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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.

A fifth of gamers love couch co-op, so where are all the games?

Rhys Elliott

15 Nov 2024

console gaming PC EA

Couch co-op gaming, when two or more players in the same room play together co-operatively, already has some proven success stories: It Takes Two , a co-op-only platformer from EA studio Hazelight, has sold over 20 million copies.

4 min read

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Are social platforms losing the next generation to Roblox and Fortnite?

Ben Woods

15 Nov 2024

Roblox TikTok YouTube

Unpacking social media strategy is now part and parcel of any election postmortem. From Elon Musk’s ownership of X to Donald Trump’s use of creators to target Gen Z men, understanding social’s role in the US election is to understand how influence is wielded in the digital age.

3 min read

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Q3 streaming trends: Why Spotify’s growth in the Global South matters for the music industry

Tatiana Cirisano

14 Nov 2024

Global South Music Spotify

For much of 2024, music industry discourse centred around Spotify’s content mix. The growing long-tail of artists and songs on the platform is what fueled Universal Music Group’s two-tiered royalty system, and rights holders continue to raise concerns about sharing space with audiobooks and podc...

4 min read

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What Acast's Q3 earnings signal about the global podcasting market

Rutger Rosenborg

13 Nov 2024

Audio Acast Podcasts

As one of the key players in podcast industry trends and podcast monetisation, what happens at Acast matters. The company’s financials provide insight into the global podcasting market, signalling to the broader industry the strength of podcast advertising.

3 min read

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Info-tainment, Kamala’s campaign failure, and the distortive role of social media marketing

Hanna Kahlert

12 Nov 2024

Marketing Strategy Social media trump presidency

The recent US election has capped off one of the biggest global election years in recent history, and the world around us is changing rapidly. Digital life, and specifically social media platforms, play a huge role in both how we have got to where we are and where we are going next.

5 min read

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Nintendo’s music app underlines its cross-entertainment future

Rhys Elliott

8 Nov 2024

Games Music Business Strategy

Nintendo is at the forefront of the cross-entertainment trend. Alongside console games and hardware, Nintendo’s strategy spans theme parks, Hollywood (including the billion-dollar-grossing Super Mario movie), mobile, toys, merch, and even alarm clocks.

6 min read

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How creator hardware companies can adapt to AI’s new creative lane

Ben Woods

7 Nov 2024

Video Product Strategy creator hardware

Companies building creator hardware are used to disruption. The last seismic shift came in the shape of the smartphone. Mass market point-and-shoot cameras were met with an existential crisis when lenses and microphones capable of capturing high-quality video footage began making their way into mobi...

3 min read

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Two years into the AI craze, where does it go next?

Hanna Kahlert

6 Nov 2024

AI market investment startup

We are almost two years into the reality of large-language-model (LLM) artificial intelligence. Now, the future of AI is heralding the return of nuclear power: both Google and Microsoft have announced that they are investing in the revival of power plants to satiate the depthless energy needs of the...

4 min read

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Political podcast advertising: Will the ‘podcast election’ open the door for political ads in podcasts?

Rutger Rosenborg

6 Nov 2024

Audio Marketing Strategy podcast advertising

US presidential campaign ads are ubiquitous on television. Leading up to the election, every commercial break is an alternating flurry of messaging from each side. This year, however, we saw the first ‘podcast election’, with podcasts playing a key role in presidential campaigning as well.

4 min read

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Activision pushed Xbox to growth in an otherwise flat Q3

Rhys Elliott

1 Nov 2024

Xbox Games Product Strategy

Microsoft’s Q3 2024 results (fiscal Q1 2025) continue to reflect Xbox’s shifting strategy: Xbox’s gaming revenue grew 43% year-on-year , but essentially all of this growth came from the Activision Blizzard acquisition (43 points of net impact) Xbox content and service revenue grew 61% , with 5...

5 min read

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Two future paths for the vinyl revival

Tatiana Cirisano

31 Oct 2024

Music fandom Superfans monetising fandom

The vinyl resurgence is among the top music industry narratives of the past few years, especially given the recent focus on monetising fandom. The elephant in the room is the question of how long this resurgence will last.

5 min read

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State of the independent music economy: Fragmentation AND consolidation

Mark Mulligan

31 Oct 2024

market shares label market shares Independent labels

MIDiA is excited to announce our latest report “ State of the independent music economy: Fragmentation AND consolidation”. It represents the most extensive piece of research we have ever done. Through a combination of our annual Independent Label and Distributor Survey and an exhaustive (and ex...

5 min read

When Bernie Sanders met Sykkuno: how VTubers are taking over social platforms

Ben Woods

31 Oct 2024

Creators Creator economy Video

It made for a curious sight: the US senator Bernie Sanders discussing the upcoming election with Sykkuno , a creator whose digital identity is an anime inspired demi human with cat ears. These two worlds collided last week (October 23, 2024) when Sanders joined a Twitch live stream hosted by superst...

5 min read

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Ofcom, Elon Musk, and the future of the social platform marketplace

Hanna Kahlert

30 Oct 2024

regulation Social platforms TikTok

Earlier this year, riots broke out across the UK, fuelled largely by misinformation and inflammatory discourse on social media. At the time, it was unclear who bore responsibility: did the brunt of the blame fall on certain accounts and creators, or do social platforms need to take a firmer approach...

4 min read

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AI and ad exchanges are helping podcast advertising grow — but who benefits most?

Rutger Rosenborg

30 Oct 2024

Spotify Streaming Podcasts

Podcast advertising has existed for more than a decade, but it is only just beginning to evolve. For much of its existence, it has resembled radio advertising more than other digital ad formats. A lack of scale has kept podcast advertising out of its digital prime.

4 min read

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How big can music merch get? MIDiA’s latest report charts the course to $16B by 2030

Tatiana Cirisano

24 Oct 2024

music merchandise monetising fandom Superfans

Over the weekend, Billie Eilish launched a pop-up merchandise shop in SoHo, New York, where fans could choose from items like a $20 pair of shoelaces, $30 belt, $30 necktie, and $60 necklace. Partnered with American Express , the experience, which previously opened in Tokyo, also included a photoboo...

4 min read

Cover image for How big can music merch get? MIDiA’s latest report charts the course to $16B by 2030

Music in podcasts: Engaging superfans with a new album campaign strategy

Rutger Rosenborg

23 Oct 2024

Podcasts Streaming music podcasts

MIDiA has covered music’s big podcasting opportunity extensively. Per our June 2024 report, “ Defining podcast taste: The universal appeal of music, news, and comedy ”, music is one of the top podcast topics in the world; however, podcasting’s role in music marketing has yet to fully materia...

4 min read

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Social platforms are eating passive entertainment. Are games eating social?

Hanna Kahlert

22 Oct 2024

Social Social media Gaming

At Sony Music’s Interactive Tech Day in London on 22nd October, gaming was, ironically, the highlight. From artist takeovers of Roblox destinations to concert-type experiences in Fortnite Islands, the company’s music strategy is increasingly crossing over with the gaming world – a goal mirrore...

4 min read

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Want to monetise generative AI tools effectively? Then make them safe for creators

Ben Woods

17 Oct 2024

Creator economy Creators Adobe

Adobe wrapped its creativity conference on Wednesday after a slew of product announcements for creators. Much like last year’s MAX event, artificial intelligence was front and centre. Many of the demos focused on tools being brought to bear by Adobe Firefly, the company’s family of generative AI...

3 min read

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The next era of entertainment: AI and social are lowering barriers, but new ones must emerge

Hanna Kahlert

15 Oct 2024

Social art Creators

There is an inherent tension between tech-enabled accessibility to creation (good), and the ability for that entertainment to become successful (challenging). Music and other entertainment industries typically have one half of this conversation at a time.

5 min read

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