Audio blog by MIDiA Research

Blog: Audio

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.

Is Spotify’s new monetisation model unlocking the power of video in podcasting?

Cover image for Is Spotify’s new monetisation model unlocking the power of video in podcasting?

Rutger Rosenborg

21 Nov 2024

In October, MIDiA positioned Spotify’s video push as both a strategic move against YouTube and also as an evolution in the platform from music-first to audio-first to format agnostic. As we noted, the...

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What Acast's Q3 earnings signal about the global podcasting market

Cover image for What Acast's Q3 earnings signal about the global podcasting market

Rutger Rosenborg

13 Nov 2024

As one of the key players in podcast industry trends and podcast monetisation, what happens at Acast matters. The company’s financials provide insight into the global podcasting market, signalling to...

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Political podcast advertising: Will the ‘podcast election’ open the door for political ads in podcasts?

Cover image for Political podcast advertising: Will the ‘podcast election’ open the door for political ads in podcasts?

Rutger Rosenborg

6 Nov 2024

Marketing Strategy

podcast advertising

US presidential campaign ads are ubiquitous on television. Leading up to the election, every commercial break is an alternating flurry of messaging from each side. This year, however, we saw the first...

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AI and ad exchanges are helping podcast advertising grow — but who benefits most?

Cover image for AI and ad exchanges are helping podcast advertising grow — but who benefits most?

Rutger Rosenborg

30 Oct 2024

Podcast advertising has existed for more than a decade, but it is only just beginning to evolve. For much of its existence, it has resembled radio advertising more than other digital ad formats. A lack...

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Music in podcasts: Engaging superfans with a new album campaign strategy

Cover image for Music in podcasts: Engaging superfans with a new album campaign strategy

Rutger Rosenborg

23 Oct 2024

MIDiA has covered music’s big podcasting opportunity extensively. Per our June 2024 report, “ Defining podcast taste: The universal appeal of music, news, and comedy ”, music is one of the top podcast...

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Subscriptions are not the future of podcast monetisation

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Rutger Rosenborg

15 Oct 2024

As markets fragment and niches grow, the need for meaningful, high-value exchanges between creators and their followers has never been more pressing. Yet, only a select few creators manage to transform...

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Beyond video podcasts: Spotify’s investment in video creators reveals its format agnosticism

Cover image for Beyond video podcasts: Spotify’s investment in video creators reveals its format agnosticism

Rutger Rosenborg

9 Oct 2024

video streaming

As more sustainable acquisitions come to podcasting, according to Podnews , Spotify is again looking to spend up to seven figures on creator investments. This time, video is the primary focus. Per Bloomberg...

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AI podcasts: Google’s NotebookLM will disrupt — not destroy — podcasting

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Rutger Rosenborg

2 Oct 2024

On the heels of a North Carolina man being indicted for music streaming fraud, questions about AI and audio — especially as it pertains to intellectual property (IP) rights — continue to swirl. Now,...

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As audio goes long-form, podcasts and audiobooks converge

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Rutger Rosenborg

18 Sep 2024

Songs may be getting shorter, but many of the most popular podcasts are not. As Ashley Carman reports for Bloomberg , Lex Fridman’s August 2024 episode with Elon Musk reached almost nine hours, while...

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

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Rutger Rosenborg

10 Sep 2024

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....

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Advertising remains podcasting’s best monetisation opportunity

Cover image for Advertising remains podcasting’s best monetisation opportunity

Rutger Rosenborg

4 Sep 2024

youtube podcasts

Despite the layoffs and budget cuts across the industry in 2023, MIDiA remained optimistic about podcasts . As our 2024-2030 podcast forecasts states, the growth rate will slow, but over the course of...

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Apple’s podcast accessibility play — too little, too late?

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Rutger Rosenborg

28 Aug 2024

On Aug. 22, Bloomberg ’s Ashley Carman described how Apple lost its lead in podcasts , pointing to the platform’s lack of video adoption as the likely culprit. YouTube, meanwhile, has climbed to the...

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As Spotify cuts back on podcast creation, opportunities arise for competitors in Latin America

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Rutger Rosenborg

21 Aug 2024

Business Strategy

In an early 2024 editorial for media and marketing publication Campaign, we declared, “ It is time for the podcast industry to think global and act local ”. Geared towards helping advertisers better...

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Podcast unbundling: How Amazon Music’s Topics may accelerate the trend

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Rutger Rosenborg

14 Aug 2024

Every podcast platform has a search function. Type “conspiracy” into most and you will probably see a list of podcast titles with the word conspiracy in it, but there may be hundreds of episodes related...

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The future of AI-generated audiobooks is here

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Rutger Rosenborg

7 Aug 2024

Cultural Trends

In March, on the heels of a Danish man becoming the first person convicted of streaming fraud, MIDiA explained how AI could soon enable a golden age of audio piracy . Coupled with the fact that book publishers...

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What Audible’s new royalty model means for its audiobook battle with Spotify

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Rutger Rosenborg

1 Aug 2024

Business Strategy

In early July, Audible’s blog broke the news that the company was introducing a new royalty model for audiobooks. Previously, according to Bloomberg’s Ashley Carman , Audible would do a “buyout”,...

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Consumers prefer to be alone with audio, but social opportunities abound

Cover image for Consumers prefer to be alone with audio, but social opportunities abound

Rutger Rosenborg

25 Jul 2024

Audience Insight

Gone are the days when families huddled in the living room to listen to a radio broadcast. Cars and mobile phones — the latter to a much larger extent — have enabled and encouraged solitary audio consumption....

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Why comments on Spotify podcasts are more about YouTube than community

Cover image for Why comments on Spotify podcasts are more about YouTube than community

Rutger Rosenborg

17 Jul 2024

youtube podcasts

In September 2021, Spotify launched the Q&A and polls features for podcasts on the platform. The impetus, according to Spotify’s For the Record blog, was to make podcasts more of a two-way street...

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Audio advertising: What podcasts can learn from radio

Cover image for Audio advertising: What podcasts can learn from radio

Rutger Rosenborg

11 Jul 2024

Business Strategy

Radio has been the dominant audio format for a century — and arguably, it still is. According to MIDiA’s Q1 2024 Consumer Survey , 49% of respondents in all tracked markets (excluding China) say they...

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From X to Instagram, the line between social video and podcasts is blurring

Cover image for From X to Instagram, the line between social video and podcasts is blurring

Rutger Rosenborg

3 Jul 2024

As the podcast industry wakes up to the fact that video podcasts are growing –– and fast –– MIDiA’s 2024-2030 podcast forecasts confirm the source of much of that growth: YouTube. YouTube video...

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