Moon Knight and other Marvel TV shows don't appear to be helping Disney Plus in its bid to attract new subscribers.

According to new research compiled by Parrot Analytics, Moon Knight , WandaVision and other Marvel Disney Plus shows are having little impact on the company potentially increasing the size of its subscriber base.

Per the leading entertainment analytics company's findings, each of Marvel's TV offerings has become the most-watched show worldwide within two weeks of their launch. Audience demand for Loki , Hawkeye , and company also outstripped many (if not all) of their competitors, with Moon Knight viewed as being 93.5 times more in-demand than the average television series.

However, while that number – and those of its fellow Marvel productions – are evidently good news for Disney and Marvel Studios, data surrounding each show suggests that the quintet haven't inspired a huge surge in new user signing up to Disney Plus .

As the above graph shows, every Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) TV show has embarked on a similar trajectory to their counterparts in the weeks post-launch. Among the five TV series, audience demand was highest for WandaVision (102.1 times higher than a normal show), while Hawkeye posted the lowest figure (68.6 times more in-demand).

These are massive numbers for Marvel's TV offerings. But, according to Parrot Analytics, the data proposes that Moon Knight and company are only servicing the MCU's established audience – i those who have seen every Marvel movie and show to date. As such, it seems that these Marvel shows are helping Disney Plus to retain its core subscriber base, but aren't necessarily aiding a drive to new sign-ups.

Is it possible, then, that the MCU's rapid expansion has had a negative impact on its ability to draw in new fans and subsequently reduce how much it can aid Disney Plus' subscriber growth? Perhaps. At this point, the MCU comprises 27 movies and six shows – a headache-inducing figure that may scare off would-be fans who may baulk at the amount of content they have to consume in order to catch up.

By contrast, there are only 11 mainline Star Wars movies and two live-action TV shows for potential fans of Lucasfilm's juggernaut franchise to watch. Okay, there's the seven season run of animated series The Clone Wars , plus four seasons to take in for Rebels and one season of The Bad Batch , two other animated Star Wars shows. While these are canon, they aren't currently mandatory viewing for new Star Wars fans. Well, that is until the likes of Ahsoka Tano's standalone live-action series arrive on Disney Plus.

It's one of Ahsoka's live-action siblings in The Mandalorian – by far the biggest and most popular Star Wars property of our times – that's been a key driver behind new subscribers to Disney's streaming platform. With Baby Yoda's help, by the time of The Mandalorian's season 1 finale, audience demand for the Star Wars show was 161.5 times greater than the average TV series.

As the above chart reveals, The Mandalorian was way more popular than The Book of Boba Fett when the latter's first season aired in late 2021/early 2022. In fact, The Mandalorian's first outing became one of the three most in-demand shows that Parrot Analytics has ever measured from a date standpoint.

Helpful as The Mandalorian was in aiding Disney Plus' early success in terms of subscriber growth, though, Disney's streaming platform was also aided by the curiosity of movie and TV aficionados.

The Mandalorian arrived alongside Disney Plus when the latter officially launched on November 12, 2019. Given that there were few original films and shows for subscribers to watch in those early days, The Mandalorian will have benefitted from the paucity of other films and TV series. Sure, Disney Plus launched with a number of beloved animated and live-action movies and shows, but it was certainly lacking in original content for pioneering subscribers to stream. The Mandalorian is a great TV show, but its success was certainly aided by the distinct absence of similarly new productions vying for viewers' attentions.

It remains to be seen if Star Wars is viewed as the franchise that really drives subscriber growth for Disney Plus. The Book of Boba Fett has shown that this may not be the case but, with Obi-Wan Kenobi 's highly anticipated series arriving on May 27, we'll have a clearer indication of which franchise is truly boosting Disney Plus' subscriber base. If Obi-Wan posts similar numbers to The Mandalorian, it may prove that Star Wars, not Marvel, is the property that Disney can rely on to increase its user base – and wouldn't that be a turn up for the books?

Don't forget Netflix also released the worst movie of the year

You’ll likely read several headlines today proclaiming that streaming services were the real winners at this year’s Oscars ceremony – and that statement is, for the most part, true.

The race for Best Picture was closely-fought between Apple’s CODA and Netflix’s The Power of the Dog, with the latter’s Don’t Look Up also ranking among the ten nominees for Hollywood’s most prestigious accolade. The acting categories, too, featured awards-worthy turns in streamer-produced movies The Lost Daughter, tick, tick...BOOM! and The Tragedy of Macbeth.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Yes, this year’s on-demand Oscar winners (CODA, in particular) meant the 94th Academy Awards were a watershed moment for filmmaking , but it’s important to remember that streaming services are still finding their feet when it comes to releasing consistently brilliant features.

Lest we forget Diana: The Musical, now officially the worst film of 2021.

The day before the Oscars, the Golden Raspberry Awards (otherwise known as the Razzies) bestowed upon Netflix’s filmed version of the Broadway show the title of Worst Picture. In a rare scenario, then, the streamer was simultaneously fighting for awards recognition at both ends of the quality spectrum.

Incidentally, Diana: The Musical – an all-singing, all-dancing take on the life of Diana, Princess of Wales – also saw actress Jeanna de Waal bag a Razzie for her performance as the titular princess, just 24 hours before Benedict Cumberbatch vied for a Best Actor Oscar.

Of course, we write this article with our tongue in our cheeks. All things considered, streamers have been a god-send for film-lovers in the age of the pandemic, and the likes of Netflix, Apple TV Plus and Prime Video (distributor of excellent pictures such as Manchester By the Sea and Beautiful Boy) will, we hope and expect, continue producing high-quality cinema for years to come.

But it’s also easy to get lost in the noise around streamer-funded productions.

Despite the critical success of films like The Power of the Dog, a Netflix badge under a movie's title is by no means an automatic marker of merit in 2022, and although Diana: The Musical doesn't strictly fall into the category of Netflix originals (being a filmed version of Joe DiPietro's existing show), it’s worth remembering that gargantuan budgets mean streaming services have the financial freedom to throw innumerable projects at the wall in the hope that just a handful stick.

What else won Razzies this year?

Still, it can be refreshing to step back from the Oscars flattery for a moment and admire the less critically-beloved of recent movies. So, which films joined Diana: The Musical on the (non-existent) Razzies stage this year?

Well, LeBron James’ historic success on the basketball court didn’t translate to on-screen success for his Warner Bros. movie, Space Jam: A New Legacy . The iconic athlete scooped a Worst Actor Razzie for his portrayal of himself (ouch…) in a movie that was widely panned for its over-reliance on (and over-promotion of) its studio’s intellectual property.

Speaking of which, the gong for Worst Screen Couple went to James and “any Warner cartoon character (or WarnerMedia product) he dribbles on,” which rather hammers home the above assessment of A New Legacy’s quality.

Elsewhere, Jared Leto – who had initially featured in conversations about this year's Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominees – was awarded the Razzie for Worst Supporting Actor, while Bruce Willis was given the honor of his own category: Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 Movie.

The one-time action hero took home the above award for his role in sci-fi romp Cosmic Sin – if you haven’t seen it, consider yourself lucky.

Correction: March 28, 2022 The headline to an earlier version of this article read: Don’t forget Netflix also made the worst movie of the year. Netflix did not write or produce Diana: The Musical, rather released a filmed version of Joe DiPietro's existing Broadway show under the Netflix banner.

Spotify Blend playlists let you co-create mixtapes with your favorite artists

Spotify has just expanded its Blend feature, making it possible to create shared playlists with up to 10 friends - or, if you prefer, your favorite artists and bands.

The feature was previously restricted to sharing with just one other person, and it allowed you to combine your musical tastes for one shared playlist, complete with personalized cover art and taste match scores to see how much you and your bestie have in common when it comes to music.

Now, you can do the same with up to 10 other people - think of it as a musical version of your WhatsApp group chat.

To get your group playlist going, you need to search 'Blend' within the search tab in the Spotify app, and then tap Invite. There you'll be able to choose who you want to share in your virtual mixtape - and once they have accepted your invitation, the music streaming service will generate the shared playlist based on the invitees' musical tastes. You'll also be able to see which songs were added for which friend.

Once everyone has joined the new playlist, you'll get a custom share card, which you can post on social media and make those friends that didn't make the cut feel rather jealous.

Not the friendly type? You can also make a mixtape playlist with artists, and get an insight into their creative influences. 20 artists have signed up to the feature so far, including BTS, Megan Thee Stallion, Charlie XCX, Kasey Musgraves, and Diplo.

Spotify will merge your musical tastes with the artist of your choice to create a shared playlist (though you'll be the only one listening to it). As with Blend playlists created with friends, you'll get a share card showing your taste-match scores, and how your listening preferences compare.

Keep it in the family

It's a neat way of bringing fans closer to their favorite artists (although you're out of luck if yours isn't included in the 20 artists that have signed up), but we imagine these playlists will be peppered with plenty of the artists' own releases, too. Playlists are a good marketing tool, after all - and new releases could be added automatically to ensure fans stream the latest songs straight away and don't linger in the artists' back catalogue.

We much prefer the idea of group Blend playlists. For groups of friends that have been brought together by similar music interests, the idea of having a playlist influenced by every member's tastes is a lovely idea.

Blend playlists could be even more sentimental for families. We can easily imagine how a regularly updated family playlist would appeal to a homesick college student that wants to hear the kind of music their parents played in the kitchen while cooking meals, or the pop bangers they used to make up dance routines for with their little sister.

The only danger with Blend playlists is if you have a wildcard in the group. If 9 out of 10 people are into easy listening jazz, what happens when the one metalhead's favorite songs are introduced into the mix? Better not have your headphones turned up too loud, just in case.