Spotify Reports from MIDiA Research

Ad strategy in a digital-first environment
Rethinking acceptance, tolerance and effectiveness

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Hanna Kahlert

June 2021

Digital-first behaviours and the proliferation of choice have caused underlying changes to how consumers perceive and respond to brands. Brand loyalty has been replaced by content fandom. Frictionless...

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...

Podcast audiences
Competing for attention

Mark Mulligan

May 2021

US

UK

France

2020 was a big year for podcasts, with increased investment, M&A activity and industry moves. Audiences grew too, but still lag behind in hype and expectation, and a portion of this growth has come...

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...

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...

Media consumption
Lockdown’s attention boom

Mark Mulligan

February 2021

Consumer Behaviour

Spotify

2020 was a year like no other. With large swathes of the population confined to their homes for portions of the year, audiences had more time on their hands and more money in their pockets. These conditions...

Sports audiences
The Gen Z opportunity

Alistair Taylor

February 2021

Apple

Spotify

Digital natives are more likely to consume non-live sports than older, traditional sports fans, which presents rights holders and broadcasters with untapped potential for monetisation by harnessing and...

Music and Games Partnership Strategy
Beyond the Comfort Zone

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Karol Severin

January 2021

Apple

Spotify

Music companies are flocking to explore partnerships with games companies. Seeking a foothold in a fast-growing market, music companies are often looking for easy wins that fit traditional licensing models...

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...

Sports Rights
The Great Reset

Alistair Taylor

December 2020

Spotify

Video

COVID-19 exposed live entertainment as a vulnerable asset class during a global health crisis, rendering services overly reliant on live sports broadcasts as primary churn candidates. A major overhaul...

Cultural Trends in 2021
Navigating a New Normal

Hanna Kahlert

December 2020

Apple

Spotify

Behaviours under coronavirus-driven lockdowns accelerated underlying digital consumption trends. Remote working and ongoing restrictions mean streaming behaviour is up across formats and demographics at...

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...

2021 Predictions
The Year of the Immersive Web

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

November 2020

Spotify

discovery

In this report MIDiA Research analysts present their predictions for what will be the big trends in digital media and tech across music, video, brands, marketing, games and sports in 2021 and beyond. Key...

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...

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...

Podcasts Q2 2020
Spotify Takes an Early Lead

Mark Mulligan

October 2020

US

UK

France

Podcasts have become the next battle front for audio. Spotify’s ambitious content and product strategy have enabled it to become an early leader, but the podcast market is still in its infancy, with...

Music Subscriber Market Shares 4.0
Subscriptions Decouple from Revenue

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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 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...

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...

Reports: Spotify