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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 creator economy’s post-lockdown growth

Mark Mulligan

6 Oct 2022

creator tools Creator economy Creators

The Covid pandemic created a unique catalyst for the music creator economy. More time on hands and more cash in pockets gave novices and veterans alike the opportunity to spend both more time and money making music.

5 min read

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How podcast platforms are setting their sights on global expansion

Annie Langston

5 Oct 2022

Podcasts Spotify distribution

The growth of podcast audiences requires a global effort. And while the market is primarily dominated by mostly Western platforms, such as Spotify and Apple, there are opportunities for new players to compete in the digital audio market by tapping into international audiences.

3 min read

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How can entertainment reintroduce scarcity in a time of attention over-saturation?

Hanna Kahlert

5 Oct 2022

scarcity Entertainment Music

Spoiler alert, to the disappointment of some: it is not going to be NFTs. Scarcity, real or artificial, is what drives value. The diamond industry is perhaps the most obvious example of managed scarcity driving high-margin revenues .

4 min read

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Why Sky remains focused on Formula 1 as streaming TV remakes sports fandom

Tim Mulligan

4 Oct 2022

Formula One F1 Sky

Last Friday, Comcast-owned Sky announced that it had renewed its exclusive UK and Ireland coverage of Formula 1 (F1) until the end of 2029. Included in this deal are additional rights for Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

3 min read

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Time to jump off the algorithm highway

Mark Mulligan

30 Sep 2022

Music Cultural trends Marketing Strategy

Life is perpetual change, so it is perhaps overdoing it to suggest that the music business is at a cultural pivot point. Yet, what comes next has the potential to be looked at, years from now, as a dividing line between before and after.

5 min read

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Quick take: Are Netflix’s games efforts still in line with the consumer needs of today?

Karol Severin

29 Sep 2022

Netflix mobile gaming Games industry

It has been a year since Netflix announced its first games studio acquisition. Two days ago, it announced the launch of its own in-house gaming studio based in Finland, bringing a fourth gaming studio into its arsenal.

4 min read

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What happens when the “relentless toll” of the music industry meets the creator economy in a cost-of-living crisis?

Hanna Kahlert

29 Sep 2022

underground cost-of-living Music

The music industry is in a cultural crisis. It is more demanding than ever to be a successful artist, with the work required to meet the demands of social algorithms and to cut through the clutter being more competitive than ever, in addition to touring being hit hugely by the pandemic lockdown and ...

5 min read

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Amazon touches down with a new streaming era for NFL and a boost to Prime membership

Tim Mulligan

27 Sep 2022

streaming tv NFL Thursday Night Football

On September 15th, Amazon Prime Video aired its first Thursday Night Football ( TNF ) match under its new$1 billion-per-yeardomestic broadcast rights deal . Amazon’s decision to become the exclusive broadcaster (via Prime Video and Twitch) has meant that all NFL fans outside of the local markets o...

3 min read

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Grand Theft IP

Perry Gresham

23 Sep 2022

grand theft auto leak intellectual property

This week gaming entered leak season, with large amounts of content unexpectedly released for two major upcoming titles: Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA) and Diablo IV. GTA developer Rockstar Games confirmed : “We recently suffered a network intrusion in which an unauthorised third party illegally access...

4 min read

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YouTube's secret weapon for overtaking Spotify

Tatiana Cirisano

22 Sep 2022

Creator economy Music creators YouTube

YouTube has not been quiet about its ambitions to overtake Spotify as the music industry’s top revenue driver by 2025. The clock is ticking, and although YouTube is the most popular platform for music listening globally (55% of consumers watch music videos on YouTube, compared to 24% who listen to...

4 min read

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Spotify launches audiobooks in the US – but you have to buy them

Annie Langston

22 Sep 2022

Spotify Audiobooks audience

Spotify has officially launched its audiobook vertical for US listeners. Spotify previewed this vertical at its Investor Day in June, in addition to announcing its purchase of Findaway , an audiobook distributor.

3 min read

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The cost-of-living crisis will give rise to a new and powerful underground scene

Hanna Kahlert

21 Sep 2022

underground recession cost-of-living crisis

At this point, everyone – in entertainment and beyond – should be planning for a difficult financial winter. According to the Financial Times , an emergency government scheme capping energy bills has just been launched in the UK, which ministers “hope will prevent a wave of corporate collapse�...

4 min read

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Fox brings its FIFA World Cup 2022 coverage into the streaming era

Tim Mulligan

20 Sep 2022

FIFA World Cup 2022 FIFA Fox

Last week, Fox subsidiary Tubi launched a dedicated linear channel for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 tournament. Alongside using Fox’s US broadcast rights to live stream all tournament matches and highlights, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel will provide series and films focusing ...

3 min read

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WMG is moving beyond superstars – and that is a good thing

Mark Mulligan

16 Sep 2022

Fandom fragmented fandom Streaming

Warner Music Group’s ( WMG’s) Steve Cooper recently stated that the major is no longer financially dependent on superstars – which is, of course, quite a different thing from not being culturally dependent on them, but we’ll get to that.

5 min read

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The future of marketing and A&R is all about scenes

Tatiana Cirisano

15 Sep 2022

music industry Music streaming fragmented fandom

Today’s era of hyper-fragmentation raises all sorts of questions for the music industry, in particular marketing and A&R departments. In a landscape where it is harder than ever to have a mainstream impact, how do you drive culture? How do you break artists and build superstars? What will peak...

5 min read

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What Gamescom and PAX West tell us about games’ cultural relevance in the 2020s

Karol Severin

15 Sep 2022

conference events cultural insight

Over the last few weeks, I had the opportunity to present at both Gamescom in Cologne, and PAX West in Seattle. It has been a few years since I visited Gamescom. Back then, I wrote about how gaming has fully established itself as a cultural phenomenon and was edging towards the mainstream.

5 min read

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BeReal success: where is the popular app headed?

Ashleigh Millar

15 Sep 2022

BeReal Instagram Snapchat

As of the end of August 2022 , BeReal was reported to have 10 million daily active users , not to mention that the app was number one in Apple’s App Store’s free app list in July (in Australia, the UK and US).

5 min read

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Why Netflix is doubling down on strengthening its media fusion IP moat

Tim Mulligan

14 Sep 2022

commissioning retention Assassins Creed

It has been a difficult year for Netflix so far. 2022 has brought some home truths to a growth strategy that had become complacent in the wake of the streaming service’s Covid bounce, and where Netflix’s mainstream brand recognition allowed it to capitalise on the 12% increase in home entertainm...

3 min read

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What the comedian lawsuits against Pandora could mean for podcasts

Annie Langston

14 Sep 2022

Pandora lawsuits copyright

The mountain of comedians who are suing Pandora over copyright infringement continues to grow. In February, the estates of both Robin Williams and George Carlin filed lawsuits against Pandora, claiming that the company is streaming their audio content without the proper licenses.

3 min read

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Social media platforms are now content platforms (and not all of them are competing the same way)

Hanna Kahlert

14 Sep 2022

Social media UGC Content

As we move into an autumn that is haunted by the cost-of-living crisis, entertainment propositions are being forced to increasingly compete for what is left of the pandemic-driven entertainment boom of attention and spend.

4 min read

Cover image for Social media platforms are now content platforms (and not all of them are competing the same way)

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