Mark Mulligan: Why It Is Time To Make YouTube Look Less Like Spotify And More Like Pandora

by Mark Mulligan

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

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Mark Mulligan: The Three Things Streaming Needs To Fix Next

by Mark Mulligan

This guest column identifies a “middling majority” of music creators whose businesses are not thriving in the streaming music services. Mark Mulligan proposes a formula for better monetizing a band’s relationship with listeners and fans — and offers a worksheet of the model for artists to work with. Continue Reading

Why Digital Music Services Always Steal Each Other’s Customers (Mark Mulligan)

by Mark Mulligan

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

New research on “digitally native music consumers”; online music is the key category

MIDiA Research, recently launched by Mark Mulligan, has completed a study examining the characteristics, attitudes, and behavior of “digital natives.” The focus is mostly how they approach music. What are Digital Natives? A young demographic that has never known a world without online connectivity and unlimited music and audio choices. Understanding the mindset and decisions of that population shines light into the future of listening. Continue Reading

Mark Mulligan: YouTube, Record Labels, and the New Generation of Retailer Behemoths

Guest column by Mark Mulligan

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