Reports: Kobalt

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.

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

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

December 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.

Recorded music market 2022
Reality bites

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Mark Mulligan

March 2023

TuneCore

Music streaming

Kobalt

Following a spectacular year of growth in 2021, global recorded music revenue growth slowed significantly in 2022, due to the combined impact of global economic headwinds and growth slowdown in mature streaming markets. Context, though, is everything – not many industries can deliver solid growth while the global economy is in turmoil, ad markets are falling, and many emerging tech sectors are in crisis.

2022 MIDiA predictions
The year of the creator

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Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Srishti Das, Kriss Thakrar and Tatiana Cirisano

December 2021

Creators

Apple

Spotify

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 2022 and beyond. Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Adele,...

Music creator tools forecast
Moving towards a hybrid future

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Mark Mulligan

September 2021

Creators

Apple

Spotify

Once upon a time, music software and hardware were distinct market segments, but now they are increasingly fusing into a network of hybrid creator tools ecosystems. Standalone hardware still has a vibrant future, but the real momentum lies with software, sounds, services and the hardware that supports them.

Recorded Music Market 2019
A Thriving and Transforming Industry

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Mark Mulligan

March 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.

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

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Mark Mulligan

January 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 models to audience behaviour.

Independent Artist Survey
Aspirations That Will Reshape an Industry

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Mark Mulligan

January 2020

Artists

DIY

Independent artists

This report presents the findings of MIDiA’s 2019 independent artist survey. Companies and brands mentioned in this report: AWAL, BMG Music Rights, CD Baby, Kobalt, Tunecore, Amuse

Music Publishing
A Full-Stack Revolution

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Mark Mulligan

October 2019

Spotify

Music publishing

Pandora

Tencent’s bid for 10% of Universal Music Group has set a new high-water mark for what risks becoming an overheated music rights mergers and acquisitions (M&A) sector. However, investment appetite remains strong and catalogue supply constrained, so there will be plenty more activity before the inevitable contraction.

The Global Music Publishing Market
Streaming Shifts the Conversation

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Zach Fuller

August 2019

Apple

Spotify

Spotify

The effects of music streaming having supplanted both the download and the CD as the mainstream format for recorded music (accounting for 50% of total recorded revenue in 2018) are being keenly felt across the music publishing industry. The DNA of streaming consumption (playlists, lower mechanical royalties, less revenue on average for superstar catalogue) has firmly shifted the goal posts in market influence, meaning the position to drive the overall publishing market is increasingly up for grabs.

Artist Fandom
The Artist Marketing Playbook Needs Rewriting

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Mark Mulligan

July 2019

Spotify

Artists

Taylor Swift

The whole essence of fandom is being turned upside down. An emerging crop of streaming native artists is finding its audience in a much more targeted and efficient way than via traditional music marketing. Instead of blowing a huge budget on carpet bombing TV, radio, and print, online artists and their teams are finding their exact audiences by focusing on relevance and engagement rather than reach and scale.

Independent Artists
The Music Industry Rewritten

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Mark Mulligan

July 2019

Creators

Labels

rhapsody

The rise of independent artists is one of the most important changes to happen to the modern recorded music business. While traditional label models still dominate, ever more artists are pursuing non-traditional alternatives, ranging from self-releasing through to joint-venture label service deals with majors.

State of the Music Publishing Nation

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Mark Mulligan and Zach Fuller

June 2019

Spotify

Spotify

Kobalt

This report, a first from MIDiA dedicated to the music publishing space, addresses the most important trends in the industry. With 2018 seeing revenues continue their accelerated growth and music publishing emerging as an asset class, now is opportune to reflect on one of the often misunderstood and hence undervalued aspects of the recorded music industry.

State of the Music Publishing Nation

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Mark Mulligan and Zach Fuller

June 2019

Spotify

Spotify

Kobalt

This report, a first from MIDiA dedicated to the music publishing space, addresses the most important trends in the industry. With 2018 seeing revenues continue their accelerated growth and music publishing emerging as an asset class, now is opportune to reflect on one of the often misunderstood and hence undervalued aspects of the recorded music industry.

Music Marketing
Niche is the New Mainstream

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Mark Mulligan

May 2019

Streaming

Streaming Music

Spotify

Streaming personalisation and falling radio audiences are combining to rewrite the music marketing rulebook, ushering in a whole new marketing paradigm. Hits used to be cultural moments; artist brands built by traditional mass media. This fire-hydrant approach to marketing lacked both accountability and effective targeting.

Music Publishing Acquisitions
Bubble Business or Sustainable Market?

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Zach Fuller

February 2019

Apple

Spotify

Warner Chappel

Music publishing mergers and acquisitions have boomed in recent years, invigorated by streaming’s user growth and the multitude of revenue options becoming available outside of music sales, such as micro syncs afford by user generated content (UGC) on YouTube and the steep growth of podcasts.

Making and Marketing an Artist
Streaming Rewrites the Rules, Again

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Mark Mulligan

April 2018

Labels

Streaming

Streaming Music

Marketing is one of the core competencies of record labels. The rise of the internet and social media transformed label marketing strategies. Now streaming is turning everything upside down again. The new challenge this time round is that streaming is both a marketing tool and a revenue source.

Amazon Music
The Dark Horse Comes Out Of The Shadows

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Mark Mulligan

September 2017

Streaming

Streaming Music

Music Subscriptions

Back in the days when online music meant online CD sales, Amazon was the king. Then, along came Apple with iTunes music store and Amazon saw the throne snatched from its hands. No sooner had Apple started to enjoy its reign that Spotify came along to usurp the throne.

Music Rights Disruption
The Transparency Agenda

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Mark Mulligan

August 2017

music publishers

Apple

Spotify

Music rights have never been simple but now the complexity is reaching such a level that the digital music marketplace is beginning to buckle under the strain. With growing demand across the board for increased transparency, effectiveness and speed, the music rights landscape is facing an unprecedented period of innovation and disruption.

Music Publishing At A Cross Roads
How Streaming Is Transforming The Outlook For Music Publishers

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Mark Mulligan

June 2015

music publishers

Subscriptions

Streaming

Everything starts with the song yet music publishers have often been the last part of the digital equation. Relative insulation from the effects of declining music sales have enabled publishers to have a far less digital centric worldview than record labels.