forecasts

Cover image for MIDiA Research 2022-2030 global music forecasts

MIDiA Research 2022-2030 global music forecasts
The new era of growth

Mark Mulligan

5 Jul 2022

Business Strategy

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 labeltrade 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 detai...

Podcasting has finally become profitable, but question marks remain

Rutger Rosenborg

5 Mar 2025

Product Strategy Spotify YouTube

Throughout 2023 and into 2024, you might have thought the sky was falling for podcasting. Layoffs and show cancellations had many in the industry wondering if there would be any financial future for the format.

Cover image for Podcasting has finally become profitable, but question marks remain

The songwriter’s role is shifting: here’s what the data shows

Tsion Tadesse

10 Jul 2025

Streaming Instagram Subscriptions

London, 10 July 2025 – The digital era has transformed every part of the music industry, but perhaps no role has been more quietly upended than that of the songwriter. Unlike recording artists, songwriters have long lacked the fallback revenue streams of touring or merchandise, while their share o...

Cover image for The songwriter’s role is shifting: here’s what the data shows

As Big Tech courts everyone, niche platforms must understand podcast purists

Rutger Rosenborg

10 Sep 2024

Podcasts Spotify Apple

As boundaries fall, borders blur, and digital goods and services are increasingly decoupled from per-unit value, the mass consumer will turn to low-friction applications that do everything and offer everything.

Cover image for As Big Tech courts everyone, niche platforms must understand podcast purists

The verdict is in: Music is podcasting’s biggest missed opportunity

Rutger Rosenborg

19 Jun 2024

Podcasts Spotify podcast market

While there are plenty of charts that provide insight into the most downloaded podcasts on each platform globally, these data give a very granular perspective on consumer preferences. Podcast platforms, in turn, have access to private user data, but again these data are largely limited to each platf...

Cover image for The verdict is in: Music is podcasting’s biggest missed opportunity

New MIDiA Research Data Shows Why Virality Is Not Building Fandom

Tsion Tadesse

16 Sep 2025

YouTube TikTok Streaming

“I hear it enough on social” is a common barrier to streaming music, particularly for 16-24 year-olds LONDON – 16 September, 2025 – MIDiA Research, the global authority in music, creator economy and cross-entertainment insights, today published “All eyes, No ears: Why virality is not build...

Cover image for New MIDiA Research Data Shows Why Virality Is Not Building Fandom

Cover image for Audio’s entertainment value

Audio’s entertainment value
Examining audio listeners’ cross-entertainment lives

Rutger Rosenborg

13 Feb 2025

music industry Music streaming Content

Typically, the marketing team for a games company or TV show would not be thinking of audiobooks and podcast listeners as a key consumer segment to address. Yet, podcast and audiobook listeners are digitally sophisticated and spend more time and money than the consumer average on most forms of entertainment – including games, music, and video.

Branded podcasts level up: Ubisoft’s gaming podcasts bring games to life for new audiences

Rutger Rosenborg

7 Jun 2024

Podcasts Gaming Marketing

As the podcast listener base grows , companies across several industries — from automotive to fast food — see podcast production as a way to market to new audiences (sort of like an audio blog). Branded podcasts are nothing new for big games publishers like PlayStation and Xbox.

Cover image for Branded podcasts level up: Ubisoft’s gaming podcasts bring games to life for new audiences

Amazon opens the IP tap for its Audible to Prime Video pipeline — your move, Apple

Rutger Rosenborg

2 May 2024

subscription video on demand Streaming video Amazon

Marvel proved that spinning out intellectual property (IP) from comic books to movie franchises could be incredibly lucrative. With the growth of video games, this transmedia strategy has expanded to streaming video on demand (SVOD) with successes like The Last of Us on HBO Max and, most recently, F...

Cover image for Amazon opens the IP tap for its Audible to Prime Video pipeline — your move, Apple

Spotify’s engagement game: How Nebula and direct video uploads could change podcasting

Rutger Rosenborg

12 Jun 2024

Podcasts Video podcasts Spotify

In May 2019, Dave Wiskus and a handful of YouTubers launched an independent subscription service called Nebula. The purpose of Nebula was to provide creators — namely, video creators, podcasters, and educators — with an alternative to YouTube’s multi-channel networks.

Cover image for Spotify’s engagement game: How Nebula and direct video uploads could change podcasting

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.

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

Live orchestras and game-specific songs: Death Stranding is a masterclass in harmonising games and music

Rhys Elliott

13 Mar 2025

Marketing Strategy Fandom Music

Key insights from this blog: There is ample opportunity for the games industry to leverage music to its advantage Key MIDiA data highlights that real-world live concerts using game music AND artists recording original music specifically for games are two underutilised strategies The music industry i...

Cover image for Live orchestras and game-specific songs: Death Stranding is a masterclass in harmonising games and music

Cover image for Social platform user behaviour

Social platform user behaviour
Q3 2024

Hanna Kahlert

19 Dec 2024

Marketing Strategy

Competition among social platforms is intensifying, with attention largely saturated and new regulations poised to upset the balance of power among incumbents. While growth is left in the overall market, it will largely be driven by YouTube and a cohort of smaller disruptor platforms – with fragmentation happening as these disruptors begin to eat...

Cover image for Is in-game advertising the next frontier for PC and console games?

Is in-game advertising the next frontier for PC and console games?

Rhys Elliott

15 Jul 2025

Apple YouTube Netflix

In-game advertising (IGA) in AAA console and PC titles is experiencing a resurgence. Advancements in technology, shifting consumer behaviours, evolving monetisation strategies, and a now-mature games market have reignited interest. With AAA publishers adopting free-to-play models and hybrid monetisation – mirroring mobile gaming’s success – a...

Cover image for Visionary audio

Visionary audio
Unlocking the power of video in podcasting

Rutger Rosenborg

21 Nov 2024

brand partnerships spotify podcasts podcast creators

YouTube may be the only viable platform for long-form video podcasts, but that does not mean audio-first podcast platforms should abandon video. Instead, podcast platforms should leverage video both as a podcast format and as a marketing driver to increase podcast discovery and consumption.

Inverse incentives: the implications of Spotify’s Substack integration for podcasts

Rutger Rosenborg

19 Apr 2024

Audio Podcasts Spotify

As platform decay seeps into major tech platforms and microcultures proliferate across the internet, feature development becomes less about building native tools and more about third-party integrations .

Cover image for Inverse incentives: the implications of Spotify’s Substack integration for podcasts

Global Recorded Music Revenues Reach $36.2 Billion in 2024 Amid Slower Growth

Tsion Tadesse

13 Mar 2025

Streaming Music Subscriptions

Non-major labels gain share for third consecutive year, as streaming revenue growth decelerates [London — Thursday, 13 March 2025] — Global recorded music revenues rose to $36.2 billion in 2024, marking a 6.

Cover image for Global Recorded Music Revenues Reach $36.2 Billion in 2024 Amid Slower Growth

Q3 streaming trends: Why Spotify’s growth in the Global South matters for the music industry

Tatiana Cirisano

14 Nov 2024

Global South Music Spotify

For much of 2024, music industry discourse centred around Spotify’s content mix. The growing long-tail of artists and songs on the platform is what fueled Universal Music Group’s two-tiered royalty system, and rights holders continue to raise concerns about sharing space with audiobooks and podc...

Cover image for Q3 streaming trends: Why Spotify’s growth in the Global South matters for the music industry

20 years ago, labels targeted fandom. Will it work the second time around?

Tatiana Cirisano

27 May 2025

Business Strategy Streaming Music streaming

The New York Times headline “ The New Deal: Band As Brand ” would not look out of place in today’s pages. In the article, the writer explores how record labels are responding to a need to diversify revenue streams by seeking to monetise fandom, via expanded rights deals.

Cover image for 20 years ago, labels targeted fandom. Will it work the second time around?

Netflix, the NFL, and the Amazon effect

Tim Mulligan

21 May 2024

NFL Netflix sports streaming

After two decades of saying no to becoming a live sports streamer, Netflix has finally relented and has agreed to pay the NFL to show two NFL games on Christmas daythis year. The three year deal also includes options for other holiday games to be livestreamed in 2025 and 2026.

Cover image for Netflix, the NFL, and the Amazon effect

© 2025 MIDiA Research Ltd. All Rights Reserved.