attention economy

Netflix, Duolingo, and the art of engagement in a fiercely competitive attention economy

Ben Woods

13 Dec 2024

Netflix is making sure everyone knows that Squid Game 2 is just around corner.The South Korean dystopian survival thriller has been subjected to a major global advertising splash ahead of the shows’ second season release on December 26, 2024.

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The state of the attention economy: why don’t fan-first platforms work?

Hanna Kahlert

5 Jun 2024

Fandom Taylor Swift Fans

The music industry is increasingly looking to fan-first solutions to drive its next era of growth (and solve artists’ financial woes), with all eyes towards the Taylor Swift model of fan frenzy. At the heart of this quest is a tension inherent in the ‘everything everywhere all the time’ model.

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Music creator economy: recalibration

Mark Mulligan

26 Sep 2024

Music creators Creator economy Music creator tools

The music creator economy has been long in the making but was thrust into the wider music industry’s limelight with the Covid lockdowns triggering a surge in new creators. As with any bubble, many creator tools companies saw their ensuing surge flatten post-lockdown.

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If the internet dies, where does all the attention go?

Hanna Kahlert

2 Apr 2025

Cultural trends TikTok Instagram

Key takeaways from this blog: Social platforms dominate culture, but a vibe shift toward offline experiences is emerging as users crave more intentional, less addictive engagement (as explored in MIDiA's' Analogue revival ' report) TikTok’s recent disruption signals a loss of cultural centrality, ...

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The podcast attention game: How algorithmic discovery may remake podcasting

Rutger Rosenborg

29 Jan 2025

Audience Insight Spotify YouTube

Open the YouTube app on your TV and the first category you will see below “Home” is “Podcasts”. According to the YouTube blog , viewers watched more than 400 million hours of podcasts every month in 2024, just on living room devices alone.

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Pophouse
Redefining catalogue investment for the fan economy

Tatiana Cirisano and Olivia Jones

6 May 2025

Fandom Star Wars Business Strategy

The music catalogue acquisition market is shifting towards name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights, as investors recognise that with wider rights ownership comes new opportunities to actively build value – rather than just passively collecting income.

What happens to entertainment in a gamified US economy?

Hanna Kahlert

15 Apr 2025

Cultural trends US News

Key takeaways from this blog: President Trump'sproposed tariffshave shaken the stock market, with trust in the US economy weakening Unpredictable policies, including the US TikTok ban, are making conditions difficult for businesses that operate across multiple countries With this uncertainty in the ...

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Cannibalisation is inevitable for YouTube as the attention economy bites

Ben Woods

13 Sep 2023

Social video YouTube Shorts YouTube

When YouTube launched Shorts in 2021, the social video platform was knowingly risking de-stabilising its core business. The rationale behind launching a short-form video offer was that the risk of not doing so could mean haemorrhaging thousands, if not millions, of viewers to TikTok.

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Streaming’s growth plan in the connection economy

Kriss Thakrar

18 Sep 2024

Superfans Music streaming Streaming clubs

During Universal’s Capital Markets Day, Universal Music Group (UMG) chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge cited some “fundamental facts” of the music business (per Music Business Worldwide ). These include the promise that “streaming will continue to propel many years of industry growth”.

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State of the independent music economy: Fragmentation AND consolidation

Mark Mulligan

31 Oct 2024

market shares label market shares Independent labels

MIDiA is excited to announce our latest report “ State of the independent music economy: Fragmentation AND consolidation”. It represents the most extensive piece of research we have ever done. Through a combination of our annual Independent Label and Distributor Survey and an exhaustive (and ex...

Will audio have a seat at the creator economy table?

Rutger Rosenborg

18 Dec 2024

Amazon Music Spotify Podcasts

As 2024 comes to a close, it is worth reflecting on this year’s audio trends and where we expect things to head in 2025. Per our recent report, ‘ MIDiA’s 2025 predictions: It’s social’s stage now ’, social platforms will continue to take centre stage on the heels of the creator economy r...

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Where do you stand on AI’s transformation of the video creator economy?

Ben Woods

9 May 2025

Audience Insight Video US

Artificial intelligence is imposing revolutionary change on the creator economy. Tried and tested workflows are being automated, streamlined, and recalibrated by large language learning models that are promising to rid creators of tedious tasks.

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Creators and the creator economy
Defining the undefinable

Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert and Ben Woods

24 Jan 2025

Creators Cultural trends Creator economy

20 years since the launch of YouTube, the creator economy is not new – but it lacks a single clear definition. Different interest groups who interact with it all have their perspectives, but this lack of consistency can result in misunderstandings at best and strategic missteps at worst.

Why social media regulation could be a boost for the creator economy

Hanna Kahlert

26 Nov 2024

TikTok Social media platforms

TikTok’s future hangs in the balance, with its January deadline to find a new owner fast approaching beneath the oversight of a new, and unpredictable, US administration. President Trump originally tried to ban the app himself in 2020 by executive order, which failed.

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The creator economy is booming, so why are we spending less time creating?

Ben Woods

8 Jan 2025

Creator economy Video Product Strategy

YouTube’s grip on TV viewership in the West is tightening, reflecting the growing power of the creator economy. Nielsen data from July 2024 shows that YouTube now has the highest TV audience share on US smart TVs,10% versus Netflix’s 8.

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AI’s creator economy revolution will accelerate if it can join the dots

Ben Woods

11 Oct 2024

Creator economy Video creators Music creators

While generative artificial intelligence (AI) is in its infancy, many people are optimistic about the technology’s potential. Organisations are deploying AI to improve productivity – and creators and general consumers are following suit.

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State of the music creator economy
AI’s growing reach

Mark Mulligan and Tatiana Cirisano

21 Jan 2025

Innovation Creators revenue

Still recovering from post-pandemic aftershocks, the music creator economy now faces unprecedented disruption from generative AI. More people are creating than ever before (both as creators and consumers) and sounds, services, and software revenue is growing well (the latter boosted by generative AI).

AI is reshaping the music creator economy, and that change will reshape the music business

Mark Mulligan

3 Feb 2025

Business Strategy Music Creator economy

MIDiA is pleased to announce the release of not one but two new music creator economy reports. These are our latest " State of the music creator economy "and " Music creator tools forecasts "reports. These annual deliverables have quickly become industry benchmarks, and if you operate in the music c...