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 Spotify Q2 2020 Earnings

Spotify Q2 2020 Earnings
In the Shadow of COVID

Mark Mulligan

18 Aug 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.

Cover image for MIDiA Research 2020-2027 Global Music Forecasts

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

Mark Mulligan

21 Jul 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.

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Recovery Economics
Post-Lockdown TV

Tim Mulligan

8 Jul 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.

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Recession Impact
Music Industry 2020 Growth Scenarios

Mark Mulligan

29 Jun 2020

live music Music publishing Record labels

As part of MIDiA’s research stream focused on how COVID-19 is impacting the entertainment industries, this report explores how the combination of lockdown measures and the coming recession will impact music industry revenues in 2020.

Cover image for Recovery Economics

Recovery Economics
Games Sees Temporary Bounce but Should Prepare For Decline

Karol Severin

11 Jun 2020

Amazon Netflix Business Strategy

The effects of the coronavirus-induced crisis unfolded in multiple stages, each with its own characteristics. During the early outbreak and strict lockdowns, games engagement benefited greatly. The cessation of out-of-home entertainment gave games a boost with less competition.

Cover image for Spotify Q1 2020 Earnings

Spotify Q1 2020 Earnings
First Signs of Pre-Recession Weakness

Mark Mulligan

29 May 2020

Spotify Alphabet Business Strategy

2020 was a solid quarter for Spotify but showed early signs of COVID-19 impact across premium and especially ad supported. With a global recession looming, these may be the first signs of vulnerability in a challenged economic climate. Companies and brands...

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Recovery Economics
Post-Lockdown Innovation

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

20 May 2020

Business Strategy Audience Insight

COVID-19 social distancing measures caused unprecedented dislocation to the entertainment economy. With a recession now a question of ‘how bad’ rather than ‘if’, entertainment companies have to adapt their businesses and identify new partners to maximise opportunities in the post-lockdown era.

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Radio is Switched On Again
Strategies for 2020 and Beyond

Keith Jopling and Mark Mulligan

15 May 2020

Spotify YouTube BBC

Just what is radio? Radio is branded and produced show content known best in the form of live (or pre-recorded) broadcast. However, the definition of ‘radio’ is shifting away from the broadcast format and towards the content produced – programmes or shows – made available on-demand anywhere, via radio apps, smart speakers and podcasts.

Cover image for Recovery Economics

Recovery Economics
Music, Games, Live Streams and the Future of Concerts

Mark Mulligan, Karol Severin and Keith Jopling

11 May 2020

live music live Artists

In April 2020 Travis Scott’s Fortnite event pulled in 27 million players. While this was happening, the global artist community was scrambling to plug the income and engagement gap caused by COVID-19’s cessation of live music, by turning to live streaming.

Cover image for D2C 2020

D2C 2020
Media, Tech and Communications Majors Go Head to Head

Tim Mulligan

30 Apr 2020

US UK Italy

The current division between the new video D2C entrants of 2019/2020 has revealed a strategic split between those that are leveraging established distribution advantages versus those focused on monetising existing content assets. The current market distortions wrought by the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic have placed power firmly in the hands of service...

Cover image for COVID-19 and the Vulnerability of Pure Play Sports Streaming Services

COVID-19 and the Vulnerability of Pure Play Sports Streaming Services

Alistair Taylor

23 Apr 2020

Subscriptions US UK

The postponement of annual competitions and major quadrennial events has highlighted just how heavily pay-TV and sport-centric streaming services’ value propositions rely on live sports. Filling schedules with re-runs, docuseries, interviews and archived footage are stopgaps unlikely to increase engagement.

Cover image for Tech Major Market Shares 2019

Tech Major Market Shares 2019
Amazon Powers Ahead

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin and Alistair Taylor

9 Apr 2020

Apple iTunes store Spotify

The tech majors are power players in the global digital content marketplace through a combination of their own content services, ad monetisation and control of audiences via devices, search and social. While advertising and services revenues are still a minority of total tech major revenues, the share is substantial, and revenues are growing fast.

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COVID-19
Entertainment and Leisure Industry Impact Assessment

Mark Mulligan

20 Mar 2020

Apple Spotify Artists

The spread of COVID-19, and the responses of industry and governments alike, is unprecedented. It is, however, the restrictions on movement of people along with the response of consumers and investors that is causing the biggest disruption and will have the most impact on entertainment businesses.

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Recession Impact
Cocooning Will Protect Entertainment Spend

Mark Mulligan

18 Mar 2020

Apple Amazon Apple TV

Even before the global coronavirus outbreak, faltering confidence in the global economy suggested that a recession may be looming. With stock markets trending down following the upswing in coronavirus cases, the chances of a global recession are rising.

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Peak Attention
Competing in a Saturated Attention Economy

Mark Mulligan and Karol Severin

11 Mar 2020

Apple Spotify Amazon

Smartphones have made media consumption more interconnected than ever and are still increasing audiences time spent with entertainment. Filling the residual audience downtime from the analogue era was the fuel in the engine of the digital content economy.

Cover image for Recorded Music Market 2019

Recorded Music Market 2019
A Thriving and Transforming Industry

Mark Mulligan

3 Mar 2020

music sales Streaming Streaming Music

With five successive years of growth, the recorded music market has transitioned from a recovering industry into a thriving business. The stars are aligning, with growing consumer demand, business model innovation, a golden era for independent artists and surging interest from institutional investors.

Cover image for Spotify Q4 2019 Earnings

Spotify Q4 2019 Earnings
Great Year for Premium, Less So for Ad Supported

Mark Mulligan

29 Feb 2020

Subscriptions Streaming Streaming Music

2019 was another strong year for Spotify’s premium business, in which it saw off growing competition to retain its leading global market share. But it was also another year in which Spotify’s ad-supported business did not grow fast enough. Companies...

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Insurgents and Incumbents
How the 2020s Will Remake the Music Business

Mark Mulligan

24 Jan 2020

Creators iTunes Spotify

As it enters the third decade of the millennium, the recorded music business is in rude health. Revenues are about to enter the second half of a decade of annual growth, streaming is booming, and investment is pouring in. Simultaneously, the fundamentals of the business are changing, from artist and songwriter careers through music company business...

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Battle Royale
The Monetisation Sweet Spot

Karol Severin

23 Jan 2020

Facebook Twitter Gaming

Niche is the new mainstream. Battle Royale players are one of these niches – far from mainstream in terms of consumer penetration, but impactful and valuable. Across music, video, news, magazines and games, they engage and spend more than average gamers.

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Demand Creation
What’s the Next Big Growth Curve for Music?

Keith Jopling

14 Jan 2020

Labels Spotify Marketing

Over the past 40 years the music industry has seen highs and lows, mirroring the careers of many of the legacy artists the industry plays host to. The most spectacular successes in the music business, from the Sony Walkman to MTV, to iTunes and Spotify – have all generated demand for music in entirely new ways.

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