Karol Severin

Music & Gaming
A new way to play

Report by Mark Mulligan, Karol Severin and Keith Jopling

13 Apr 2021

In today’s music business, the consumer boom is rapidly leading to a creator bust. For the music industry to untangle itself from this dysfunctional loop, it needs to find new ways of monetizing fandom,…

Gamers: The new frontier of music’s fan-centric growth

Blog post by Karol Severin

13 Apr 2021

Music companies have begun to realise that as their industry has grown, it has also transferred much of its previous fan value into the subscription and song economy. The outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent…

Why games companies need to take Apple’s Arcade expansion seriously

Blog post by Karol Severin

9 Apr 2021

Apple announced a significant expansion of Apple Arcade last week, including more than 180 new games across three new games categories: ‘Timeless Classics’, ‘App Store Greats’ and ‘New Arcade…

Microsoft’s interest in Discord confirms MIDiA’s prediction

Blog post by Karol Severin

31 Mar 2021

In November 2020, we wrote the below in our annual predictions report . “Upping gaming experiences via ‘infrastructural acquisitions’: As non-gaming entertainment increasingly embeds in games, companies…

Why Roblox is well set to withstand the COVID bounce effect

Blog post by Karol Severin

15 Mar 2021

Roblox has launched an initial public offering (IPO) this week. Timing-wise, the twice-delayed IPO aligns with the world getting closer to opening up, and out-of-home competitive pressures returning. This…

Esports’ critical mass challenge: Solutions are beyond games

Blog post by Karol Severin

19 Feb 2021

Esports have been receiving much coverage in recent years – from sold-out arenas, through to record-breaking live streaming events, right up to the formation of news outlets which solely cover esports.…

Driving cross-generational appeal in entertainment universes

Blog post by Karol Severin

8 Feb 2021

Building and maintaining cross-generational appeal in entertainment is hard. A key challenge is in catering to seemingly wildly different consumer segments with the inherent risk of targeting ‘kind of…

Music and Games Partnership Strategy
Beyond the Comfort Zone

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Report by Karol Severin

29 Jan 2021

£5,000.00

Music companies are flocking to explore partnerships with games companies. Seeking a foothold in a fast-growing market, music companies are often looking for easy wins that fit traditional licensing…

Why acquiring Codemasters is a double-edged sword for EA

Blog post by Karol Severin

22 Jan 2021

EA’s portfolio is still heavily dependent on third party IP licenses EA’s revenue is heavily dependent on licensed IP titles. This includes FIFA, Madden NFL, NHL, as well as its whole Star Wars games…

WMG invests in Roblox, a major step in bridging music and gaming

Blog post by Karol Severin

11 Jan 2021

Warner Music Group has invested an eight-figure sum in Roblox as a part of its $520 million fundraising round. This in an important strategic move for the label, as it marks a milestone on its journey…

Can Roblox get a better value out of its IPO postponement?

Blog post by Karol Severin

16 Dec 2020

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Roblox is delaying its IPO to 2021. WSJ states that “…company officials decided that the gravity-defying performance this week of Airbnb and DoorDash made…

2021 Predictions
The Year of the Immersive Web

Report by Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Alistair Taylor and Hanna Kahlert

23 Nov 2020

£5,000.00

In this report MIDiA Research analysts present their predictions for what will be the big trends in digital media and tech across music, video, brands, marketing, games and sports in 2021 and beyond.…

Next-Generation Consoles
PS5 Starts in Pole Position

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Report by Karol Severin

23 Nov 2020

£3,000.00

The winter holiday season has always been important for next-generation console launches, but this one is different. Negative effects of the current recession will intensify, engagement will be less…

Why Take-Two Interactive does not need to adopt games subscriptions yet

Blog post by Karol Severin

10 Nov 2020

Take-Two Interactive (T2) reported quarterly results, with revenue dipping slightly, but profitability improving. On the call, T2 reiterated scepticism over the future of the games subscription models.…

PS5 and Travis Scott partnership illustrate PlayStation’s/Sony’s cross-entertainment future

Blog post by Karol Severin

29 Oct 2020

Over the last year we have written a number of times that Sony’s future is cross-entertainment , while Xbox’s future is cross platform . This stems from their respective strengths and weaknesses. Sony…

More consumers intend to buy PS5 than Xbox Series X, but both companies will be content with their trajectory

Blog post by Karol Severin

16 Oct 2020

With both PS5 and Xbox Series X having sold out their pre-order stock, the winter holiday race is heating up. Following Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax Media, we wrote that the acquisition is unlikely…

Microsoft’s Zenimax acquisition is about the future of Games Pass more than console sales

Blog post by Karol Severin

30 Sep 2020

With the acquisition of ZeniMax Media, Microsoft is gaining an important content asset for its portfolio – Bethesda’s games. And while the timing of the announcement certainly won’t make Sony too…

Quick Take: PS5 pricing unveiled – an important milestone in its cross-entertainment future

Blog post by Karol Severin

17 Sep 2020

Sony’s PS5 Showcase event unveiled a number of upcoming titles and pricing for its upcoming console. At $499 and $399 it confirmed expectations. The top range is the same as Xbox Series X, with the PS5…

Post-Pandemic Programming
Surviving and Thriving in the Recession

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Report by Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Alistair Taylor, Keith Jopling and Hanna Kahlert

9 Sep 2020

£5,000.00

COVID-19 caused dislocation and disruption to the global entertainment business. Now, the recession and the prospect of further pandemic peaks have created an unprecedented outlook for entertainment…

Is it time for the music industry to rethink how it wants to participate in the gaming opportunity?

Blog post by Karol Severin

4 Sep 2020

Music consumption, particularly in the West, is commoditised. Transforming from the economies of ownership to access and the removal of production and distribution barriers led to the devaluation of, not…