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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.

The new gaming economy: Why gamers are buying less but playing more

Brandon Sutton

23 Oct 2025

Audience Insight Consumer behaviour Gaming

A new reality is emerging in the gaming economy that is being obscured by projections of growth, and its long-term effects are only beginning to be felt. Despite more money being spent on games than ever before, most consumers are spending less on a smaller number of games.

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Beyond listening: What podcast libraries can tell us about consumer identity

Laura Fisher

22 Oct 2025

Audience Insight Podcasts Consumer behaviour

Podcast libraries have evolved beyond a simple log of listening habits, becoming a telling indicator of personal identity. Increasingly, the most revealing source of who someone is may not be their social media feed or viewing history, but the podcasts they choose to follow.

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How social’s reach is undermining its culture

Hanna Kahlert

21 Oct 2025

Cultural trends Fandom Content

Despite all the promise of digital interconnectivity, the internet has become more isolated than ever. The major platforms are now so focused on entertainment-style content that the original concept of a ‘social’ network has become diluted – seeing a post from a friend has now become a rarity.

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Why digital natives and data science are key to embracing the creator economy

Ben Woods

17 Oct 2025

Cultural trends Creators Creator economy

Social platforms and the creator economy have been re-writing the rules of audience engagement for some time now. Together, they have accelerated the fragmentation of entertainment and made niche the new mainstream.

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Saudi Arabia’s $55 billion EA acquisition: What it means for gaming and global investment

Brandon Sutton

16 Oct 2025

Video Entertainment Gaming

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) will purchase Electronic Arts (EA), alongside private equity firms Silver Lake and Affinity Partners – a move which sent shockwaves through both the gaming and investment worlds (via Electronic Arts ).

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Forget catalogue; creators are the new valuable IP

Hanna Kahlert

16 Oct 2025

Business Strategy Streaming Fandom

The value of entertainment catalogue and content has shifted over the last decade. Licensing usage and distribution used to underpin the system, but challenges arose as digital consumption became the default.

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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.

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The winning formula for Grand Theft Auto VI: Games pricing strategy

Brandon Sutton

9 Oct 2025

Product Strategy Fandom Gaming

A highly anticipated piece of media, Grand Theft Auto VI has garnered widespread attention . However, many details of the game remain a mystery – including the price of the base game. Previous speculation has suggested the game could be priced at $100.

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The ‘TikTok of AI’ – why OpenAI’s Sora 2 will disrupt social media

Ben Woods

9 Oct 2025

Business Strategy Social Content

Shortly after its release last week, OpenAI’s new AI video generator app – Sora 2 – topped US download charts. Dubbed the ‘TikTok of AI’, the app introduced a range of new features that could redefine AI’s relationship with consumers, social platforms, and entertainment IP.

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Is the internet re-localising?

Hanna Kahlert

8 Oct 2025

Cultural trends Social media Social

It’s been a busy few weeks for the social media world. TikTok is on the verge of a US sale – which could also see the app returning to India. Meanwhile, Meta is now offering subscriptions in the UK and Europe.

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Tokyo Game Show 2025: What’s in store for the future of gaming?

Brandon Sutton

2 Oct 2025

Business Strategy Games Gaming

Asian developers and markets are becoming increasingly central to the global games industry as both a source of market opportunity and competition for Western developers. The 2025 Tokyo Game Show (TGS) made this crystal clear.

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AI in radio: How to use AI and retain humanity

Laura Fisher

1 Oct 2025

Business Strategy Radio Entertainment

Every entertainment industry is wrestling with the rise of AI, and the radio business is no exception. After a period where many hoped AI would be a flash in the pan phenomenon, a shift in realisation has occurred.

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Global recorded music revenues up 5.9% in H1 2025

Mark Mulligan

29 Sep 2025

Marketing Strategy Streaming Music

MIDiA is excited to announce our first ever mid-year recorded music model. Clients can access the data here , which is published as part of our H1 2025 music industry metrics report, containing more than 40 pages of market metrics, company financials, and consumer data.

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Video game music’s untapped potential: More than background sound

Brandon Sutton

25 Sep 2025

Music Gaming Games

From chiptune melodies to full orchestral pieces, video games have featured memorable music that enriches and elevates gameplay for decades. Much like film scores, these tracks have long been an essential part of the gaming experience.

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The power of audio: Reflections on the Radio Academy Festival

Laura Fisher

24 Sep 2025

Business Strategy Podcasts Radio

On September 17, 2025, I had the pleasure of attending the Radio Academy Festival: World of Sound. Held in the splendid Royal College of Physicians in Regent’s Park, it felt apt to discuss the future of sound in such a hallowed hall of learning.

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20:25 vision: Meta Connect looks to the post-smartphone future

Hanna Kahlert

23 Sep 2025

Product Strategy Social Meta

Meta Connect 2025 (September 17-18) went all out on glasses and AI, outlining an idealistic future –although brought down to earth throughout by bugs and “WIFI troubles” (per TechCrunch ). To align with the public announcements of upgrades, pricing, and new features, Meta has also been pushing...

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Gen Z social habits spell trouble for music discovery

Olivia Jones

23 Sep 2025

Fandom Business Strategy Music

Social media is king among Gen Z and may seem to act as a hotbed for viral hits. However, social media’s impact on music streams and fandom is not as strong as it appears. MIDiA’s new report All eyes, no ears | Why virality is not building fandom highlights where social media is lacking when it ...

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The ‘proof of work’ premium in the age of AI

Ben Woods

18 Sep 2025

Product Strategy Video Creators

AI is presenting an existential threat to the video creator hardware market . Key to the disruption is the ability of AI video generators to enable creators to bypass cameras within the video creation workflow.

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What the AAA video game industry can learn from indie success

Brandon Sutton

18 Sep 2025

Gaming Games Gamers

A review of the video game releases from the past few years depicts a games landscape dominated by remakes, remasters, and sequels. From the perspective of the publishers, the appeal of this strategy is easy to understand.

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Social is the medium, but its messages are more than just content

Hanna Kahlert

17 Sep 2025

Cultural trends Social media Content

All things, it seems, must now revert to “social”. Netflix has announced a new “Clips” feature, where segments of episodes can be selected and shared on social media (per Engadget ). Spotify has added a social feature allowing users to directly message songs to each other.

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