Reports: Apple

Browse all of our reports, featuring our analysts' expert insights and analysis of audience segmentation, emerging trends and technologies, value chains, market shares, predictions and more – backed by our proprietary survey data and bespoke models & forecasts. Become a subscriber to get new ones every month, or just pick one to get started.

Cover image for Streaming strongholds

Streaming strongholds
High-potential markets for global music players

Perry Gresham

11 Aug 2025

ARPU Labels Streaming

While the balance of music streamers continues to tip towards global south markets, their smaller ARPU rates limit their revenues. Meanwhile, periodic price-rises and the advent of supremium will reinforce the contributions from the West. This report highlights streaming strongholds, those markets which, underscored by high music engagement and his...

Cover image for Is in-game advertising the next frontier for PC and console games?

Is in-game advertising the next frontier for PC and console games?

Rhys Elliott

15 Jul 2025

Apple YouTube Netflix

In-game advertising (IGA) in AAA console and PC titles is experiencing a resurgence. Advancements in technology, shifting consumer behaviours, evolving monetisation strategies, and a now-mature games market have reignited interest. With AAA publishers adopting free-to-play models and hybrid monetisation – mirroring mobile gaming’s success – a...

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AI futures
Culture wars

Ben Woods, Tatiana Cirisano, Hanna Kahlert, Mark Mulligan and Kriss Thakrar

29 May 2025

Apple Spotify Deezer

AI is transforming culture, entertainment, business, and society at a rate unprecedented in the digital era. Unlike previous tech, AI is evolving at the speed of computing, not the human brain. Delivering as quickly as it promises, AI is breaking the mould.

2024 audio consumer profile
Habits, platforms, and personas

Laura Fisher

19 May 2025

Apple Spotify YouTube

This report presents MIDiA’s audio consumer survey data with a view to understand the global audio consumer.This report is a compilation of the most recent MIDiA audio data. Key data in this report: Platforms that podcast monthly listeners use to access their podcasts, Q4 2024, global Podcast monthly listeners main ways of discovering podcasts, Q...

Music streaming consumer profile Q4 2024
Stabilisation and fandom slowdown

Mark Mulligan and Tatiana Cirisano

26 Feb 2025

Willingness to pay Music consumers Streaming

Consumer music behaviours are both stabilising and showing signs of coming change. Change that could be challenging for all music business stakeholders, especially with regards to fandom monetisation. This report presents data-focused visuals and impactful analysis of trends and anomalies that will inform your understanding of what is happening to ...

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MIDiA’s 2025 predictions
It’s social’s stage now

Mark Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Tatiana Cirisano, Ben Woods, Rutger Rosenborg, Rhys Elliott and Olivia Jones

5 Dec 2024

Apple Spotify YouTube

The creator economy reshaped entertainment in the first half of the 2020s and social wasthe big winner, now positioned at the centre of the entertainment economy. In 2025 wewill see the second-order effects begin to play out, set against the backdrop of attentionsaturation, content commodification, and increased focus on profit.

Cover image for Virtual artists and virtual influencers

Virtual artists and virtual influencers
A new (virtual) reality

Ashleigh Millar

24 Jul 2023

Apple Instagram AI

While North America and Europe are on a path towards authenticity (due to an authenticity crisis), with such trends as #definluencing and #dupes loudly and quickly gaining traction, social media users in Asia Pacific (APAC) have a growing focus on artificial “virtual” influencers (VI’s).

Cover image for US SVOD consumer podcast engagement

US SVOD consumer podcast engagement
Audio is the new spinoff

Annie Langston

1 Jun 2023

Apple Apple Spotify

As consumer attention fragments across platforms and content types, it is increasingly important for both streaming subscription video services and podcast creators to maximise their content reach. For streaming subscription video on demand (SVOD) services, podcasts provide new opportunities to reach and retain audiences.

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Podcasts and music streaming
Mirrored growth

Annie Langston

3 Apr 2023

Apple Apple iTunes

The economic recession, and related layoffs at major podcasting divisions, have some questioning the future of the format. However, podcasts are following a similar trajectory as music did in its transition to streaming and have reached critical mass — 26% consumer penetration — faster than music streaming subscriptions did.

Cover image for Rebooting video fandom

Rebooting video fandom
Games as a video streaming genre

Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Perry Gresham, Samuel Griffin and Ben Woods

20 Mar 2023

Apple Apple TV Netflix

With gamers being mainstream, video streaming services and their content offerings can benefit by increasing focus on the preferences of gamers. Crucially, this enables subscription video on demand (SVOD) services to drive engagement, broaden reach and improve retention.

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Music’s Instagram moment
The social music creation revolution

Tatiana Cirisano

1 Mar 2023

Consumer behaviour Apple Spotify

Social media has steadily integrated music, and music creation tools have steadily become more social. These trends are converging, accelerated by shifts in consumer behaviour and artificial intelligence (AI). The result could be a new set of music creation and re-creation tools, integrated within social platforms and geared towards casual consumer...

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Podcast videos
Format blurring expands podcasts’ future

Annie Langston

1 Feb 2023

Creators Apple Spotify

Podcasts are breaking out of traditional audio and entering the video space, as nearly a quarter of consumers now watch podcast videos monthly. Visual elements for podcasts are becoming a crucial tool to reach new audiences and engage current listeners.

Audiobook consumer profile
Following in podcasts’ footsteps

Annie Langston

4 Jan 2023

Apple Spotify YouTube

The audiobook market is at an important stage of its evolution. Similar to podcasts, the niche format is trying to grow amid heightened competition for consumers’ time and attention, while the looming recession puts subscriptions growth and retention under pressure.

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The great movie reset
How films can drive higher income spending in video

Tim Mulligan

22 Dec 2022

Apple Amazon Apple TV

The role of film in popular culture and the evolution of video streaming has reached an inflection point. After the near death of the box office in 2020, and the subsequent shattering of the box office window by studios desperate to generate returns on pre-Covid investments, film is once again at an inflection point.

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2023 MIDiA predictions
Pivot point

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Srishti Das, Kriss Thakrar, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano, Annie Langston, Perry Gresham, Samuel Griffin, Kazia Rothwell and Ben Woods

20 Dec 2022

Apple YouTube Amazon

In this report, MIDiA Research analysts present their predictions for what will be the big trends in digital media and tech across music, video, games, marketing, audio and cultural trends in 2023 and beyond. Themes for 2023: Cost-of-living crunch: Entertainment spending will weaken, but some formats will fare better than others Perceived value wil...

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Streaming’s next growth phase
The necessity of differentiation

Tatiana Cirisano

28 Oct 2022

Apple Spotify YouTube

DSPs have long been able to grow their subscriber bases despite all offering essentially the same experience. Yet the freemium model is reaching a saturation point, putting slow but steady pressure on DSPs to find new ways to grow subscribers and revenue.

Cover image for Podcast market value chain

Podcast market value chain
The next investment is the listeners

Annie Langston

27 Oct 2022

Creators Apple Spotify

Investments from major audience platforms in audio infrastructure, such as hosting platforms and advertising, kickstarted the growth of the podcast market. With the basic infrastructure now in place, it is time for the major platforms to focus on growing the format by expanding listenership and user experience.

Cover image for Friction TV

Friction TV
Addressing the user experience disconnect in streaming TV

Tim Mulligan

20 Oct 2022

Apple Netflix SVOD

Streaming TV is now the default way to consume TV content. However, the streaming TV era is now the friction TV era, due to the fragmented nature of the direct-to-consumer (D2C) siloed, competing brands. Consumers require multiple services with different user experiences to engage in the full range of TV content previously available in one ecosyste...

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State of the music creator economy
Post-lockdown growth

Mark Mulligan, Kriss Thakrar and Tatiana Cirisano

30 Sep 2022

Apple Spotify live

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. Though the pandemic was a peak, it also marked the start of a new era for the music creator economy across every one of its aspects, f...

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Attention inflation
How multitasking is reshaping the attention economy

Karol Severin and Perry Gresham

31 Aug 2022

Apple Spotify YouTube

Entertainment hours are up, but consumption is becoming diluted and losing focus, and is increasingly in the background of other activities. Audiences want to consume more but have no more time to allocate; increased multitasking is the result. Consequently, attention / focus is split between more propositions.

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