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.

Live and direct: lessons for streamers from the appeal of online radio

Cover image for Live and direct: lessons for streamers from the appeal of online radio

Laura Fisher

20 Mar 2025

Audience Insight

Key insights from this blog: Online radio has a growing audience, with further opportunity to capitalise on what is missing from music streaming We explore why online radio is gaining popularity – covering...

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With “short-form audiobooks”, Spotify has become an independent book publisher

Cover image for With “short-form audiobooks”, Spotify has become an independent book publisher

Rutger Rosenborg

19 Mar 2025

Product Strategy

On the heels of Spotify’s embrace of AI-generated audiobooks through their partnership with ElevenLabs, the streaming giant is looking to further democratise and monetise audiobooks. On March 13, Spotify’s...

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Audio creators are the creator economy's unsung heroes

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Rutger Rosenborg

14 Mar 2025

Business Strategy

Key insights from this blog: MIDiA's latest audio report, ' The audio creator opportunity ' , argues that brands and platforms can no longer afford to neglect audio creators Audio creators are a fast-growing...

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Spotify’s embrace of AI-generated audio is a blessing and curse for authors

Cover image for Spotify’s embrace of AI-generated audio is a blessing and curse for authors

Rutger Rosenborg

26 Feb 2025

Product Strategy

As we covered in August 2024, the future of AI-generated audiobooks is here. Up until this month, however, streaming platforms themselves had yet to fully embrace AI audiobook narration. Now, Spotify has...

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Can the smart TV become a canvas for content creation?

Cover image for Can the smart TV become a canvas for content creation?

Ben Woods

21 Feb 2025

Audience Insight

YouTube’s growing strength on smart TVs is a head scratching moment for the video industry. The social video platform recently revealed that US consumers watched 1 billion hours of YouTube content daily...

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How streaming platforms are adapting in the race for affordable content

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Rutger Rosenborg

19 Feb 2025

Business Strategy

Music is expensive – not for consumers, but for companies who have to license music copyrights from rightsholders. It is a large reason Spotify did not have a full year of profitability until 2024 ....

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The audio listener is too valuable for the music industry to ignore

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Rutger Rosenborg

13 Feb 2025

On the heels of positive Q4 2024 financials for Spotify , the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) has not lost a step in holding the company accountable for what it sees as unauthorised music...

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Bootlegging is the scourge of many industries. Could it be music’s greatest strength?

Cover image for Bootlegging is the scourge of many industries. Could it be music’s greatest strength?

Tatiana Cirisano

7 Feb 2025

The word “bootleg” has long left a bad taste in brands’ mouths. Quite literally defined as “illicit goods,” these unauthorised versions or replications of clothes, handbags, concert tees, and...

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Meta-podcasts are coming for the news, not the podcast industry

Cover image for Meta-podcasts are coming for the news, not the podcast industry

Rutger Rosenborg

5 Feb 2025

Business Strategy

Although Google has arguably cornered the podcast market through YouTube already, by employing AI, the company may be making it even harder for competitors to catch up.In October 2024, MIDiA covered the...

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The podcast attention game: How algorithmic discovery may remake podcasting

Cover image for The podcast attention game: How algorithmic discovery may remake podcasting

Rutger Rosenborg

29 Jan 2025

Audience Insight

Open the YouTube app on your TV and the first category you will see below “Home” is “Podcasts”. According to the YouTube blog , viewers watched more than 400 million hours of podcasts every month...

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The podcast listener journey reveals a desire for human connection

Cover image for The podcast listener journey reveals a desire for human connection

Rutger Rosenborg

21 Jan 2025

Audience Insight

As the global podcast industry zeros in on video – especially social video – one overlooked discovery source has never really gone away: word of mouth. Despite a format that was born to be digital,...

min read

What got you here won’t get you there: how Spotify built a new business

Cover image for What got you here won’t get you there: how Spotify built a new business

Mark Mulligan

17 Jan 2025

Business Strategy

Since its inception, Spotify has been, and continues to be, the streaming music market’s lightning rod. This is due to its continued ability to maintain leading market share and the fact it is the only...

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The future is podcast scenes: What podcasters can learn from history podcast success

Cover image for The future is podcast scenes: What podcasters can learn from history podcast success

Rutger Rosenborg

15 Jan 2025

Cultural trends

Whether the result of eschatological anxiety caused by shifting global political alignments or the decline in humanities students in academic institutions, the business of history – especially in audio...

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Audiobooks enter their entertainment era

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Rutger Rosenborg

8 Jan 2025

It is easy to forget that the audiobook is not a new format. Novels, stories, and poems – much of what the modern world knows best through the written word – all have their origins in the oral traditions...

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Will audio have a seat at the creator economy table?

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Rutger Rosenborg

18 Dec 2024

As 2024 comes to a close, it is worth reflecting on this year’s audio trends and where we expect things to head in 2025. Per our recent report, ‘ MIDiA’s 2025 predictions: It’s social’s stage...

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Audio is incidental: Why Spotify wants to become a creator ecosystem

Cover image for Audio is incidental: Why Spotify wants to become a creator ecosystem

Rutger Rosenborg

11 Dec 2024

Spotify Wrapped

First there were artists, and then there were podcasters. Now, there are artists, creators, and authors on Spotify. As we covered at the end of November, Spotify has officially renamed its Spotify for...

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Bundle up: Audible audiobooks join the Amazon Music catalogue

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Rutger Rosenborg

4 Dec 2024

As audio platforms continue to expand into industries beyond audio, new fronts in the platform wars are emerging. With Spotify now competing with YouTube for video, podcast, and music supremacy, the company’s...

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It’s social’s stage now: MIDiA’s 2025 predictions webinar

Cover image for It’s social’s stage now: MIDiA’s 2025 predictions webinar

Mark Mulligan

28 Nov 2024

2025 predictions

One of my favourite parts of the MIDiA year is creating the MIDiA predictions report and webinar. It is always a true team effort, with our team of analysts spending weeks brainstorming ideas, proposing...

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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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