Hanna Kahlert

Hanna is one of our expert analysts, helping drive MIDiA’s research into the future of digital entertainment. Her key areas of interest are cross-entertainment audience behaviour, the creator economy, and social platforms.

Social is the medium, but its messages are more than just content

Hanna Kahlert

17 Sep 2025

Cultural trends Social media Content

All things, it seems, must now revert to “social”. Netflix has announced a new “Clips” feature, where segments of episodes can be selected and shared on social media (per Engadget ). Spotify has added a social feature allowing users to directly message songs to each other.

Cover image for Social is the medium, but its messages are more than just content

Cover image for All eyes, no ears

All eyes, no ears
Why virality is not building fandom

Mark Mulligan, Hanna Kahlert, Kriss Thakrar, Tatiana Cirisano and Olivia Jones

16 Sep 2025

Free Report

Music discovery Business Strategy

Over the last five years, labels and artists have invested in social media, betting that a steady stream of artist content and influencer campaigns will engineer virality. The theory is simple: virality leads to streams, streams lead to fandom, and fandom leads to long-term, sustainable artist careers.

AI AI, Cap’n: Shifting headwinds to the promised land of tech innovation

Hanna Kahlert

11 Sep 2025

Product Strategy Content Social

In any industry, the simple bits tend to be the most stable. For every ice cream, there’s the company that makes the sticks; for every book publisher, there’s the company selling the paper. By the same logic, in the midst of the AI boom, Nvidia – which manufactures chips that make the technolo...

Cover image for AI AI, Cap’n: Shifting headwinds to the promised land of tech innovation

The life of a cultural narrative: Where are 2025’s iconic moments?

Hanna Kahlert

26 Aug 2025

Cultural trends Entertainment Media

Eras are defined by their moments. The 2000’s saw low-rise jeans, a neon palette, and pop star drama. The 2010’s had barn weddings and ‘Gangnam Style’. With time comes the benefit of hindsight, and clarity on what was big versus what faded quickly.

Cover image for The life of a cultural narrative: Where are 2025’s iconic moments?

Cover image for Social as the home of online scenes

Social as the home of online scenes
Going beyond viral moments

Hanna Kahlert

14 Aug 2025

Creators Creators France

In a fragmented digital environment, scenes are becoming important tools for connecting with and mobilising fans. Social platforms can be useful for finding, understanding, and engaging with scenes. However, not all social moments are created equal. This report reveals how social is only part of the bigger picture, and dives deep to show that the c...

Instagram Maps: Feature or future?

Hanna Kahlert

14 Aug 2025

Instagram Snapchat Social media

Meta’s Instagram has begun rolling out a new ‘Maps’ feature, similar to Snapchat’s (but with added privacy concerns). It has also rolled out a new ‘friends’ tab on the Reels page, allowing users to see videos already liked by others they follow, seemingly weighted by the friends they int...

Cover image for Instagram Maps: Feature or future?

Why Drake’s ‘Which One’ single is not a TikTok-first track

Hanna Kahlert

29 Jul 2025

Music Content Social

Drake’s new single ‘Which One’, featuring Central Cee dropped on July 25, 2025 –not abnormal. Less normal: he launched it with no warning halfway through a 41-minute episode of Iceman , a YouTube series he is streaming in advance of his album of the same name.

Cover image for Why Drake’s ‘Which One’ single is not a TikTok-first track

Why the AI boom will boost non-Western markets

Hanna Kahlert

22 Jul 2025

Cultural trends AI gen AI

AI is now intertwined with all the internet has to offer – be it generated memes, AI music, or (somewhat) helpful chatbots. Seemingly, no proposition can go free of generative embellishment. Yet as Gen AI proliferates, something is becoming increasingly clear: content written with AI assistance of...

Cover image for Why the AI boom will boost non-Western markets

Building fandom is about the journey, not the destination

Hanna Kahlert

15 Jul 2025

Fandom Entertainment Media

“Superfans” remain the headline topic for the entertainment industries , in music and beyond. They are the biggest cheerleaders amongst their peers, the most engaged on social media and streaming, and the highest spenders across the board.

Cover image for Building fandom is about the journey, not the destination

Budweiser’s royalty loophole ad: How AI and social have changed the value of creators

Hanna Kahlert

24 Jun 2025

Cultural trends AI generative AI music

Advertising is a critical component of the entertainment industries. It supports free tiers of video streaming, forms the backbone of social platform revenues, and contributes significantly to the music industry through sync, licensing, and ad-supported streaming.

Cover image for Budweiser’s royalty loophole ad: How AI and social have changed the value of creators

Ads in WhatsApp Stories: is this the next ad frontier in social?

Hanna Kahlert

20 Jun 2025

Business Strategy WhatsApp advertising

Meta has announced that it will be rolling out ads in WhatsApp’s ‘updates’ tab. This marks a move to monetise what has, up until now, been a platform with not so impressive revenue to report. A major issue for WhatsApp is that, as a direct messaging platform, it has been very difficult to mone...

Cover image for Ads in WhatsApp Stories: is this the next ad frontier in social?

Live isn’t dead, it just needs a WhatsApp group: why gatekeeping is due for a comeback

Hanna Kahlert

12 Jun 2025

Cultural trends TikTok Social media

The live scene is, allegedly, in an uphill battle. Festivals face cancellations, travel costs are rising, and grassroots venues are struggling. Success stories like the ‘Eras’ tour and the Oasis reunion boosted year-on-year stats within the industry, but is this a sign of long-term growth or mer...

Cover image for Live isn’t dead, it just needs a WhatsApp group: why gatekeeping is due for a comeback

Cover image for India market focus

India market focus
A fandom and AI-forward online population

Hanna Kahlert

12 Jun 2025

YouTube Facebook Fandom

Online Indian consumers are expected to be early movers. They are high entertainment consumers, AI enthusiasts, and high spenders – especially on fandom. This report explores a population that is an early adopter, format-agnostic, mobile-first audience, with huge growth potential.

Grok meets Telegram: Why is AI being shoehorned into messaging platforms?

Hanna Kahlert

5 Jun 2025

Product Strategy Messaging apps Social

In an unusual twist, on May 28, 2025, xAI agreed to pay Telegram $300 million in cash to be integrated into the messaging platform (per Reuters ). It is not every day you see a feature paying its platform to be combined into its existing service, but, Elon Musk is not often one for the traditional p...

Cover image for Grok meets Telegram: Why is AI being shoehorned into messaging platforms?

Cover image for AI futures

AI futures
Culture wars

Ben Woods, Tatiana Cirisano, Hanna Kahlert, Mark Mulligan and Kriss Thakrar

29 May 2025

Apple Spotify Deezer

AI is transforming culture, entertainment, business, and society at a rate unprecedented in the digital era. Unlike previous tech, AI is evolving at the speed of computing, not the human brain. Delivering as quickly as it promises, AI is breaking the mould.

Culture always starts as grassroots: The rise of bardcore raves

Hanna Kahlert

22 May 2025

Cultural trends Music Social

The entertainment industry is facing a cultural crisis. Demands for more , faster to feed the algorithms are undermining longevity and impact. Songs fade quickly, while films fail to fill cinemas. If much of current mainstream culture is nostalgia and clickbait, what will be the legacy that defines ...

Cover image for Culture always starts as grassroots: The rise of bardcore raves

Cover image for Social audiences are fragmenting

Social audiences are fragmenting
Social platform user profile

Hanna Kahlert

15 May 2025

YouTube YouTube Facebook

The social marketplace has been growing – but attention is a finite resource, as is consumer time. As a result, audience attention is fragmenting across many different apps, with the biggest – YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok –still dominating.

The paradox of scale and success: What music can learn from gin distilleries

Hanna Kahlert

14 May 2025

Business Strategy Music Marketing

The digital world is becoming less reliable. Platforms are flooded with AI content ranging from banal, to amusing, to concerningly incorrect . Advertising crowds the feed alongside creators desperately trying to sell something: themselves, a lifestyle, products, businesses.

Cover image for The paradox of scale and success: What music can learn from gin distilleries

What “Make Hollywood Great Again” really means for entertainment

Hanna Kahlert

8 May 2025

Business Strategy Streaming US

On Sunday, May 4th, President Trump announced his intent to put a “100 per cent Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands”. The administration has stated it is “exploring all options” and that no final decisions have been made.

Cover image for What “Make Hollywood Great Again” really means for entertainment

There is no Pirates of the Caribbean 6: How long is the internet going to work?

Hanna Kahlert

29 Apr 2025

Cultural trends Disney Google

Generative AI is improving, and its use is increasing. AI tools have rapidly accelerated , and, as a result, AI is now widely used to generate lesson plans, find recipe measurements, and draft lists of potential client companies.

Cover image for There is no Pirates of the Caribbean 6: How long is the internet going to work?

© 2025 MIDiA Research Ltd. All Rights Reserved.