Music Reports from MIDiA Research

Spotify Q4 2020 earnings
ARPU pays the price for growth

Cover image for Spotify Q4 2020 earnings

Mark Mulligan

February 2021

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

Cover image for Music Product Strategy Re-boot

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

Cover image for Spotify Q3 2020 Earnings

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

Cover image for State of the YouTube Music Economy 3.0 -

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....

Independent Artists
Pathfinding Through a Pandemic

Mark Mulligan and Keith Jopling

September 2020

Free Report

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

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...

Music Subscriber Market Shares 4.0
Subscriptions Decouple from Revenue

Cover image for Music Subscriber Market Shares 4.0

Mark Mulligan

September 2020

Subscriptions

Streaming

Music Subscriptions

This report presents key figures from MIDiA’s global music subscriber market shares model. The full dataset is published alongside this report with quarterly data from Q4 2015 to Q1 2020 and annual label...

Music Discovery
Streaming’s Growing Role

Mark Mulligan

August 2020

Streaming

Streaming Music

Spotify

Radio has long led music discovery and continues to do so today. However, streaming – both audio and video – are making up ground fast, especially among more engaged and younger music fans. These shifts...

Music Marketing
The Velocity Game

Mark Mulligan

August 2020

Spotify

YouTube

Music streaming has become so central to the functioning of the record label business model that labels are becoming beholden to streaming service optimisation. A shift towards ever-larger numbers of new...

Spotify Q2 2020 Earnings
In the Shadow of COVID

Cover image for Spotify Q2 2020 Earnings

Mark Mulligan

August 2020

Subscriptions

Streaming

Streaming Music

Spotify’s share price grew strongly in June 2020, with the markets responding positively to its podcast investments. However, while that increase was sustained throughout July, by mid-August the share...

MIDiA Research 2020-2027 Global Music Forecasts
Volume Trumps Value as Emerging Markets Dominate Growth

Cover image for MIDiA Research 2020-2027 Global Music Forecasts

Mark Mulligan

July 2020

music revenue

Spotify

YouTube

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

Recession Impact
Music Industry 2020 Growth Scenarios

Mark Mulligan

June 2020

live music

music publishing

record labels

As part of MIDiA’s research stream focused on how COVID-19 is impacting the entertainment industries, this report explores how the combination of lockdown measures and the coming recession will impact...

Recovery Economics
Outlook for Music, Games, Video & Sports

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin and Alistair Taylor

June 2020

Video

recorded music

Music Streaming

MIDiA analysts present in this webinar report how the entertainment industries can plan not to simply bounce back, but to rebuild their value propositions and supply chains to adjust to the realities of...

Recovery Economics
Bounce Forward not Back - Slides

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin and Keith Jopling

June 2020

Free Report

Video

Music

Games

MIDiA analysts present in this webinar how the entertainment industries can plan not to simply bounce back, but to rebuild their value propositions and supply chains to adjust to the realities of the new...

Spotify Q1 2020 Earnings
First Signs of Pre-Recession Weakness

Cover image for Spotify Q1 2020 Earnings

Mark Mulligan

May 2020

Spotify

Alphabet

2020 was a solid quarter for Spotify but showed early signs of COVID-19 impact across premium and especially ad supported. With a global recession looming, these may be the first signs of vulnerability...

Radio is Switched On Again
Strategies for 2020 and Beyond

Cover image for Radio is Switched On Again

Keith Jopling and Mark Mulligan

May 2020

Spotify

YouTube

BBC

Just what is radio? Radio is branded and produced show content known best in the form of live (or pre-recorded) broadcast. However, the definition of ‘radio’ is shifting away from the broadcast format...

Reports: Music