Reports: independent artists

Browse all of our reports, featuring our analysts' expert insights and analysis of audience segmentation, emerging trends and technologies, value chains, market shares, predictions and more – backed by our proprietary survey data and bespoke models & forecasts. Become a subscriber to get new ones every month, or just pick one to get started.

Music’s Instagram moment
The social music creation revolution

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Tatiana Cirisano

March 2023

Consumer behaviour

Apple

Spotify

Social media has steadily integrated music, and music creation tools have steadily become more social. These trends are converging, accelerated by shifts in consumer behaviour and artificial intelligence...

Recorded music market 2021
Red letter year

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Mark Mulligan

March 2022

Streaming Music

recorded music

independent labels

MIDiA suggested in 2020 that 2021 was going to be a strong year for the recorded music market. Indeed, 2021 turned out to be the fastest-growing year in living memory, with growth across most formats –...

Independent label market shares
Up on all counts

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Mark Mulligan

October 2021

Spotify

Record labels

independent labels

This report presents record label market share that is measured not just by label reported revenues, but also by separating the revenues of independent labels that are distributed by major label groups,...

Music creator tools forecast
Moving towards a hybrid future

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Mark Mulligan

September 2021

Creators

Apple

Spotify

Once upon a time, music software and hardware were distinct market segments, but now they are increasingly fusing into a network of hybrid creator tools ecosystems. Standalone hardware still has a vibrant...

Creator hubs
Creator tools’ next growth driver

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Mark Mulligan and Kriss Thakrar

September 2021

Creators

Spotify

Artists

The emerging competitive dynamic between insurgents and incumbents is the catalyst for an unprecedented period of innovation in the music creator tools space. However, because this dynamic is underpinned...

BE THE CHANGE - Women Making Music

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Hanna Kahlert and Srishti Das

March 2021

Creators

independent artists

Strategy

The second iteration of this project is available to download here . Be The Change: Women Making Music Key insights Gendered expectations have skewed recognition and reward in the music industry: of 401...

Recorded music market 2020
Pandemic-era growth

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Mark Mulligan

March 2021

Streaming

Streaming Music

recorded music

The global pandemic turned the music industry upside down. While live was decimated throughout 2020, after an initial downturn, the recorded music market returned to growth and finished the year with an...

Music marketing
Catalogue and song management

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Keith Jopling

February 2021

Artists

independent artists

music marketing

The catalogue race is on Music catalogues are changing hands for serious sums of money. The race to acquire the songwriters’ share is on, and it is speeding up. However, while that race is a sprint,...

Creator Tools
The Music Industry’s New Top of Funnel

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Mark Mulligan

November 2020

Creators

Apple

Apple

Music production has traditionally been, at best, an adjacent industry to the recording business, and at worst simply a cost centre. That is now all changing. COVID-19’s disruption catalysed the already-rapid...

Independent Artists
Pathfinding Through a Pandemic

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Mark Mulligan and Keith Jopling

September 2020

artist income

independent artists

Music streaming

2019 was yet another stand-out year for independent artists, with revenues, streams and market shares all growing strongly. Then, along came COVID-19 and the world turned upside down. However, in lockdown...

MIDiA Research Artist Survey Q2 2020

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Mark Mulligan and Keith Jopling

September 2020

independent artists

Music

charts

This deck presents findings from MIDiA's Q2 2020 survey of music artists, assessing the impact on their careers in the wake of the coronavirus. It consists of 13 charts/graphs/table slides. The full...

Recorded Music Market 2019
A Thriving and Transforming Industry

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Mark Mulligan

March 2020

music sales

Streaming

Streaming Music

With five successive years of growth, the recorded music market has transitioned from a recovering industry into a thriving business. The stars are aligning, with growing consumer demand, business model...

Insurgents and Incumbents
How the 2020s Will Remake the Music Business

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Mark Mulligan

January 2020

Creators

iTunes

Spotify

As it enters the third decade of the millennium, the recorded music business is in rude health. Revenues are about to enter the second half of a decade of annual growth, streaming is booming, and investment...

Independent Artist Survey
Aspirations That Will Reshape an Industry

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Mark Mulligan

January 2020

Artists

DIY

independent artists

This report presents the findings of MIDiA’s 2019 independent artist survey. Key Insights Independent artists will drive a different future: just 8% want a traditional label deal, 58% want a label services...

Independent Artists
The Music Industry Rewritten

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Mark Mulligan

July 2019

Creators

Labels

rhapsody

The rise of independent artists is one of the most important changes to happen to the modern recorded music business. While traditional label models still dominate, ever more artists are pursuing non-traditional...