Product Strategy | MIDiA Research

Global music subscriber market shares Q1 2021

Mark Mulligan

9 Jul 2021

The music industry’s growing obsession with declining ARPU will continue to colour the outlook for the global streaming market in revenue terms, but the positive driver of this equation is the rapid growth of music subscribers.

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Emerging markets may be about to change the superstar business

Mark Mulligan

2 Jul 2021

emerging markets

anglo repertoire

Music

The traditional recorded music business was all about selling units, which naturally meant that the most important markets were not the most populous but the wealthiest. Throughout the late 20thcentury this created a ‘global’ market that was dominated by North America, Europe and a few others.

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MIDiA Research 2021 – 2028 global music forecasts
ARPU growth finally delivers

Cover image for MIDiA Research 2021 – 2028 global music forecasts

Mark Mulligan

June 2021

revenue

Global

Music

This report presents the key figures, trends and drivers of MIDiA’s music forecast model. The figures presented in this report are both retail and label trade values and are 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.

How Bandcamp could really fix the music business

Mark Mulligan

25 Jun 2021

Independent artists

Artists

Streaming Music

“A thought: has streaming become the place to address consumers and the likes of Bandcamp the places to engage fans? i.e., fans and fandom inherently matter less on streaming because it/they are a minority.

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Pluto TV, Rakuten TV & XUMO to discuss how AVOD unlocks the mainstream consumer - July 7

Dara Jegede

23 Jun 2021

AVOD

advertising

Digital audiences

AVOD was well positioned to benefit from the uplift in home entertainment time due to lockdowns imposed to stem the spread COVID-19. However, engagement growth was modest in 2020, remaining below 10% for the leading four AVOD services in Q3 2020.

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The new chair of the FTC and antitrust 2.0

Tim Mulligan

22 Jun 2021

Anti-trust

Monopoly

Lina Khan

The appointment of Lina Khan on June 15th to chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is poised to be a transformational one in the history of the world wide web. Khan came to prominence with an article in the Yale Law Journal, Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox , which identified the paradox of hegemonic tech service providers which bypass the US’ strict competition laws by offering lower prices to the end consumer.

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The games industry has changed; E3 needs to do the same if it is to remain relevant

Karol Severin

21 Jun 2021

e3

conference

Games industry

This year’s E3 has experienced mixed reviews, with the consensus largely being that some interesting announcements were made, but they no longer provide an all-encompassing view of what’s going on in the games industry and what to get excited about for the rest of the year.

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The opportunity behind the Roblox lawsuit

Kriss Thakrar

14 Jun 2021

Roblox

music piracy

Gaming

Three months ago, MIDiA reported on the role of the Boombox in Roblox and the potential of the unique (and unlicensed) behaviour that was emerging around it. Subsequently, the National Music Publishers Association has filed a $200 million lawsuit against the platform, directly citing the copyright infringement facilitated by the in-game product.

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Games video creators can help attract new audiences to esports, if rights holders empower them to

Karol Severin

14 Jun 2021

esports

Creators

live streaming

Those who have been following MIDiA’s games coverage for a while will have seen our posts about the growth problem of esports and suggestions around putting focus on the entertainment angle , rather than just on the sports angle, in order to most effectively capitalise on the opportunity.

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We’re Hiring (again)

Mark Mulligan

11 Jun 2021

Streaming Music

Music

Business Strategy

The pandemic rewrote the rules of digital entertainment, creating new opportunities and threats at an unprecedented rate while also intensifying competition for consumer attention. Never before has the interconnected nature of the digital entertainment landscape been more important, which also means that never before has MIDiA’s holistic, cross-industry view been more important.

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From network to Bulletin: Is this the future of Facebook?

Hanna Kahlert

10 Jun 2021

Social media

substack

Facebook

Due to generational shifts, the passage of time, and pure competition from other entertainment alternatives, social media is changing . Younger users are flocking to fast-paced, original content-driven TikTok .

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Netflix versus Amazon Prime Video – depth versus breadth

Tim Mulligan

10 Jun 2021

SVOD

d2c

Netflix

The first half of 2021 has been a year of continued change and disruption for subscription video. The global incumbent subscription video on demand (SVOD) leaders, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, have been busy signalling to the financial markets how they intend to entrench their market dominance in light of the ongoing market acquisition pushes unleashed by the D2C disruptors following the D2C ‘big bang’ moment of Q4 2019 – Q2 2021.

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The productisation of music rights

Mark Mulligan

4 Jun 2021

music rights

music catalogues

music catalogue acquisitions

News that New York-based Pershing Square Tontine Holdings is planning to acquire 10% of UMG is the latest in a wave of financial transactions in the music rights space. Alongside this, Believe’s impending IPO has the potential to be one of the biggest things to happen to the independent music sector in some time, and comes as part of a wave of IPOs (e.

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Music and podcasts are competing for the same time

Mark Mulligan

28 May 2021

Podcasts

Streaming Music

media consumption

The pandemic changed media consumption. Consumers acquired an extra 12% of entertainment time and though everything was up, some categories grew much faster than others. One of the biggest gainers was spoken word audio, with podcasts and audiobooks seeing dramatic rises and while music hours grew too, the increase was below 12%, which means that music lost share.

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Hi-Res audio: It’s all about a maturing market

Mark Mulligan

21 May 2021

Streaming

hi res audio

Dolby Atmos

Apple and Amazon made a splash this week by integrating Hi-Res Dolby Atmos audio into the basic tiers of their streaming services . The timing, i.e. just after Spotify started increasing prices, is – how shall we put it, interesting .

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UGC vs. Premium: Is the video valuation bubble big enough to burst?

Hanna Kahlert

21 May 2021

Media

Streaming

Mobile content

The market disconnect between the proliferation of independent content creators and the consolidation of brand IP into the hands of ever-fewer major players is growing increasingly stark. On the one hand, independent artists are the fastest-growing sector of the music market.

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This time Amazon really does have Bond in its sights

Tim Mulligan

20 May 2021

mgm

Amazon

Amazon Prime

MGM , which holds the largest film and TV library in Hollywood, is finally in play – and likely to be acquired by tech major and video streaming behemoth Amazon. With a rumoured price tag of $9 billion, the deal, while substantial, is merely equivalent to 8.

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Watch out Warzone and Fortnite: Ubisoft is coming after free-to-play

Karol Severin

17 May 2021

Ubisoft

free to play

f2p

Ubisoft announced last week that it is adding specific focus on free-to-play, alongside its AAA catalogue. In doing so, it is following a route that has been very successful for Activision with its Warzone strategy.

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Quick take: Epic doubles down on expression and creation with the acquisition of ArtStation

Karol Severin

10 May 2021

acquisition

m&a

Epic Games

Epic Games embarked on the journey of attracting third-party developers a while ago , but it has now made a significant step towards building up a go-to marketplace and distribution centre for designers and creators of digital art and in-game items.

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Growth drivers – what comes after streaming

Mark Mulligan

7 May 2021

Streaming

growth drivers

fitness

The pandemic-defined 2020 was an outlier year across digital entertainment, with the extra 12% of time consumers spent with entertainment boosting everything, including music. One of the effects was that streaming grew more than it would have otherwise, delaying the inevitable slowdown in streaming revenue growth.

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