Reports: Music

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 The Rising Power of UGC

The Rising Power of UGC

Mark Mulligan and Keith Jopling

26 Oct 2020

user-generated content

About this report Audible Magic has commissioned MIDiA to produce a White Paper on the rising power of UGC and the untapped opportunity to monetise the growth in UGC consumer behaviours and new platforms. We will examine the growth of new platforms, use cases and ‘music and content put to purpose’.

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Independent Artists
Pathfinding Through a Pandemic

Mark Mulligan and Keith Jopling

30 Sep 2020

Free Report

artist income Independent artists Music streaming

2019 was yet another stand-out year for independent artists, with revenues, streams and market shares all growing strongly. Then, along came COVID-19 and the world turned upside down. However, in lockdown many independent artists found new opportunities and the ability to innovate and create.

Cover image for MIDiA Research Artist Survey Q2 2020

MIDiA Research Artist Survey Q2 2020

Mark Mulligan and Keith Jopling

18 Sep 2020

Independent artists charts music artists

This deck presents findings from MIDiA's Q2 2020 survey of music artists, assessing the impact on their careers in the wake of the coronavirus. It consists of 13 charts / graphs / table slides. The full report will be available in October 2020....

Cover image for Music Subscriber Market Shares 4.0

Music Subscriber Market Shares 4.0
Subscriptions Decouple from Revenue

Mark Mulligan

18 Sep 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.

Cover image for Music Discovery

Music Discovery
Streaming’s Growing Role

Mark Mulligan

24 Aug 2020

Streaming Streaming Music Spotify

Radio has long led music discovery and continues to do so today. However, streaming – both audio and video – are making up ground fast, especially among more engaged and younger music fans. These shifts in discovery come as music marketing strategy is placing an ever-greater emphasis on streaming.

Cover image for Music Marketing

Music Marketing
The Velocity Game

Mark Mulligan

24 Aug 2020

Spotify Spotify YouTube

Music streaming has become so central to the functioning of the record label business model that labels are becoming beholden to streaming service optimisation. A shift towards ever-larger numbers of new releases targeted at streaming success threatens to dislocate the underlying business model of bigger record labels and cause a disconnect between...

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.

Cover image for Recession Impact

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
Outlook for Music, Games, Video & Sports

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin and Alistair Taylor

19 Jun 2020

Video Recorded music Music streaming

MIDiA analysts present in this webinar report how the entertainment industries can plan not to simply bounce back, but to rebuild their value propositions and supply chains to adjust to the realities of the new normal and flourish in the post-lockdown era.

Cover image for Recovery Economics

Recovery Economics
Bounce Forward not Back - Slides

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin and Keith Jopling

11 Jun 2020

Free Report

Video Music Games

MIDiA analysts present in this webinar how the entertainment industries can plan not to simply bounce back, but to rebuild their value propositions and supply chains to adjust to the realities of the new normal. The recording is available here ....

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...

Cover image for Radio is Switched On Again

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 India Music Consumer Behaviour

India Music Consumer Behaviour
Fragmentation and Disruption

Mark Mulligan and Srishti Das

28 Apr 2020

Consumer behaviour Spotify YouTube

This report presents key trends and analysis from MIDiA’s Q1 2019 India Consumer Survey, including streaming music activities, radio, streaming app users, factors driving streaming adoption and subscriptions. Companies and brands mentioned in this report:...

Cover image for Music Consumer Survey

Music Consumer Survey
Country Snapshots

Mark Mulligan

27 Mar 2020

Consumer behaviour Streaming US

Music consumer survey country snapshots for US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, Spain, and Sweden.

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...

Cover image for Insurgents and Incumbents

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...

Cover image for Demand Creation

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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