Blog: user experience

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.

Streaming’s problems will not be fixed by royalties alone

Mark Mulligan

15 Sep 2023

Streaming Music

Music streaming

Streaming Royalties

UMG and Deezer’s artist-centric royalty proposal got the amount of attention both parties probably wanted , if not necessarily the type of attention they were after. However, the intent was to kick start...

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Spotify’s Q2 podcast financials: Things may get worse before they get better

Annie Langston

2 Aug 2023

Spotify

Podcasts

Exclusive

Spotify’s Q2 earnings are a mixed bag for its podcast business. On one hand, monthly active users (MAUs) grew to 551 million, with 10 million new premium subscribers (bringing that total to 220 million),...

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With a rumoured podcast feature, will TikTok become the Swiss Army knife of entertainment?

Annie Langston

25 Jan 2023

TikTok

Podcasts

Spotify

Despite recent layoffs and program cuts, the audio market continues to expand. While major music streaming platforms have led the way, social media platforms continue to diversify their audio offerings...

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Not just music: How TikTok could enter the podcast market

Annie Langston

2 Nov 2022

TikTok

Podcasts

gen z

It increasingly feels like it is TikTok’s world, and we are all just living in it. With the anticipation of TikTok Music , parent company ByteDance is steadily expanding into every form of entertainment,...

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Content proliferation is remaking entertainment categories and giving rise to experiential consumption

Hanna Kahlert

23 Sep 2021

Media and Marketing

Fandom

Digital

The attention economy reaching saturation was a disruptive force in entertainment long before the coronavirus pandemic. Too much competition for too little time meant that audience engagement was increasingly...

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Music Streaming Needs a New Future

Mark Mulligan

12 Jun 2020

Alibaba

China

Fandom

While doing some research on the Chinese streaming market I came across this fantastic UX tear down of Xiami Music . I recommend you read it in full. The day before I found this–also must-read–article...

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Experience Should Be Everything In 2017

Mark Mulligan

16 Dec 2016

Apple Music

Deezer

design

2017 is going to be a big year for streaming. Spotify will likely IPO, paid subscribers will pass the 100 million mark in Q1, playlists will boom. 2017will build upon an upbeat 2016 in which the major...

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Why The New Facebook News Feed Change Favours Users Over Publishers

Karol Severin

1 Jul 2016

content publishers

Facebook

Mobile content

The media (and users) have been on Facebook’s case regarding the way it ranks posts in users’ News Feeds. Claims were made about non-transparency, promoting content that makes more money for Facebook,...

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Quick Take: Instagram Removes Friction For Super-Users

Karol Severin

8 Feb 2016

audience metrics

engagement metrics

Instagram

Instagram started testing a functionality that allows switching seamlessly between multiple accounts on mobile. While this might sound like a minor improvement for most casual single-account users, the...

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How Freemium Games Antagonise The Mainstream

Karol Severin

14 May 2015

freemium games

freemium vs. paid

iap

In 2014 the freemium model accounted for 98% of Google Play revenue. The success of a few hit releases brought the freemium model into mainstream. But freemium apps often heavily rely on a small amount...

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