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, ...

Read more …

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...

min read

Read more …

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

Read more …

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...

Read more …

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

Read more …

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.

Read more …

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

Read more …

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

Read more …

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

Read more …

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.

Read more …

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.

Read more …

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

Read more …

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

Read more …

The AI-social media dilemma: Can TikTok, Meta, and diVine curb low-quality content without hurting creators?

Ben Woods

3 Dec 2025

Business Strategy

Facebook

TikTok

Social platforms are grappling with a difficult balancing act. Generative AI can deliver a revolutionary engagement opportunity by turning even more consumers into creators. However, low-quality AI content also poses a threat to the user experience of social platforms.

min read

Read more …

Creator wellbeing
Optimising time and battling burnout

Ben Woods

November 2025

UGC

Business Strategy

lean back consumption

If the creator economy is to reach its growth potential, creator wellbeing must be prioritised. Growing and maintaining audiences is becoming more challenging, leading to unsustainable pressure for new and long-standing creators. Many creators are reducing the time they spend creating content.

Read more …

ARC Raiders is disrupting the games industry: What developers can learn from its success

Brandon Sutton

27 Nov 2025

Business Strategy

Social

Gaming

ARC Raiders has quickly become one of 2025’s standout releases. Developed by Embark Studios, founded by former EA-owned studio DICE leaders, the game has quickly exceeded commercial and critical expectations for smaller developers.

min read

Read more …

Cross-platform success
Using social platforms to build audience and fandom

Hanna Kahlert

November 2025

Creators

merchandise

Discovery

The shifting social landscape leaves a lot to unpack, with parallel trends of consolidation and fragmentation. Social platforms are now largely about entertainment first and connecting with friends second. Many major platforms reinforce this dynamic by pushing a few-to-many distribution model.

Read more …

Valve announces new Steam Hardware: What the launch means for gaming

Brandon Sutton

21 Nov 2025

Business Strategy

Gaming

Games

In true Valve fashion, the company unveiled a surprise suite of new devices aimed at consumers last week – consisting of a PC-console hybrid, a new virtual reality headset, and a controller (via Valve ).

min read

Read more …

The future of record labels: Shifting sands

Tatiana Cirisano

20 Nov 2025

Business Strategy

Music streaming

Music

The question of whether artists still need record labels never seems to fade from industry discussion. It has invariably surfaced in conference panels, think pieces, and behind-closed-doors conversations for years.

min read

Read more …

(di)Vine is back: Is there space for another short-form video app?

Hanna Kahlert

19 Nov 2025

Business Strategy

Video

Creators

Long before we had TikTok, Reels, or Shorts, we had Vine. An app arguably well before its time, the original short-form platform for 6-second video clips was a huge moment for millennial culture. Compilations of archived content still rack up millions of views on YouTube, indicating its longevity, p...

min read

Read more …