Blog - Page 51

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.

ViacomCBS points the way to D2C sustainability

Tim Mulligan

10 Nov 2021

ViacomCBS d2c Video

The streaming video revolution over the previous two years is busy transforming from growth at any cost, towards establishing a viable path to exist beyond the current surge of investment. The ultimate business objective is for streaming to be seen as viable post-broadcast business model for the tra...

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Why a VR metaverse is not the future of digital

Hanna Kahlert

5 Nov 2021

metaverse consumer insight digital first

Amid a perfect storm of government scrutiny, potential anti-trust legislation, a whistle-blower, and social media disruption at the hands of burgeoning creator tools (like TikTok), Facebook – sorry, Meta – has announced its grand plan to build out the new future of the digital frontier: the meta...

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Quick take: Another blow for Epic Games as Fortnite shuts down in China

Karol Severin

4 Nov 2021

Fortnite Epic Games regulation

It has not been the best year for Fortnite. Following the fiasco with its Apple lawsuit, as well as year on year consumer penetration having declined , the Fortnite maker announced that it is shutting down its Chinese version of Fortnite, Fortress Night.

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Why Netflix is making its play to become a (meta) entertainment service

Tim Mulligan

3 Nov 2021

Online video Video Business Strategy

A deliberate strategic change in the core business utility of any company is difficult. For a business such as Netflix, which is synonymous with streaming video subscriptions, diversifying into games is poised to be as transformative as last week’s Facebook Inc’s Meta rebranding exercise.

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Creator consolidation: Fender becomes the next creator tools major

Kriss Thakrar

2 Nov 2021

creator tools music production Independent artists

When Francisco Partners brought together Native Instruments and Izotope, it created the first creator tool major . Now a second player has staked its claim: Fender has made one of the biggest creator tools moves of the year through its acquisition of guitar-focused creator tools company, PreSonus .

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Facebook is about to disrupt itself out of existence…again

Mark Mulligan

29 Oct 2021

Meta Facebook metaverse

Facebook’s rebranding to Meta can be interpreted in many ways. It can be seen as: following Google / Alphabet’s lead in communicating a new chapter in its business; putting distance between the company and its most well-known app, ahead of it beginning to decline; shifting the story away from wh...

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FaZe goes public – what to watch out for

Karol Severin

28 Oct 2021

FaZe esports culture

FaZe is going public via a SPAC merger. It is positioning itself as the company who can help brands reach Gen Z. Can it succeed? Every generation or so, there is a company that builds its narrative to investors around being the company to help reach and influence the ever-so-fickle young demographic.

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Lean-in is the future because it is the past

Hanna Kahlert

27 Oct 2021

Cultural trends Engagement Entertainment

The modern mantra of “kids these days” might (in the industry) typically finish with something like “ are killing good music ” or “are on TikTok too much”. The strategists developing the future of propositions look at the ‘silver streamers’ (aged 55+), who over-index for home speaker...

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Why HBO Max needs to invest in the new global hit model

Tim Mulligan

26 Oct 2021

SVOD HBO Max d2c

Last week, the AT&T Q3 earnings announcement revealed that HBO Max has now reached 69.4 million subscribers (up 12.5 million from last year, and up 1.9 million from the previous quarter). Today, HBO Max went live in the Nordics and Spain, beginning its 27-territory rollout in Europe.

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Why Adele is Bond and BTS is Squid Game

Mark Mulligan

25 Oct 2021

adele BTS Niche

When Spotify announced that Adele had broken the record for the most streams in one day, with 19.8 million streams , the caveat was that this was true as long as you do not include all of the streams BTS had accumulated in 24 hours for ‘Butter’ in May.

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Why making memes with creator tools is the new music industry

Kriss Thakrar

25 Oct 2021

creator tools user-generated content music production

The creator tools business has been one of the biggest winners of the pandemic, as people turned to music-making in record numbers. Second-hand gear marketplace, Reverb.com, provided some insight into the products driving the creator boom – and two, in particular, stand out: the MPC One and OP-1 s...

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EA’s exclusive FIFA license is under threat as games go cross-entertainment

Karol Severin

22 Oct 2021

FIFA EA football

Last week it was reported that FIFA and EA are at an impasse regarding the renewal negotiations of an exclusive license deal. EA stated that it is considering renaming its flagship football title, while FIFA responded with a press release stating that “the future of gaming and esports for football...

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

Hanna Kahlert

21 Oct 2021

creator tools apple event mainstream

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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Is Wall Street starting to curb its D2C enthusiasm?

Tim Mulligan

20 Oct 2021

Online video Video Business Strategy

On Monday, media major Disney received a Wall Street downgrade from a Barclays investment analyst who cited the growing challenge of creating new Disney+ originals with the same “ franchise value or visibility ” of the existing Disney IP (intellectual property) on the streaming service.

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Adele’s success will be best measured in cultural impact – not sales

Mark Mulligan

15 Oct 2021

adele 30 Streaming

Adele is something of an anomaly in the modern music business, a throwback to how things used to be. These days even the biggest artists struggle to get mainstream attention for their new releases in a flooded market that is defined by more releases than ever before, and the ‘always on’ artist w...

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The key winners and losers of the Covid-bounce effect in games

Karol Severin

14 Oct 2021

games engagement Fortnite Roblox

As we have covered before, games engagement began to experience effects of the Covid-bounce . As usual, however, there are winners and losers within the wider micro-dynamics. The following graph demonstrates how 20 key games franchises fared in the US between Q2 2020 and Q2 2021, in terms of consume...

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The impact of culture on content: Why Squid Game is a bigger hit than Bond

Hanna Kahlert

14 Oct 2021

Fandom James Bond Squid Game

Earlier this week MIDiA highlighted how the format of content is gradually eroding , so much so that a TV series, like Squid Game , can reach bigger audiences and generate more conversation than the decades-old fandom hit series, James Bond .

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Squid Game versus Bond: how streaming is redefining mainstream success

Tim Mulligan

12 Oct 2021

No Time to Die Squid Game content format

As video entertainment returns to pre-lockdown consumer choices between home-based, predominately digital, content offerings, and the ‘in real life’ (IRL) appeal of the cinema, the quality of the content is returning to the fore.

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Why games-related video warrants a specific category on mainstream video services

Karol Severin

8 Oct 2021

Gamers SVOD genre preferences

In Q2 2021, 11% of US consumers stated that they watch games-related videos every month. This is now nearing the same penetration rate as fandom of reality TV shows or the news (both at 12%), and greater than fandom for factual (7%) or anime (9%).

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Did July 1st 2019 mark the end of Spotify’s music creator dream?

Mark Mulligan

8 Oct 2021

creator tools Spotify Soundbetter

On July 1st2019, Spotify announced that it was closing its system that allowed artists to upload their music directly to Spotify . The move came in the wake of fierce opposition from record labels who had let Spotify know, in no uncertain terms, that they were not going to let it compete directly ag...

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