Music Reports from MIDiA Research

Creator hubs
Creator tools’ next growth driver

Mark Mulligan and Kriss Thakrar

September 2021

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...

Spotify Q2 2021 earnings
Slowdown arrives

Cover image for Spotify Q2 2021 earnings

Mark Mulligan

August 2021

Streaming

Music Subscriptions

Spotify

The growth headwinds that appeared in Q1 2021 manifested in a pronounced user growth slowdown in Q2, with ad-supported users hit hardest. Spotify has been through lean growth periods before, but what is...

Addressable creator markets
An opportunity with many layers

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Mark Mulligan

July 2021

Apple

Artists

The music creator tools space is undergoing a change that is simultaneously renaissance and transformation. The creator culture boom has driven an unprecedented degree of investment and investor interest....

Music consumer survey Q1 2021
YouTube extends its reach

Cover image for Music consumer survey Q1 2021

Mark Mulligan

July 2021

Spotify

YouTube

Deezer

The data in this report is taken from MIDiA’s Q1 2021 consumer survey. The full data from this survey and all the preceding quarterly surveys are available, along with data visualisation tools and dynamic...

MIDiA Research 2021 – 2028 global music forecasts
ARPU growth finally delivers

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Mark Mulligan

June 2021

revenue

Global

Music

This report presents the key figures, trends and drivers of MIDiA’s music forecast model. The figures presented in this report are both retail and label trade values and are in billions of US dollars...

Spotify Q1 2021 earnings
Shifting headwinds

Cover image for Spotify Q1 2021 earnings

Mark Mulligan

May 2021

Spotify

YouTube

Deezer

The first quarter of the year is usually a slow one for Spotify, but Q1 2021 saw a few metrics slowing more than in previous years. There were lots of solid performance metrics in Spotify’s results and...

Live streamed concert demand
Ready for prime time

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Mark Mulligan, Karol Severin and Kriss Thakrar

May 2021

Spotify

live music

Virtual concerts went from zero to a hundred at an unprecedented rate during the pandemic-shaped 2020, and the momentum carried through to 2021. But if lockdown years are like dog years, then so too the...

Creator culture
The song becomes the feed

Mark Mulligan and Kriss Thakrar

April 2021

Creators

Spotify

The creator tools marketplace is creating a revolution in the culture and business of music. The third decade of the millennium represents the opening of a new chapter for the music business, with the...

Rebalancing the Song Economy

Mark Mulligan and Keith Jopling

April 2021

Free Report

Music

Introduction – Rebalancing the song economy After half a decade of streaming-driven growth the global music business hit a speed bump in the shape of the COVID-19 pandemic. Live music stopped in an instant,...

Music & Gaming
A new way to play

Mark Mulligan, Karol Severin and Keith Jopling

April 2021

Free Report

In today’s music business, the consumer boom is rapidly leading to a creator bust. For the music industry to untangle itself from this dysfunctional loop, it needs to find new ways of monetizing fandom,...

BE THE CHANGE - Women Making Music

Hanna Kahlert and Srishti Das

March 2021

Free Report

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...

Spotify Q4 2020 earnings
ARPU pays the price for growth

Cover image for Spotify Q4 2020 earnings

Mark Mulligan

February 2021

Subscriptions

Streaming

Streaming Music

In 2020 Spotify accelerated the growth of its total user base, with emerging markets playing a key role. However, revenue increases became decoupled from user growth across all categories, resulting in...

Music Product Strategy Re-boot
Time to Monetise Fandom, Not Access

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Mark Mulligan

January 2021

Innovation

Spotify

As streaming reaches maturity in many of the largest music markets and middle-tier artists struggle to make ends meet with the live music hiatus, the time has come for a music product strategy re-boot...

Virtual Concerts
A New Video Format

Mark Mulligan

December 2020

Video

YouTube

Amazon

The global pandemic thrust the live music sector into chaos, with global revenues falling by 75% in 2020 compared to one year previously. The music industry was rocked by first-order impacts (no concerts,...

Spotify Q3 2020 Earnings
The Shift to Free

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Mark Mulligan

November 2020

Subscriptions

Streaming

Streaming Music

With three quarters of 2020 gone, Spotify has prospered during the most challenging of times, with consistent growth across most metrics. Q3 2020 saw a slight deviation from the script though, with ad-supported...

Creator Tools
The Music Industry’s New Top of Funnel

Mark Mulligan

November 2020

Creators

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...

Post-Pandemic Programming Webinar Presentation

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Alistair Taylor, Keith Jopling and Hanna Kahlert

November 2020

Free Report

Video

Music

Games

After a period of disruption to the global entertainment landscape, many businesses have found a way to adapt to the new normal, but the recession and prospect of further pandemic peaks have created an...

State of the YouTube Music Economy 3.0 -
End of the Beginning

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Mark Mulligan

October 2020

Spotify

YouTube

This is the third bi-annual report of its kind, providing the most comprehensive view available of the YouTube music economy. It presents data for revenues, royalty payments, streams, subscribers, user...

The Rising Power of UGC

Mark Mulligan and Keith Jopling

October 2020

User generated content

About this report Audible Magic has commissioned MIDiA to produce a White Paper on the rising power of UGC and the untapped opportunity to monetise the growth in UGC consumer behaviours and new platforms....

Reports: Music