Reports: Business Strategy

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 Music and AI

Music and AI
Beyond the hype cycle

Tatiana Cirisano

19 Dec 2023

AI Business Strategy

As with any emerging technology, recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have set in motion a flurry of excitement and investment, as well as fear and litigation. In this environment, it is crucial to parse what is hype and what is reality.

Cover image for MIDiA’s 2024 predictions report

MIDiA’s 2024 predictions report
The algorithm is not listening

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Kriss Thakrar, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano, Perry Gresham, Kazia Rothwell and Ben Woods

14 Dec 2023

Business Strategy

2023 was another year of change and disruption. 2024 will be even more defined by change than the years that preceded it. But much of this change will be defined by reaction more than action. The unintended consequences of years of innovation have resulted in environments where many consumers are getting further away from their wants and needs, not...

Cover image for Music industry earnings H1 2023

Music industry earnings H1 2023
Dawn of the post-streaming era

Tatiana Cirisano

21 Nov 2023

Business Strategy

The post-pandemic revenue bump is settling and challenges, including the cost-of-living crisis and a Russo-Ukrainian war, continue to complicate the global economic climate. This report considers the impact of these factors, and others, in analysing the revenues of leading music companies across recorded music, publishing, live, and streaming for t...

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Radio future vision
Build the new and transform the old

Annie Langston

28 Oct 2023

Business Strategy

Despite extensive efforts by radio broadcasters to redress the digital shift with offerings like podcasts and streaming apps, radio’s audience continues to fall. The fundamental question is: how does radio attract younger audiences that have never been radio natives? Ultimately, radio must act, and fast.

Cover image for MIDiA Research 2023-2030 global games industry forecasts

MIDiA Research 2023-2030 global games industry forecasts
Life post-peak

Karol Severin and Perry Gresham

27 Oct 2023

Business Strategy

This report discusses key drivers, inhibitors, and developments that will affect the games industry throughout the remainder of the decade. It offers investors, rightsholders, and distributors a glimpse into what lies ahead, accompanied by strategic recommendations and a plethora of hard to find, business-critical, modelled metrics.

Cover image for Misaligned incentives

Misaligned incentives
The cost of a broken business

Tatiana Cirisano

29 Sep 2023

Business Strategy

Many of the music industry’s current woes can be traced back to misaligned incentives. Current streaming economics push record labels, streaming services, and artists in conflicting directions: Labels chase viral songs to grow market share, streaming services are motivated to lower the cost of licensing music, and artists must venture outside the...

Cover image for Artist subscriptions are the superfan opportunity

Artist subscriptions are the superfan opportunity

Mark Mulligan, Kriss Thakrar and Tatiana Cirisano

30 Aug 2023

Business Strategy

Streaming is at a tipping point. Revenue growth slowed to 6.0% in 2022, labels want new royalty systems, consumption is commodified, TikTok is diluting cultural capital, creators are questioning effort ROI, and AI is here. Music rightsholders need their next growth driver.

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The FAST advantage
Build sustainable consumer models

Tim Mulligan and Ben Woods

14 Aug 2023

Streaming Amazon Netflix

Inflation and retention pressures are combining to make free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) an appealing go-to-market strategy for video distributors.FAST is still underperforming significantly in engagement terms when compared to its video rivals, but there are promising signs.

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Music’s podcast potential
Focus on branding over discovery

Annie Langston

14 Aug 2023

Labels Streaming Artists

In this hyper-fragmented entertainment consumption space, artists and labels must use every tool available to break out above the noise. Artists must diversify their content to not only promote their music, but to develop their personal brand. Podcasts are an effective vessel to target niche audiences and build a brand, both within and outside of m...

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Tipping point
The coming consolidation of live service games

Karol Severin and Perry Gresham

17 Jul 2023

ariana grande Call of Duty FIFA

The games industry has become addicted to the promise of lower risk and better ROI from live service games. As a result, there has been a flurry of live service titles released over the last 10 years. This is the key reason why the games industry’s core business model has shifted from unit-sales based to engagement based.

Cover image for Streaming TV meets local

Streaming TV meets local
How local content commissioning regulation will reshape streaming output

Tim Mulligan

5 Jul 2023

Netflix Amazon Prime house of cards

US headquartered global video players have grown their business models outside of national regulatory frameworks. The streaming video on demand (SVOD) model is now being disrupted as national governments respond to domestic concerns over the erosion of local TV and film industries and the supplanting of local cultural output.

Cover image for MIDiA Research 2023-2030 global music forecasts

MIDiA Research 2023-2030 global music forecasts
Speed bump

Mark Mulligan

30 Jun 2023

Business Strategy

2022 was a tumultuous year for the global economy, with factors such as high rates of inflation, rising interest rates, a growing cost-of-living crisis, post-Covid supply chain issues, and the Russo-Ukrainian war causing economic dislocation.While the recorded music business was far less affected than many other industries, it was impacted, especia...

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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Data briefing
South Korea music market

Mark Mulligan

1 Jun 2023

Business Strategy

This report presents key music market metrics for South Korea. All data is domestic SouthKorean data unless otherwise stated below. The datasets leveraged for this report include: Music company financials and market shares. This data refers to revenue generated by South Korean companies and thus includes both domestic and international revenue MIDi...

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Livestreaming strategy in a social-video world
Work with UGC, not against it

Tatiana Cirisano

1 Jun 2023

live Amazon Prime gigs

Livestreamed concerts are establishing themselves as complementary experiences, rather than replacements for in-person gigs. A picture of the average livestreamer — older millennials who are entertainment super-consumers — is coming into focus. Now, as the rise of social video coincides with the return of in-person concerts and festivals, user-...

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Artists direct
Focus on passion, not professionalism

Tatiana Cirisano

2 May 2023

Spotify Spotify SoundCloud

All eyes of the music business are on artists direct, the fastest-growing segment of the industry. But the 6.4 million artists in this segment are far from a unified group, and have varied aspirations, challenges, and needs. MIDiA’s 2023 creator survey reflects that the two largest sub-segments of artists direct are those who seek full-time music...

Cover image for Pre-empting video piracy in the streaming TV era

Pre-empting video piracy in the streaming TV era

Tim Mulligan

2 May 2023

Netflix Netflix Business Strategy

Video piracy had been downgraded as a significant disruptive risk in the era of subscription video on demand (SVOD) and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST). While peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing piracy is a declining niche activity at 7% penetration, streaming piracy is has slightly increased to 10% as the cost-of living crisis and recessionary f...

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AI and the future of music
The future is already here

Mark Mulligan, Hanna Kahlert and Tatiana Cirisano

2 May 2023

Spotify SoundCloud Netflix

Unlike most new technology hype cycles, the impact that artificial intelligence (AI) has on the world is already surpassing expectations. Within the music industry, AI will largely be an enabler and accelerant of already-existing trends and market shifts: the growth of self-releasing artists, the consumerisation of music-making, and the resulting o...

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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.

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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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