Product Strategy | MIDiA Research

Will audio have a seat at the creator economy table?

18 Dec 2024

As 2024 comes to a close, it is worth reflecting on this year’s audio trends and where we expect things to head in 2025. Per our recent report, ‘ MIDiA’s 2025 predictions: It’s social’s stage...

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Netflix, Duolingo, and the art of engagement in a fiercely competitive attention economy

Ben Woods

13 Dec 2024

Netflix

Duolingo

Squid Game

Netflix is making sure everyone knows that Squid Game 2 is just around corner.The South Korean dystopian survival thriller has been subjected to a major global advertising splash ahead of the shows’...

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Will the TikTok ban happen? What you need to know

Hanna Kahlert

10 Dec 2024

tiktok ban

Donald Trump

social media

It has been a rollercoaster of a news year for TikTok since April, when President Biden signed a law that would ban the platform unless it found new owners. The January 19th deadline is approaching quickly,...

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Info-tainment, Kamala’s campaign failure, and the distortive role of social media marketing

Hanna Kahlert

12 Nov 2024

Marketing Strategy

social media

trump presidency

The recent US election has capped off one of the biggest global election years in recent history, and the world around us is changing rapidly. Digital life, and specifically social media platforms, play...

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Political podcast advertising: Will the ‘podcast election’ open the door for political ads in podcasts?

Rutger Rosenborg

6 Nov 2024

Audio

Marketing Strategy

podcast advertising

US presidential campaign ads are ubiquitous on television. Leading up to the election, every commercial break is an alternating flurry of messaging from each side. This year, however, we saw the first...

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Music in podcasts: Engaging superfans with a new album campaign strategy

Rutger Rosenborg

23 Oct 2024

Podcasts

Streaming

music podcasts

MIDiA has covered music’s big podcasting opportunity extensively. Per our June 2024 report, “ Defining podcast taste: The universal appeal of music, news, and comedy ”, music is one of the top podcast...

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Will more artists release full songs to social media in 2025?

Tatiana Cirisano

19 Sep 2024

social media

TikTok

Music Streaming

It is now a standard part of most music rollouts to release a clip of the song on social video platforms before it hits streaming. This makes sense when you think of social media as a marketing tool. But...

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‘Brat’ summer and the dilemmas of going mainstream

Tatiana Cirisano

29 Aug 2024

Charli XCX

BRAT summer

music marketing

It has become a rule of thumb that the moment corporate America begins capitalising on a trend, that trend begins to die. Cultural fragmentation has helped niches and scenes flourish, but it has also left...

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Is it time to retire the ‘AI’ brand to bolster adoption among video creators?

Ben Woods

23 Aug 2024

Video

Marketing Strategy

AI

AI tools have put the video creator economy in sharp focus over recent months. AI video generators like Runway and OpenAI’s Sora have provided a tangible example of not just AI’s capability in video,...

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What Drake got wrong — and right — with 100 Gigs

Tatiana Cirisano

15 Aug 2024

Drake

fragmented fandom

bifurcation theory

On August 6th , with no prior announcement, Drake unloaded 100 gigabytes’ worth of content, including songs and video clips, to a personal website and directed fans there via his Instagram burner account....

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Marketers, don't miss out on GTA 6

Rhys Elliott

31 Jul 2024

gta

grand theft auto

brands

Grand Theft Auto VI ( GTA 6 ) is due to launch in autumn 2026. It will be one of the century's biggest entertainment launches, and its impact will ripple through culture for years to come. Remember how...

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Social platform user behaviour
Q1 2024

Cover image for Social platform user behaviour

Hanna Kahlert

July 2024

Marketing Strategy

The social platform marketplace is mature, with user growth stabilising, and the established platforms now fiercely competing for shares of a finite amount of available time. This report analyses the behaviours...

How DistroKid can leverage its podcast partnership to help artists tell their stories

Rutger Rosenborg

27 Jun 2024

Podcasts

distrokid

music distribution

On the heels of MIDiA’s report “ Defining podcast taste: The universal appeal of music, news, and comedy ”, podcast network Evergreen Podcasts and independent music distributor DistroKid announced...

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Did Charli XCX go mainstream, or did the mainstream just go niche?

Tatiana Cirisano

13 Jun 2024

fragmented fandom

Consumer Behaviour

Charli XCX

“ I’m famous, but not quite ,” Charli XCX sings on ‘I might say something stupid’, a moment of honest insecurity amidst the brash club anthems that make up her new album Brat . It is a familiar...

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Branded podcasts level up: Ubisoft’s gaming podcasts bring games to life for new audiences

Rutger Rosenborg

7 Jun 2024

Podcasts

gaming

Marketing

As the podcast listener base grows , companies across several industries — from automotive to fast food — see podcast production as a way to market to new audiences (sort of like an audio blog). Branded...

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Billie Eilish delivered a superfan masterclass

Kriss Thakrar

4 Jun 2024

Music

Superfans

Soundcloud

While the industry standard for new releases has long been about scale and velocity, Billie Eilish, her brother Finneas, and Darkroom/Interscope, the labels behind their latest album Hit Me Hard and Soft...

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Fallout is another transmedia hit, but the strategy needs to evolve

Rhys Elliott

26 Apr 2024

Amazon

Prime Video

fallout

Everyone was talking about the Super Mario Bros. Movie (The Mario movie ) and HBO’s The Last of Us this time last year, and now Fallout has entered the mainstream thanks to the Amazon show. But, for...

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Taylor Swift, The Black Dog, and the fan frenzy flywheel

Kriss Thakrar

25 Apr 2024

Fandom

Superfans

taylor swift

A new Taylor Swift album is almost guaranteed to start a fan frenzy - the question is, what form will it take? Breaking Spotify records is a given, but digital consumption is not enough to satiate super...

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Collector’s editions are becoming a backdoor for monetising early access

Rhys Elliott

17 Apr 2024

xbox

xbox game pass

Ubisoft

Since publishers first increased AAA game prices from $60 to $70 in 2020, many people have asked MIDiA if publishers will raise that price further. Our answer: they already have – sort of, anyway. Via...

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Why don’t we hear popular music on popular podcasts?

Rutger Rosenborg

29 Feb 2024

Audio

Podcasts

Streaming

There are a number of popular podcasts that dissect popular music. One is called, well, Dissect . Others are Popcast , Song Exploder , and Switched on Pop . Podcasts like these usually play extended sections...

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