Reports: Discovery

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.

Pixels to playlists
Music preferences and behaviours of gamers

Cover image for Pixels to playlists

Rhys Elliott

March 2025

Innovation

Labels

US

The global games industry is a $236.9 billion behemoth. It now rivals film, television, and music combined in terms of revenues and is a cultural driver. Yet, for music companies, labels, and platforms, gaming represents more than a parallel market: it is agateway to the world’s most engaged, tech-savvy, and monetisable audience.

Music discovery snapshot Q4 2024
Breaking through the noise

Cover image for Music discovery snapshot Q4 2024

Olivia Jones

March 2025

Streaming

Marketing

Artists

Breaking through the noise is more important than ever for artists. As passive listening grows, facilitating active discovery has become a challenge. On top of this, the way consumers discover music is changing (and fragmenting) as streaming plays a weaker role in music discovery, overshadowed by YouTube and social media for younger consumers.

Music streaming consumer profile Q4 2024
Stabilisation and fandom slowdown

Mark Mulligan and Tatiana Cirisano

February 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 ...

TV internationalisation 2.0
Video is disrupting commissioning and turbo-charging international hits

Cover image for TV internationalisation 2.0

Tim Mulligan

February 2022

Discovery

video streaming services

Business Strategy

Streaming has empowered niche appeal shows to find global audiences on a scale comparable with analogue-era prime time domestic audiences. Niche is the new mainstream. For the first time a global hit is no longer synonymous with US-centric output. Niche has now found its global appeal and lean-out TV show content is building iconic in real life (IR...

Video discovery
The new streaming battleground

Cover image for Video discovery

Tim Mulligan

January 2022

Discovery

Amazon

Apple TV

Now that video streaming consumer activity is mainstream (Netflix WAU is currently at 59%), the challenge is for video to maintain its dominance over competing media formats. At the heart of all this is surfacing relevant content – an area where TV has traditionally dominated.

Digital consumption habits
How tomorrow’s audiences will reshape entertainment

Cover image for Digital consumption habits

Hanna Kahlert

March 2021

Streaming

Discovery

Discovery

Digital-first access has shaped mainstream consumption, but for digital natives, it has also shaped their core behaviours. Music consumption is now fragmented across artists, becoming a personalised, anytime anywhere activity – making the value exchange more niche and personal.

Digital consumption habits
How tomorrow’s audiences will reshape entertainment

Cover image for Digital consumption habits

Hanna Kahlert

March 2021

Streaming

Discovery

Discovery

Digital-first access has shaped mainstream consumption, but for digital natives, it has also shaped their core behaviours. Music consumption is now fragmented across artists, becoming a personalised, anytime anywhere activity – making the value exchange more niche and personal.

2021 Predictions
The Year of the Immersive Web

Cover image for 2021 Predictions

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

November 2020

Spotify

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...

2021 Predictions
The Year of the Immersive Web

Cover image for 2021 Predictions

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

November 2020

Spotify

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...

Sports Consumption
Measuring COVID-19’s Impact

Cover image for Sports Consumption

Alistair Taylor

July 2020

Apple

Discovery

Amazon

With the pandemic-enforced postponement of live sports creating an entertainment void for sports fans, understanding COVID-19’s impact on overall sports consumption and where audiences are substituting their finite attention is paramount for sports distributors and rights holders.

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

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

Alistair Taylor

April 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.

20/20 Vision
MIDiA Research Predictions 2020

Cover image for 20/20 Vision

Alistair Taylor, Amanda Stears, Karol Severin, Keith Jopling, Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan and Zach Fuller

December 2019

Apple

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, media, brands, marketing, games and sports in 2020 and the coming decade. Companies and brands mentioned in...

Sports Viewing 2018
SVOD Taking Over?

Cover image for Sports Viewing 2018

Alistair Taylor

January 2019

Willingness to pay

Spotify

Discovery

Facing the menacing presence of streaming alternatives, TV networks find themselves under growing pressure to ensure that viewing patterns are strong enough to deliver a return on expensively acquired sports rights. Against this backdrop, sports viewing in Q3 2018 was largely one of stagnation, remaining flat at 38%, while free streaming declined.

Streaming Music Discovery
When The Journey Becomes The Destination

Cover image for Streaming Music Discovery

Mark Mulligan

July 2015

Streaming

free

Discovery

When YouTube first starting rising to prominence streaming music was still in its infancy. Thus even though royalty payments were far from setting the world alight, there was a clear case for YouTube views driving discovery which then led to sales. Fast forward to 2015 and digital sales are rapidly losing ground to streaming which in turn throws in...

Mobile App Discovery
Imperfect Tools And The Overspend Or Die Dilemma

Cover image for Mobile App Discovery

Karol Severin

April 2015

Apple

Discovery

Google

Discovery is accentuating the app economy divide. Superstar app developers can afford TV ads and supercharged digital campaigns to distinguish their apps from the ever-growing pool of competitors, leaving smaller developers increasingly locked out. Supercell and King’s combined $1bn annual marketing spend is not only out of reach for most, it als...