Reports: Spotify

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 state and future of music fandom

The state and future of music fandom
Unleashing fan creativity

Tatiana Cirisano

21 Aug 2023

Spotify YouTube SoundCloud

Streaming is buckling under the weight of new music being released every day, listenership is fragmenting, and artificial intelligence is poised to intensify these challenges. The music industry’s next era of growth lies in monetising fandom, not consumption.

Cover image for Radio WAUs

Radio WAUs
Blurring broadcast lines

Annie Langston

3 Jul 2023

Spotify Radio iHeart

The radio industry has traditionally thought in terms of monthly audiences and reach rather than engagement. It is time for the radio industry to start thinking in terms of weekly engagement so that it can better benchmark itself against the wider picture of digital entertainment It is time for radio to think in terms of weekly active users (WAUs) ...

Cover image for Not all social entertainment behaviour is created equal

Not all social entertainment behaviour is created equal
Audience deep dive

Hanna Kahlert

3 Jul 2023

Spotify YouTube Xbox

Social is an integral part of entertainment consumption This report presents key data and insights about the advanced overlaps between social behaviour (both on digital platforms and in real life) and entertainment consumption. It looks at data from nine markets, featuring segments of social platform users and the audiences of different forms of en...

Cover image for US SVOD consumer podcast engagement

US SVOD consumer podcast engagement
Audio is the new spinoff

Annie Langston

1 Jun 2023

Apple Apple Spotify

As consumer attention fragments across platforms and content types, it is increasingly important for both streaming subscription video services and podcast creators to maximise their content reach. For streaming subscription video on demand (SVOD) services, podcasts provide new opportunities to reach and retain audiences.

Cover image for Artists direct

Artists direct
Focus on passion, not professionalism

Tatiana Cirisano

2 May 2023

Spotify Spotify SoundCloud

All eyes of the music business are on artists direct, the fastest-growing segment of the industry. But the 6.4 million artists in this segment are far from a unified group, and have varied aspirations, challenges, and needs. MIDiA’s 2023 creator survey reflects that the two largest sub-segments of artists direct are those who seek full-time music...

Cover image for Podcasts and gamers

Podcasts and gamers
How audio can propel the gaming universe

Annie Langston and Kazia Rothwell

2 May 2023

Spotify Spotify YouTube

The rise of games-inspired content is taking entertainment by storm. This illustrates the power of not only games content itself, but the fandoms that keep it alive, revealing an audience for other entertainment formats to tap into. As games aficionados over-index for a variety of podcasting behaviours, podcasts are an opportunity for games compani...

Cover image for AI and the future of music

AI and the future of music
The future is already here

Mark Mulligan, Hanna Kahlert and Tatiana Cirisano

2 May 2023

Spotify SoundCloud Netflix

Unlike most new technology hype cycles, the impact that artificial intelligence (AI) has on the world is already surpassing expectations. Within the music industry, AI will largely be an enabler and accelerant of already-existing trends and market shifts: the growth of self-releasing artists, the consumerisation of music-making, and the resulting o...

Cover image for Burnishing the back catalogue

Burnishing the back catalogue
Retention in an inflationary era

Ben Woods

2 May 2023

Spotify Netflix Disney

With inflation squeezing commissioning budgets, streaming-TV services are battling to demonstrate value to consumers who risk churning under pressure from the cost-of-living crisis. The big spend on new shows to grow playbook is not only unsustainable, but also out-of-step with the consumer appetite for classic content.

Cover image for Web 3.0 is here

Web 3.0 is here
Navigating the new culture of digital entertainment

Hanna Kahlert

2 May 2023

Spotify YouTube Netflix

AI has already hit entertainment at the industry level – and the impacts on audience culture will not be far behind. A variety of AI tools are now readily available on ‘fremium’ tiers at a consumer level. Companies may be looking towards what the new world of web 3.

Cover image for Podcasts and music streaming

Podcasts and music streaming
Mirrored growth

Annie Langston

3 Apr 2023

Apple Apple iTunes

The economic recession, and related layoffs at major podcasting divisions, have some questioning the future of the format. However, podcasts are following a similar trajectory as music did in its transition to streaming and have reached critical mass — 26% consumer penetration — faster than music streaming subscriptions did.

Cover image for US millennial snapshot

US millennial snapshot
A looming generational blind spot

Kriss Thakrar and Tatiana Cirisano

3 Apr 2023

Spotify YouTube Deezer

In the US, 25-34-year-olds are the music industry’s most valuable segment. Yet their relationship with streaming is tenuous. Streaming is not meeting these consumers’ need for a more social, less algorithm-driven experience. What is more, they appear most likely to give their subscriptions up.

Cover image for Attention economy

Attention economy
Reasons, not ways, to spend attention

Hanna Kahlert

1 Mar 2023

Spotify YouTube Netflix

Audiences are consuming in different ways, on different platforms, and at different times – from lean-back passive viewing, to lean-forward on-demand, lean-in social engagement, and lean-through creation. Web 3.0, largely driven by AI, will not change this.

Cover image for Podcasts and radio

Podcasts and radio
How radio can play by its own rules

Annie Langston

1 Mar 2023

Spotify live Radio

Radio set the stage for music streaming and podcasts, only to watch them take portions of its audience. However, there is a clear opportunity for radio companies to assert themselves in the podcast market, drawing on decades of programming expertise to retain audiences and find new ones.

Cover image for Music’s Instagram moment

Music’s Instagram moment
The social music creation revolution

Tatiana Cirisano

1 Mar 2023

Consumer behaviour Apple Spotify

Social media has steadily integrated music, and music creation tools have steadily become more social. These trends are converging, accelerated by shifts in consumer behaviour and artificial intelligence (AI). The result could be a new set of music creation and re-creation tools, integrated within social platforms and geared towards casual consumer...

Cover image for Year of change

Year of change
Themes that will shape entertainment in 2023

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Kriss Thakrar, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano, Annie Langston, Perry Gresham, Samuel Griffin, Ben Woods and Srishti Das

15 Feb 2023

Spotify YouTube Amazon

This report deep dives into the themes identified in MIDiA’s 2023 predictions report. These themes will drive innovation in the digital entertainment landscape in 2023 across music, video, games, audio, cultural trends, and the creator economy. Expect 2023 to be a of period significant disruption and innovation forced upon the digital entertainme...

Cover image for Podcast videos

Podcast videos
Format blurring expands podcasts’ future

Annie Langston

1 Feb 2023

Creators Apple Spotify

Podcasts are breaking out of traditional audio and entering the video space, as nearly a quarter of consumers now watch podcast videos monthly. Visual elements for podcasts are becoming a crucial tool to reach new audiences and engage current listeners.

Cover image for Kill the campaign

Kill the campaign
Music marketing needs branding, not direct response

Mark Mulligan and Tatiana Cirisano

1 Feb 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.

Cover image for Music discovery snapshot Q3 2022

Music discovery snapshot Q3 2022
Fandom under threat

Kriss Thakrar and Tatiana Cirisano

4 Jan 2023

Spotify YouTube YouTube Music

Despite the hyper-saturated music landscape, music discovery is generally not a problem for most consumers. Gen Z and millennials have similar music discovery habits, but gen Z struggle slightly more with discovery and are more influenced by TikTok, while millennials are perhaps the last generation to see radio as a main source of music discovery.

Audiobook consumer profile
Following in podcasts’ footsteps

Annie Langston

4 Jan 2023

Apple Spotify YouTube

The audiobook market is at an important stage of its evolution. Similar to podcasts, the niche format is trying to grow amid heightened competition for consumers’ time and attention, while the looming recession puts subscriptions growth and retention under pressure.

Cover image for Music industry earnings Q3 2022

Music industry earnings Q3 2022
Pre-recession growth

Mark Mulligan

20 Dec 2022

Spotify Pandora Slacker

The early 2020s saw an influx of capital into the music business, with the promise of music rights being an asset class that was uncorrelated with the wider economy. The irony is that as music catalogue investments slowed (due to rising costs of capital), the first nine months of 2022 saw the music business deliver a performance that suggests the i...

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