Premium podcasting
Diversifying success in the audio economy

Laura Fisher

February 2026

France

Australia

mexico

The podcasting industry has matured beyond a niche interest into a mainstream media pillar. Its primary growth engine – the ad-supported, scale-at-all-costs model – is showing limitations. The next significant phase of audio evolution lies in the strategic cultivation ofpremium podcasting.

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The Sidemen formula: Why TV formats belong on creator channels

Ben Woods

25 Feb 2026

Business Strategy

Streaming

Creators

Broadcasters and streamers keep asking how to work more closely with creators. Their standard approach is to commission a creator-led show, cast them in a film, or license their back catalogue for a streaming service.

min read

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Streaming drivers
Retention and acquisition behaviours and attitudes

Mark Mulligan

February 2026

Streaming

Music Subscriptions

France

This report presents data from three different MIDiA Research consumer surveys to explore the behaviours and attitudes that will shape music subscriber acquisition and retention over the coming years. Data is from these surveys: MIDiA Research Consumer Survey (09/25) US, UK, Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Mexico n = 7,000; (06/25) US, UK, Austra...

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The music industry’s boiling frog moment

Mark Mulligan

12 Feb 2026

Business Strategy

Streaming

Social media

Throw a frog in a pot of boiling water and it will instantly jump out, terrified (and very hot). But put it in a pot of cool water and slowly increase the heat to boiling and it will stay there until it dies.

min read

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Music creator survey
Career: Need versus want

Mark Mulligan

February 2026

Spotify

Music creators

YouTube

This report is the second of two reports analysing the results of MIDiA’s 2025 global music creator survey, following Music creator survey | Creation: Rise of the new breed . While the former analyses music creation behaviours, this report focuses on music creators’ careers.

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The problem with content

Mark Mulligan

3 Feb 2026

Business Strategy

Creators

Entertainment

Everything these days is content – but the word is as problematic as the implication. ‘Content’ is defined by other . It is defined by filling something else, being part of something else. It is something that only exists within another context.

min read

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From fans to superfans | What’s missing from the games industry

Brandon Sutton

27 Jan 2026

Business Strategy

Audience Insight

Gaming

The games industry is experiencing a moment of turbulence. A growing list of high-profile, high-budget titles, such as Mindseye and New World , have failed to meet commercial expectations. Increasingly, even investments in the hundreds of millions are no longer enough to guarantee a successful title.

min read

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Music creator survey
Creation: Rise of the new breed

Mark Mulligan

January 2026

Creators

Labels

Music creators

This report is the first of two analysing the results of MIDiA’s 2025 global music creator survey, n = 2,109. This report explores the creation side of the equation and is aimed primarily at creator tools and services companies. The second report focuses on the music creators’ careers and is aimed more at labels, distributor, publishers, CMOs, ...

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Indie labels are trading quantity for quality as they let go of the “volume game”: MIDiA’s latest label survey

Olivia Jones

22 Jan 2026

Business Strategy

Music

Artists

In MIDiA’s third annual independent label and distributor survey, “less is more” is the name of the game. Drawing from a survey of 144 labels and distributors that self-identify as independent, MIDiA’s latest report explores how the indie sphere is adapting to the rapidly-changing industry l...

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TikTok’s PineDrama points to social media’s anti-social trajectory

Hanna Kahlert

20 Jan 2026

Business Strategy

TikTok

Video

The surge of short-form drama apps has a new entry in the US and Brazil: TikTok. The social video app, which has overturned the digital entertainment economy over the past five years, has now launched a standalone app called PineDrama.

min read

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Independent label and distributor survey
Less is more

Olivia Jones and Tatiana Cirisano

January 2026

Streaming revenue

Independent labels

independents

Key data and insights: Longitudinal comparison of record label attitudes towards A&R, marketing, streaming, and AI Top distributors used by independent labels, domestically and overseas Average 2024 independent label and distributor revenue and distribution...

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Is 2026 the year a western country finally bans a major social platform?

Hanna Kahlert

14 Jan 2026

Business Strategy

Social media

platforms

Real change on social media has been incremental, with regulation far behind the innovation speed of companies themselves. However, it seems the current is shifting. In December 2025, Australia made the move to ban social media for under-16s.

min read

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Splice x MIDiA Sounds of 2026
House on the rise

Tatiana Cirisano, Olivia Jones, Kriss Thakrar, Samuel Griffin, Adham Nazir and Mark Qi

January 2026

Free Report

Creators

Music fandom

edm

We zoom in on the trends and microtrends driven by the music industry’s biggest fans and most influential tastemakers: creators. Turn page after page of trends unfolding in real-time and see how Splice’s dataset is the barometer for the state of music today.

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Why predictions matter – and MIDiA’s take on 2026

Tatiana Cirisano

8 Jan 2026

Business Strategy

predictions

midia predictions

It’s never been easy to predict the future. It seems to have become even harder in the last few years. As technologies evolve faster than ever, so too does the consumer behaviour surrounding them – the most salient example, of course, being AI.

min read

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K-pop’s global bifurcation: A genre at a crossroads

Olivia Jones

22 Dec 2025

Business Strategy

Fandom

Music

Billboard recently released two new weekly charts tracking Korean music – Billboard Korea Hot 100 and Billboard Korea Global K-Songs . While the Hot 100 ranks songs based on streaming and sales numbers within South Korea, the Global K-Songs chart focuses on global popularity, ranking the top songs...

min read

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A year of change behind us, a new epoch ahead: Predicting 2026

Hanna Kahlert

16 Dec 2025

Business Strategy

Social

Digital

2025 is drawing to a close. Looking back through the year’s updates and events, it’s been a busy one. The major highlights: entertainment’s relationship with AI has changed dramatically, and there were a number of major mergers and acquisitions, including Netflix purchasing Warner Bros.

min read

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MIDiA Research 2026 predictions
Change is the constant

Hanna Kahlert, Tatiana Cirisano, Ben Woods, Brandon Sutton, Laura Fisher, Olivia Jones and Mark Mulligan

December 2025

Creators

apps

iPhone

Welcome to the 11th edition of MIDiA’s annual predictions report. The world has changed a lot since our inaugural 2016 edition. The core predictions in that report (video will eat the world, messaging apps will accelerate) are now foundational layers of today’s digital economy.

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Ad-supported music market shares
Spotify ascending

Mark Mulligan, Perry Gresham and Mark Qi

December 2025

Streaming

Music Subscriptions

free

Ad-supported streaming has always occupied a unique and slightly contentious place in the music industry ecosystem. On the one hand, ad-supported still represents an effective way to reach consumers at scale, creating a wider subscriber acquisition funnel.

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Why audience ownership is the driving force behind creator IP expansions

Ben Woods

10 Dec 2025

Business Strategy

Video

Creators

Distribution is the tie that binds all creators together. Most successful creators use social media platforms as a springboard for turning their creative idea into a career. Social platforms have enabled creators to forge deep connections with audiences, while mastering the nuances of algorithmic di...

min read

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NewJeans never die: What the year-long scandal means for K-pop’s global expansion

Olivia Jones

4 Dec 2025

Business Strategy

Music

Artists

The biggest scandal in modern K-pop turned one year old last Friday – and may have officially reached a resolution. To recap: on November 28, 2024, K-pop girl group NewJeans announced they were terminating their exclusive contract with ADOR, citing a breach of trust and failure to meet requests fo...

min read

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