Product Strategy | MIDiA Research

The Aficionado Impact
How Super Fans Changing Spending Patterns Are Dragging Down Music Sales

Mark Mulligan

February 2015

Total revenue growth in streaming heartland markets in 2012 and 2013 painted a strong picture for the streaming era. But by 2014 much of that growth had transformed into decline. Neither trends provide definitive evidence for the case for streaming but both point to the wafer thin margins between growth and decline in the music market.

The App Bubble Burst
The Coming App Economy Correction

Karol Severin

November 2014

US

UK

France

In May 2014 we warned about potential risks of the Superstar App Economy. Too few apps were taking most of the revenue. Investors funded huge marketing and development budgets in a bid to create mega hits, but in the process raised the barriers to entry.

Unlocking YouTube
How YouTube’s Music Key Will Impact Subscriptions

Mark Mulligan

October 2014

consumer behavior

Consumer behaviour

Subscriptions

YouTube is the globe’s leading digital music service but it delivers comparatively little back to the music industry in direct revenue. Even the one billion dollars paid out in Content ID revenues only represents $0.14 for each of its one billion users per year, since the launch of Content ID in 2007.

Global Digital Music Services Benchmark
The Digital Music Marketplace

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Mark Mulligan

September 2014

Subscriptions

Streaming Music

Music Subscriptions

The global digital music industry may only be growing steadily (5% in 2013) but beneath the headline number is a richly varied picture of different services, diverse regional growth rates and competing business models. To better understand this marketplace, MIDiA Research conducted a Global Music Services Tracker.

The Streaming Effect
Assessing The Impact Of Streaming Music Behaviour

Mark Mulligan

August 2014

Subscriptions

Streaming Music

Music Subscriptions

Streaming has arrived and is here to stay, that much is clear. What is not is how it will impact existing music revenue streams. Though neither a business model nor a product, streaming is the lens through which the irresistible force of the shift from ownership to access is best understood.

Content Connectors
How the Coming Digital Content Revolution Will Change Everything

Mark Mulligan

August 2014

Subscriptions

Apple

Spotify

Content Connectors, devices such as Apple TV, Google’s Chromecast, Amazon Kindle Fire TV and Roku, are set to transform the way in which mainstream consumers interact with digital content. Current adopters of these devices are the most valuable paid content consumers across all content genres, not just the video for which Content Connectors are b...

Global Music Forecasts 2014 to 2019
The Shift To The Consumption Era

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Mark Mulligan

July 2014

Subscriptions

Music revenue

Streaming

2013 was the recorded music industry’s 14th successive year of revenue decline. The prolonged death rattle of the CD continues to drag the global market down with it and things just got worse with the paid download entering its own tailspin. Streaming and Subscriptions are the great hope and are growing at unprecedented rates.

The App Superstar Economy
Dissecting the Global App Store Marketplace

Cover image for The App Superstar Economy

Karol Severin

July 2014

US

UK

France

Accelerating smartphone and tablet adoption around the world is supercharging an already buoyant app store economy. A combination of Apple’s tightly integrated ecosystem and Google’s aggressive marketing strategy are helping propel apps further into consumers’ consciousness.

The Death of the Long Tail
The Superstar Music Economy

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Mark Mulligan

July 2014

music sales

Music revenue

Artists

The 21st century decline in recorded music revenues continues to send shockwaves throughout the music industry and although there are encouraging signs of digital-driven growth, the impact on artists is less clear. The concentration of the majority of recorded music revenue around a small share of musical works has led to the emergence a Superstar ...

The Superstar Artist Economy
Artist Income and the Top 1%

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Mark Mulligan

July 2014

Music revenue

live music

live

Since the advent of piracy artists have been told that they need not worry about declining music sales because their core business is making money from live and merchandise. At a headline level, macro music industry revenues appear to support the argument, but those numbers give little indication of the income that actually flows back to the artist...

Decoding the Digital Consumer
An Analysis of the Digital Music Behaviour of UK Consumers

Cover image for Decoding the Digital Consumer

Mark Mulligan

December 2013

Consumer behaviour

Music consumers

Subscriptions

10 years after the launch of the iTunes Store and 5 years after the launch of Spotify, digital music remains a largely niche sector, with the notable exception of YouTube. Despite a decade of contraction the CD remains the most pervasive music product while radio is the dominant consumption platform.

Business Strategy