Blog

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.

Why artist subscriptions are the perfect partner to two-tier licensing

Mark Mulligan

2 Nov 2023

Streaming Spotify Podcasts

With two-tier licensing now a thing , it is time to focus the discussion on how to add new components to the DSP ecosystem that will help long-tail artists continue to thrive in this brave new world. There are many positives that two-tier licensing will bring (helping mid-tier artist remuneration, a...

3 min read

Cover image for Why artist subscriptions are the perfect partner to two-tier licensing

Identity and culture have killed genre in a scenes-driven industry

Kriss Thakrar

31 Oct 2023

Scenes jazz TikTok

This year has seen a renaissance for jazz in popular culture, with artists like Laufey, DOMi and JD Beck, and Ezra Collective succeeding on commercial and critical levels. However, their successes also demonstrate one of the key dynamics driving the modern music industry: identity and culture are mo...

4 min read

Cover image for Identity and culture have killed genre in a scenes-driven industry

Why Amazon is bringing FAST to podcasts

Tim Mulligan

31 Oct 2023

Podcast video Wondery FAST

Last week, Wondery , an Amazon-owned podcast studio,announced the launch of three new free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels on Amazon’s FAST service, Freevee. These channels will join the lineup of over 400 existing channels on Freevee and will serve as a new entry point for audiences to ...

3 min read

Cover image for Why Amazon is bringing FAST to podcasts

Cutting loose the long tail in a rising culture of creative consumption

Hanna Kahlert

27 Oct 2023

Social UGC Media and Marketing

Recent news of Spotify’s reported plan to introduce two-tier licensing represents a significant departure from the incremental shifts we have seen thus far. With developments like Deezer’s new streaming royalty model with Universal Music Group, to X’s premium subscription, the tension between ...

3 min read

Cover image for Cutting loose the long tail in a rising culture of creative consumption

Has superstar creator pay peaked now that Twitch has cooled competition with YouTube?

Ben Woods

26 Oct 2023

Twitch YouTube Kick

Twitch’s annual showcase in Las Vegas was the moment new chief executive Dan Clancy put his stamp on the business. What surprised many – and delighted creators – was his decision to significantly cool competition with YouTube and other livestreaming platforms by giving his blessing to simulcas...

4 min read

Cover image for Has superstar creator pay peaked now that Twitch has cooled competition with YouTube?

What Netflix needs to do next

Tim Mulligan

25 Oct 2023

Netflix Video Business Strategy

Netflix’s Q3 2023 numbers were better than expected, with quarterly revenue up by 7.8% year on year to reach $8.5 billion, and operating margin now up to an impressive 22.4%. The company attributed its revenue growth to three areas: firstly, an increase in average paid memberships, which is due to...

3 min read

Cover image for What Netflix needs to do next

There are no elite artists without elite artist development

Kriss Thakrar

24 Oct 2023

artist development Creators Creator economy

A recent interview with Mariah the Scientist saw her speak about the struggle of performing for only the second time in front of a crowd at one of the world’s biggest festivals, Rolling Loud. She shared that she “wasn’t good at it”, “did not know what she was doing”, and ultimately suffe...

5 min read

Cover image for There are no elite artists without elite artist development

Two-tier licensing is about to become a reality

Mark Mulligan

24 Oct 2023

Streaming Spotify Streaming Royalties

With the dust still far from settled on the UMG / Deezer streaming royalty proposal, something even bigger is coming: Spotify is turning the concept into reality in Q1 2024. The behind-the-scenes conversations have been ongoing for some time, but the details were stated publicly on panels at last we...

4 min read

Cover image for Two-tier licensing is about to become a reality

Can subscriptions keep the lights on for social?

Hanna Kahlert

19 Oct 2023

Social user-generated content creator tools

Digital advertising has long been the financial backbone of the digital world. It has underpinned the business models of the likes of Google and Meta, and its absence has been the value proposition of subscriptions, which now dominate digital entertainment.

6 min read

Cover image for Can subscriptions keep the lights on for social?

How Taylor Swift has ushered in an era of direct distribution for media fusion

Tim Mulligan

19 Oct 2023

Taylor Swift Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour Concert Film amc theatres

Cinematic releases of music concerts are nothing new, with the likes of the Beatles Help! film of 1965 ushering in a new era of mass participation for global fanbases beyond the concert arena. When Covid shut down the live music scene in 2020-2021, there was a brief flurry of interest in delivering ...

4 min read

Cover image for How Taylor Swift has ushered in an era of direct distribution for media fusion

Spotify versus Apple Podcasts: The podcast analytics race has begun

Annie Langston

18 Oct 2023

Spotify Podcasts Creators

First announced at Podcast Movement in August 2023, Spotify is now rolling out new features and analytics tools to aid podcast discovery. While Apple Podcast’s recent updates target a specific type of creator — creators with subscriptions (and therefore, established audiences) — Spotify is cas...

4 min read

Cover image for Spotify versus Apple Podcasts: The podcast analytics race has begun

What music could gain from social platform subscriptions

Tatiana Cirisano

17 Oct 2023

TikTok Twitter Instagram

Last week, Epic Games’ comments about “low margins” in the creator economy prompted a burning question : What happens when consumer creations become more popular than the core content they draw from? Consumers increasingly express their fandom through creation, and we believe this will be one ...

3 min read

Cover image for What music could gain from social platform subscriptions

How Kwebbelkop AI is pushing the frontiers of generative-AI content creation on YouTube

Ben Woods

16 Oct 2023

Generative AI Social video Kwebbelkop

The incoming wave of generative-AI content has the potential to dominate social video platforms and reshape the creator economy. As a support act, AI can help content creators improve their production values and reduce time spent creating.

7 min read

Cover image for How Kwebbelkop AI is pushing the frontiers of generative-AI content creation on YouTube

Music has become a ‘just-in-time’ economy

Mark Mulligan

16 Oct 2023

Just in time supply chains Music creators

The modern day economy is built upon ‘just-in-time’ supply chains. This framework has enabled the benefits of consumerism that we have come to enjoy, such as next day delivery, out of season foods on our shelves, and the digital devices we live our lives through.

5 min read

Cover image for Music has become a ‘just-in-time’ economy

Sony is tapping its core media fusion opportunity. Here is why:

Tim Mulligan

11 Oct 2023

Sony Media Fusion cross entertainment

In March 2023, MIDiA wrote a report on the increasing media fusion emerging between gamers and video streaming. In rebooting video fandom we argued that gamers were now both shaping and being targeted by streaming services keen to expand their reach (and revenue) across the digital entertainment lan...

3 min read

Cover image for Sony is tapping its core media fusion opportunity. Here is why:

Streaming is missing cultural moments, and superstars know it

Kriss Thakrar

11 Oct 2023

Streaming Fandom Superfans

In the modern music industry, a near constant supply of music is expected to succeed on streaming platforms . Drake is one of the best examples of this: since 2015 he has released an album every year, in addition to two collaborative albums, adding up to 200 tracks.

3 min read

Cover image for Streaming is missing cultural moments, and superstars know it

Tech’s failure to crack live audio could be radio’s opportunity

Annie Langston

9 Oct 2023

Amazon Amp Spotify Live Clubhouse

Another live audio app bites the dust. A year after its launch, Amazon Amp is shutting down, being buried alongside Spotify Live and Clubhouse (at least in its original form). While Amp recruited major celebrities, like Nicki Minaj and Pusha T, to host shows, it was not immune to industry-wide layof...

4 min read

Cover image for Tech’s failure to crack live audio could be radio’s opportunity

Are the ongoing layoffs in games indicative of a wider issue in the games industry?

Karol Severin

6 Oct 2023

Games industry games forecast Games

The layoffs wildfire that struck the games industry at the start of 2023 does not seem to be stopping - the most recent being Epic Games last week. Firstly, on a personal level, it has been really sad and upsetting to see all these people being laid off in 2023 – especially when the reasons behind...

5 min read

Cover image for Are the ongoing layoffs in games indicative of a wider issue in the games industry?

How AI can empower creators by cutting through content saturation

Ben Woods

5 Oct 2023

Social video YouTube AI

When YouTube’s chief executive Neal Mohan recently revealed a suite of AI tools to support creators, he aimed to drastically reduce the time it takes to produce content. Among those innovations were AI-driven topic suggestions for videos; AI generated photo and video backgrounds for short-form con...

3 min read

Cover image for How AI can empower creators by cutting through content saturation

Does culture become a commodity, or do commodities become culture?

Hanna Kahlert

5 Oct 2023

commodity culture Cultural trends

More than three fourths of audiences believe that the music they listen to reflects who they are. This rises to more than four fifths of people aged 25-44. Music listening is also incredibly personal –roughly a third of people listen to playlists they curate themselves when exercising, hanging out...

5 min read

Cover image for Does culture become a commodity, or do commodities become culture?

© 2025 MIDiA Research Ltd. All Rights Reserved.