close eye on the fragmentation of music consumption. Thanks to both the internet’s democratising force and the rise of recommendation algorithms, consumers are spreading their listening across more songs and artists than ever, while the “hits” are dominating less.

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Are we reaching peak fandom?

Mark Mulligan

1 May 2025

Business Strategy

Streaming

Music

With streaming revenue growth slowing to 6.2% in 2024, the recorded music industry’s attention is firmly fixed on superfans as the ‘get out of jail free’ card. The growing sophistication of artist merch has reached the stage where fans can buy Taylor Swift fashion bags and shop her jewelry range , meanwhile all eyes are on the impending Spotify supremium tier (as reported by Bloomberg ).

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IMS Business Report 2025

Mark Mulligan

23 Apr 2025

Spotify

YouTube

Facebook

Today I presented the 11th edition of the IMS Business Report at the ever-brilliant annual electronic music industry conference in Ibiza. And who doesn’t like a conference in Ibiza?! The full report is available via the IMS website.

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The case for anti-scale

Tatiana Cirisano

30 Jan 2025

Business Strategy

YouTube

TikTok

Go big or go home. More is more. All or nothing. Move fast and break things. Such adages have been the foundations of Western entertainment business for decades, and understandably so, because these models have always relied on hits.

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DeepSeek and Rednote signal the dawning era of APAC

Hanna Kahlert

29 Jan 2025

Business Strategy

Netflix

TikTok

The AI race is a tense one. Billions of dollars have been poured into the likes of OpenAI. Meanwhile, the US and UK governments, among others, have pledged to invest heavily in AI development, suggesting that they feel it is of critical importance to “win” the new space race.

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The podcast listener journey reveals a desire for human connection

Rutger Rosenborg

21 Jan 2025

Audience Insight

YouTube

TikTok

As the global podcast industry zeros in on video – especially social video – one overlooked discovery source has never really gone away: word of mouth. Despite a format that was born to be digital, podcasting still relies on the most analog of recommendation systems for discovery in the US, UK, and France.

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Musk calls UK government ‘tyrannical’ and TikTok could leave the US: is global culture going regional again?

Hanna Kahlert

7 Jan 2025

social media,

tiktok ban

elon musk

A swath of elections in 2024 have paved the way for regulatory changes in the social media sphere, with talk of bans and restrictions meeting the governmental meddling of CEOs like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.

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Knockout Blow For Eleven Sports?

Alistair Taylor

13 Dec 2018

additive service

Audience behaviour

BBC

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. Failure to attract enough subscribers onto its platform since its launch has only increased doubts over the financial viability of the service.

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Sky and BT announce long term partnership for cross-supply of content

Alistair Taylor

2 Nov 2018

addressable audience

Amazon Prime

Attention economy

British broadcasters Sky and BT confirmed this week a long-term extension and expansion to an overall content cross-supply deal. Following the initial agreement signed in the UK last December , the partnership now includes Ireland, allowing Sky Ireland customers access to Sky Sports and BT Sport through a single Sky TV subscription.

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Big Brother Axed By Channel 5, But It Is Not All Bad News For Endemol

Alistair Taylor

14 Sep 2018

Big brother

Channel 4

Channel 5

Dutch production house Endemol is no longer going to be making cult reality TV show Big Brother for Viacom’s UK terrestrial channel, Channel 5. It announced that it was “disappointed not to reach an agreement with Channel 5”, following Channel 5’s admission to the BBC that “the forthcoming series of Big Brother will be the last – of either celebrity or civilian versions – on Channel 5”.

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Can Eleven Sports Disrupt the UK Sports Video Landscape?

Alistair Taylor

19 Jul 2018

Allsvenskan

broadcasters

Eleven Sports is a global sports content provider intent on global expansion. Already established in Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan and the US. Eleven is systematically acquiring new rights to increase its value proposition before launching local channels into new target markets.

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MIDiA Exclusive: 7digital Acquires Leading Competitor 24-7

Mark Mulligan

10 Mar 2017

24-7

7 digital

7Digital

UK music services provider 7digital today announced they are currently considering the acquisition of longstanding competitor 24-7 from German retail giant MediaMarktSaturn (MMS). 24-7 is one of the longest standing companies in the entire digital music space, founded in 2000 (MMS took a majority holding in 2009).

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Brexit Implications: How the UK's EU Exit Could Impact Media and Tech

Zach Fuller

28 Jun 2016

brexit

digital music

digital outlook

The UK’s vote to leave the European Union sent shockwaves that will continue to reverberate across the globe for years to come. While the potential geopolitical permutations may prove to be era defining, the implications for media and tech companies could also be dramatic.

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MIDiA Chart Of The Week: The Steady Decline Of The CD Buyer

Mark Mulligan

8 Feb 2016

cd buyers

cd sales

Chart Of The Week

As much as we may be in the era of streaming, nearly half of recorded music revenue globally is still derived from physical sales, with the CD making up the vast majority of that. So, for all the understandable focus on how YouTube, Spotify, Soundcloud & co are shaping the future of the music business, the humble CD buyer remains crucial.

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