artists blog by MIDiA Research

Blog: artists

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the digital entertainment world. Check out the latest from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage - games, video, music, audio, social, or critical developments.

The make-or-break of live in 2024

Cover image for The make-or-break of live in 2024

Hanna Kahlert

9 Jul 2024

The music industry has a culture problem. An overabundance of data –– from streaming services and social platforms alike ––has fostered a dependence on digital performance that does not reliably...

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Music fandom’s future (and its existential crisis)

Cover image for Music fandom’s future (and its existential crisis)

Hanna Kahlert

1 May 2024

The launch of Taylor Swift’s latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department”, broke records last week (small surprise there). Swift’s reputation for playing to her fanbase has once again proven to...

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Bifurcation theory | How today’s music business will become two

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Mark Mulligan

18 Apr 2024

bifurcation theory

future of music

One of things we pride ourselves on at MIDiA is helping the marketplace peer over the horizon with disruptive, forward-looking ideas and vision. We have a long track record of doing this (you can find...

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There are no elite artists without elite artist development

Cover image for There are no elite artists without elite artist development

Kriss Thakrar

24 Oct 2023

artist development

Creator Economy

A recent interview with Mariah the Scientist saw her speak about the struggle of performing for only the second time in front of a crowd at one of the world’s biggest festivals, Rolling Loud. She shared...

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Music has become a ‘just-in-time’ economy

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Mark Mulligan

16 Oct 2023

The modern day economy is built upon ‘just-in-time’ supply chains. This framework has enabled the benefits of consumerism that we have come to enjoy, such as next day delivery, out of season foods...

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Artists – take our survey and get a free MIDiA report

Cover image for Artists – take our survey and get a free MIDiA report

Mark Mulligan

15 Nov 2022

independent artists

With 2022 coming to a close, and Spotify’s Wrapped just around the corner, artists are beginning to look back across the year at how they performed and what they have achieved, and whether it lines up...

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How Bandcamp could really fix the music business

Cover image for How Bandcamp could really fix the music business

Mark Mulligan

25 Jun 2021

independent artists

Streaming Music

“A thought: has streaming become the place to address consumers and the likes of Bandcamp the places to engage fans? i.e., fans and fandom inherently matter less on streaming because it/they are a minority.”...

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Songs are the golden eggs in music catalogues, but who is looking after the goose?

Cover image for Songs are the golden eggs in music catalogues, but who is looking after the goose?

Keith Jopling

20 Jan 2021

music catalogue

Marketing Long Read Part 1: Catalogue & Song Management It will not have escaped your attention that music catalogues are changing hands for serious sums of money. The race to acquire the songwriters’...

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The live versus streaming demographic paradox

Cover image for The live versus streaming demographic paradox

Hanna Kahlert

5 Jan 2021

As we begin 2021 with a vaccine on the near horizon, live venue businesses are holding on with whitening knuckles through the intermediate stricter lockdowns. However, the world has changed much in the...

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Streaming’s remuneration model cannot be ‘fixed’

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Mark Mulligan

12 Aug 2020

The #brokenrecord debate continues to build momentum and new models such as user-centric are getting increased attention, including at governmental level in the UK. But as Mat Dryhurst correctly observes...

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Time to stop playing the velocity game

Cover image for Time to stop playing the velocity game

Mark Mulligan

3 Jul 2020

music marketing

We all know that streaming has transformed consumption and business models alike, but this is not a ‘now-completed’ process. Instead it is one that continues to evolve at pace, and the dynamic of pace...

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Artists are Learning How it Feels to be a Songwriter

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Mark Mulligan

8 Jun 2020

The ‘broken record’ streaming debate that continues to rage on is a natural consequence of the instantaneous collapse of live music revenue following lockdown. As soon as it was clear that live was...

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Artists – Have Your Voice Heard

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Mark Mulligan

12 May 2020

midia artist survey

MIDiA is fielding its third biannual Artist Survey. Our two surveys last year were very successful and got hundreds of artist responses. MIDiA’s artist surveys takes the pulse of the artist community...

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Travis Scott has Only Scratched the Surface of Music Games Tie Ups

Cover image for Travis Scott has Only Scratched the Surface of Music Games Tie Ups

Mark Mulligan

1 May 2020

In February 2019 Marshmello caused ripples of almost tidal proportions across the music business when 10.7 million Fortnite fans watched him perform a ‘concert’ in the game. Then in April 2020 Travis...

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Welcome to the Age of the Artist

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Mark Mulligan

27 Feb 2020

age of the artist

artist distribution

As it enters the third decade of the millennium, the recorded music business is in rude health. Revenues are about to enter the second half of a decade of annual growth, streaming is booming and investment...

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The Future of Music: A Vision of Post-Format

Cover image for The Future of Music: A Vision of Post-Format

Mark Mulligan

18 Sep 2019

Formats have shaped and dictated the evolution of recorded music. The constraints that formats set have, in turn, become the creative frameworks within which music has operated. Now, in the internet era,...

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Independent Artists: The Age of Empowerment

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Mark Mulligan

11 Jul 2019

MIDiA is proud to announce an exclusive new report in conjunction with Amuse – Independent Artists: The Age of Empowerment . The report is based on a global survey of independent artists that we conducted...

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The Artist Marketing Playbook Needs Rewriting

Cover image for The Artist Marketing Playbook Needs Rewriting

Mark Mulligan

5 Jul 2019

artist marketing

The whole essence of fandom is being turned upside down. An emerging crop of streaming-native artists is finding its audience in a much more targeted and efficient way than via the traditional music marketing....

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Playlist Malfeasance Will Create a Streaming Crisis

Mark Mulligan

9 May 2019

per stream rates

Streaming economics are facing a potential crisis. The problem does not lie in the market itself; after all, in Q1 2019 streaming revenue became more than half of the recorded music business and Spotify...

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Creator Support: A New Take on User Centric Licensing

Cover image for Creator Support: A New Take on User Centric Licensing

Mark Mulligan

26 Apr 2019

artist streaming income

User-centric licensing (i.e. stream pay-outs based on sharing the royalty income of an individual user split across the music they listen to) has stimulated a lot of debate. I first explored the...

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