Blog: Record labels

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.

Hold or twist? The music industry’s innovation dilemma

Cover image for Hold or twist? The music industry’s innovation dilemma

Mark Mulligan

20 Nov 2024

streaming growth

As Clayton Christensen identified in The Innovator’s Dilemma, there are two types of innovation: sustaining innovation and disruptive innovation. Sustaining innovation is what companies do to enhance...

min read

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

Welcome to the post-feature world

Cover image for Welcome to the post-feature world

Tatiana Cirisano

26 Sep 2024

artist services

music distribution

During the first two decades of the 21st century, companies in most industries competed on features and user interface. Snapchat was once the only social app with Stories, and the iPhone used to sit alongside...

min read

What Drake got wrong — and right — with 100 Gigs

Cover image for What Drake got wrong — and right — with 100 Gigs

Tatiana Cirisano

15 Aug 2024

fragmented fandom

bifurcation theory

On August 6th , with no prior announcement, Drake unloaded 100 gigabytes’ worth of content, including songs and video clips, to a personal website and directed fans there via his Instagram burner account....

min read

HYBE 2.0 diverges from the major-label blueprint in 4 key ways — will it work?

Cover image for HYBE 2.0 diverges from the major-label blueprint in 4 key ways — will it work?

Tatiana Cirisano

8 Aug 2024

HYBE kicked off the month with new leadership and a new plan to bring the Korean entertainment company into its next era of growth. In a letter to shareholders , outgoing CEO Jiwon Park and new chief Jason...

min read

TikTok’s music master plan is coming into focus

Cover image for TikTok’s music master plan is coming into focus

Tatiana Cirisano

20 Jun 2024

music consumption

Oh how the tables have turned. Just a few months removed from its very public clash with Universal Music Group over music licences, TikTok is reportedly looking to buy up music rights of its own. Not only...

min read

Did Charli XCX go mainstream, or did the mainstream just go niche?

Cover image for Did Charli XCX go mainstream, or did the mainstream just go niche?

Tatiana Cirisano

13 Jun 2024

fragmented fandom

Consumer behaviour

“ I’m famous, but not quite ,” Charli XCX sings on ‘I might say something stupid’, a moment of honest insecurity amidst the brash club anthems that make up her new album Brat . It is a familiar...

min read

In generative AI and music, will nice guys finish last?

Cover image for In generative AI and music, will nice guys finish last?

Tatiana Cirisano

22 May 2024

artificial intelligence

Generative AI music company Suno has raised $125 million, one of the biggest music-tech funding rounds in history . Founders say they want to ring in “a future where anyone can make music”, but questions...

min read

Fan economy: expanded rights are worth $3.5 billion, now what?

Cover image for Fan economy: expanded rights are worth $3.5 billion, now what?

Mark Mulligan

3 Apr 2024

expanded rights

MIDiA recently, and exclusively, revealed that expanded rights now represent 10% of the recorded music market with revenues of $3.5 billion. These revenues, derived principally from monetising the brand...

min read

Global recorded music revenues grew by 9.8% in 2023

Cover image for Global recorded music revenues grew by 9.8% in 2023

Mark Mulligan

18 Mar 2024

recorded music 2023

recorded music revenues

Growth is back! After a slower 2022, global recorded music revenues grew by 9.8% in 2023 to reach $35.1 billion, compared to 7.1% in 2022, which means that the market is now more than double (124.5%) the...

min read

MIDiA independent label and distributor survey

Cover image for MIDiA independent label and distributor survey

Mark Mulligan

14 Mar 2024

independent labels

MIDiA is fielding its annual independent label and distributor survey . This is the chance for the independent sector to have its voice heard. Given all of the changes that are taking place in the streaming...

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

Misaligned incentives make the music business a zero-sum game

Cover image for Misaligned incentives make the music business a zero-sum game

Tatiana Cirisano

17 Aug 2023

streaming services

“Pop Stars Aren’t Popping Like They Used To”, Billboard ’s Elias Leight writes in a recent article, in which record label executives stress over the struggle to break new artists. The article (or...

min read

How live music will change in the next decade

Cover image for How live music will change in the next decade

Tatiana Cirisano

20 Jul 2023

The pandemic sent shock waves through the live music industry — a historic, catastrophic disruption to a decades-old business. But just because touring is back, does not mean that we are in the clear....

min read

Right place, right time: Taylor Swift's track to the first $1 billion tour

Cover image for Right place, right time: Taylor Swift's track to the first $1 billion tour

Tatiana Cirisano

29 Jun 2023

music marketing

Another day, another record for Taylor Swift. As Wall Street Journal broke down this week, the superstar is now on track to achieve the first $1 billion tour in music history. A billion factors and decisions...

min read

Who tomorrow's music business is being built for

Cover image for Who tomorrow's music business is being built for

Tatiana Cirisano

22 Jun 2023

Product Strategy

The creator tools industry, meaning the market for music-making hardware and software, has historically served as the funnel to the recorded music industry. At the centre of that industry are big record...

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

UMG, Endel, and the case for labels in the AI space

Cover image for UMG, Endel, and the case for labels in the AI space

Tatiana Cirisano

1 Jun 2023

Universal Music Group

Warner Music Group

The flood of new music created using artificial intelligence (AI) will further erode major label market share, and some label executives’ recent comments about the value of human-made music seem to put...

min read

Why the creator tools and services market is bigger than you think (and it is not AI)

Cover image for Why the creator tools and services market is bigger than you think (and it is not AI)

Tatiana Cirisano

10 May 2023

Creator Economy

One of the biggest stories of the past few years is the rise of self-releasing artists, who number 6.4 million in 2022, a 16.8% growth from 2021. Everyone wants a piece of that growth, which is part of...

min read

Why AI generation might be just what music needs

Cover image for Why AI generation might be just what music needs

Tatiana Cirisano

25 Apr 2023

artificial intelligence

Music streaming

In her hit ‘Saoko’, Rosalía celebrates her multi-dimensionality, singing (translated from Spanish): “I contradict myself, I transform / I’m everything, I transform”. As artists navigate the...

min read

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