Marketing Reports from MIDiA Research

Music discovery snapshot Q4 2024
Breaking through the noise

Cover image for Music discovery snapshot Q4 2024

Olivia Jones

March 2025

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.

Scenes are the new markets
Why and how entertainment should go niche

Cover image for Scenes are the new markets

Tatiana Cirisano

March 2025

Marketing

monetisation

Entertainment

In 2022, MIDiA introduced scenes as a new lens for marketing music. This report expands on the concept, reintroducing scenes – groups of people whose shared interests, aesthetics, values, behaviours, and vernacular have coalesced into a shared lifestyle – as a wider business strategy reset for all of entertainment.

Kill the campaign
Music marketing needs branding, not direct response

Mark Mulligan and Tatiana Cirisano

February 2023

Streaming

Spotify

Marketing

The debate over a new streaming royalties regime is capturing attention, but economics will not fix the underlying paradigm shifts that are the true cause for streaming’s problems: there is not enough money to go around for the ballooning amount of music on streaming services, and passive consumption is the new norm.

Podcast market value chain
The next investment is the listeners

Cover image for Podcast market value chain

Annie Langston

October 2022

Creators

Apple

Spotify

Investments from major audience platforms in audio infrastructure, such as hosting platforms and advertising, kickstarted the growth of the podcast market. With the basic infrastructure now in place, it is time for the major platforms to focus on growing the format by expanding listenership and user experience.

The four key cultural trends transforming digital entertainment in 2021 and beyond

Hanna Kahlert

August 2021

Marketing

live

Amazon

The effect of streaming on entertainment is not new, but as we move into the era of mainstream vaccinations, the shifts in streaming-driven consumer behaviour over the last year and a half will drive fundamental changes. From the rise of virtual events to the fall of the box office opening weekend, underpinned by the swift commodification of content pushing consumers towards lean-in behaviours, this is the post-pandemic new normal.

Consumer Engagement
Building Sustainable Brands in 2020 and Beyond

Hanna Kahlert

April 2020

Marketing

YouTube

Netflix

Brands have an ongoing engagement problem. No matter how much data they use or how targeted they go, competition is fierce, consumer attention is saturated, and all usage comes at the expense of time spent elsewhere. With the ubiquity of advertising, brand choices are as much a personal statement by the consumer to their peers as a testament to trust and loyalty in a company.

Ad Receptiveness Consumer Survey
Country Snapshots

Cover image for Ad Receptiveness Consumer Survey

Mark Mulligan

March 2020

Subscriptions

Marketing

Music streaming

Ad receptiveness consumer snapshots for US, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, Sweden, France, Netherlands, and Italy.

Building Show Fandom in the Streaming Era

Tim Mulligan

February 2020

Apple

Spotify

Marketing

The direct-to-consumer (D2C) video big bang moment is getting into stride, with Peacock and HBO Max following Apple TV+ and Disney+ into the already-congested video streaming marketplace. TV show marketing teams now face unprecedented competition for audience attention and mindshare.

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

Keith Jopling

January 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.

The Paywall Paradox
Ring Fencing Advertising’s Most Valuable Consumers

Mark Mulligan

December 2019

Spotify

Marketing

Amazon

Music and video subscribers are the most influential technology and brand advocates amongst their peer groups and are therefore the most valuable users for advertisers and brands to reach. They are consuming progressively more content behind paywalls, which, as predominately ad-free spaces, represents a growing challenge for marketers.

Consumer Ad Receptiveness
Apathy, Evasion and Engagement

Cover image for Consumer Ad Receptiveness

Mark Mulligan

September 2019

Spotify

Marketing

Amazon

On-demand audiences expect to be able to control their digital experiences, and many have opted for the ad-free oases of streaming subscriptions. While traditional media might be losing audience share it is not giving up the fight, instead investing heavily in ad tech that improves targeting and advertiser agility.

Music Marketing
Niche is the New Mainstream

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.

Voice Control
Market Strategy for the Next Major Hardware Paradigm

Zach Fuller

May 2017

Apple

Marketing

Amazon

Acting as a Trojan horse in consumer electronics, voice control slipped under the radar compared to more bombastic new technologies such as Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence, to quietly become a potential paradigm shift in the computer interface.

Reports: Marketing