Business Strategy Reports from MIDiA Research

Monetising Fandom
Unlocking growth beyond games

Karol Severin

April 2021

Free Report

digital content

Games

cross-entertainment strategy

Beyond gaming to cross-entertainment partnerships webinar slides - 22-04-2021

Getting serious about esports
Identifying off-season digital engagement opportunities for sports

Cover image for Getting serious about esports

Alistair Taylor

March 2021

Yahoo

esports

Fox

COVID-19 has expedited the need for rights holders and teams to generate digital engagement beyond the pure play live broadcast. Games and esports became big attention economy winners during the early stages of the pandemic and first lockdown. Rights holders desperate to maintain connectivity with fans looked to esports to drive engagement and main...

Recorded music market 2020
Pandemic-era growth

Cover image for Recorded music market 2020

Mark Mulligan

March 2021

Streaming

Streaming Music

Recorded music

The global pandemic turned the music industry upside down. While live was decimated throughout 2020, after an initial downturn, the recorded music market returned to growth and finished the year with an acceleration that suggests a strong 2021 lies ahead.

Spotify Q4 2020 earnings
ARPU pays the price for growth

Cover image for Spotify Q4 2020 earnings

Mark Mulligan

February 2021

Subscriptions

Streaming

Streaming Music

In 2020 Spotify accelerated the growth of its total user base, with emerging markets playing a key role. However, revenue increases became decoupled from user growth across all categories, resulting in ARPU deflation. Companies and brands mentioned in...

Sports audiences
The Gen Z opportunity

Alistair Taylor

February 2021

Apple

Spotify

Digital natives are more likely to consume non-live sports than older, traditional sports fans, which presents rights holders and broadcasters with untapped potential for monetisation by harnessing and actioning this insight. While the most valuable sports audience currently remains among pay-TV subscribers, planning for meaningful non-broadcast re...

The Great Reaggregation
Lockdown, Demand and Consolidation

Tim Mulligan

January 2021

Amazon

Apple TV

COVID-19 removed the constraints imposed by peak attention, leading to a surge in home-based entertainment consumption and streaming adoption. Fortuitous timing, enforced home working and the end of the commute, tied in with the need to entertain home-bound children, has greatly accelerated direct-to-consumer (D2C) adoption.

Music and Games Partnership Strategy
Beyond the Comfort Zone

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Karol Severin

January 2021

Apple

Spotify

Music companies are flocking to explore partnerships with games companies. Seeking a foothold in a fast-growing market, music companies are often looking for easy wins that fit traditional licensing models that monetise consumption. These however, typically do not align with the games industry’s spend-centric worldview.

The Roaring Sporting 20s
India Leads the Way in Innovation and Engagement

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Tim Mulligan, Alistair Taylor and Srishti Das

January 2021

Disney

vodafone

Touted as the home of the next billion online consumers, India’s rapid adoption of digital media services has been driven by the explosion in smartphone adoption over the last few years. While per capita smartphone penetration still significantly lags behind developed markets, India’s 1.

Broken Windows
How Streaming Is Redefining the Movie Proposition

Tim Mulligan

December 2020

Amazon

Netflix

Disney

COVID-19 significantly reduced theatrical movie releases and has necessitated a shift to streaming premiers for studios, especially those with recently launched direct-to-consumer services. While Disney has stated that it will return to theatrical releases in May 21, rival Warner Media has boldly decided to jump feet-first into combined same-day th...

Sports Rights
The Great Reset

Alistair Taylor

December 2020

Spotify

YouTube

COVID-19 exposed live entertainment as a vulnerable asset class during a global health crisis, rendering services overly reliant on live sports broadcasts as primary churn candidates. A major overhaul in rights valuations by pay-TV and sports SVOD distributors is under way.

Spotify Q3 2020 Earnings
The Shift to Free

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Mark Mulligan

November 2020

Subscriptions

Streaming

Streaming Music

With three quarters of 2020 gone, Spotify has prospered during the most challenging of times, with consistent growth across most metrics. Q3 2020 saw a slight deviation from the script though, with ad-supported in the driving seat, especially in emerging markets.

2021 Predictions
The Year of the Immersive Web

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Alistair Taylor and Hanna Kahlert

November 2020

Spotify

Discovery

In this report MIDiA Research analysts present their predictions for what will be the big trends in digital media and tech across music, video, brands, marketing, games and sports in 2021 and beyond. Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Amazon...

State of the YouTube Music Economy 3.0
End of the Beginning

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Mark Mulligan

October 2020

Spotify

YouTube

This is the third bi-annual report of its kind, providing the most comprehensive view available of the YouTube music economy. It presents data for revenues, royalty payments, streams, subscribers, user behaviour and user demographics. We explore success factors, cultural trends, monetisation frameworks and contextualise music’s performance agains...

DAZN 2019 Financials and Subscriber Deep Dive
Domestic Rights Key to Unlocking Audiences

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Alistair Taylor

September 2020

Sky

Financial Times

NFL

DAZN’s 2018 financials highlighted the difficulty in encouraging consumer adoption of a digital live sports proposition with a limited portfolio of sports rights. 2019 marked a year of consolidation and growth. DAZN learnt quickly that without premium domestic content it is difficult to penetrate competitive markets effectively.

Music Subscriber Market Shares 4.0
Subscriptions Decouple from Revenue

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Mark Mulligan

September 2020

Subscriptions

Streaming

Music Subscriptions

This report presents key figures from MIDiA’s global music subscriber market shares model. The full dataset is published alongside this report with quarterly data from Q4 2015 to Q1 2020 and annual label trade revenue from full year 2015 to full year 2019 for 27 streaming services across 34 different markets.

Post-Pandemic Programming
Surviving and Thriving in the Recession

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Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Alistair Taylor, Keith Jopling and Hanna Kahlert

September 2020

Apple

live

COVID-19 caused dislocation and disruption to the global entertainment business. Now, the recession and the prospect of further pandemic peaks have created an unprecedented outlook for entertainment companies. Many of the shifts that occurred during lockdown will define the new market dynamics.

Recovery Economics
Post-Lockdown Sports

Alistair Taylor

August 2020

Disney

Comcast

Sky

As live sports resume following the coronavirus crisis lockdowns, the long-term impact of sports’ mass hiatus will be substantial. An activity gap created a void state for consumers, freeing up previously allocated attention and causing them to reconsider retaining subscriptions with diluted service offerings.

Spotify Q2 2020 Earnings
In the Shadow of COVID

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Mark Mulligan

August 2020

Subscriptions

Streaming

Streaming Music

Spotify’s share price grew strongly in June 2020, with the markets responding positively to its podcast investments. However, while that increase was sustained throughout July, by mid-August the share price was heading back down to late-June levels.

MIDiA Research 2020-2027 Global Music Forecasts
Volume Trumps Value as Emerging Markets Dominate Growth

Cover image for MIDiA Research 2020-2027 Global Music Forecasts

Mark Mulligan

July 2020

Music revenue

Spotify

YouTube

This report presents the key figures, trends and drivers of MIDiA’s music forecast model. The figures presented in this report are retail values and in billions of US dollars unless otherwise stated. An Excel file posted alongside this report provides complete country-level data, including DSP market shares and a detailed methodology statement.

Recovery Economics
Post-Lockdown TV

Tim Mulligan

July 2020

Apple

Amazon

Streaming video

As society emerges from the COVID-19 imposed lockdown, the ongoing impact on TV production will be significant; returning to normal means adapting to the constraints of social distancing. The increased use of sound stages and green screen facilities will become the norm in the absence of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Reports: Business Strategy