music fandom blog by MIDiA Research

Blog: music fandom

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.

Two future paths for the vinyl revival

Cover image for Two future paths for the vinyl revival

Tatiana Cirisano

31 Oct 2024

monetising fandom

The vinyl resurgence is among the top music industry narratives of the past few years, especially given the recent focus on monetising fandom. The elephant in the room is the question of how long this...

min read

‘Brat’ summer and the dilemmas of going mainstream

Cover image for ‘Brat’ summer and the dilemmas of going mainstream

Tatiana Cirisano

29 Aug 2024

music marketing

It has become a rule of thumb that the moment corporate America begins capitalising on a trend, that trend begins to die. Cultural fragmentation has helped niches and scenes flourish, but it has also left...

min read

‘Song of the summer’ may be dead, but 2024 was the summer of song

Cover image for ‘Song of the summer’ may be dead, but 2024 was the summer of song

Tatiana Cirisano

22 Aug 2024

fragmented fandom

Music Streaming

Over the past few years, MIDiA has often remarked at the lack of a “song of the summer” . There was once a singular undeniable hit each summer, one that everyone could agree on, like ‘One Dance’...

min read

Kendrick vs. Drake is a rare ‘mainstream’ moment — and streaming is on the sidelines

Cover image for Kendrick vs. Drake is a rare ‘mainstream’ moment — and streaming is on the sidelines

Tatiana Cirisano

9 May 2024

bifurcation theory

Over the last week, it has been hard to go anywhere, or speak to anyone, without some mention of the epic diss track battle between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. When is the last time we could say that about...

min read

The cultural pendulum swing is coming back around

Cover image for The cultural pendulum swing is coming back around

Tatiana Cirisano

11 Apr 2024

Music Streaming

Across culture, there is an eerie sense of things coming full circle. After spending the past decade building an industry around ad-free streaming TV, Netflix has ads and feels increasingly like cable...

min read

Artist subscriptions and the myth of a silver bullet

Cover image for Artist subscriptions and the myth of a silver bullet

Tatiana Cirisano

28 Mar 2024

artist subscriptions

monetizing fandom

Artist subscriptions are back in the music industry discourse and the takes are piping hot. James Blake lit up X with his announcement of subscription platform Vault, Warner Music Group is building its...

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Could YouTube be the music-first social platform the industry needs?

Cover image for Could YouTube be the music-first social platform the industry needs?

Tatiana Cirisano

22 Feb 2024

In December, we mused on what could happen if artists collectively stepped off the content treadmill. With Universal Music Group (UMG) removing its catalogue from TikTok, that thought experiment came startlingly...

min read

The crumbling of music media is a disaster for the music industry

Cover image for The crumbling of music media is a disaster for the music industry

Tatiana Cirisano

22 Jan 2024

music journalism

As a former music journalist, I can say that layoffs are somewhat to be expected when you work in media. Nobody gets into this industry looking for stability. But the past 12 months have felt especially...

min read

Overanalysing our Spotify Wrapped: what MIDiA’s stats say about the industry

Cover image for Overanalysing our Spotify Wrapped: what MIDiA’s stats say about the industry

Tatiana Cirisano

4 Dec 2023

Music Streaming

It would not be the holidays without Spotify Wrapped, the ubiquitous marketing scheme that involves Spotify repackaging the vast amount of data it collects about users into fun personalised insights ready...

min read

How Spotify’s new model could accelerate a forking of music

Cover image for How Spotify’s new model could accelerate a forking of music

Tatiana Cirisano

2 Nov 2023

Music Streaming

Spotify’s new royalty model is the latest attempt to try to bring streaming royalties in line with the dynamics of todays’ streaming market. It has many laudable objectives and intentions, but there...

min read

Can Swift and Beyoncé save the economy? What the data says about music tourism

Cover image for Can Swift and Beyoncé save the economy? What the data says about music tourism

Tatiana Cirisano

10 Aug 2023

Taylor Swift and Beyoncé have more accolades than most artists in history. Now they can add “saving the economy” to the list — well, sort of. Governing bodies in cities from Chicago to Philadelphia...

min read

Superfans may not be super enough

Cover image for Superfans may not be super enough

Mark Mulligan

4 Aug 2023

monetizing fandom

There has been a lot of talk recently of music superfans and how they may be the shining light of the industry’s future. Little surprise, given how record labels are trying to establish superfans as...

min read

Will ByteDance build the first cultural graph for music recommendations?

Cover image for Will ByteDance build the first cultural graph for music recommendations?

Tatiana Cirisano

11 Jul 2023

Music Streaming

ByteDance’s long-awaited new subscription streaming app, TikTok Music, is here, with an initial launch in Indonesia and Brazil. The news overshadowed the US beta launch of ByteDance’s new music creation...

min read

What ‘Barbie’, ‘The Idol’, and more say about the future of artists in film

Cover image for What ‘Barbie’, ‘The Idol’, and more say about the future of artists in film

Tatiana Cirisano

8 Jun 2023

music publishing

2023 is already shaping up to be another big year for music artists in Hollywood. Late last month, Jack Harlow made his acting debut in a Hulu remake of 1992 basketball comedy White Men Can’t Jump ....

min read

A new era of music fluidity is here

Cover image for A new era of music fluidity is here

Tatiana Cirisano

23 May 2023

What do AI Drake, adaptive music, and TikTok open-verse challenges have in common? All reflect a major shift of music consumption from a passive, static, and uni-directional experience to an active, dynamic,...

min read

Streaming is becoming more like radio — what now?

Cover image for Streaming is becoming more like radio — what now?

Tatiana Cirisano

2 Mar 2023

Music Streaming

Last week, both YouTube Music and Spotify launched new, radio-like features. Spotify introduced an AI-powered voice DJ, which will talk to users about why songs are included in personalised mixes. Meanwhile,...

min read

As Apple hits 100 million songs, the future of music discovery gets complicated

Cover image for As Apple hits 100 million songs, the future of music discovery gets complicated

Tatiana Cirisano

6 Oct 2022

Music Streaming

music discovery

Apple Music celebrated the milestone of hitting 100 million songs this week — “more music than you can listen to in a lifetime, or several lifetimes”, global head of editorial, Rachel Newman, wrote...

min read

Music is not a level playing field — it is a field of all levels

Cover image for Music is not a level playing field — it is a field of all levels

Tatiana Cirisano

18 Aug 2022

Music Streaming

fragmented fandom

We have heard it (and said it) many times before: the music industry has never been as competitive as it is today. But the challenge is not just that today’s landscape is ultra-competitive, it is also...

min read

A counterculture music industry is emerging — welcome to the platform era

Cover image for A counterculture music industry is emerging — welcome to the platform era

Tatiana Cirisano

5 Jul 2022

What do TikTok’s distribution tool , Universal Music Group’s samples marketplace , and Snoop Dogg’s virtual marijuana have in common? On the surface, not much. But beneath, these news headlines are...

min read

The oncoming fandom crisis

Cover image for The oncoming fandom crisis

Mark Mulligan

10 Sep 2021

The Chinese authorities’ crackdown on fandom represents the first major growing pain for the global fandom economy. Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) will likely be the bellwether of this shift, with...

min read