This is news coverage of Music Ally Connect 2026 – our international music business conference that is taking place 22–23 January 2026 in London.
The future of music streaming was under the spotlight in a strand at Music Ally Connect, with a particular focus on the anticipated launch of more-expensive ‘supremium’ tiers by Spotify and its rivals later this year.
What should they include to persuade music fans to pay a higher monthly subscription? And do these ‘superfan subscriptions’ really make more sense than moves to build stronger direct connections and communities between artists and fans?
Midia Research MD Mark Mulligan set the scene with a speech suggesting that the future of streaming is a ‘change or be changed’ moment for the music industry and the streaming services.
He suggested that the big services have been optimised to serve more-casual music listeners – the people who might have mainly listened to the radio, bought a couple of albums and attended a concert or two a year – rather than hardcore music fans.
“Those passive consumers are now spending a good amount of money [on streaming subscriptions] but because it all happens in the same place, streaming has been really optimised for the ‘passive massive’, which means that it’s much harder for music aficionados – or superfans, whatever you want to call them – to be superfans all the time,” said Mulligan.
“There’s so much music filling our ears so much of the time, we’re all turned into passives… More and more of what streaming is about is lean-back, friction-free listening.”
Wish you were here? If you’re not able to attend Music Ally Connect, we will be releasing a high-quality video recording of the whole event. Please contact anthony@musically.com to find out more!
“Sometimes things can be too easy. Should there be some friction in the music-listening experience? If you think about a teenager…