Reports: Product 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.

Music Product Strategy Re-boot
Time to Monetise Fandom, Not Access

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Mark Mulligan

January 2021

Innovation

Spotify

Spotify

As streaming reaches maturity in many of the largest music markets and middle-tier artists struggle to make ends meet with the live music hiatus, the time has come for a music product strategy re-boot – for a bold, new wave of music products that look to build beyond streaming, delivering increased income for both rights holders and creators.

Virtual Concerts
A New Video Format

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Mark Mulligan

December 2020

YouTube

Amazon

Facebook

The global pandemic thrust the live music sector into chaos, with global revenues falling by 75% in 2020 compared to one year previously. The music industry was rocked by first-order impacts (no concerts, no fan engagement) and second-order impacts (many artists realising that streaming did not add up without live income alongside it).

Next-Generation Consoles
PS5 Starts in Pole Position

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Karol Severin

November 2020

YouTube

Amazon

Xbox

The winter holiday season has always been important for next-generation console launches, but this one is different. Negative effects of the current recession will intensify, engagement will be less predictable and device-agnostic games subscription competition is set to heat up.

Creator Tools
The Music Industry’s New Top of Funnel

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Mark Mulligan

November 2020

Creators

Apple

Apple

Music production has traditionally been, at best, an adjacent industry to the recording business, and at worst simply a cost centre. That is now all changing. COVID-19’s disruption catalysed the already-rapid shift towards affordable production tools and the rise of a new generation of online platforms that are reimagining music production as SAA...

Podcasts Q2 2020
Spotify Takes an Early Lead

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Mark Mulligan

October 2020

US

UK

France

Podcasts have become the next battle front for audio. Spotify’s ambitious content and product strategy have enabled it to become an early leader, but the podcast market is still in its infancy, with adoption far lower than radio or streaming music. Podcasts have greater long-term market potential than music streaming but with many divergent objec...

Radio is Switched On Again
Strategies for 2020 and Beyond

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Keith Jopling and Mark Mulligan

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.

YouTube Music Curators
Media Assets or Next-Gen Labels?

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Zach Fuller

December 2019

Spotify

Music publishing

YouTube

The rise of the YouTube channel curator was one of the defining stories in music throughout the 2010s, and yet in the era of global success stories such as Kondzilla and T-Series, their place in the music ecosystem is still being defined. YouTube points both towards the potential future of the label and essentially a new kind of visual media proper...

Streaming Pricing
Solid Outlook but Slowing Demand

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Mark Mulligan

December 2019

Willingness to pay

Apple

Netflix

Across a wide selection of Western countries, the streaming music and video subscription markets are reaching a high degree of maturity. As saturation for core products nears, further growth will depend upon factors such as pricing innovation and multiple subscriptions per household.

TV Network Rankings
Brand Equity and the Weaponisation of Originals

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Amanda Stears

November 2019

US

UK

YouTube

The big streaming networks Netflix and Amazon have become the powerhouses of video brand equity by simultaneously weaponising TV shows as acquisition tools and assimilating the brands of traditional networks through association with their shows. The disconnect between original TV networks and global audiences is becoming wider as local networks and...

Smart Speakers and Headphone Market Shares
Expanding Streaming’s Addressable Base

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Mark Mulligan

October 2019

Apple

Beats

Spotify

The rise of digital pushed music out of the home stereo and into the earbud. Over recent years this has created a booming market for headphones, but speakers are fighting back – driven in large part by tech majors using smart speakers as a Trojan horse for expanding into the home.

The Voice Market and Behaviour Trends Overview

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Karol Severin

March 2019

Facebook

Twitter

iPhone

Despite being far from the mainstream at 9% penetration, voice control activity has established itself firmly in certain pockets of the digital entertainment landscape, be it among music subscribers in terms of entertainment or among Snapchat users within social media.

5G: Use Cases, Hurdles and Opportunity

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Mark Mulligan

December 2018

Amazon

telco

mobile carriers

5G promises to be the next big step change both in telco business models and the digital content economy. The arrival of 5G will supercharge the business models of many companies across infrastructure and services but the outlook is less promising for others who are at risk of having their core revenue streams disrupted.

SVOD Overtakes Pay-TV

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Alistair Taylor

October 2018

Spotify

Amazon

Netflix

This MIDiA update showcases the monumental shift in the video landscape with signups for subscription video on demand (SVOD) services overtaking pay-TV subscriptions for the very first time in Q1 2018. SVOD has disrupted traditional linear pay-TV to the point where it is no longer the most common household subscription across the core English-speak...

Speaker Market Shares
Amazon Ahead in a Crowded Market

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Mark Mulligan

October 2018

Subscriptions

Streaming

Music Subscriptions

Digital music pushed music out of the home speaker and into the earphone. Over recent years this has created a booming market for headphones but speakers are fighting back, driven in large part by tech majors using smart speakers as a Trojan horse for expanding into the home.

UK Gamer Profile
Digital Entertainment Natives

Karol Severin

June 2018

Apple

Spotify

YouTube

Mobile and PC gamer penetration declined slightly in the UK between Q4 2016 and Q4 2017. Meanwhile, console ownership did not grow either, attesting that the market is constrained by the impending peak in the attention economy. It is becoming harder to compete for attention and engagement, precisely at the wrong time.

Voice Control Devices
Early Audience Behaviours and Adoption

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Zach Fuller

March 2018

Consumer behaviour

Apple

Spotify

Connected voice-control devices epitomised by the Amazon Echo have transformed from being mere curiosities of consumer electronic R&D divisions, into becoming positioned as the next hardware paradigm. With impressive growth since its November 2014 release via Amazon Prime’s US customer base, the Echo and subsequent competing voice control dev...

The Sports Rights Bubble
Reaching The Tipping Point

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Tim Mulligan

January 2018

UK

Australia

Amazon

The broadcasting of live sport has been a key part of TV’s appeal and underpins the pay-TV ecosystem. However, a combination of entrenched cord-cutting and an ageing audience means that revenues are now moving out of synch with inflating domestic sports rights costs.

Apple Q4 (Calendar Q3) 2017
Quarterly Revenue Growth Underpins 2017 Revenue Revival

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November 2017

Apple

Apple

ipad

Apple continued its sales momentum this quarter with the launch of hardware products such as iPhone 8 and 8 Plus models in September. Both smartphones have incorporated new features, such as augmented reality (AR) technology and wireless charging, to meet the demands of its pre-existing consumer base as well as to attract new users.

Media Company Strategy
How Legacy Format Audiences Can Fund Digital Transition

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Zach Fuller

September 2017

publishing

physical books

mass media

Media’s well documented struggles of balancing the decline of ad revenue with building digital subscriber bases has resulted in surprising strategic actions by some of its largest entities. As the tech majors take more digital ad revenue form across the digital sphere, publishing, music and online video companies are quietly super-serving legacy ...

Amazon Music
The Dark Horse Comes Out Of The Shadows

Cover image for Amazon Music

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.

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