Fandom

Music streaming consumer profile Q4 2024
Stabilisation and fandom slowdown

Cover image for Music streaming consumer profile Q4 2024
Mark Mulligan and Tatiana Cirisano
Willingness to pay
Music consumers
Streaming
Consumer music behaviours are both stabilising and showing signs of coming change. Change that could be challenging for all music business stakeholders, especially with regards to fandom monetisation. This report presents data-focused visuals and impactful analysis of trends and anomalies that will inform your understanding of what is happening to today’s music consumer, why it is happening, and where these trends are heading.
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Bringing fandom to life: the rise of IRL superfan experiences

Cover image for Bringing fandom to life: the rise of IRL superfan experiences
Olivia Jones
Fandom
Spotify
Streaming
Much of the recent discussion around music superfan monetisation has focused on online superfans, especially as more superstars join fan platforms like Weverse. These monetisation strategies capitalise on fans’ growing desire for artist-fan interaction but often rely on artists’ active participation, adding yet another task to their ever-growing list of marketing responsibilities.
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The games market will grow by 4.6% in 2025 – in line with the global inflation rate

Cover image for The games market will grow by 4.6% in 2025 – in line with the global inflation rate
Rhys Elliott
Business Strategy
Fandom
Games
We just published our flagship games report MIDiA Research’s Global Games Forecasts 2025–2031 and its accompanying dataset. What you need to know: The games market is mature , so double-digit growth is a fantasy and the industry will only see slight growth going forward The global number of gamers will keep growing , but ARPPU will slightly decrease over time due to growing gamer numbers in emerging markets The oversaturation of live services will see the developer pendulum swing back towards premium games on console and PC The mega-budget strategy will slowdown in favour of shorter budgets – outside of the live-service incumbents and a few select “prestige” studios Multi-game subscription user growth is reaching maturity , though revenues will grow via pricing increases (and perhaps ad-based tiers) in the future The report dives into player forecasts , revenue forecasts for software (full-game advertising, and in-game split by cosmetics and progress-based) , hardware (console and XR), and subscriptions – all up to 2031, with platform and regional splits.
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Switch 2 FAQs: Your cheat sheet for understanding Nintendo's upcoming console

Cover image for Switch 2 FAQs: Your cheat sheet for understanding Nintendo's upcoming console
Rhys Elliott
Product Strategy
Games
Fandom
As we said in our games trends to watch article , 2025 will be the year of the portable. Nintendo kicked that off in earnest, finally lifting the curtain on its Switch 2 console. Here are the basics: The Switch 2 seems iterative – a bigger, better Switch with some quality-of-life improvements It is coming out in 2025 It plays Switch 1 games too, both physical and digital Nintendo will announce its software lineup on April 2, 2025 It will hold several in-person events across North America, Europe, Oceania, and Asia to build fandom and let fans go hands-on Our clients and the press have been sending us plenty of questions, so we decided to answer the most frequently asked here.
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RIIZE: When listening to superfans goes too far

Cover image for RIIZE: When listening to superfans goes too far
Olivia Jones
Music
Fandom
SM Entertainment
Many record labels have spent 2024 trying to capitalise on the power of superfans , inspired by the global success of Korean entertainment companies. However, the recent scandal involving Seunghan, a member of the K-pop group RIIZE, and their label SM Entertainment, prompts questions about whether catering too strongly to the biggest – and loudest – superfans can be detrimental to both artists and their fanbases .
min read
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