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Global Consumer Media & Tech Spend Grew 4% to $2.4T in ’24, as Growth Slowed for 3rd Straight Year on Digital Media Penetration Reaching Saturation in Top 10 Markets

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Global consumer spending on overall media content and technology grew at a 4.4% rate in 2024 to $2.371 trillion, the third consecutive year of decelerating growth after a 4.5% increase in 2023, which followed the strongest growth in consumer media spend in a decade the prior year, according to new research by PQ Media, the leading provider of media econometrics.

STAMFORD, Conn., May 8, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Global consumer spending on overall media content and technology grew at a 4.4% rate in 2024 to $2.371 trillion, the third consecutive year of decelerating growth after a 4.5% increase in 2023, which followed the strongest growth in consumer media spend in a decade the prior year, according to new research by PQ Media , the leading provider of media econometrics.

“Consumer spending on media is expected to show decelerated growth in the 2025-2029 period, as numerous media and related tech become obsolete, like dial-up internet; feature cell phones; music CDs & CD players; single music downloads & MP3 players, among others.”

Growth slowed by more than expected in 2024, as certain categories underperformed, particularly movie admissions, which rose at mid-single-digit rates in most markets when a double-digit gain had been projected. Despite several blockbusters, fewer movies overall were produced last year, including by the major streaming services, as even the movie hits underperformed expectations. Growth might have been even worse if not for select media platforms that outpaced expectations, most notably consumer books, with a cadre of unexpected adult trade books that became bestsellers, and a spike in Western European spending across multiple media categories, helped by the Summer Olympics in Paris, France, according to the Global Consumer Spending on Media Forecast 2025-2029.

Global consumer spending on overall media content grew 8.1% in 2024 to $1.075 trillion, while total media-related technology spending rose only 1.4% to $1.296 trillion. Consumer spend on digital media content and tech worldwide increased 5.7% in 2024 to $1.783 trillion, while end-user spend on traditional media content and tech inched up 0.6% to $588.56 billion.

The United States remained the largest consumer media and related tech market in the world with total expenditures of $544.18 billion in 2024, while South Africa was the fastest growing of the Top 20 markets, rising 7.2%. Global consumers spent an average of $395.43 on all media content and related tech in 2024, a 3.9% gain over 2023, of which $297.29 was spent on digital media and $98.14 on traditional media, according to the Global Consumer Spending on Media Forecast 2025-2029.

PQ Media’s research, however, indicates that consumer expenditures on media are expected to decelerate during the 2025-2029 period, as numerous media categories become obsolete, such as dial-up internet; feature mobile phones; music CDs and CD players; single music downloads and MP3 players; and video DVDs, DVD players and home video subscriptions. Many digital tech categories will post declining growth rates during the forecast period, including tablets, smartphones, laptops, PCs and home networks & storage. Fourteen of the 16 traditional media categories will post declines as well, with the two exceptions being public radio and public TV license fees. Furthermore, other media categories that once boasted annual double-digit gains will exhibit only single-digit growth rates by the end of the forecast period, such as digital games, apps & microtransactions; e-books & m-books; video-on-demand; wireless data subscriptions; digital audio receivers; entertainment & workflow software; and security software & services.

Similar to growth spike in Western European in 2024 due to the Summer Olympics in Paris, France, the Americas region will post growth spurts during the even years of the forecast. In 2026, the United States, Canada and Mexico will co-host the FIFA World Cup, while in 2028, the United States will host the Summer Olympics. Italy and its neighboring countries will see a minor increase in 2026 when the Winter Olympics are held near Milan.

However, PQ Media is forecasting another deceleration in 2025, as a global recession is possible due to the controversial tariff policies in the United States under President Trump, and the counter tariffs being placed on U.S. exports. As this report went to press, more than half of the economists surveyed for well-respected panels, such as the Wolters Kluwer Blue Chip Economic Indicators, were predicting a global recession, and the International Monetary Fund issued an “alarm” regarding the impact of the tariffs a weakening global economy.

“Consumer confidence has declined in a number of top 20 global markets to the lowest level since the pandemic, resulting in consumers trimming discretionary spending in 2025 and, potentially, beyond depending upon unforeseen world events, economic gyrations and the eventual impact of President Trump’s policies – tariffs in particular – during the next couple years.,” said PQ Media CEO Patrick Quinn. “While consumer spending on media will accelerate in even years, the growth rates will be significantly lower than in previous years when international sporting events and major elections were held. The tariffs are impacting both developed and emerging markets, particularly relating to electronically delivered content and the devices that are used to upload that content.”

Many media categories will be transformed during the forecast period. For example, sales of the Nintendo Switch2 will be monitored closely after it is released during the second half of 2025, as to the health of the console game market. Cracks are already being seen as the Xbox Series consoles significantly underperformed expectations. Additionally, no new internet or mobile game has become overnight hits, like Pokemon Go! and Fortnite were, adversely impacting gaming app & micro trans growth. Meanwhile, the movie industry is underperforming, with studios releasing fewer films than prior to the pandemic, particularly streaming services which are cutting budgets on theatrical films. The recorded music industry has almost completed the shift from CDs to vinyl albums, but audio streaming growth is slowing, as fewer new customers are subscribing – the same trend PQ Media sees happening for video streaming.

While AI is the latest innovation shaking the media economy, it’s not having much of an impact on consumer media spend, other than the category of entertainment & workflow software. AI has not yet materially grown the amount of time people spend with media, but appears to be making some tasks, like search, more efficient.

Other highlights from the new PQ Media Forecast include:

Pure-play mobile media was the largest of the 10 hybrid-media silo spending categories in 2024 at $563.77 billion, while recorded music was the fastest growing, rising 10.9%;Wireless data subscriptions were the largest of the 28 digital media categories in 2024 at $300.31 billion, while digital audio streaming and satellite radio posted the fastest growth, up 17.7%;Basic and premium TV subscriptions was the largest of the 14 traditional media categories in 2024 at $231.03 billion, and physical music units (vinyl albums & CDs) registered the strongest growth, increasing 4.9%;Among the top 20 global markets, Russia ranked first in digital media’s share of overall content and tech spending in 2024 at 84.5%, as Japan ranked first in average consumer expenditures on all media at $1,823.18.

About the Report:

PQ Media’s 12th annual Global Consumer Spending on Media Forecast 2025-2029, the most comprehensive and actionable strategic intelligence on consumer spending on digital and traditional media content and technology, including econometric data and analysis of 2 overall spending sectors (media content and technology); 5 total spending segments (unit purchases, content subscriptions, access, devices, and software); and 28 digital and 14 traditional media content and technology categories. CLICK THE LINK ABOVE TO DOWNLOAD FREE REPORT SAMPLES.

About PQ Media:

PQ Media delivers intelligent data and analysis to the world’s leading media organizations via syndicated market intelligence reports, custom drill-down research, and on-demand strategic consulting. which includes three reports that cover the industry’s KPIs: advertising & marketing spending; consumer media usage; and consumer spending on media. Click the link above to download free report samples and for details regarding our Special Three-Report Bundle License.

Media Contact

Patrick Quinn, PQ Media, 1 2039215249, pquinn@pqmedia.com, https:/www.pqmedia.com 

Leo Kivijarv, PQ Media, 1 2032737081, lkivijarv@pqmedia.com, https:/www.pqmedia.com  

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SOURCE PQ Media

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IDrive® e2 Announces New Storage Region in Tokyo, Delivering High-Performance S3-Compatible Cloud Object Storage Optimized for AI and Modern Data Workloads

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April 24, 2026

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LOS ANGELES, April 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — IDrive® e2, offering fast S3 compatible object storage, has added a new storage region in Tokyo, Japan, marking its first storage region in the country and providing customers in the region the opportunity to utilize one of the fastest and most affordable S3 compatible object storage solutions on the market.

Since the inception of IDrive® e2, international demand for the service has continued to accelerate. This expansion into Japan is part of IDrive’s ongoing mission to enhance the accessibility and performance of its cloud storage services for a global customer base.

The new location in Tokyo will bring high-performing object storage closer to businesses and developers in the region, enabling significantly faster data access, lower latency, and improved service reliability. By expanding to Japan, IDrive is further strengthening its commitment to providing secure, efficient, and scalable cloud storage solutions to the rapidly growing tech sector in East Asia.

With more than 14 locations across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia, this expansion underscores IDrive’s dedication to delivering high-quality cloud storage solutions that meet the needs of customers all over the world. With the new location in Tokyo, users can expect:

Enhanced Performance: Faster response times for S3 API calls by storing data closer to the point of use.Global Footprint: Access to a distributed network of storage regions, allowing for geo-redundancy and optimized data routing.Compliance & Security: IDrive® e2 is committed to upholding rigorous data protection standards, ensuring personal data is processed securely within the region.

“As we continue to see a surge in data generation across Asia, especially with AI workloads, expanding our footprint to Japan was a natural next step,” said Raghu Kulkarni, CEO of IDrive Inc. “Our goal is to provide the highest performance and cost-effective object storage available. With the Tokyo storage region, Asian businesses can now manage massive datasets with the speed of local storage and the economics of the cloud.”

IDrive® e2 remains one of the most affordable and feature-packed object storage solutions available. It features a straightforward pricing approach starting at $49.50/TB/year, as well as a $5/TB/month pay-as-you-go option, with no fees for egress or API calls.

Users in the region can now point their data to the Tokyo location for faster network performance and ease of access.

About IDrive

IDrive Inc. is a privately held company specializing in cloud storage, cloud backup, file sharing, remote access, compliance and related technologies. Core services include IDrive®, RemotePC™ and IBackup. The company’s services help over 5 million customers backup over 1 Exabyte of data.

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SOURCE IDrive Inc.

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Fuutura Launches as a Blockchain Infrastructure Company Building a Compliance-First Financial Ecosystem for the Global Market

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22 minutes ago

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April 24, 2026

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Founded by a King’s Counsel and a blockchain strategist, the company introduces a unified financial ecosystem for the over a billion adults left behind by legacy financial systems

PANAMA CITY, Panama, April 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Fuutura, a blockchain infrastructure company building a compliance-first financial ecosystem for the global market, today announced its official launch. Founded by Oliver Cook KC and Ellis McGrath, Fuutura launches with three integrated products designed to replace the fragmented financial infrastructure that prevents over a billion adults from fully participating in global financial markets.

 

Across the Global South, governments are writing digital asset frameworks for the first time. Fuutura has been built with this shift already in mind. The architecture is designed to be visible to regulators by default, with KYC and AML sitting within the protocol itself. Fuutura welcomes the inspection that responsible oversight requires.

Traditional financial systems were designed for specific markets, specific participants, and specific moments in financial history. According to the World Bank’s Global Findex 2025, 1.3 billion adults remain entirely excluded from the formal financial system – yet 900 million of them already own a mobile phone, and more than half have smartphones. The infrastructure to reach these populations exists and is growing. The financial architecture to serve them has never been built.

Fuutura’s answer is a compliance-first financial ecosystem built as a single connected platform. The ecosystem launches with three integrated products: Fuutura Identity, a reusable digital identity and KYC system that verifies once and works across the entire ecosystem; Fuutura Wallet, a non-custodial multi-chain wallet for storing, sending, receiving, and swapping digital assets; and Fuutura Trade, a digital asset exchange built to trade a significant depth of instruments across crypto, stablecoins, and tokenised real-world-assets.

Every product within the ecosystem is built around compliance from the protocol layer up, with KYC and AML integrated into the architecture rather than added as an afterthought.

“The financial systems that exist today were built to serve markets that already had the infrastructure to support them. Across the Global South, enormous populations have real demand for financial tools they simply cannot access. Fuutura is building the infrastructure that was always supposed to exist for them, built around compliance from the ground up and designed to support regulatory oversight as it develops.

Oliver Cook KC, Co-founder and Chief Legal Officer, Fuutura

“The same financial instruments available to people in developed markets should be available to anyone. We have built everything in-house, which means we are not dependent on third parties and we are not asking users to piece together a financial life from disconnected services. One ecosystem, genuinely accessible, with compliance built in from the start.”

Ellis McGrath, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Fuutura

Fuutura is building for a market that existing financial infrastructure was never designed to serve. The company’s launch marks the beginning of a phased rollout, with further ecosystem development planned as the platform scales across the Global South and beyond.

About Fuutura
Fuutura is a blockchain infrastructure company building a compliance-first, accessible financial ecosystem for a global market. The platform brings together a reusable digital identity layer, a non-custodial multi-chain wallet, and a digital asset exchange spanning cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and tokenised real-world assets. Identity verification and compliance attestation are built into the base architecture. Fuutura is designed to be open to regulatory oversight from the protocol layer up. We believe financial participation should be accessible to everyone, and we are building the infrastructure to make that possible.

Media Contact:
Fuutura
pr@fuutura.com

Forward-Looking Statements and Risk Disclosures
Digital asset risk. Digital assets are high-risk and their value may fall as well as rise. Trading digital assets involves significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Forward-looking statements. This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding Fuutura, its technology, products, business plans and future conduct, including statements relating to the phased rollout of the ecosystem, regulatory engagement and licensing outcomes, geographic expansion, and market ambitions. Forward-looking statements are identifiable by words such as “building,” “plans,” “intends,” “expects,” “designed to,” “anticipates” and similar expressions, as well as by statements regarding future outcomes, ambitions or strategic direction.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those expressed. These include, without limitation, changes in the regulatory environment across jurisdictions; the availability and timing of licensing or authorisation; developments in digital asset markets; technological and cybersecurity risks; operational risks; counterparty and third-party risks; the pace of product development; and other factors beyond Fuutura’s control.
No offer or advice. Nothing in this press release constitutes an offer to sell, a solicitation to purchase, investment advice, or a recommendation in respect of any digital asset, crypto-asset, token, security, or financial product or instrument. Fuutura’s products and services may not be available in all jurisdictions and may be subject to regulatory restrictions. Access to Fuutura’s platform is restricted to residents of jurisdictions where its services are permitted.
No duty to update. Fuutura undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

This release is not for distribution in any jurisdiction where such distribution would be unlawful.

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Betterness Closes $2.5m Seed Round and Launches Bett-i, the First Fully Autonomous Voice-First Life-Coaching System for Health and Performance

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22 minutes ago

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April 24, 2026

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A roster of leaders from health-tech, medicine, capital markets, elite athletic performance, and global culture join Betterness as investors and advisors, backing the company’s mission to build the agentic infrastructure for the $6 trillion global health and wellness industry.

MIAMI, April 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Betterness, Inc., the Augmented Wellness™ platform building agent-first infrastructure for the health and wellness industry, today announced the closing of its $2.5m seed round and the public launch of Bett-i™ — the first fully autonomous, voice-first AI life-coaching system ever created — available now at www.betti.bot.

The announcement marks a pivotal evolution for Betterness: from a longevity-focused consumer wellness platform into the company building the agentic operating layer on which the next generation of health and wellness products, services, and businesses will run. It follows the March 2026 debut of the Betterness MCP — the first agentic Model Context Protocol for real-world health and wellness services — and sets the stage for the upcoming launch of Betterness One, an enterprise solution that will fully automate health and wellness business operations on the same foundation.

“When we started Betterness, the question was whether AI could help any single person live better. Two years later the answer is obvious — and the real question has become whether AI can help every clinic, every gym, every longevity program, and every wellness brand run better. Our job now is to build the agentic infrastructure that makes that possible. Closing this round, launching Bett-i, and preparing Betterness One for enterprise is the trifecta that takes us there.”

— Demian Bellumio, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Betterness

Introducing Bett-i — the first fully autonomous voice-first life coach

Bett-i (www.betti.bot) is the first voice-first, fully autonomous AI life-coaching system designed to accompany a human being through an entire day — not as a chatbot, but as a continuously running team of specialist agents that can order a lab, interpret a result, adjust a training plan, cancel a class, or send a recovery check-in without being asked.

Where previous generations of AI health tools wait for the user to ask a question, Bett-i initiates. It reads signal, it pattern-matches across a person’s life, and it takes action — always under explicit consent, always audit-logged, always voice-native.

What Bett-i can do, out of the box

Voice-first every surface. Wake-word conversational access, phone and SMS fall-through, Telegram, e-mail, and any MCP-compatible agent as a client. No app required.Autonomous daily briefs. Morning recovery + sleep-readiness + day-priorities brief, delivered via the user’s chosen channel. Evening wind-down, supplement reminders, and sleep-optimization protocol activation.End-to-end lab ordering. Bett-i can order labs across major diagnostic networks — Quest, LabCorp, BioReference — schedule draws, track biomarker trends, and surface actionable changes the moment a result returns.Agent marketplace. Hundreds of specialist agents — nutrition, endurance, sleep, longevity, hormone, recovery, fertility, clinical — with more from top partners added weekly. Any specialist can be summoned by voice; many run continuously in the background.Native wearable integrations. Apple Health, Oura, WHOOP, Garmin, Withings, Eight Sleep, and more — all flowing into the same context so every recommendation is life-aware, not generic.Contextual, life-situation-aware coaching. If you’re training for a marathon, Bett-i layers endurance biomarkers and recovery protocols onto your panel. If you’re planning a pregnancy, it pivots to preconception optimization. If you’re on a GLP-1, it watches the specific markers that matter.HIPAA-grade governance and trust. Consent-gated access, full audit trail, end-to-end encryption, never sold. Every tool call and every agent interaction is logged.

Bett-i is powered natively by the Betterness MCP, meaning it can be plugged into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible agent, and extended by any developer building on Betterness’ open agentic infrastructure.

“Precision health has always existed — but only for those who could afford it. Bett-i was built to change that. Bett-i coaches people through the most important decisions they make about their own health and wellness — autonomously, in their voice, with the full context of their life. Not when they remember to open an app. Just continuously, proactively, in their corner, keeping up with their real life 24/7. That’s what everyone deserves. That’s what everyone wants. That’s what we built.”

— Ari Katz, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Betterness

The evolution of Betterness — an agentic infrastructure platform

The launch of Bett-i and the closing of this seed round complete the public picture of what Betterness has been quietly building: a coherent three-layer stack on which the global health and wellness industry can run.

Layer 1 — Betterness MCP (launched March 2026). The first agentic Model Context Protocol for real-world health and wellness services. Labs, biomarkers, wearables, provider networks, and specialist agents, accessible to any AI system under consent.Layer 2 — Bett-i (launching today at www.betti.bot). The first fully autonomous, voice-first life-coach ever deployed at consumer scale. Demonstrates the full surface area of the MCP in a product a human being can actually talk to and trust.Layer 3 — Betterness One (June 2026). The enterprise solution that takes the same agentic stack and automates the day-to-day operations of health and wellness businesses — clinics, gyms, longevity programs, wellness brands, med-spas. Zero missed leads, less admin work, members that stay. The business-side counterpart to Bett-i.

All three layers run on a shared enterprise-grade, HIPAA-compliant and SOC2-ready proprietary infrastructure platform.

Investors and advisors

The seed round and advisory board bring together operators, clinicians, capital-market builders, elite athletes, and cultural leaders across health-tech, medicine, capital markets, performance, and wellness lifestyle. Participating investors and advisors announced today include:

Health-tech founders & operators

Martin Varsavsky — Founder of Prelude Fertility and Certuma; one of Europe’s most prolific serial entrepreneurs in digital health and fertility.Justin Stone — Digital-health operator and general counsel to successive unicorn health-tech companies, including MDLIVE (acquired by Cigna), Thirty Madison, and Papa; long-time advisor to 40+ digital-health founders.

Medicine & longevity

Mark Rosenbloom, MD, MBA — Founder of Precision Performance Medicine℠, a concierge longevity and performance-medicine practice serving patients nationally; trained at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Stanford GSB. His forthcoming book, ALIVE AF, publishes May 2026.Rabin Rahmani, MD, FACG — Medical Director- Gastroenterology Associates of Brooklyn/South Brooklyn Endoscopy Center.Lloyd Camper, MD, MPH — Center Physician at Cenegenics Miami and board-certified Family & Sports Medicine physician; USC-trained, with a Sports Medicine fellowship at Kaiser Permanente where he cared for athletes from high-school through the pros, including the Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) of MLS.

Capital markets & digital infrastructure

Carlos Domingo — Co-Founder & CEO of Securitize; the leading tokenization platform for real-world assets, bringing deep expertise in regulated digital infrastructure.David Garcia — CIO and Managing Partner at Borderless Capital; a leading global venture firm bridging traditional capital with programmable financial infrastructure.

Elite performance

Eduardo della Maggiora — Founder & CEO of Betterfly, Latin America’s first “social unicorn” and a purpose-driven insurance and wellness-benefits platform operating across Latam and Europe; four-time Ironman World Championship finisher and two-time runner-up at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships.Apolo Ohno — Eight-time Olympic medalist, the most decorated American winter Olympian in history, and a long-time advisor to athletic-performance and longevity brands.

Culture, brand & wellness lifestyle

Vivie-Ann Bakos (BLOND:ISH) — BLOND:ISH is a globally touring DJ, producer, and movement-builder who left a small Canadian town to become one of electronic music’s most uncompromising forces. As founder of Abracadabra, Bye Bye Plastic, and the $NRG token, she operates on one principle: energy is the only real currency.Jose Molla — Co-Founder of La Comunidad (acquired by Publicis) and CEO & Co-Founder of Plural Doers Hub, the independent, minority-certified content-production studio.

About Betterness

Betterness is the Augmented Wellness™ platform building agent-first infrastructure for the global health and wellness industry. Its products — the Betterness MCP, Bett-i, and the upcoming Betterness One — run on a shared enterprise-grade, HIPAA-compliant and SOC2-ready stack designed to let developers, businesses, and individuals build and run the next generation of AI-powered health systems.

Learn more: www.betterness.ai • www.betti.bot

Media Contact

Jose Molla
Chief Marketing Officer, Betterness
jose@betterness.ai

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SOURCE Betterness, Inc.

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