Spotify just changed the rules of the game, raising an unprecedented $1 billion in convertible debt. Guest columnist Mark Mulligan analyzes — what is Spotify’s strategy, and where will growth come from. One key: “The 9.99 subscription model is incredibly difficult (perhaps impossible) to run profitably at scale.” Continue Reading
Guest contributor Mark Mulligan reacts to the RIAA’s decision to add YouTube music streaming metrics into the organization’s sales calculations and bestowal of Gold and Platinum album awards. But is streaming the same as buying? Here, the key difference. Continue Reading
Guest contributor Mark Mulligan analyzes just-released U.K. music industry figures for 2015, which show a return to growth. Adele had a lot to do with it, but not (only) in the way you expect. Also, the “Transition Triangle” maps consumer migration to streaming. Continue Reading
Guest contributor Mark Mulligan suggests that full-catalog music services cater to a top layer of music aficionados. Smaller online music services, serving specialized audiences, could bring streaming music deeper into the mainstream. Continue Reading
Guest contributor Mark Mulligan explains the structural issues facing streaming as a business model and why they need to be fixed. His thoughts cover the roles of labels and tech companies along with discussing who shoulders risk. Continue Reading
Guest contributor Mark Mulligan offers an executive summary of his new research presented at MIDEM. How are on-demand services, and the easy consumer availability of 30-million tracks, changing listening, collecting, and careers? Continue Reading
Guest contributor Mark Mulligan examines Spotify’s new financing efforts and Jay-Z’s foray into the streaming business. Continue Reading
Guest contributor Mark Mulligan examines Spotify’s recent subscriber reports (15-million paying users), and recommends pricing elasticity for subscription services. Continue Reading
Midia Research founder Mark Mulligan analyzes the “freemium” space by comparing YouTube (and its new Music Key subscription service) to Spotify and Pandora. YouTube has changed from a marketing tool to a full-fledged listening destination, the author asserts, and should be modeled more like Pandora than Spotify. Continue Reading
Mark Mulligan is one of the industry’s most astute observers and analysts. This guest column examines customer sharing, revenue cannibalization, and the next five years in music — “one of the music industry’s most dramatic periods of change. The last ten years might have been disruptive but the change that is coming will be even more transformative.” Continue Reading
Mark Mulligan is co-founder of MIDiA Consulting, and has been a digital music analyst for over a decade. In this guest column, he observes how a “new generation of retailer behemoths carves out new territory.” Noting that media companies risk becoming collateral damage in this trend, Mulligan lays some responsibility on record labels, both majors and indies. Original research from MIDiA Consulting offers an indicator of YouTube’s streaming impact. Continue Reading
Mark Mulligan is co-founder of MIDiA Consulting, and has been a digital music analyst for over a decade. In this guest column, he compares Amazon’s music strategy with those of Google and Apple, and speculates about the future perceived value of music. Continue Reading