UNIFI Music Founder & CEO La’Shion Robinson (Photo Credit: UNIFI Music)

Finding and retaining effective management is a significant hurdle for many emerging artists. Now, UNIFI Music is building an AI-driven intelligent platform for that.

Superstar music careers frequently start on the fringes: in a poorly-lit rehearsal space, late night on a laptop and cracked DAW, or as part of a local scene that hasn’t yet crossed over.

If an artist or group is lucky, an ardent believer is pulling the strings to get gigs, upload tracks to DSPs, monitor royalties from different licenses and platforms, and settle disputes. But professional managers with acumen, experience, and connections are usually out of reach at the beginning.

And that’s a problem.

The real artist management pros are usually overloaded with their high-demand clientele. And they’re generally inaccessible if they’re taking on emerging artists, or simply too expensive for artists in the early stages of their careers.

The music industry is laser-focused on the profound threat AI-generated music poses – which makes sense. But can AI fill a meaningful role in other areas like artist management?

That was the light bulb for execs at UNIFI Music, a company focused on building artist-focused solutions. “We’ve seen a huge need for artist management from artists in the 0-5 stages of their careers,” La’Shion Robinson, UNIFI’s founder and CEO, told Digital Music News.  “There’s simply an overload of tasks beyond the core competencies of creating music, building a cultural connection, and performing.”

‘Overload’ is a fitting descriptor.

From securing competent management to navigating the complexities of promotion and distribution, the path to success is often fraught with obstacles. And with tasks spanning social media engagement to booking gigs and navigating the complexities of streaming platforms, the workload can be immense – especially in the face of fierce competition.

With that problem in mind, UNIFI Music’s vision is to solve these pain points with an innovative AI-powered solution that could redefine artist management. That is perking the ears of investors, many of whom feel that AI-related models in the music industry are overlapping and saturated.

“Here’s something extremely useful, relevant, with tremendous potential to scale,” Robinson summarized. Just recently, UNIFI joined forces with DMN to further expand their concept.

According to Robinson, AI can play a meaningful role in streamlining artist management and empowering emerging musicians. UNIFI’s AI-powered platform, called Sasha, will act as a centralized toolbox, offering a range of features and services to support artists in their career development.

Sasha is designed to complement platforms like SoundCloud, providing artists with a comprehensive suite of tools to manage their careers effectively. That includes a question-driven interface, with Sasha understanding virtually any language. “This isn’t just a customized ChatGPT,” Robinson continued. “Sasha employs LLMs to provide customized guidance to the artist.”

The SaaS-like Sasha will also integrate with UNIFI’s “LinkedIn for Music” platform, enabling artists to connect with industry professionals and build valuable relationships. The broader aim is to bolster intelligent, AI-driven management with a rich network of connected musicians and opportunities.

According to Robinson, UNIFI Music’s vision for Sasha extends far beyond simple task management.

“This is a brand-new, functional direction for AI in music,” Robinson relayed. “We’re building a complete AI manager built from the ground up for musicians, music companies, and the entire music managerial ecosystem.”

The ultimate goal is to create a virtual manager capable of strategically, tactically, and emotionally guiding an artist’s career. For existing managers, the platform helps to eliminate time-consuming ‘assistant’ tasks like venue research, social media posts, and transportation logistics. “There’s less need for an assistant manager and more opportunity to create the ‘super manager,'” Robinson described.

Currently, Sasha can handle tasks like social media recommendations and identifying promising venues. However, as the platform evolves, it will take on increasingly complex responsibilities like contract negotiation, release planning, and tour management.

Ultimately, UNIFI Music’s vision is to create a virtual manager capable of guiding an artist’s career toward success.

Unifi’s Sasha in action (click to enlarge).

Unifi’s Sasha in action (click to enlarge).

Music management agencies may not like Sasha, but UNIFI’s vision is unique when compared to typical AI creation and management companies.

While the debate over AI-generated music continues, UNIFI Music is simply exploring the potential of AI in other areas of the industry. By leveraging AI’s capabilities, the company’s vision is to provide artists with personalized guidance and support, leveling the playing field and democratizing access to the tools and resources needed to succeed.

“UNIFI has the potential to revolutionize artist management and empower emerging musicians. We may also catapult fringe scenes and artists to the fore by boosting their industry savvy and experience overnight,” Robinson relayed. “That’s exciting stuff.”

If you’d like to connect with UNIFI Music, please contact La’Shion Robinson directly at l@unifimusic.ai.

Photo Credit: A2IM

It’s safe to say the indie music community isn’t a fan of TikTok, which is facing a fresh wave of criticism ahead of its Merlin agreement’s quick-approaching expiration.

The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), the Artist Rights Alliance (ARA), the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), and other organizations today expressed this criticism in a joint statement.

As many know, the popular-but-controversial TikTok has decided not to renew its pact with indie collective Merlin, instead opting to explore direct deals with the appropriate labels. Earlier in October, leaks suggested that the proposed take-it-or-leave-it terms would in several instances pay substantially less than under the Merlin tie-up.

Unsurprisingly, the situation isn’t sitting right with the affected labels, which are said to have until this coming Friday, October 25th, to choose between the reportedly reduced terms or having their respective catalogs pulled from the platform.

(These labels reportedly include all but the largest indies, which, despite the standardized contracts being sent to their smaller counterparts, are said to be engaged in actual discussions with TikTok.)

It’s against this backdrop that the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN) one week ago publicly called out TikTok’s alleged hardball negotiation tactics – besides warning of adjacent “risks to cultural diversity” and urging the passage of the Protect Working Musicians Act.

Now, the initially mentioned organizations as well as the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC), the Music Artists Coalition (MAC), SAG-AFTRA, and Songwriters of North America (SONA) are taking aim at the ByteDance-owned app’s alleged effort to do “whatever it can to avoid compensating artists fairly.”

Admittedly, the entities’ statement, included in full below, doesn’t appear to break any new ground in reiterating Merlin’s significance, the episode’s negative impact on indie artists, and the perceived importance of making the Protect Working Musicians Act law.

However, the to-the-point comments do underscore the indie sector’s growing dissatisfaction. With TikTok (which did, of course, pick a licensing battle with Universal Music earlier in 2024) seemingly unwilling to budge on the Merlin renewal, the focus will presumably shift to the imminent music pulldowns and, at least in the near term, diehard users’ responses.

Here’s the full statement put out today by A2IM, ARA, AFM, BMAC, MAC, SAG-AFTRA, and SONA.

“TikTok’s unwillingness to negotiate a licensing deal with Merlin is just the latest example of the platform doing whatever it can to avoid compensating artists fairly.

For over 15 years, Merlin has endeavored to provide access to digital platforms for small labels and artists by presenting a way for the tech behemoths to deal with one entity that can license works from many labels.

TikTok’s unprecedented action puts independent artists and songwriters in the untenable position of having no voice whatsoever in the licensing process.

Now, more than ever, we need Congress to enact the Protect Working Musicians Act and give musicians, songwriters, independent labels, and publishers the ability to negotiate collectively in the marketplace, which current law prohibits.

Without this legislative change to level the playing field, artists and songwriters will continue to be at the mercy of dominant and coercive services like TikTok who refuse to negotiate fairly with the very people creating the content on which their entire business is built.”

IMPALA is demanding an investigation into Universal Music Group’s recent purchase of the remaining stake in [PIAS], allegedly the latest byproduct of ‘unchecked concentration in the music market.’ Photo Credit: IMPALA

Now a wholly owned subsidiary of Universal Music Group (UMG), [PIAS] has officially exited the Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA), which is calling for regulators to investigate the underlying deal.

IMPALA today confirmed the departure of [PIAS] and formally reacted to UMG’s purchase of the decades-old indie label group. Said purchase, we reported earlier this week, saw Universal Music scoop up the remaining 51% of the business after buying a 49% stake in 2022.

Besides thanking [PIAS] co-founders Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot “for their support and insight over the past twenty four years,” IMPALA took aim at the “serious problem” of “unchecked concentration in the music market” and pushed for related regulatory action. (A Wayback Machine copy of the appropriate webpage indicates that only Lambot, not Gates, had been on IMPALA’s board prior to the post-sale exit.)

“The move by UMG squeezes the independents further in an already very concentrated market,” the Brussels-based organization wrote. “It also goes against the principle established by the European Commission over ten years ago during UMG’s takeover of EMI that UMG is already too big.”

Emphasizing the EU’s evidently expired “ten year ban” on acquisitions for UMG, 24-year-old IMPALA then drove home the belief that the [PIAS] play “will increase the power of UMG across Europe and beyond.”

Moreover, regarding the consolidation efforts of all three majors, there’s “a serious risk” that Universal Music, Sony Music, and Warner Music will bring about a “real disruption for the independent sector” by continuing to spearhead indie-sector purchases, per IMPALA.

Multiple IMPALA higher-ups, including AIM interim CEO Gee Davy, weighed in on the [PIAS] sale and its implications for the indie space – with executive chair Helen Smith driving home the perceived need for competition-focused scrutiny.

“IMPALA expects regulators to investigate the acquisition and answer the question the industry is asking about how it is possible for UMG to gain more market share after it was already considered too big,” Smith spelled out of the [PIAS] purchase concerns.

“We would expect both physical and digital markets to be assessed including for distribution services, as well as the impact on competitors, digital services, artists and fans. A share deal is one thing, this is something else,” concluded Smith.

Time will tell whether the sought probe of the newest deal between UMG and [PIAS] comes to fruition – and whether the possible inquiry produces the desired result for the WIN member IMPALA. Previously, Sony Music’s AWAL purchase encountered some regulatory scrutiny in the U.K. but was ultimately approved.

Worth highlighting in conclusion is that [PIAS] co-founder Kenny Gates, as noted at the time of the sale’s announcement, is poised to continue running the business as a division of UMG; the professional status of fellow co-founder Michel Lambot wasn’t quite as clear. However, Lambot is set to “remain active in the music and broader cultural sector through a new business, Emotions,” IMPALA confirmed.

[PIAS] co-founders Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot, who’ve sold their remaining shares in the company to Universal Music Group. Photo Credit: UMG

Independent no more: Just shy of two years after selling a minority stake to Universal Music Group (UMG), [PIAS] has parted with its remaining shares in a new deal with the leading label.

UMG reached out with a formal announcement message but has thus far opted against providing additional details (including price-tag specifics) about the transaction. In any event, November of 2022 had seen the major scoop up a 49% interest in the self-described “family of independent record labels” [PIAS].

And now, the co-founders of this London-headquartered label family, Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot, have opted “to sell the remaining shares they hold in the company,” UMG spelled out.

As to the post-purchase organization, [PIAS] is set to roll its [Integral] distribution unit into UMG’s Virgin Music Group. At least for the time being, the labels behind [PIAS], including but not limited to the namesake Play It Again Sam (PIAS) and Spinefarm, will in Universal Music’s own words “remain completely autonomous.”

Next, the aforementioned [PIAS] head Kenny Gates has inked “a long-term contract to remain as CEO” and will also sit on Virgin Music Group’s board, the purchasing party communicated.

“I am selling my shares not my soul,” relayed Gates, who established [PIAS] more than four decades ago. “Since agreeing [to] a strategic alliance with UMG in 2021 we have found them to be supportive and engaged partners who have added real value to our offering.

“The decision by myself and Michel to relinquish our remaining shareholdings in the company is a pragmatic one that will allow us to offer a truly global distribution and services platform to the independent music community,” the exec proceeded in part.

While the text doesn’t come right out and acknowledge co-founder Michel Lambot’s role moving forward, the longtime exec, who’s also CEO of a company called Emotions, appeared to indicate that he’ll remain part of [PIAS].

“This new phase, which will see us working even closer together promises to be an exciting new era for [PIAS], our staff, our partners and the artists we represent,” the Strictly Confidential chairman and former co-president relayed.

Taking a step back, UMG’s deal for the remaining piece of [PIAS] marks the latest in a long line of indie-focused consolidations from the majors. In the end, Artists Without a Label (AWAL) did, in fact, see its acts find a label – and the second-largest label in the world at that.

The Orchard owner Sony Music announced the $430 million AWAL purchase in 2021, and the transaction cleared regulatory hurdles the following year. Bringing the focus closer to the present, it was only earlier in 2024 that Warner Music Group made a serious play for Believe.

However, the acquisition-minded WMG ultimately abandoned the takeover attempt, thereby removing a massive obstacle for Believe on the road back to private ownership.

Worldwide Independent Network (WIN) CEO Noemí Planas, who’s calling out TikTok’s alleged decision to forgo renewing with Merlin in favor of engaging in hardball direct negotiations with indies. Photo Credit: Jacobo Medrano/WIN

Last week, ahead of the TikTok-Merlin deal’s expiration, leaks shed light on the app’s alleged hardball offers to individual indie labels. Now, the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN) and several member organizations are speaking out against the possible attempt “to pay less for music.”

WIN as well as the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) and others weighed in on the matter today, following the mentioned contract-detail leaks. As we covered at length, multiple indie-label sources have described receiving standardized contracts (not being engaged directly) proposing far lower payout terms than under the Merlin union.

And with just 17 days until that Merlin-TikTok pact’s expiration – and even less time than that before indies’ works will be ripped down in the absence of direct deals – the clock is ticking for labels to choose between accepting allegedly reduced terms and exiting the ultra-popular app.

Bearing in mind this far-from-ideal backdrop (especially for indies, of course), WIN CEO Noemí Planas is voicing the belief that “TikTok’s decision poses risks to cultural diversity, market access, and fair payment for independents.”

Policymakers, the WIN head of nearly two years proceeded, should “regulate the tech sector to ensure a truly competitive market where creators’ rights are protected from abusive and monopolistic behavior.”

Meanwhile, Richard Burgess, CEO of the aforementioned A2IM, is also speaking out against TikTok’s unwillingness to renew its Merlin tie-up and doubling down on calls for legislative action.

“TikTok’s unwillingness to negotiate a licensing deal with Merlin is just the latest example of the platform doing whatever it can to avoid compensating artists fairly,” communicated Burgess. “Now, more than ever, we need Congress to enact the Protect Working Musicians Act and give musicians, songwriters, independent labels, and publishers the ability to negotiate collectively in the marketplace.”

(The Protect Working Musicians Act was introduced in Congress in October of 2021 and reintroduced with some expansions in September of 2023, but remains in committee.)

Additionally, the Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA), the Record Label Industry Association of Korea (LIAK), the Associação Brasileira da Música Independente (ABMI), and Independent Music New Zealand (IMNZ) likewise provided statements criticizing TikTok’s strategy and calling in more words for a renewed Merlin agreement.

Needless to say, time will tell how the episode concludes; in explaining the decision not to re-up with Merlin, TikTok pointed to purported fraud-detection shortcomings from the indie collective.

However, the available evidence suggests that the split could also deliver material licensing savings to a layoff-minded TikTok, which, notwithstanding the standardized contracts it’s reportedly sending smaller indies, is said to be negotiating directly with larger players.

At the risk of stating the obvious, things would perhaps unfold differently if one or more of these larger players took a dealmaking stand on behalf of the wider indie sector.

Amid the end of a deal with Merlin, TikTok is reportedly proposing dramatically reduced compensation terms to individual indies. Photo Credit: Solen Feyissa

A little over a week after word of the TikTok-Merlin split surfaced, new details are emerging about the direct-deal terms being offered to individual indies.

We’re now three weeks out from the expiration of the TikTok-Merlin agreement, which, in the absence of a last-minute change of heart and renewal, will conclude on the 31st. Without retreading too much ground – we’ve already broken down the abrupt split, the indie-space reaction, and, closer to the top of 2024, the since-resolved licensing dispute between the platform and Universal Music – this doesn’t necessarily mean indies are exiting TikTok.

Rather, like with the National Music Publishers’ Association’s lack of an across-the-board TikTok tie-up on the compositional side, the appropriate labels are still free to hammer out deals with the ByteDance subsidiary.

Unsurprisingly, the initially mentioned details are pointing to TikTok’s floating far-from-lucrative terms in these direct talks.

Amid apparent belt-tightening efforts at the short-form giant, which is shutting down its namesake standalone streaming platform, higher-ups have forwarded “at least three different TikTok contracts” to various indies, per Variety.

The outlet opted against diving into the NDA-protected specifics at hand, but citing anonymous sources with knowledge of the matter, it did indicate that one such deal would pay “‘less than half’” the current rate under Merlin.

Stated bluntly, evidence strongly suggests that this present rate is itself not ideal; scratching the surface here, TikTok music usages reportedly pay a flat sum per video regardless of view count.

Moreover, the newly proposed terms, which the involved labels must approve by October 25th to avoid takedowns, are reportedly being sent out as “standardized contracts” for smaller players, with the app engaging in actual talks with larger indies.

Said contracts are reportedly light on “protections” (presumably referring at least in part to AI, which UMG cited as a hang-up in its own TikTok dispute).

In other words, the current month could well see a substantial amount of music exit TikTok, which has, of course, refuted criticism of its direct-licensing approach and emphasized alleged fraud-detection shortcomings on Merlin’s part.

Taking a step back, it’s worth reiterating that the controversial platform has in recent years quietly made a number of moves seemingly designed to bypass labels altogether.

Those moves – among them the rollout of the SoundOn distribution service, robust creator-subscription options, and even a talent-discovery competition for unsigned acts, to name just some – are particularly significant against the backdrop of the indie negotiations.

Though it’d be difficult for TikTok to put a positive spin on once again losing a portion of its song library, more pressing for it (and, to a lesser extent, pretty much all industry stakeholders) is the growing chance of the app’s shutdown in the U.S. As things stand, TikTok has until January 19th to sell, which it’s adamant would be impossible, or cease operating in the States.

As a composer, songwriter, or other creative, with so many demands on your time, maintaining your online presence can often feel like a chore, or even worse, fall through the cracks and get ignored altogether.

The following comes from DMN partner Breeze Tunes and their insanely informative podcast, Selling Sheet Music.

In today’s hyper-online world, being mindful of how we present ourselves and our music in the digital realm is more important than ever. That’s why Selling Sheet Music has created this handy checklist to make it easier for you to manage your online profiles and take full advantage of the available tools and opportunities.

Whether you are a composer, artist, publisher, or something in between, following these steps will make it easier for clients and fans to find and discover your music.

1. Google Yourself

Putting yourself in your fans’ shoes is essential! So, as egotistical or odd as it might seem, it’s important to Google yourself from time to time. You can learn a lot by looking at what shows up under various search terms, and you can learn even more by what doesn’t come up!

One key thing to remember is that search results often vary by device, so make sure you try it out on mobile, desktop, and incognito mode to get the fullest picture of what potential customers are seeing. And don’t forget that images and videos have their own separate search algorithm.

This is one of the best ways of figuring out what kind of content to create and what kind of first impression you’re generating.

2. Set Up Home Base

Now that you have a better idea of what people are seeing about you online, you can use that to help steer your visitors online to where you most want them to go. Usually, that means a website, but a social media profile could work, too.

Whatever you choose as your home base, the goals are the same: You want to seem current and competent, and you want it to be really obvious what visitors should do. Maybe it’s buying sheet music, or maybe it’s listening to an album on streamers, but whatever your goals are, make sure they’re super obvious!

If someone has already gotten to the point where they’ve decided to click on your website, there’s no reason to be timid about selling to them. And, of course, make sure your photos, biography, and contact information are up to date!

3. Claim Your Public Profiles

There are two categories of what I call “profile sites” online. The first are your standard social media profiles: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, etc. You probably already have profiles on one or more of these sites.

However, you can do a couple of things to improve your performance. The first is to have a consistent handle across all your profiles to make it easy for fans to jump from one to the other. The second is to ensure that you are using the business or professional versions of these profiles because that gives you more scheduling, advertising, and analytic tools than a personal profile. You might also consider paying for a verified badge, depending on your situation and how much you use the platform.

The second category of sites are your “distribution profiles.” These are the third-party sites where you are selling or streaming music. This includes Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Sheet Music Plus, Sheet Music Direct, JW Pepper, Musicnotes, or anywhere people can find your music.

For some of these sites, you create an artist profile when you register; for others, like streaming services, they will need to be claimed after the fact. But these sites should not be ignored—because they have such a large footprint they often show up highly in search results even if you have a small amount of music on them.

Film composers should also claim their profile on IMDB, and for artists that are well established, you can also be eligible to claim your Google Knowledge Panel, which lets you edit or influence the suggested results that Google puts in the little box next to the search results.

4. Produce Content

Once you’ve updated all your pages, claimed all your profiles, and importantly, linked them to each other, you can start thinking about content. Keep in mind for many people the first place they discover a composer is not a search result or a web page, it’s a piece of content like a video or blog post. You don’t want to burn yourself out (or waste time better spent creating music), so prioritize quality over quantity. Focus on what makes you unique, and what you can do that others can’t.

One of the reasons to prioritize quality over quantity is that you should be repurposing this content for a variety of formats (text, image, video, audio), and when you do that, the quantity follows naturally. Some people batch content, for example, spending a day creating the posts for several weeks and then scheduling it out, while others take it one week at a time. Whatever your approach, consistency is the key.

Finally, don’t feel the need to post to all platforms all the time. Focus on the two or three that have the largest audience or give you the most interactions.

5. Schedule Maintenance

One way to maintain that consistency is to schedule time to update these profiles regularly. You can sort tasks according to how frequently they need to be done and put reminders in your calendar. I tend to do an annual “spring cleaning” at the end of the school year for major web updates, things like profile pictures and biographies. And then monthly updates to plan content based on whatever projects are going to be released next.

This stuff can be boring, and it’s not what we signed up to do as musicians. But the hope is that putting in the time up front to set things up in the right way makes it easier to maintain, especially if you’re checking in regularly rather than letting tasks pile up month after month.

Too Lost-distributed artist Ollie Joseph (Photo: Ollie Joseph)

The music industry isn’t running out of music distributors anytime soon, though Too Lost is differentiating with some interesting innovations —including a deep list of partnerships that include BMG, Easy Song, beatBread, and Delta.

Music distribution is a seriously competitive sub-industry, though a relatively fresh face, Too Lost, is making waves by rethinking the traditional distribution model.

Already, the company is getting good marks from the musician community for solving issues like streaming fraud and enabling artist financing. However, the company is also pushing an expansive partnership strategy designed to offer artists and labels more than just a path to digital service providers (DSPs).

The result: Too Lost is suddenly pushing distribution far beyond the traditional task of shuttling music from A-to-B. With an array of non-traditional partners, the company aims to provide broader opportunities for its artists, with the end game of reaching new and diverse audiences. Just recently, Too Lost partnered with Digital Music News to further expand their growing footprint.

Several notable artists are already on board with Too Lost’s refreshed concept, including Chief Keef, ILoveMakonnen, YG, Xavier Wulf, Lil Mabu, Josiah and the Bonnevilles, Ali Gatie, Lucifer, Joseph Tilly, and Pink Sweats. Also in the Too Lost mix are up-and-coming artists like Ollie Joseph (pictured), who recently crossed 600,000 followers on Spotify.

At this stage of the game, artists can quickly move their music onto Spotify or Apple Music with more than a dozen high-quality distribution platforms.

Against that competitive landscape, Too Lost decided to expand the role of traditional distribution. Too Lost excels in DSP distribution (they are a Spotify Preferred Provider, for example), though they also offer competencies in critical areas like cover licensing, financing, and publishing administration.

Too Lost told Digital Music News they decided against building those competencies from scratch for several reasons. For starters, the ‘wheel has already been invented’ in many critical music industry core competencies, so why not simply partner with the best to rapidly expand the possibilities for its artists?

In the case of cover licensing, that meant brokering a deal with Easy Song. In artist financing, a beatBread deal was inked to enable flexible financing options, enabling Too Lost artists to fund their projects without traditional record deals. For publishing administration, a BMG partnership was brokered. And the list goes on.

“Our partnerships with industry leaders like BMG and beatBread are a testament to Too Lost’s commitment to providing artists with comprehensive tools and resources,” said Damien Ritter, Director of Marketing at Too Lost. “By leveraging these collaborations, we empower artists to focus on their creativity while we handle the complexities of rights management, financing, and content protection.”

Here’s a quick rundown of some of Too Lost’s top partnerships.

Too Lost told us that this is a rapidly-growing list, though these are currently some of their most impactful and essential partnerships.

Easy Song: Simplifies the complex world of song licensing, making it easier for artists to cover songs legally.

Pex: Provides robust content identification and monetization tools.

Cosynd: Offers enhanced IP protections, ensuring artists’ intellectual property is well-guarded.

BMG: Assists with publishing administration and royalty management, freeing artists from the intricacies of managing their publishing rights.

Beatbread: Facilitates flexible financing options, enabling artists to fund their projects without the need for traditional record deals.

Manifest (formerly Nerve): Ensures direct payouts to artists, streamlining the financial aspects of music distribution.

Beyond its core partner alliances, Too Lost is also focusing on non-traditional distribution endpoints.

For most artists, uploading an album to Spotify is akin to pouring water into the Pacific Ocean. Current estimates peg the number of songs uploaded to DSPs at more than 120,000 a day, and AI only worsens the situation.

So, how do you get noticed in such an intimidatingly vast sea of ‘content’? Too Lost says they hear this problem repeatedly, though not every platform is so crowded. Accordingly, the company has partnered with companies like Delta and Peloton to help artists break through.

Delta doesn’t offer an on-demand platform with millions of songs, though they do promote selected songs to captive fliers. The noise floor is suddenly overcome if an artist is chosen for one of the airline’s in-flight entertainment systems.

The same is true for Peloton, whose high-energy workout playlists can make fans out of fitness enthusiasts if the vibe is right. Too Lost also brokered a partnership with Sonu Stream, co-founded by Tokimonsta, which aims to better compensate artists for their streams. These non-traditional partnerships aim to expand the reach of Too Lost’s artists, ensuring that their music can be discovered in unexpected places.

After a relatively short period in the industry, Too Lost has received positive marks from musicians.

Among the biggest fans is Ari Herstand, a respected musician and industry expert who recently proclaimed that “Too Lost is one of the best-kept secrets in the music distribution world.”

“Their commitment to artist autonomy and unmatched administrative support sets them apart from the competition,” Ari gushed.

Too Lost’s top artists are also tapping into the platform’s network of partnerships, with tracks getting financed and popping up on non-traditional playlists. “At Too Lost, we are incredibly proud of the innovative solutions and partnerships we’ve developed to support our artists,” says Ritter. “Our mission is to empower musicians by providing them with the tools and resources they need to succeed in today’s dynamic music industry.”

“At Too Lost, we firmly believe that you can make a serious creative dent and find your fans — but you need the right partners to do it.”

Photo Credit: Merch Cat

Live shows are where some of the greatest opportunities lie to capitalize on the artist/fan connection and drive home merch sales.

The following was created in partnership with Merch Cat.

Most of us inherently know that in today’s music landscape, artist merch is an important revenue stream, a great way to market and promote an artist’s brand, and a way to unite and engage fans. But something that no one seems to talk much about is merch strategy. 

We hear a lot of talk about music release strategy, booking strategy, tour planning, marketing strategy, rights protection and overall strategy for an artist, but what about merch strategy as a matter of course? As in approaching merch in an intentional way, with the goal of maximizing artist merch income and return on investment while taking a holistic approach and factoring in all of the pieces that go into the whole – i.e. building an actionable plan and then executing it, measuring results, and making go forward adjustments where needed. 

It may sound rudimentary, and I’m sure it gets discussed in some artist camps behind the scenes, but doesn’t this very fundamental and potentially very lucrative revenue stream deserve the attention to strategy that the other streams get?  After all, it is probably the lowest hanging fruit of revenue streams as far as getting real time cash in hand, especially for touring artists. Live shows are where some of the greatest opportunities lie to capitalize on the artist/fan connection and drive home merch sales.  

Artist merch strategy is needed because not strategizing results in lost revenue, lost data for future revenue generation, lost inventory control and lost opportunities. 

As fundamental a revenue stream as merch is, there often seems to be an undertone of afterthought or notion that it will somehow get done. And it may very well get done, but likely not with the optimal outcome. In fact, it’s probably not an overstatement to say merch is all over the place and super fragmented. 

From the way merch is sourced to the way it is sold, everyone has a different process. And a lot of merch out there lately seems like it’s a check the box item, and feels either disconnected from the artist’s brand or out of touch with what fans might actually want. Strategizing can help. Like other facets of an artist’s business, an overall merch strategy is necessary to provide an outline or game plan of how the desired objectives, namely profitability and marketing, can be achieved given all of the factors that go into it.

Speaking of factors, it’s not surprising that merch can be somewhat daunting. Merch can be super complex because there are multiple disciplines at play and not everyone is an expert at each one. Merch is a combination of: 

1) Branding/Logo/Design 

2) Physical Merch Purchasing (product selection, costs & shipping considerations) 

3) Product Decoration (printing/embroidery/imprinting) 

4) Touring & Logistics (if for live shows) 

5) E-Commerce (for online) 

6) Shipping to fans, venues, etc. 

7) Marketing; and 

8) Financial Planning/Budgeting. 

Sure, some of these factors might be out of our control, but rather than viewing them as stand-alone components aka “it’s not our focus”, “we don’t have time for that” or “the merch company is handling it”, we’d be better positioned if we took control by investing a little time into considering all of the pieces that go into the big merch puzzle, and how they work together as part of the whole picture. 

When we do that, things can become a little more cohesive. When things are cohesive, they are measurable. When they are measurable, they are able to be analyzed and improved. 

A merch strategy should consider the above factors and answer “What products and designs do we want to offer? Are they on brand? Are they items fans will want? How/where are we going to obtain them? What are we willing to pay for them and what prices can we sell them at to achieve targeted revenue? What is our target revenue and profit? Where will we sell these items? How will we use the merch to fuel relationships with fans? What platform/tools will we use to sell the merch and retain the data and information related to fans and sales? How will we use this data going forward?

By laying out a merch strategy this way, a few things will happen – 1) You will be able to determine if the merch you are planning to make is feasible. 2)You will be able to be thoughtful about products 3) You will be able to take time to consider whether or not fans are being served 4) There will be structure, organization, and a blueprint to follow which will remove some of the pain points involved in the merch process 5) There will be an accountability factor where you can and should check in and see what is working and what is not, re-evaluate and adjust accordingly. 

Merch is a journey not a destination, and needs to be evaluated in an ongoing manner to ensure the proper exploitation of this revenue stream. 

There may not be a one size fits all answer to the many challenges of merch, but putting strategy at the forefront can certainly help us get closer to clarity, organization, a game plan to follow, accountability, transparency, data insights, and ultimately increased revenue.

Merch is a fan connector and touches every part of an artist’s business either directly or indirectly. A merch strategy should be considered along with the other components of an artist’s business to create synergy so that all facets are working together to maximize the outcomes. Strategizing will help ensure that the main objectives of merch – revenue, marketing and fan engagement – don’t get buried in the process shuffle leading to lost time, money, and opportunity. 

Vanessa Ferrer is the founder of Merch Cat, a company that provides a user friendly live show merch management platform for artists and their teams, with a connected direct to fan app that enables fans to pick merch up at the show or ship to home. Merch Cat also provides merch strategy and sourcing services to help artists maximize the merch revenue stream.

Photo: James McCartney IG

After dropping two new music collaborations with Sean Ono Lennon, James McCartney’s next release is a cover of Joni Mitchell’s iconic “Circle Game.”

The following was created in partnership with earthprogram.

McCartney recently teamed up with Sean Ono Lennon for the release of “Primrose Hill,” co-written with the youngest son of the late John Lennon. McCartney said at the time that the acoustic ballad is named for an idyllic park in Camden overlooking London’s Regent’s Park. The song itself was inspired by a vision the young McCartney had as a child on a summer day in Scotland. 

The release of “Primrose Hill” follows the release of “Beautiful,” which the pair of Beatles’ sons dropped in February 2024. The McCartney-Lennon collaboration songs are McCartney’s first new music since he dropped his second album in 2016. He released his full-length debut album, Me, in May 2013, which was co-produced by Paul and David Kahne. 

James McCartney’s music carries a unique blend of melodic pop and introspective lyrics, reviving the 60s style his father helped make so popular. It also echoes the folk-infused sound of artists like Ray LaMontagne and Damien Rice.

McCartney’s newer releases are distributed by earthprogram, an industry firm founded by A&R vets Jason & Joel T. Jordan, in a distribution and IP protection collaboration with Virgin Music.DMN profiled earthprogram earlier this year — and have now locked arms with the founders to showcase new releases. 

The industry incubator offers expert consulting and business development services for artists, labels, startups, and ‘green’ investors. For artists like McCartney, earthprogram aims to expand creative output and capture audience attention by collaborating and marketing across multiple platforms.

Jason told Digital Music News that his team’s expertise and extensive network of music industry partnerships places it in a unique position to market their artists.

The twins say they founded the business because they realized many artists are ‘green’ when it comes to the business side of the music industry. “Playlisting is not a marketing strategy,” Jason told Digital Music News recently. Musicians who put their entire album online at once ‘simply blew their investment’ Jordan adds, instead of building a story out over a year, forming the building blocks for a career in the industry.

“Circle Game” is the latest single from James McCartney, releasing today as a teaser for his upcoming EP set to release Fall 2024. McCartney’s version of the song beautifully complements the enchanting charm of Joni Mitchell’s original recording, while adding upbeat energy and an infectious joy.

James McCartney is an English-American multi-instrumentalist, prolific singer-songwriter. He has contributed to solo albums by his parents, including Flaming Pie and Driving Rain by Paul McCartney and Wide Prairie by Linda McCartney.

Photo Credit: Songbox

If you’re using a service like Dropbox, SoundCloud, Songspace or DISCO to share audio and music files, you might want to reconsider whether that’s the best idea.

The following comes from Songbox, a company DMN is partnered with.

There’s a better solution that gives you much more control over how you share your music, and that comes loaded with useful features designed by tech-focussed musicians.

Songbox is a new platform with state-of-the-art, secure music-sharing capabilities. Based in Glasgow, Scotland, Songbox is streets ahead of competitors in terms of what it can do for people who work with music files.

So, what makes Songbox superior to rivals like Dropbox and Songspace?

• Using Dropbox, you share the file itself, which means it’s out there and potentially shared with anyone. With Songbox, you send a private link via email or text message that only the recipient can play. They can’t download your file unless you want them to.
• Dropbox doesn’t include detailed listening analytics. With Songbox, you know who has listened, what tracks they’ve listened to, and for how long.
• You can’t share playlists with Dropbox. Every track you share via Dropbox must be opened in its window. Songbox gives you full control over how you share your tracks. One at a time or in a playlist – it’s your call.
• A Dropbox shared file does not include security, while Songbox includes multiple layers of built-in security. Nobody will hear it unless you want them to.
• Songbox allows you to attach lyrics to each track. You can also attach a PDF to your playlist, containing anything from a press kit to liner notes.

• Songbox’s writer submission workflow makes accepting tracks from writers a breeze—no more downloading WAV files from emails and manually uploading them.
• Songbox is ready to welcome new users looking for an alternative solution because their previous provider couldn’t meet their expectations—or they shut down and left customers hanging.

Songbox was designed and created by a musician who has also worked in tech and the media side of the music business. Founder Michael Coll knows what features are important to music creators and what end users want when reviewing audio files.

Along with co-founder Ciaran O’Toole, Michael listens to Songbox users and responds to their questions or suggestions. That means Songbox is always evolving, with its users at the heart of the decision-making process.

Michael and Ciaran welcomed multi-platinum recording Artist and Grammy Award Winner Bryan Adams onto the team as a co-founder, and his insights have helped to enhance Songbox further.

The team is also confident that Songbox outperforms competitors other than Dropbox. SoundCloud, for example, restricts the type of audio files you can share and limits the file quality even with a premium subscription. With Songbox, you choose the quality your listener hears, your track and your preferred file type. Consider what that means if you’re sharing early mixes, for example.

Songbox’s simple, self-explanatory platform means you won’t need much help. However, our pop-up help flags have proven to be a hit with users who say the Songbox user experience is much simpler than Soundcloud’s interface.

If you’re using DISCO and finding the cost high and the feature set low, Songbox is here to change that.

And Songbox is confident its key features make for a superior experience to Songspace’s.

Try it today at Songbox’s website at no cost with no credit card required.

Merlin Connect, a licensing option for emerging platforms, has officially launched. Photo Credit: Merlin

Merlin has officially debuted a program that will afford certain emerging platforms access to pre-cleared music and “mutually beneficial collaborations.”

The indie mainstay just recently announced this initiative, dubbed Merlin Connect. As described by the London-based organization, the offering will be available only to “a select group of promising emerging technology platforms.”

Said platforms must apply for enrollment consideration, per Merlin, which intends to zero in on each service’s “capacity for innovation and evolution,” leadership strength, and team resilience.

In sum, that seemingly refers to platforms with the potential to make a material commercial splash in the long term, presumably delivering heightened licensing payments and promotion along the way. As Merlin sees it, properly licensing music (which has, of course, proven an expensive obstacle in the past) “remains a prohibitive challenge.”

“The majority of technology companies that attempt to license quality music find the process challenging, time consuming, and expensive,” the Canva and Audiomack partner explained. “That means very few platforms have the opportunity to experiment and learn how quality music can have a positive impact on their users and change the trajectory of their growth.”

Building on the point, Merlin spelled out that it, far from employing a hands-off approach to licensing under the initiative, aims to assist “approved partners to maximize the impact of music.”

When it comes to member compensation, Merlin Connect is expected to attach “a fair valuation” to the involved works, besides ostensibly fueling “unique marketing opportunities” as well as ground-level relationships with rising platforms.

Elaborating on the latter idea, Merlin CEO Jeremy Sirota drove home an overarching objective of enabling “independent members and their artists to sit at the forefront of music and technology.”

“Merlin Connect is our commitment to finding and unlocking new opportunities for our members in a disruptive industry,” Sirota communicated in part. “Our audacious goal is to partner with the next suite of platforms that shape the future of music monetization for Merlin’s members. We want our independent members and their artists to sit at the forefront of music and technology.”

Moving forward, it’ll be worth monitoring the results delivered by Merlin Connect, which appears a particularly worthwhile initiative given the well-documented licensing woes of many sizable platforms.

Those woes, not to mention the potentially prohibitive costs and timetables associated with exploring even pre-packaged licensing options, have undoubtedly dissuaded up-and-coming services from tapping into music.

Less than two years have passed since Songclip, a self-described “music licensing and integration solution for offering music as a feature in dating apps, gaming apps, messaging apps, social platforms, and more,” announced a Universal Music pact.

Boasting a “plug-and-play API,” the startup allowed third-party apps to add song snippets as long as 45 seconds. But even licensing parts of tracks via the process at hand required anywhere from eight weeks to eight months, according to Songclip, the website for which currently displays a “page not found” error message.

For Michael “Fish” Herring, a veteran guitarist with 25 years of touring experience, playing with industry luminaries like Dru Hill, Christina Aguilera, Stevie Wonder, Justin Timberlake, and Prince is just a fraction of his diverse and illustrious career.

The following comes from Crewest Studio, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

Welcome to The Conduit, a podcast featuring candid conversations with professional musicians who give listeners the unvarnished truth about being an artist in the music business today. In today’s episode, host and LA-based DJ, producer, and musician Dan Ubick (aka Constantine “Connie” Price) sits down with Michael “Fish” Herring to discuss the musician’s philosophy on creativity, collaboration, and learning. “I try to listen and learn [from] people first,” he says. “That makes it easier to thrive in a situation, whatever the situation is.”

Michael grew up listening to a wide variety of music, including progressive rock, jazz, classical, and musical titans like Grover Washington Jr., who hails from Michael’s hometown of Philadelphia.

While he still tours with Christina Aguilera and other illustrious artists, Michael spends most of his time producing, recording, and developing new talent.

He also composes and arranges music for TV and film from his studio and home in Burbank, California. “Every time I meet a new person, a new musician, somebody creative, I’m [inspired],” he says of his career. “I think everybody has got to keep that mindset and help each other out and inspire each other.”

In today’s episode, Michael reflects on the influence his family and schooling had on him while growing up and shares some hilarious and inspiring anecdotes from his journey through the music industry.

From starting the band Psychedelic Mushroom at just nine years old to catching a joint thrown by Rick James as an adult, Michael has seen it all: “I have a fond memory of [Rick James] lighting a joint in the control room and the joint catching on fire and him tossing it to me while it was on fire,” he muses. “Rick can do whatever he wants!”

Tuning in, you’ll find out about Fish’s “listen and learn” approach (“listen to every note that every player is playing because that affects you”) and how he continues to push himself creatively by allowing recording artists to guide him. “The future of music is always uncertain,” he quips. “It’s constantly changing with technology. It’s constantly changing as an art form. It’s constantly changing as a job. Who knows where the next gig is going to come from, [but there are] always gigs.”

For world-class professional advice from musician, songwriter, guitarist, composer, producer, author, inventor, screenwriter, and all-around music industry veteran Michael “Fish” Herring, tune into today’s episode of The Conduit.

Songbox is changing how musicians handle and protect their music, and now the Scottish start-up is ready to disrupt the industry further.

The following comes from Songbox, a company DMN is partnered with.

A new platform changing how musicians handle and protect their music is making a huge splash with its state-of-the-art, secure audio-sharing capabilities. Based in Glasgow, Scotland, and co-founded by Multi-Platinum Recording Artist & Grammy Award Winner Bryan Adams, Songbox launched without external funding and already has thousands of global users.

The company is looking to partner with other businesses and collaborate on developing exciting new features. Songbox allows musicians and other audio content creators to store and securely share their music with anyone they choose, whether co-creators, collaborators, industry figures, or media outlets—the possibilities are endless.

The platform lets the content creator know that the audio has been received and whether it has been listened to, even confirming which tracks have been played and for how long. And it’s all done with built-in privacy and security.

The team behind Songbox is proud of its relationship with its users. They regularly incorporate their feedback in developing new features and have built the platform on this spirit of collaboration.

Songbox founder Michael Coll says: “From the moment we launched Songbox, we’ve quickly adapted the platform as needed and improved its capabilities. We’re in a place now where we know we can offer users many features that other platforms cannot. The insights of our users have been invaluable to us, and we love to hear from them.”

The idea for Songbox came from songwriter and musician Michael’s experiences when trying to get attention for his work. He also saw this from the other side of the fence when he later worked as a web developer at a major music industry player.

He adds: “Like many other bands, we’d send out demos and never even know whether they had been received, let alone listened to. In my job, I’d see people’s hard work in the form of hundreds of demos arrive every week, only to pile up in a corner without ever being opened. We called it ‘the corner where dreams went to die.’ I knew there had to be a better way.” His idea led to the creation of Songbox.

It’s designed for anyone who works with audio files, with various pricing options, including a free package for those who want to try without commitment.

Michael and co-founder Ciaran O’Toole want to grow Songbox and collaborate with other businesses. “We’re full of ideas, and we’d love to hear from other businesses about how we can further develop Songbox features,” adds Michael.

More information can be found at the Songbox official website.

A revolution of sorts is happening in the sheet music industry.  Just like recorded music, anyone with access to a computer can become a publisher, creating and distributing sheet music with relative ease.  Many artists wish they could publish sheet music of their songs, and this article will walk you through the steps to make it happen!

The following comes from Breeze Tunes, a company DMN is partnered with.

Why Sell Sheet Music?

Sheet music is a valuable revenue stream for your song. It may not be big money (single-song sheet music typically sells for around $5.00), but at least we’re talking about dollars rather than the fractions of cents generated by streaming.

In addition to being a valuable merch item, sheet music opens the door to many creative promotional opportunities. Icelandic Jazz/Pop artist Lofey “leaked” her new album in sheet music form, which led to 24,000 fan pre-saves. Legendary rock band Metallica hosted a marching band competition, encouraging groups around the country to arrange and perform their music. Singer-songwriter Cody Fry has used creative score videos of sheet music to rack up millions of views.

Most importantly, sheet music is a powerful way to connect with your fans, giving them the tools to recreate and experience your music on their own terms.

Step One: Notate Your Song

The obvious first step is to write your music down. Depending on the genre, you may also need to arrange it to make it suitable for your target audience. This is most effectively done in notation software like Finale, Sibelius, or Dorico, which are all professional-level applications (comparable to DAWs like ProTools, Logic, or Cubase). Once you are finished, export the music as a PDF file, which you can distribute online or print hard copies.

If you’re not comfortable with music notation (or don’t want to invest the time in learning), you can outsource this step of the process to a professional copyist, engraver, or transcriber who will make your music look top-notch! Think of them as another member of your support staff, like a producer, mixer, or audio engineer.

Step Two: Make a Cover Image

Just as albums typically come with artwork, sheet music needs a cover page to help it stand out. This image will also serve as your product thumbnail in online stores. The easiest way to make one is by using Canva, which has an extensive collection of templates and stock images you can use.

It also makes it easy to resize an image (for use in social media) or export your cover page in formats like PDF, JPEG, or PNG files.

Step Three: Write a Product Description

You’ll also want to write a short description (usually two or three sentences) explaining the basics of the song, who it’s written for, etc. This will help potential customers, but it’s also what search engines will use to display your music in results.

Step Four: Provide an Audio Demo

Nowadays, no one will buy sheet music without hearing it first. Most publishers demo their music using an MP3 recording or a YouTube video. If a live recording or performance video is not available, a quality MIDI mockup is acceptable.

Step Five: Distribution

In addition to your artist website or merch table, you can use several third-party retailers to get your music in front of more people.

The first is ArrangeMe.com, which Hal Leonard owns. Think of it like DistroKid for sheet music. You upload the music, set the price, provide the images and description, and within 24-48 hours, your music is available for sale on sheetmusicplus.com and sheetmusicdirect.com. Composers earn a 50% royalty on all sales and retain their copyrights. In addition, it is a non-exclusive agreement, meaning you can also sell your music on other sites without restriction.

ArrangeMe also has a database of more than four million songs for which it can provide copyright clearance, allowing you to legally sell arrangements or covers of popular songs. However, there are more restrictions for these arrangements, and arrangers only earn a 10% royalty on each copy sold.

Another option is MyScore, a program run by JW Pepper that allows you to sell original music on the JW Pepper website. It does not allow for sales of copyrighted arrangements; however, it offers customers the ability to order printed copies of music delivered through the mail—a big plus for school ensembles that frequently order from Pepper.

Musicnotes.com is another digital publisher that works with many independent musicians (especially on YouTube) to clear copyrights and distribute sheet music of their cover songs. Artists can work with one of their editors or upload music through the Musicnotes Marketplace website.

Step Six: Marketing

Like recorded music, getting your songs online is the easy part. Next comes the hard work of getting your sheet music in front of the right people. In many ways, this is more difficult than promoting your music on streamers because your target audience is smaller—either trained musicians or students of a particular instrument.

For ideas on successfully marketing your sheet music, follow the Selling Sheet Music podcast!

What Is Radio in 2024? The question is surprisingly complex — so we assembled a panel for recognized radio experts to help pick it apart.

The result is a comprehensive discussion on the state of radio in all of its iterations, including broadcast, streaming, satellite, DSP-generated stations, AI DJs, car dashboards, and more. In this DMN Pro exclusive discussion, we pick apart radio’s reach, the format’s surprising competitive advantages, and where non-interactive listening is heading next.

We also had a few good laughs, with will.i.am keeping things light. Jump in!

DMN Pro subscribers only.

Panelists:

• Joel Denver | Founder, All Access Music Group
• RJ Curtis | Executive Director, CRB
• Mike Huppe | CEO of SoundExchange
• Rahul Sabnis | EVP, Chief Creative Officer, iHeartMedia
• will.i.am | Producer, Award-winning Artist, Technophile Futurist, Founder & CEO of FYI
• Lee Abrams | Commander, Lee Abrams MediaVisions
• Moderator – Paul Resnikoff | Publisher, Digital Music News

On this episode of ‘The Conduit,’ host Dan Ubick sits down with Ric’key Pageot to discuss the musician’s upbringing in Montreal among a family of musicians.

The following comes from Crewest Studio, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

Location and geography hugely impact a child’s development, from the friends they make to the schools they attend. While it’s not always recognized as such, Montreal is a uniquely vibrant city with exceptionally high rates of integration that differentiate it from cosmopolitan areas like New York or Los Angeles, both diverse cities that contend with significant levels of segregation.

Today, accomplished L.A.-based musician Ric’key Pageot joins us to discuss his unusual upbringing in Montreal among a family of talented musicians. “Montreal is so integrated; you’re surrounded by every culture,” Ric’key says. “Montreal is really underrated for that.”

Welcome to The Conduit, a podcast featuring candid conversations with professional musicians who give listeners the unvarnished truth about being an artist in the music business today.

In today’s episode, host and LA-based DJ, producer, and musician Dan Ubick (aka Constantine “Connie” Price) sits down with Ric’key Pageot to discuss the musician’s journey from “classical nerd” to pop-star-supporting touring artist. “Anything outside of classical, I really wouldn’t [listen to],” says Ric’key of his years at McGill University in Montreal. “I don’t think I really listened to anything other than hip-hop, R&B, and stuff like that. It’s only when I grew older [that] I started appreciating other types of music.”

Today, Ric’key is a Steinway Artist, a title granted to only the very best pianists. In the past, he’s played piano and accordion on tour for the likes of Diana Ross, Madonna, and Cher.

During today’s episode, Ric’key shares details about his upbringing in Montreal, how it exposed him to a multitude of ideas and cultures, and why he chose to attend McGill University: “It was a great school. I loved it. And it’s kind of sad today. I don’t even think they have the same program anymore. They lost government funding. And it’s really unfortunate that music is not a priority anymore. The arts are not a priority anymore in schools.” Ric’key also describes what it was like growing up in a family full of talented musicians—and the concerts they held—before reflecting on his life as a performer.

“I’m all about tradition and moving tradition forward,” says Ric’key, describing Parlor Social, the band he formed with his wife, Dessy Di Lauro. “That’s how Parlor Social came about. It was about paying homage to the Harlem Renaissance culture and moving it forward.” Ric’key’s life as a musician has led him down incredible paths; in today’s show, he reflects on his journey, the many lessons learned, and the amazing people he’s met along the way.  

An investment consortium spearheaded by EQT, alongside Believe’s longtime investor TCV and company CEO and founder Denis Ladegaillerie, is now securing a controlling stake of nearly 72% in digital music distributor Believe. The acquisition go-ahead follows a ringing endorsement from Believe’s Board of Directors, signaling full confidence in the deal.

According to details shared late Thursday (April 18th) with Digital Music News, the consortium will soon launch a simplified public purchase offer for Believe’s remaining outstanding shares, valuing them at €15 per share. This marks a significant premium of 43.8% compared to the average stock price over the last 30 days, providing an attractive exit opportunity for existing shareholders.

As for the broader acquisition, the investment consortium now has a strong green light and will proceed within a matter of days. “All conditions… have been definitively fulfilled and the transfer of these shares is firm and irrevocable,” the parties relayed in a statement.

The board further noted that the consortium’s vision aligns with Believe’s mission to empower independent artists and labels. EQT and TCV are committed to fueling Believe’s expansion, investing heavily in technological advancements and strategic acquisitions to drive growth that outpaces the broader market.

“Believe is a world leader in the digital music market, with strong French roots and a powerful ambition to be the essential partner for independent artists and labels globally,” Denis Ladegaillerie, CEO and founder of Believe, relayed in the email.

“This operation, along with the continued backing of TCV and the expertise of EQT, will bolster our remarkable growth trajectory. We are confident this will cement our position as the global reference for independent music, allowing us to seize the vast opportunities presented by the ongoing digital transformation of the music industry.”

In a separate release emailed to Digital Music News, Believe’s Board of Directors unanimously issued a favorable opinion on the offer, emphasizing its belief that the offer aligns with the interests of the company, its employees, and its shareholders.

Specifically, the email detailed several reasons for the nod, including benefits for minority shareholders, an option for long-term investment, and the investors’ alignment on Believe’s broader mission.

“In particular, the Board of Directors considered that the Offer is in the interests of minority shareholders wishing to realize their investment, by enabling them to benefit from immediate and full liquidity at a significant premium over the relevant stock price averages, and at the same price as that obtained by the sellers of majority blocks, and thus recommended that minority shareholders pursuing this objective tender their shares to the Offer,” the email detailed.

Earlier this month, Warner Music Group (WMG) decided not to pursue the acquisition of Believe after months of negotiations between the two companies.

The decision followed concerns from independent music organizations that a WMG-Believe merger would stifle competition in the industry.

In a press release issued by the major label, WMG confirmed that “after careful consideration, it has decided not to submit a binding offer for Believe.” The statement continues: “WMG thanks the Ad Hoc Committee and Believe’s leadership team for their time and cooperation, and wishes the company every success in future.”

The deal comes at a confusing juncture for the music industry in France.

The good news is that the French music industry has been experiencing steady growth for the past seven years, and even physical media sales are holding strong. However, there are also some challenges on the horizon.

Digital sales are lagging behind other countries, and subscription growth for streaming services is slowing down. The French industry body SNEP points to competition from short-form video platforms and tax hikes on streaming services as reasons for the slowdown.

Alison Smith, BMI’s EVP, chief distribution and publisher relations officer, who today announced a revamped royalty dashboard. Photo Credit: Broadcast Music, Inc.

Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) has officially launched a revamped royalty dashboard that it says will afford member songwriters and composers “greater transparency and insight into their earnings.”

The for-profit PRO unveiled the bolstered dashboard today, via a formal release as well as a letter (penned by president and CEO Mike O’Neill) to affiliates. Beginning with the former, BMI described the offering as one component of its redesigned online platform and “broader growth plan to enhance its overall affiliate customer service experience.”

Besides providing an “intuitive, user-friendly experience” and a “fully interactive view” of statements as well as their song-specific details, this dashboard is said to boast breakdowns of top-performing works, “quarterly and annual earnings trends,” and international data.

Looking ahead to the future, BMI also noted that members can now access the online services portal through mobile web browsers and a new iOS app. An Android version will arrive “soon,” per the PRO, with the overarching online platform serving as “the foundation for further enhancements and new capabilities, including additional self-service options and a publisher focused dashboard to be launched as part of a later phase.”

Addressing the development, BMI publisher relations officer Alison Smith highlighted the “enthusiastic response” that the dashboard has received.

“We’re excited to introduce the first iteration of BMI’s Royalty Dashboard through the redesigned OLS Platform as part of our commitment to delivering tools that empower our music creators,” communicated the nearly three-decade BMI exec Smith. “Based on the feedback from an initial focus group of our songwriters and composers, we’re thrilled to report their enthusiastic response to the Dashboard’s intuitive features, particularly the ability to consolidate song performance earnings and filter by source.”

Shifting to the aforementioned letter sent to affiliates, BMI CEO Mike O’Neill largely covered the same points as in the release. However, the exec also emphasized that “there’s much more to come” in terms of BMI’s “comprehensive” customer service buildout.

“This is the latest offering in our overall plans to elevate your BMI experience,” wrote O’Neill. “Last week, we announced the launch of our new dedicated customer service department with a specialized team standing by to address your questions, along with a new toll-free centralized customer service number, 844-BMI-4255, now in place. These upgrades are part of phase one of our comprehensive affiliate customer service initiative and there’s much more to come.”

Of course, it’ll be worth keeping an eye out for these and other improvements at BMI, which last month completed a $100 million affiliate payout in connection with its sale to New Mountain Capital.

Meanwhile, BMI’s ASCAP rival, currently touting itself as the lone non-profit PRO in the States, reported record 2023 revenue in late February, and SESAC earlier in April expanded its music services division.

Images: Mohamed Hassan, Walkerwandern, Spotify

Streaming music has been booming for years. But amidst all the rapid growth, how is the accuracy of reporting and payments faring?

In our latest DMN Pro Weekly report, we take an in-depth look at the data to rank today’s leading platforms on payouts and overall reporting accuracy.

The results may surprise you.

Report Table of Contents

Introduction: Streaming’s Growth and the Corresponding Importance of Accurate Payments

Graph: DSPs by 2022 Payments Accuracy

Spotify’s Recent Recording Royalties Calculation Changes Could Drive Continued Payments-Accuracy Growth

YouTube’s Payments Accuracy Is Solid in a Comparatively Quick-Moving Content Environment

TikTok’s Positioning Provides Telling Insight Amid an Evolving Licensing Confrontation

Please note that any authorized redistribution of this report is prohibited — thank you.

Emerging artists could be hardest hit by a TikTok ban. The United States produces the most emerging artists globally, according to Chartmetric data.

TikTok is battling its greatest regulatory threat to date in the U.S., where the ByteDance-developed app’s shutdown would affect a multitude of individuals, companies, and spaces. But what does this mean for the music industry — and all of its complicated sub-sectors?

In this white paper, DMN Pro takes an exhaustive look at the post-TikTok music industry’s winners and losers, from the major labels to DSPs and artists to UGC competitors.

REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction: The Post-TikTok Music Landscape Could Give Rise to Unprecedented Changes – With Implications for Fans, Artists, and Companies Alike

Record Labels: Majors and Indies Stand to Lose in Several Areas (and Win in Others) With TikTok’s Ban

Graph: A Breakdown of Global Recorded Music Revenue from UGC and Ancillary Licensing Sources
Graph: 2023 Global Recorded Music Revenue by Segment

Publishers: Short-Term Losses, Particularly for Smaller Indies, Could Make Way for Long-Term Improvements

Songwriters: A Possible Licensing Revenue Upside Won’t Offset Immediate Discovery Setbacks, Especially for DIY Professionals

Artists: Post-TikTok, Artists At All Career Stages Will Suffer Varied Near-Term Professional Consequences

Graph: Selected Artists’ Social Media Followers, YouTube Subscribers, and Spotify Monthly Listeners
Superstar and Legendary Artists
Mid-Level Artists With Substantial Followings
Developing and Emerging Artists
Pre-Traction Artists
Graph: A 2023 Breakdown of Emerging Artists by Home Country

Competing UGC Platforms: Reels, Shorts, and Others Will Be the Clear Winners

Overall Licensing Revenue: Ancillary Setbacks Aside, TikTok’s Ban Will Have a Minimal Licensing Revenue Impact

Graph: Universal Music’s Estimated TikTok Revenue Versus Permanent Downloads Revenue, 2020 – 2023

Non-Label Sync Platforms: The Post-TikTok Industry May Look Different for Sync Platforms and Music Libraries

The Fans: More Than a Letdown for Fans, TikTok’s Ban Will Dramatically Affect Music Discovery

DSPs: What Does a TikTok Ban Mean for Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music?

Promoters and Venues: The TikTok Ban’s Significance for Live Music

Report Summary: The Post-TikTok Music Landscape’s Many Changes

By the Dates: A Timeline of TikTok Regulatory Scrutiny, December 2022 – April 2024

One-Sheet Infographic: The Post-TikTok Winners & Losers

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Photo Credit: Bandzoogle

Music website platform Bandzoogle announced that in 2023, musicians made over $16.4 million in commission-free revenue using the platform’s direct-to-fan sales tools. For Bandzoogle and its members, the number represents significant year-on-year growth — a 21% increase from 2022.

The following was created in collaboration with Bandzoogle, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

Stacey Bedford, CEO of Bandzoogle, commented that it was ‘rewarding’ to see artists make an incredible amount of commission-free sales via Bandzoogle websites. “One of our main goals is to help make it easier for musicians to make money from their music by selling directly to their fans.”

Breaking down the $16.4 million artist revenue, musicians sold over $8.8 million worth of merchandise — including apparel, CDs, and vinyl. Digital music generated over $1.7 million in 2023, representing an increase of 28% compared to 2022.

However, ticket sales were the most significant area of growth for Bandzoogle’s members.

The platform reports that artists sold $4.1 million worth of tickets — commission-free — via Bandzoogle-powered websites, representing an impressive 102% increase from 2022.

Bedford pointed out that artists are better off selling tickets to events ‘directly to their fans, with no commission taken and no hidden fees,’ adding, “It’s another example of how savvy musicians can use our built-in tools to keep more of their hard-earned money while moving their careers forward.”

Acquired by DistroKid in 2023, 20-year-old Bandzoogle views fan engagement as a core strategy for musicians to generate revenue from their music online.

The platform allows artists and bands to build a commission-free store to sell music, merchandise, and tickets. Artists can manage their physical inventory, offer discount pricing or product bundling, connect with Printful to sell customized print–on-demand products to their fans, choose from multiple shipping and payment integrations, and more.

Bandzoogle’s built-in fan subscriptions feature also represented a significant revenue stream for artists, generating over $800,000 in 2023.

Fans also supported their favorite artists via Bandzoogle’s virtual tip jar feature, donating nearly $1 million to Bandzoogle members.

News of the revenue generated by Bandzoogle members in 2023 comes after the platform recently announced a new EPK Plan, which allows musicians to craft an impactful, single-page electronic press kit in minutes.

Bandzoogle powers over 65,000 websites for musicians, allowing them to earn over $121 million in commission-free revenue to date.

Plans start at just $6.95/month. Artists can try it for free at Bandzoogle’s website here.

All over the map: selected artists’ social media followers, YouTube subscribers, and Spotify monthly listeners.

TikTok is facing its greatest regulatory threat to date in the U.S., where lawmakers are rallying behind forced-sale legislation. TikTok says this would effectively amount to a ban in the app’s biggest market, with ripple effects impacting dozens of industries. But what exactly would a ban look like for the music industry?

TikTok’s possible U.S. shutdown would bring music-specific consequences affecting licensing, supplemental artist income, promotion, discovery, fan interaction, and more. Though nothing to scoff at, the lost licensing revenue would pale in comparison to the absence of what has quietly become a go-to promotional tool for artists and labels of all sizes.

In this DMN Pro Weekly Report, we attempt to pick apart a post-TikTok world.

Report Table of Contents:

I. A Recap of the TikTok Forced-Sale Bill’s Legislative Progress 

II. The Music Industry Without TikTok: How a U.S. Ban Could Affect Labels’ Revenue and Artists’ Income

A. Graph: Selected Artists’ Social Media Followers, YouTube Subscribers, and Spotify Monthly Listeners

III. TikTok As a Music Marketing Tool – Will a Viable Replacement Emerge in the Event of a U.S. Shutdown? 

IV. TikTok and the Future of Music: Should We Expect Fundamental Industry Changes Post-Ban? 

V. By the Dates: Key Music Industry Revenue- and Promotion-Related TikTok Developments, 2022-2024

New! Join the DMN Pro subscriber-only discussion below.

Also please note that any authorized redistribution of this report is prohibited — thank you.

The 16% slice adds up to billions of dollars in unaccounted and missed streaming royalties annually, according to Legitary’s latest stats (Photo: Pixabay)

Legitary has finally put a number on all those missing, incorrect, and fraudulent music streams. In its latest report, the streaming verification company reveals that up to 16% of streaming statements from DSPs are ‘suspicious,’ and the takeaways on streaming fraud are surprising.

Legitary’s latest finding is based on scans of over 700 billion music streams, with a staggering takeaway on just how much is being missed. The company’s AI-powered auditing platform identified a multitude of cases involving miscounted streams and anomalies — amounting to up to $3 billion in incorrectly tracked revenues for 2022.

The amount is eyebrow-raising, to say the least. Legitary’s report, shared with Digital Music News this month, is likely to raise pivotal questions about the accuracy and transparency of play counts on streaming platforms in an industry awash in trillions of streams.

Alongside the broader anomalies in the streaming industry, including streaming fraud, reporting errors, metadata discrepancies, and others, Legitary is also shedding light on other non-obvious issues, including unexplained drops in streams and zero-reported streams. But for all the focus surrounding streaming fraud, Legitary’s findings offer a surprisingly different assessment of the problem. Just recently, Legitary joined forces with DMN to further educate the industry on what their research is revealing.

Legitary’s findings take the issue of misreported streams beyond the typical discussions centered around streaming farms and streaming fraud. More importantly, it sheds light on the fact that fraud is only a modest part of the bigger anomaly pie.

Indeed, the different types of anomalies within the larger pie are unique and demand different solutions. Moreover, rectification of these anomalies requires a diverse set of approaches and strategies.

Nermina Mumic, CEO of Legitary, believes non-fraudulent anomalies are arguably the bigger enemy since they directly impact the IP owners involved. That’s not always the case with streaming fraud.

Streaming fraud tends to garner the most attention within the industry. However, Legitary noted that a far larger percentage of issues are unintentional or rooted in data errors. Most importantly, tackling those problems results in a one-to-one recovery of missing royalties and doesn’t involve chasing shadowy stream-farm operators.

Perhaps labels need to point their guns at a bigger boogeyman. With a substantial percentage of music streaming royalties potentially compromised by a broad number of potential issues, these hidden problems, Legitary believes, ‘do not receive the level of attention they deserve.’

“With streaming anomalies, we’re seeing royalties simply not getting generated, so the issue is harder to find, keep track of, and resolve,” Mumic explains, adding, “The music industry must delve into the occurrences and factors that could be contributing to exacerbating these anomalies. It’s absolutely imperative.”

While the issue is significant, Mumic is quick to point out that streaming platforms aren’t solely to blame for these anomalies.

Legitary’s report also notes that with far superior data quality, major labels account for fewer streaming anomalies compared to discrepancies recorded for indie label artists.

“There are many possible problems with missing stream payments, and suspicious stream counts don’t necessarily arise due to streaming platforms. Instead, the missing revenues stem from reporting issues, flawed data, and overall inaccuracies within the industry. In some cases, we’re seeing significant unexplained drops in streams, and at some points, no streams recorded at all.”

“Streaming fraud creates some indirect issues. But there’s also a direct leverage point of fixing streaming anomalies with direct remedial action.”

Music Merch Manager App by Merch Cat

What happens when merch stops being an afterthought and turns into an active revenue-generator? Merch Cat says its elevated focus on technology and analytics can boost artist merch revenue by as much as 20%, while strategically crafting a more reliable process for inventory management, sales tracking, and decision-making.

For artists and managers, merchandise typically takes a backseat to music creation, releases, and touring. As a result, merch presents itself as a chaotic afterthought — ridden with routine disruptions of procurement, quality checks, inventory issues, data tracking, and fulfillment challenges.

Vanessa Ferrer, founder of Merch Cat, recently sat down with DMN to discuss how a sophisticated system of inventory management and tracking allows artists to significantly expand their merch revenue stream. In a bid to ensure merch represents a refined and reliable revenue category, Merch Cat has monumentally expanded its focus on tech to amplify merch processes for artists, managers, and labels.

“It’s all about merch strategy,” says Ferrer while adding that the industry needs to adjust its approach to merchandise and ‘place merchandise strategy at the forefront since merch is a lucrative business component.’

The company dedicates comprehensive attention to merch metrics management ‘to optimize value for artists.’ “It’s an intuitive process and streamlined workflow, with tech that does the work behind the scenes to ensure an optimized data output consisting of usable reports and analytics,” says Ferrer. Just recently, Merch Cat joined forces with DMN to further expand its merch footprint.

Merch Cat’s continuously-expanding roster includes artists and bands like The Marshall Tucker Band, George Clinton, Parliament-Funkadelic, Noel and Ben Haggard, Jesse Dayton, Struggle Jennings, Britnee Kellogg, and others. Also on board are industry advisors Ted Cohen (TAG Strategic), Rich Stumpf (Hawkeye Music Group), and Lou Plaia (Sentric Music) — a trio that Ferrer says ‘aims to help expand the client base, extend industry reach, and consult on business strategy.’

Ferrer believes streamlining merchandising processes with technology can generate usable insights from sales data. With user-friendly tech aimed at tackling inventory management and metrics, Merch Cat is ‘helping change the game for live show merch sales, where a vast majority of sales happen.’

With a focus on that aspect, Merch Cat’s Music Merch Manager App offers an upgraded analytics dashboard with ‘Merch Metrics’ — packed with essential insights to enable artists and their teams to easily make merch decisions.

The app places the entire merch business on one mobile device, allowing artists to quickly and easily enter inventory, import shows from Bandsintown, track sales and profits at a glance, automatically generate settlement reports with the venues’ music and merch splits, and more. Merch Cat is also integrated with Square as its payment processor, making it a seamless transition for pre-existing accounts.

Ferrer explains that artists gain a complete snapshot of essential information such as what sizes, styles, and quantities fans are purchasing. It also shows which items generated the highest sales. “It keeps all the data centralized, and the analytics in one place.”

“It keeps all the data centralized, and the analytics in one place.”

This data is core to optimizing revenue, Ferrer believes, as it ‘further expands your merch strategy, offers central inventory, sales tracking, and analytics.’

On the other hand, Merch Cat’s FAN app is the artists’ virtual storefront, which Ferrer says ‘allows fans to buy merchandise before, during, or after the show.’

She adds, “Fans receive a code for their purchase and can pick it up at the table. Or they can choose to have it shipped to their home.”

Merch Cat FAN Band Merchandise App

With an ‘artist-friendly interface,’ Merch Cat is deepening the connection between artists, their merch, and fans. Apart from the integration of the web store via a widget, the app has also added a Spotify player to the artist’s profile.

To ensure that artists can offer merchandise that they’re proud to put their name on, Merch Cat also offers merchandise procurement as a value-added service, ensuring quality merch at artist-friendly prices.

Ferrer says this will allow artists to earn higher revenues with more competitive margins — and lead to happier fans.

New York-based rock band Hollis Brown can testify to that. On their summer tour, following a ‘merch strategy’ tie-up with Merch Cat, the band witnessed a 20% increase in merch sales. According to Hollis Brown’s management company, ‘Merch Cat helped strategize to revamp the merch line,’ and provided accurately-tracked information on inventory levels that optimized organization and revenue.

Other musicians and bands have also revealed the many ways in which Merch Cat has helped them achieve their merch goals. Via Merch Cat’s Merch Metrics, Hannah Wicklund’s vinyl and CDs became top-sellers at live shows. Melissa Menago found a means to sell merch before her record release show — also during the show and after it — via Merch Cat Fan. Rock band Broke City attribute their ‘biggest merch night ever’ to Merch Cat streamlining the merch table process. And metal and classical fusion band The Breathing Process say Merch Cat has been a ‘game changer,’ enabling them to solve their merch inventory problems.

So what exactly does Merch Cat bring to the table that enables artists to have a successful merch business? Ferrer believes that apart from its technology, it’s the ‘human aspect’ and ‘personalization’ that differentiates Merch Cat from its competitors.

“Merch Cat brings the whole gamut, Ferrer relayed. “We’ll develop your merch strategy, get you the merchandise at a targeted price point, put it on Merch Cat, use Merch Cat to sell, and then look at analyses and insights to optimize the strategy even further.”

Putting together an effective ‘merch mix’ Ferrer says, requires a focus on ‘understanding your fans, maximizing your profits, and reducing waste.’

“With a robust strategy backed by data, you ensure you capitalize on every opportunity of a sale. Our technology and insights bring you the information you need so you don’t lose sales because your fans arrived at the table and left because they had to wait too long, or you don’t have the style or size they want.”

According to Ferrer, one of Merch Cat’s most prominent upsides is that it doesn’t require days of set-up time — thanks to a user-friendly workflow and interface.

“If you know your merch inventory, you can use Merch Cat after you’ve arrived at the venue,” explains Ferrer, adding, “You can do it all on a mobile device — in a pinch.”

When artists embrace a more sophisticated system spanning inventory purchase, real-time reports, and payment tracking, Merch Cat promises they can ‘merch better, increase profits, make their fans happier, and spend more time doing what they love.’

Indie artist emlyn is a star on the rise, thanks in part to her usage of platforms like Chartmetric and Venice Music that equip emerging talent with the tools they need to succeed in the music industry.

The following comes from Chartmetric, a company DMN is partnered with.

There’s an array of music companies out there with tools, data, and insights to support many of today’s emerging independent artists. Meet Chartmetric and Venice Music, two all-in-one platforms that are doing just that.

Since 2015, Chartmetric has equipped artists and music industry professionals with comprehensive streaming, social media, and audience data to help musicians thrive in their careers, while Venice Music provides tools to distribute music, monitor streaming performance, and collect royalties.

Emlyn, an LA-based indie singer-songwriter originally from Nashville, is just one of the rising indie artists who has seen success using both platforms. Emlyn’s father was a studio drummer, while her mother worked as a therapist, so growing up she learned what it took to craft a song that connects emotionally with a listener. She also taught herself to play the piano and guitar, thanks to the help of Taylor Swift’s songbook.

Now, emlyn releases her own music, which is distributed by Venice Music. For the past six years, she has been represented by her manager Joshua Russak, whom she met after one of Russak’s other clients sent him emlyn’s demos.

“I thought she had such an incredible ear for melodies and storytelling,” Russak told Chartmetric. “We really hit it off talking about music and the business and felt she had a great grasp of all the things it takes to succeed in today’s music environment.”

Russak was drawn to emlyn by her lyrics and writing style, which he saw as conveying a sense of realness and approachability. He also discovered early on that she had a unique way of getting inside of the heads of other artists and helping others express what they’re feeling.

"Most people think artists just wake up and are some supernatural being that creates against all odds, when, in reality, artists are works-in-progress," Russak said. "It takes time for an identity to be clearly defined and I watched emlyn go through a lot of stages. What was clear from the beginning was that she was going to keep improving and I will bet on people like her all day."

For the first half of their time working together, she was focused more on songwriting, but the pandemic is when she really started to release some of her own music.

"She was always interested in being an artist, but never had the right vehicle, time, or songs to launch it in the way that we would have wanted to," Russak told Chartmetric. "[During the pandemic,] there were a lot less songwriting sessions happening, so she ended up deciding to focus on herself and changed the trajectory of her career."

In January 2021, emlyn released new music and quickly started to gain momentum after she landed on some of the earlier feeder playlists on Spotify and Amazon Music. By May of the same year, emlyn found semi-viral success on TikTok with the release of her song "B.O.M.B.," with her post teasing the song since receiving over two million views. This is when Russak started to lean more on data to gain better insights to continue building on the momentum emlyn was already seeing early in her career.

@emlyn_music SHOULD I PUT IT OUTTTT 😭😭😭 #original #artist #viral #singing ♬ B.O.M.B OUT NOW - emlyn

Russak said they had to make many decisions like figuring out which song they should go with, whether it should be fast or slow, if they should be doing campaigns, how they should be moving in between songs, and determining which of emlyn’s posts are gaining traction.

According to Russak, "Sometimes certain posts on certain platforms will work for follows, but not for streams, or will work for streams, but not for Instagram follows, or certain viral TikTok pieces are great for profile views, but don’t filter through to anything else. Even though we’re in this age of algorithms, I think the audiences aren’t machines at the end of the day, but there are some general trend lines where you can find best practices."

For Russak, that’s where Chartmetric comes in. "Everything I find on Chartmetric has helped me think about what our problems are a little differently," Russak shared. "We do a little bit of an analysis on where we are, what's working, and what isn't. Then we’re just—poking the bear—so to speak, to figure out how to get things to continue moving and growing. Sometimes there aren't answers, but it at least gives us the clues to figure out where to lean into and where we have problems.

"So, I really use [Chartmetric] as my home base. I open up [the dashboard] every morning. I use [the dashboard] at midnight to see every release, or check out early playlist pickup. From there, when I'm interested in even more granular data, I might kick off to more DSP-specific platforms, but this absolutely is my home base for everything."

Emlyn has 485,000 followers on TikTok, 107,000 on Instagram, and 174,000 on Spotify, where she saw a 14.4% increase in the past year.

Additionally, her YouTube channel has 26.4,000 subscribers and 13.5 million video views. There is a strategy to what content is posted where, according to Russak: shortform video platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels are used to tease music and encourage user-generated content, while Instagram and Twitter posts are best for making more formal announcements and sharing milestones.

Michele Akinsanya, Director of Data and Streaming Analytics for Venice Music, said Chartmetric has been helpful in allowing them to see all of the playlist placements that their artists — like emlyn — land on release days.

"It’s in beta, but I love the artist insights that highlight growth spikes on social and streaming platforms," Akinsanya said. "This enables us to investigate and take action on moments in a quick and efficient way. The visualizers are also a really great way to quickly assess the magnitude of growth over time. I love the convenience of having both social and streaming data in one place."

"In the future, I would love to take more advantage of the integration with One Sheet, playlist evolution features, and the Artist Comparison Pro to help with the strategic side of things," Akinsanya added.

For Janice Wang, VP of Partner Acquisition and Success at Venice Music, the three key takeaways from emlyn’s career trajectory that other artists can learn from are to "invest time in nurturing connections with fans, execute on pre-release buildup and post-release promotion plans, and remain attentive to fan feedback with the flexibility to adapt and refine your release strategies."

This is why artists can so greatly benefit from platforms like Venice Music and Chartmetric, which provide the data and support needed at every stage of one’s music journey.

As for emlyn, her album, that’s how you make a villain - chapter 1 came out this past November. Ahead of its release, emlyn wrote on Instagram that the decision to split the album into three parts came from a realization that "this story of who I am, and where I came from, is meant to be told as a trilogy."

She will also be going on tour in the U.K. and Europe in February 2024.

Graphics by Nicki Camberg and cover image by Crasianne Tirado; data as of Jan. 11, 2023.

“Everyone is on the same starting line in Dolby Atmos,” says Alex Solano. (Photo: Apple Music)

Back in October, Digital Music News first reported that Apple Music was introducing higher royalty payouts for Dolby Atmos mixes. That has sparked some pushback, particularly from indie and unsigned artists who feel Atmos upgrades come with a hefty price tag. AlexProMix is hoping to dispel that notion.

An early adopter of Dolby Atmos immersive formats, AlexProMix founder Alex Solano recently shared his thoughts on  how the rapid evolution in the Dolby Atmos ecosystem paves the way for musicians to gain ‘creative and monetary benefit.’

According to Solano, labels already understand the need and value of the format, with high-priority playlisting and better revenues. However, artists are still unaware that spatial audio doesn’t just make music ‘sound expansive and immersive’ but offers an incredible monetary benefit.

But can they afford it?

Absolutely yes, according to Solano. AlexProMix is currently offering fully-upgraded Atmos mixes for ‘as little as $350 per song,’ a more workable price range. Suddenly, the math could make sense for artists hoping to score a bumped-up royalty rate on Apple Music.

Solano, a music mixing engineer and educator for artists, labels, and music studios, also sees a big opportunity for producers and mixers as well. He predicts that gaining expertise in the heavily invested space of immersive audio could be ‘the biggest opportunity for audio professionals today.’ Just recently, AlexProMix partnered with DMN to further expand awareness around spatial audio possibilities.

Diving into his take on the importance of spatial audio in the current music industry terrain, Solano clarified that despite popular belief, spatial audio is ’not just an exclusive service available to the majors.’

Solano points out that many of the largest distribution platforms for indie artists — such as Avidplay, CD Baby, The Orchard, Audio Salad, Distrokid, Golden Dynamic, Rebeat, and Rock Mobile (to name a few) — currently support Dolby Atmos as a deliverable format. “Any indie artist who’s self-publishing and self-distributing can hire an independent immersive mixer and upgrade their audio to Dolby Atmos,” he added.

Backed by almost two decades of experience in music mixing and his unique position as an early adopter of immersive audio processing, Solano believes the evolving technology will be ‘creating a whole new set of job opportunities for audio professionals who want to have a sustainable career in the music industry.’

“There’s going to be a huge need for Dolby Atmos mixers like myself and thousands of others who have become early adopters.”

Before Dolby Atmos, anyone could have the tools and gear to mix and master — all from a home studio using headphones. But Spatial Audio, Solano says, is ‘different.’

Immersive mixes require expensive gear, specifically equipped studios, and distinct professional knowledge. These extensive requirements for Dolby Atmos have reset the terrain for mixers and offer a blank slate for experimentation, Solano explains. “Mix engineers at all levels are exploring new ways to expand the sonic possibilities with Dolby Atmos,” Solano noted. “Everyone is now at the same starting line with Dolby Atmos, with lots of new possibilities ahead.”

Speaking about AlexProMix, the spatial audio professional told DMN that his background has allowed him to ‘build a complex type of service’ for artists, labels, and studios.

His journey to becoming a spatial audio professional started in 2005, when Solano says he began ‘working behind the scenes for companies ahead of the curve,’ such as Avid Technology, the makers of Pro Tools. From there, Solano went on to gain early certifications from Universal and Warner. 

Speaking about the advent of his role as educator, Solano says he had to go through the whole process of educating his clients on spatial audio, why it’s needed, and the required equipment details.

“So I took that format and basically started creating videos on YouTube on what immersive audio is and how it benefits music producers and artists,” says Solano.

Solano admits he’s in a ‘unique position’ as an early adopter of immersive audio because he’s a music mixer, an online educator, and is ‘flying out to studios to teach immersive mixing.’

“All of that centers around something that I enjoy doing — my passion for music technology and music services and my early adoption of immersive audio.”

Solano also recounts his recent stint in Dubai, where he was called by LPME to assist with three recently built studios with two Dolby Atmos rooms. “They made the investment but needed a seasoned professional to train their in-house staff of producers and mixers in the new format.”

“That’s significant because you can have a multi-million dollar studio. You can have a lot of capital and resources, but there’s a very steep learning curve on knowing what to do when you sit in a room with speakers.”

The technology has been quickly growing and evolving, but audio professionals still need guidance and education when setting up a studio. “A Dolby Atmos music studio is a dedicated room for immersive mixing,” Solano explains, adding, “It’s not like a traditional recording or mixing room — it’s not a multi-purpose room.”

“It’s much easier to get into it now than two years ago, but it’s still quite a bit of an investment. You’re talking about 12 speakers plus all the rigging gear and acoustic treatment everywhere. And everything needs to be treated because sounds are coming at you from different directions, so there’s more possibility that audio reflections will bounce around the room,” explains Solano.

Solano believes his work impacts the music ecosystem beyond artist and label knowledge, adding, “As an early adopter, I’m supporting both Dolby and all the companies who are creating software compatible with Dolby.”

Looking at the bigger picture, what does the future of spatial audio look like in terms of traction on major streaming platforms like Amazon Music, Apple Music, and the 20+ other DSPs supporting Dolby? Moreover, in the spatial audio realm, what’s happening at Spotify?

Recalling a panel discussion he attended at MUSEXPO 2023, Solano pointed out the possibility that by the end of 2024, Apple Music and Amazon will require Dolby Atmos to be a deliverable format. Similarly, he mentioned that in March of 2022, major labels had set a mandate to go through the archives and convert everything into Dolby Atmos.

And leading from that progression, Spotify can’t possibly be so far behind. Solano relays that even though Spotify isn’t currently in a financial position to make that jump or investment into spatial audio, the streaming giant built a Dolby Atmos studio at its facilities in late 2022.

However, Solano predicts that when the streaming giant finally steps into the field and adopts Dolby Atmos as a format, ‘every music mixer who’s working in immersive audio will see their rates going up. Because there will be such a high demand for their skill.’

Photo Credit: Ashutosh Sonwani

The Allure of a Musical Journey

The following comes from CyberGhost, a company DMN is in collaboration with.

In a world saturated with creative expression, the dream of making it big in the music industry remains as alluring as ever. The prospect of creating something unique, resonating with an audience, and achieving fame has captivated generations. However, in today’s digital age, where everyone can be a creator, the path to musical stardom is simultaneously more accessible and challenging than ever before.

The Challenge of Discovery

The paradox lies in the sheer abundance of musical talent coexisting with the difficulty of getting discovered. With countless artists vying for attention, breaking through the noise becomes a formidable task. Unlike the days when record labels held the key to success, independent artists now navigate a landscape where standing out demands a combination of talent, strategy, and a robust online presence.

Navigating the Digital Landscape

The Power of Online Presence

While the crowded digital landscape poses challenges, it also opens up unprecedented opportunities. An artist’s online presence has become the cornerstone of their journey towards recognition. Research has shown that social media platforms, in particular, have emerged as powerful tools for artists to connect with fans and industry professionals alike. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok enable musicians to showcase their personality, share snippets of their work, and engage with a global audience in real-time.

TikTok Triumphs

TikTok, with its short-form video format, has proven to be a game-changer for musicians. From unsigned talents to established artists, the platform provides a level playing field where creative content can go viral in an instant. The app’s algorithm, driven by user engagement, has propelled songs from relative obscurity to mainstream success. Artists can leverage TikTok’s trend-driven environment to not only showcase their music but also participate in challenges that can exponentially boost their visibility.

Instagram’s Visual Symphony

Instagram, with its emphasis on visual storytelling, allows musicians to curate a captivating narrative around their craft. Through posts, stories, IGTV, and live sessions, artists can offer an intimate glimpse into their world. Collaborations with influencers and cross-promotions further extend the reach of their music. As a visual platform, Instagram complements the auditory experience, creating a holistic connection between the artist and their audience.

The Call to ‘Growth Hacking’ in Music

In the pursuit of a thriving musical career, the concept of ‘Growth Hacking’ becomes increasingly relevant. Growth hacking involves employing unconventional strategies to rapidly expand one’s audience and influence. Musicians, akin to startups, can benefit from adopting growth hacking principles to amplify their online presence, engage fans, and elevate their career trajectory.

Embrace Unconventional Strategies

From creating shareable content to collaborating with influencers, growth hacking encourages musicians to think beyond conventional promotional methods. Engaging with online communities, utilizing data analytics, and tapping into niche markets can provide the competitive edge needed in today’s dynamic music industry.

Conclusion

As you embark on your musical journey, remember that success is not just about talent; it’s about strategic growth. Explore the world of growth hacking to unlock the full potential of your musical career. Delve deeper into innovative strategies, embrace the digital landscape, and let your unique voice resonate in the vast expanse of the online world. The stage is set, and the audience awaits—time to turn your musical aspirations into a symphony of success.

In the dynamic realm of music, the key to growth lies not just in notes and chords but in mastering the art of visibility. As you tune your instruments and fine-tune your compositions, remember that the digital stage is where your audience awaits, and growth hacking is your backstage pass to musical stardom.

Photo Credit: Crewest Studio

“Mario C. likes to keep it clean,” raps Mike D. on the Beastie Boys’ 1998 single “Intergalactic.” The Beasties have a delightful habit of name-checking their friend and go-to producer, Mario Caltado Jr., who’s mentioned on three of their studio albums.

The following comes from Crewest Studio, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

Born in Brazil and raised in L.A., Mario Caltado Jr., better known as Mario C., grew up listening to AM radio during music’s golden age in the ’60s and ’70s, which led him to start his own band: “It was a very exciting moment to be able to make our own music and impress our friends and family with the music that we created,” he says. The rush Mario experienced while playing live cemented his passion for performance, and he continued experimenting with different sounds and instruments. As Mario got older, he became interested in the technical side of music. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Welcome to The Conduit, a podcast featuring candid conversations with professional musicians who give listeners the unvarnished truth about being an artist in the music industry. In today’s episode, host and LA-based DJ, producer, and musician Dan Ubick (aka Constantine “Connie” Price) sits down with Mario Caldato to discuss the producer’s work with industry titans like Beck, Bjork, Cibo Matto, John Lee Hooker, Los Lobos, and Yoko Ono.

Mario is well known for his work with the Beasties, a collaboration that catapulted his career into the stratosphere. The producer formed a tight bond with the Beasties, becoming close friends while recording Paul’s Boutique, Check Your Head, Ill Communication, and Hello Nasty. Mario is also known for his early work on Tone Loc and Young MC hit singles and albums. “[Recording] was an experimental learning process that we slowly figured out and improved,” says Mario, who owns and operates L.A.-based production facility MCJ Studios.

In today’s conversation, Dan and Mario talk about the producer’s incredible collection of tapes, how he set up a recording studio with very little capital, and the power of hip-hop to bring people and music genres together. He also shares his influences in engineering, what it’s like working with Money Mark (“he is still the same witty wise-guy”), and how he designed a sound studio for DJ Matt Dike of Delicious Vinyl. “It was a really beautiful beginning […] at the studio, which eventually became Delicious Vinyl,” he says. Mario also discusses his current roster of creative projects, so pop on your headphones to hear the details from a true music legend.

Music industry veterans (and identical twins) Jason Jordan and Joel T. Jordan originally founded earthprogram in 1996, relaunching it in 2020 with a guiding mantra to ‘give honest advice to everyone.’ The industry incubator offers expert consulting and business development services to artists, labels, startups, and ‘green’ investors.

For artists, earthprogram’s goal is to expand creative output and capture audience attention by strategically collaborating and marketing across multiple platforms. According to Jason, principal and cofounder of earthprogram, his team’s expertise and extensive network of music industry partnerships place it ‘at the tip of the spear’ with the right relationships.

In that vein, Jason revealed a collaboration with Virgin Music for distribution and IP protection, RoyFi for ‘no bulls—t funding options,’ and That Pitch ‘to supply music to sync and licensing companies.’

Apart from consulting and business development, other primary verticals include publishing and licensing via a joint venture with Empire, as well as sync and music distribution for qualified artists and labels. Just recently, earthprogram joined forces with DMN to further expand their footprint.

Earthprogram was born out of the realization that many artists are blatantly green about how the business actually works, with preconceived ideas causing them to make moves — early in their careers — that irreversibly destroy any chances of future success.

Jason relayed that multiple artists he met at Canadian Music Week were shocked that their tracks didn’t capture any attention on streaming platforms and that ‘no one cared about their music.’

What went wrong? “Playlisting is not a marketing strategy,” says Jason, explaining that musicians that had put their entire album online at once and ‘simply blew their investment when we could have strung that out over a year, and they could have built a story leading to a career on it.’

As for the potential of DIY platforms to kickstart artist careers, Jason agreed that it can be a great idea to do it yourself. However, artists shouldn’t ‘do it alone’ — because expert advice can help them ‘do it better.’

In an industry where a major label deal is considered a ticket to surefire success, Jason clarifies that the odds are not in favor of rising artists who want to build a career on the back of a viral track.

Jason dives into the practice of labels picking up successful or viral musicians with ‘predatory’ label deals. “Labels expect artists to arrive with an audience and team that’s ready to go,” he adds, explaining that on the contrary, earthprogram’s infrastructure and significant label knowledge cultivate an ecosystem where artists, musicians, writers, and producers can connect to the channels and resources they need to ‘produce high-quality content and distribute it commercially.’

“Rising artists have close to zero chance of ever being heard,” says Jason, adding, “Nobody is cheerleading for these artists, or going to a distribution company and saying ‘please put this on a playlist or get this to the right person at Spotify’.”

“That’s what we’re offering: the expertise and channel relationships to make all the difference,” relays Jason. The brothers forged these relationships over 30 years while holding key music industry leadership positions — but it all started in their parents’ basement.

After creating a ‘highly collectible hardcore punk label’ out of said basement — one that snowballed into a real business by the time they turned 18 — the duo experienced incredible success. As a result, Jason was only 20 years old when he became Director of A&R at Sony Music Entertainment’s Columbia Records.

From Columbia Records, Jason went on to serve as VP A&R at Disney’s Hollywood Records, President of Imagem Music Publishing, Senior VP A&R at Universal’s Republic Records — plus notable senior positions at ONErpm, Symphonic, and self-founded Watermark Records.

Creative director and cofounder of earthprogram, Joel T. Jordan — similarly driven from the pair’s basement punk label success — is also the founder and president of Synchtank, a cloud-based licensing and rights management platform launched in 2011 — with clients like NFL, ESPN, Vice Media, WMG, Disney, and more.

According to Mike Glaser, partner and General Manager of earthprogram, it’s essential to ‘bet on yourself’ and build something sustainable that can be embraced by multiple platforms — ‘instead of a shot up on TikTok and a quick 6-month burst of attention before you’re dead.’

Glaser calls earthprogram the ‘expert tour guide for the jungle of the music industry,’ helping artists strategize, create content that matters, and ‘figuring out exactly what is missing in the puzzle to get the results they’re looking for.’

The platform’s successfully incubated artists include Grace Gaustad, who was — not so long ago — barely scratching the surface of viral stardom. Today, Gaustad boasts over 25 million views on a 2018 cover song, released an album and multimedia experience titled BLKBX: What r u hiding?, has starred in a film of the same title, and was featured in 2021’s Stand Up For Heroes benefit alongside Bruce Springsteen and Brandi Carlile.

Then there’s earthprogram’s rising hard rock artist, Josh Lambert. Known for working with the likes of Sleeping With Sirens’ singer Kellin Quinn and North Ave Jax, Lambert has charted multiple times on iTunes in the Top 5, is rated among the top 50 artists on Chartmetric, and successfully toured twice with RIVALS. Lambert’s latest album, Escape from Alcatraz, released in October 2023 and gained critical acclaim for pushing forward the punk genre. Earthprogram continues to work alongside Josh on strategy and global distribution.

Jason emphasizes the importance of ‘having a plan,’ adding, “If there’s no strategy, nothing’s going to happen.”

Anyone considering diving into the music industry can leverage earthprogram’s network and experience to create a plan.

“We also like to say, ‘we have the map,’” Jason relays, adding that even though the consultancy runs the plan, ‘it’s the artists and creators helping create the plan, based on what they want strategically.’ Jason also reveals that earthprogram’s consultancy is ‘either high-touch or low-touch’ — depending on how much they want them involved.

“So we can be in their laps or at arm’s length; they can decide. If they don’t need anything beyond just a quick kick in the ass, we can do that too.”

Jason believes earthprogram’s strongest suit is its relationships with distributors ‘that make all the difference.’ “We have the same facilities as the majors. We know the same marketing people, techniques, and tactics. But we get the results faster.”

It’s common knowledge that rising artists rarely have the financial resources to invest in publishing and marketing — so paying for success consultancy seems like a stretch. On that front, Glaser reveals that earthprogram offers a hybrid of retainer fees or a percentage of earnings. “We have fair deals that are expedited though our funding partners without offering predatory record label deals.”

According to Glaser, artists who qualify for consultancy can advance their earnings without selling their rights, and earthprogram’s retainers are so small that anybody who’s serious about their career can benefit from the offering. “We offer packages that start at only a few hundred dollars all the way up — depending on what they need. We can provide something useful for everybody.”

Photo Credit: Pexels

The Allure of Online Music Platforms

The following comes from ExpressVPN, a company DMN is in collaboration with.

In the digital age, music has become an integral part of our daily lives, and the convenience of accessing an extensive library of tunes is now just a tap away. Recent research has shown how online music platforms have revolutionized the way we discover, stream, and share our favorite tracks. Whether you’re into the latest chart-toppers or obscure indie gems, services like Spotify, Deezer, and Tidal offer a gateway to a musical universe that transcends boundaries.

Unveiling the Titans

Spotify: The Pioneer of Streaming

Spotify, the trailblazer in the streaming world, boasts a vast catalog that spans genres and eras. Its freemium model allows users to enjoy a wide selection of music with occasional ads, while premium subscribers revel in an ad-free experience. What sets Spotify apart is its personalized playlists and recommendations, driven by robust algorithms that understand your musical preferences better than your closest friends.

Apple Music: A Seamless Integration

For the Apple loyalists, Apple Music seamlessly integrates with the Apple ecosystem. Its vast library, coupled with exclusive releases and artist interviews on Beats 1 radio, gives users an immersive musical experience. The service stands out for its curated playlists and the ability to integrate your existing music library with the streaming platform.

Pandora: The Radio Maestro

Pandora, often hailed as the radio king, takes a unique approach with its Music Genome Project. This algorithmic system analyzes songs based on a multitude of characteristics, creating personalized radio stations tailored to your tastes. It’s the perfect choice for those who enjoy the element of surprise in their music discovery.

Hidden Gems: Bandcamp and Qobuz

Bandcamp: Empowering Indie Artists

In a world dominated by major labels, Bandcamp emerges as a haven for independent musicians. The platform empowers artists to directly sell their music to fans, offering a fairer revenue share. Bandcamp Fridays, where the platform waives its revenue share on selected days, further incentivizes music lovers to support independent creators.

Qobuz: Elevating Audio Quality

For the audiophiles seeking the utmost sonic fidelity, Qobuz stands out with its emphasis on high-resolution audio. With a library rich in FLAC and Hi-Res files, Qobuz caters to those who value the nuances of sound quality. It’s a premium choice for discerning ears.

Price Wars and Plans

When it comes to pricing, the battle is fierce. Spotify’s free tier is an enticing entry point, while its premium subscription competes closely with the likes of Apple Music. Pandora’s ad-supported model is budget-friendly, and Qobuz positions itself as a premium offering for those willing to pay a premium for top-notch audio quality.

Choosing Your Sonic Companion

In the grand symphony of music platforms, each contender has its unique melody. Whether you prioritize a vast catalog, exclusive releases, personalized radio, support for independent artists, or uncompromising audio quality, the choice is yours. Consider your listening and spending habits, the functionality of the app, and the overall experience each platform provides.

Conclusion: Make Your Melodic Decision

As the Battle of Music Platforms rages on, it’s essential to choose the platform that harmonizes with your individual preferences. Are you swayed by Spotify’s algorithmic brilliance, Apple Music’s seamless integration, Pandora’s radio magic, Bandcamp’s indie spirit, or Qobuz’s audiophile paradise? The decision is yours to make, and with the vast array of options available, the perfect sonic companion awaits you. Embrace the music revolution and choose rightly.

Make your move, and let the music play!

DMN Pro Q1 2024: Missing Payments? A Look At Loss Prevention In Music

A comprehensive discussion on the state of music licensing, streaming fraud, metadata, and getting paid — with a panel of the foremost authorities in the music industry. Missing payments? Tune in!

• Moderator: Paul Resnikoff, Publisher of Digital Music News

Panel 1: UGC Licensing Pitfalls

• Virginie Berger – Chief Business Development and Rights Officer of MatchTune
• Alexander Baynum – Director of U.S. Operations for Exploration.io
• Ryan Born – Founder of HAAWK and Identifyy

Panel 2: Fixing The Data Debacle

• Jeff Price – Co-Founder and CEO of Word Collections
• Ryan Edwards – Founder and CEO of Audoo
• Jack Cyphers – Founder and CEO of Border Fox Consulting
• Edward Ginis- Founder and CEO of OpenPlay

Panel 3: Streaming Fraud

• Andrew Batey – Co-Founder of Beatdapp
• Abby North – President of North Music Group
• Nermina Mumic – CEO of Legitary

Alex Solano became a music tech enthusiast when, at age 12, his older brother brought home an electric guitar. His journey since then has led to him becoming one of the leading voices in spatial audio production and engineering, having worked with countless independent and label artists and catalog remasters.

The following was developed in collaboration with AlexProMix, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

AlexProMix founder Alex Solano believes Spatial Audio has revolutionized the audio world. Past multi-channel high-resolution audio formats like DVD-A and SACD (super audio CD) were held down to the status of a ‘niche product’ due to requiring a physical media format with proprietary disc players and 6+ connected speakers to enjoy. For artists and distributors, the new Spatial Audio formats can easily be integrated into existing DSPs.

The adoption and massive push for Spatial Audio by music streaming services is a game-changer, Solano explains, and allows artists to ‘get more exposure and future proof their music.’ Moreover, the format’s core qualities of better fidelity and dynamic range also bring IP owners higher per-stream royalty payments from platforms like Apple Music.

Solano calls Dolby Atmos ‘an amazing immersive experience’ that engulfs the listener with sound, adding, “For music producers, songwriters, and artists, this is truly the way of the future. “Once you hear your music in Dolby Atmos, you can’t be satisfied with Stereo again.”

Solano emphasizes that amplifying the expression of music isn’t a technical process — and is more about finding the ‘sound of the song and the message of the lyrics.’

“There are endless opportunities for creating immersive sounding mixes that will be able to distribute your song and your message — and who you are as an artist — in the days to come.”

Solano provided DMN with a few examples that he points to as ‘reference quality’ in Spatial Audio mixing:

1. Stressed Out, Blurry Face — twenty one pilots
2. Renegades, VHS — X Ambassadors
3. Blessed, (feat. Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, Made In Lagos: Deluxe Edition — Wizkid

The tools artists use for mixing in Spatial Audio can be an important differentiating factor.

We plan on covering some of Solano’s favorite plugins for mixing in our next article, but in the meantime, we wanted to highlight some of the most used tools. Tools like NUGEN Audio Halo Upmix, Perfect Surround Penteo Pro, and Sound Particles’ Energy Panner and Brightness Panner are invaluable. They enable creative sound placement, which is essential in immersive audio.

The top 100 notable new music releases, whether singles or albums, as curated by the Digital Music News team.

Position	wdt_ID	wdt_created_by	wdt_created_at	wdt_last_edited_by	wdt_last_edited_at	Artwork	Artwork name	Release Date	Performing Artist(s)	Title	Single/Album	Writers	Label	Publisher	Formats	ISRC	ISWC	Notes	Songwriters
	364	aking	09/04/2024 12:43 PM	mding	10/08/2024 07:34 PM		Hurry Up Tomorrow	~October 2024	The Weeknd	Hurry Up Tomorrow	Album	Max Martin, Oscar Holter & The Weeknd	XO Records/Republic Records	Universal Music Publishing Group					More details
1	411	presnikoff	09/05/2024 10:46 AM	presnikoff	09/05/2024 10:56 AM		Lady Gaga (IG)	~February 2025	Lady Gaga	'LG7' (not officially titled)	Album	TBD	Interscope/Universal Music Group	Sony Music Publishing	Not yet announced	Not yet registered	Not yet registered	First single potentially in October 2024; Lady Gaga revealed she is in the studio with scant details in a Vogue interview.	More details
	452	aking	09/09/2024 10:58 AM	presnikoff	09/09/2024 12:22 PM			~October	Jennie Kim		Single		Columbia Records	Sony Music Entertainment					More details
	453	aking	09/09/2024 11:12 AM	mding	10/08/2024 08:08 PM			2024/11/15	Linkin Park	From Zero	Album		Warner Records	Warner/Chappell Music					More details
	457	mding	09/13/2024 01:20 AM	mding	09/13/2024 01:25 AM		Inhale / Exhale	2024/10/11	Rufus Du Sol	Inhale / Exhale	Album	James Hunt, Jonathon George, Tyrone Lindqvist	Rose Avenue Records	RÜFÜS DU SOL					More details
	531	mding	09/19/2024 01:02 AM	mding	09/19/2024 01:03 AM		Elyte	2024/10/11	Yandel	Elyte	Album	Feid, Myke Towers, Luar La L, Saiko	La Leyenda LLC, Warner Music Latina						More details
	534	mding	09/19/2024 05:50 PM	mding	10/08/2024 08:04 PM		The Party Never Ends Juice WRLD	2024/11/22	Juice WRLD w/ Eminem & benny blanco	The Party Never Ends	Album	benny blanco, Cashmere Cat, Eminem, Happy Perez, Juice WRLD, Luis Resto, Max Lord & Seezyn	Grade A Productions & Interscope Records	benny blanco, Cashmere Cat, Eminem, Happy Perez & Seezyn					More details
	542	mding	09/27/2024 12:40 AM	mding	09/28/2024 02:26 AM		How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (The Shadow Album)	2024/11/22	U2	How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (The Shadow Album)	Album	Adam Clayton, Bono, Larry Mullen Jr., The Edge	Universal-Island Records Ltd.	Steve Lillywhite					More details
	550	mding	10/08/2024 05:39 AM	mding	10/08/2024 05:39 AM		No Fear of Time	2024/11/08	yasiin bey and Talib Kweli	No Fear of Time	Album	yasiin bey, Talib Kweli Greene, Otis Jackson, Jr., Francis Stark. Gregory Isaacs, Anandji Shah, Kalyanji Shah, Cornelius Cade, Jamal Nubi, Gregory Magee, Phil Silverberg, Tariq Trotter	Rhymesayers Entertainment						More details
	551	mding	10/08/2024 05:47 AM	mding	10/08/2024 05:47 AM		MM..FOOD (20th Anniversary Edition)	2024/11/15	MF Doom	MM..FOOD (20th Anniversary Edition)	Album	MF DOOM (Daniel Dumile), Count Bass D (Dwight Farrell), Stahhr (Kimberly Richardson), Mr. Fantastik (N/A)	Rhymesayers Entertainment	AMV Alster, BMG, BMG Talpa Music, Dwight Farrell’s Music, Have We Got Music For You, It’s Only About Music, Kobalt Music, Lord Dihoo Music, Madlib Invazion, Nettwerk Music Group, Shelly Bay Music, Sony Music Entertainment, White Van Music & Wintrup Music					More details
	552	mding	10/08/2024 11:46 PM	mding	10/08/2024 11:46 PM		All My Love	2024/10/04	Coldplay	All My Love	Album	Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, John Metcalfe, Jonny Buckland, Moses Martin, Will Champion	Parlophone UK	Bill Rahko, Daniel Green, ILYA, Max Martin, Michael Ilbert, Oscar Holter					More details
	553	mding	10/08/2024 11:49 PM	mding	10/08/2024 11:49 PM		Moonlit Floor	2024/10/03	LISA	Moonlit Floor	Single	Jessie Reyez, Matt Slocum, Ryan Williamson	Lloud Co./RCA Records	Rykeyz					More details
	554	mding	10/08/2024 11:50 PM	mding	10/08/2024 11:50 PM		Monitoring Me	2024/10/04	Lil Durk	Monitoring Me	Single	Durk Banks, Joshua Howard Luellen	Alamo	Southside					More details
	555	mding	10/08/2024 11:52 PM	mding	10/08/2024 11:54 PM		1900's	2024/10/04	Victoria Monét	1900's	Single	Dernst Emile II, Diane Quander, Garry Glenn, Michael J. Jackson, Victoria Monét, Yonatan "xSDTRK" Ayal	Lovett Music/RCA Records	Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II, xSDTRK					More details
	558	mding	10/09/2024 02:01 AM	mding	10/09/2024 02:02 AM		fairy godmother	2024/10/04	thuy	fairy godmother	single	Charles Charron, David Wilson, Thuy Tran	thuy	dwilly					More details
	559	mding	10/09/2024 02:04 AM	mding	10/09/2024 02:04 AM		whisper	2024/10/04	Myles Smith	whisper	Single	Daniel Smith, Myles Smith, Peter Fenn	RCA Records Label	Peter Fenn					More details
	561	mding	10/09/2024 02:17 AM	mding	10/09/2024 02:17 AM		When I Ain't Lookin'	2024/10/04	Tucker Wetmore	When I Ain't Lookin'	Album	Austin Goodloe, Michael Tyler, Thomas Archer, Tucker Beathard	Tucker Wetmore	Chris LaCorte					More details
	562	mding	10/09/2024 02:19 AM	mding	10/09/2024 02:19 AM		To Love Somebody - Music From The Motion Picture	2024/10/04	Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga	To Love Somebody - Music From The Motion Picture	Album	Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb	Interscope Records/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.	Stewart Lerman, Lady Gaga, Joaquin Phoenix, Todd Phillips, Randall Poster, Jason Ruder, George Drakoulias					More details
	563	mding	10/09/2024 02:22 AM	mding	10/09/2024 02:22 AM		I Know (feat. Fridayy)	2024/10/04	Fridayy Tee Grizzley	I Know (feat. Fridayy)	Single	Aidan Brody, Dana Portalatin, Francis Leblanc, Leonardo Pierre, Mariah Martinez, Musik Spirit, Saintiler Saint, Terry Sanchez Wallace Jr.	300 Entertainment	Aidan Brody, Kvrim, Musik Spirit					More details
	564	mding	10/09/2024 02:27 AM	mding	10/09/2024 02:27 AM		Allure (feat. Future & Mike WiLL Made-It)	2024/10/4	A$AP Ferg, Future, Mike WiLL Made-It	Allure (feat. Future & Mike WiLL Made-It)	Single	Darold Brown, Jean Marcel Day, Michael L Williams II, Nayvadius Wilburn	RCA Records Label	Mike WiLL Made-ItTruebeatzz					More details
	565	mding	10/09/2024 02:28 AM	mding	10/09/2024 02:28 AM		COLLECT THE COMMAS	2024/10/04	PAWSA	COLLECT THE COMMAS	Single	David Esekhile	David Esekhile	CircoLoco Records					More details
	566	mding	10/09/2024 02:30 AM	mding	10/09/2024 02:30 AM		Got to Change	2024/10/04	Caribou	Got to Change	Album	Dan Snaith	City Slang	Dan Snaith					More details
	567	mding	10/09/2024 04:32 AM	mding	10/09/2024 04:44 AM		Spring Into Summer	2024/10/04	Lizzy McAlpine	Spring Into Summer	Album	Elizabeth McAlpine, Mason Stoops, Michael Libramento, Ryan Richter, Taylor Mackall	Indigo Blue/RCA Records	Lizzy McAlpine, Mason Stoops					More details
	568	mding	10/09/2024 04:47 AM	mding	10/09/2024 04:47 AM		Mi Tormenta (feat. DannyLux)	2024/10/04	DannyLux, The Black Keys	Mi Tormenta (feat. DannyLux)	Single	Beck Hansen, Dan Auerbach, DannyLux, Patrick Carney	Nonesuch	The Black Keys					More details
	569	mding	10/09/2024 04:50 AM	mding	10/09/2024 04:50 AM		Faldita	2024/10/04	Eslabon Armado	Faldita	Single	Pedro Tovar Jr.	DEL Records	Pedro Tovar Jr., Pablo Molina					More details

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Music streaming fraud is reportedly hitting indie acts’ IP in the form of unauthorized uploads attributed to ‘phantom artists.’ Photo Credit: Jefferson Santos

As unauthorized AI soundalike tracks continue to dominate headlines, a new report is exploring how bad actors are allegedly utilizing major distribution services and “phantom” artist profiles to rip off the IP of indie professionals.

The seldom-discussed topic just recently entered the media spotlight in a New York Times piece. Centering on a D.C.-based act called Bad Dog, the account across north of 2,000 words explains that the “folkie duo” recorded and uploaded to SoundCloud an album entitled The Jukebox of Regret.

Not long after becoming available on the Berlin-based platform, the project in question, to the surprise of its creators, popped up on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, and elsewhere – albeit with fresh song titles and different artist names for each track, according to the report.

A producer on The Jukebox of Regret is said to have identified the wholly unapproved copies when one of the songs, upon being included in an Instagram post, was automatically tagged with a new title and another artist name.

Predictably, this and different names (Kyro Schellen and Vinay Jonge among them) appeared to have no other releases, or, to be sure, any online presence whatsoever. But the parties behind the alleged illicit operation had further commandeered the metadata associated with The Jukebox of Regret – a point uncovered when Bad Dog was attempting to have CDs pressed, per the text.

Despite the duo’s members being attorneys, the battle to regain control of the album took some time, as described by the piece. Takedown notices, backed by the project’s original upload date on SoundCloud, elicited “fairly” prompt responses and actions from Amazon Music and then YouTube, the text indicates.

And a request-processing email from Apple Music included the name of the company that had uploaded or been used to upload the copies: Warner Music Group, according to the Times. Subsequent discussions between the paper and the Big Three label suggested that those responsible had utilized Warner Music-owned indie distributor Level to “release” The Jukebox of Regret.

It’s unclear whether Warner Music and Level will, owing to major-label-approved compensation changes, have to pay a streaming-fraud fine to Spotify, where The Jukebox of Regret phantom-artist tracks are said to have racked up a cumulative 60,000 or so plays before being pulled. In any event, Level, citing internal policies, has reportedly opted against publicly disclosing who lifted the album without permission.

Regarding the broader scope of the little-mentioned subject – that is, the evolving nature of streaming royalties theft – Beatdapp has estimated that fraudsters make off with a whopping $2 billion, of $17 billion total, per year.

On this front, worth noting in conclusion is that the unauthorized Jukebox of Regret uploads blew past the per-track minimum of 1,000 annual streams works must hit on Spotify before they begin accruing recording royalties. And it was only last year that a separate report, this time from Sweden, provided a look at how criminal enterprises allegedly launder money via streaming platforms.

For a long time, radio has been known to be a decisive platform for music discovery. In recent years, there has been more focus on vying for playlist adds and creating masses of content in hopes of going viral on TikTok. But despite these shifts, radio shouldn’t be ignored — here’s why.

Play MPE is a long-term partner of Digital Music News — we’re proud to jointly share this massive announcement.

The industry has changed a lot over the last couple of decades. Topping the list is music streaming, which has grown into a digital tsunami. Radio may no longer seem to be the MVP in the game, but it’s still very relevant for any development strategy.

Generating Real Organic Growth Through Radio

Artist development strategies are constantly getting more and more inventive. Radio should definitely be part of it. Finding success at radio (or at least getting regular spins) is an excellent strategy for artists to be more visible to music industry professionals. Major labels have yet to discount the impact an artist can have at radio. Getting played on the radio is a tangible vector of validation that still has a consequential impact.

Perhaps there is still a sense that radio is less accessible to independent artists and smaller labels. Or that radio requires large budgets only big companies can unlock. Well, that is where companies like Play MPE come in. In this case, the platform acts as a space for music promotion and discovery by music professionals worldwide. Artists are welcome to use these means, too.

“Programmers are now used to getting their music digitally with a bio, album credits, tour dates, etc. It is also great to see the reporting from Play MPE and see who has opened, streamed and downloaded the songs is definitely helpful.” observed Joel Habbeshaw, VP of radio promotion at New West Records. “I have been utilizing Play MPE for a long time and I have found it to be super easy to upload and create a blast to radio and not have to keep updating my own database of contacts. Their worldwide collection of stations continues to grow and I am thankful for their ability to make the delivery to radio one less thing I have to worry about.”

Play MPE is a two-sided platform:

• Caster addresses artists, promoters, record labels, and managers. They can promote releases to verified tastemakers in radio, media, music supervision, curation, and more. Promotions include email blasts and hosting on the discovery side of the platform, Player. Users can add broadcast-ready music files, metadata, promotional information, assets, etc.
• Player enables radio programmers, music supervisors, curators, and even A&R professionals to discover the latest releases. From artists and labels around the globe, Player displays all tracks, in all music formats, with all the needed information. Music professionals can go from there to get a song on the air, do a sync placement, or plan a review by a music magazine.

As for indie artists, their releases can benefit from the same visibility as any other top artist. By existing in this context, this provides even more credibility to a name yet to be discovered.

A Strong Presence Starts With Radio

So why focus on radio when everything seems about getting on playlists or trending on TikTok?

If a music director or radio programmer chooses to add a song to rotation, it’s a deliberate choice. There’s no guaranteed way to get on the radio. Of course, hiring a radio promoter can bring an artist closer to the goal. But ultimately, the choice relies on the radio station alone. Working with promotion companies helps target the right people and networks, making it a great choice, but it still requires a budget. Many professional radio promoters are users of Play MPE. But indie artists are also welcome to take control and promote themselves, which allows them to target the same key industry decision-makers.

Another key factor is that radio plays last longer. Today, placement strategies are mainly focused on streaming playlists. However, they change every week or so. Radio stations might spin a song for 3 to 4 months or even longer if it becomes an instant classic.

It’ll come as no surprise that any artist should aim to diversify their revenue. Streaming can’t be the only stream of income. Other possibilities for getting your music not only heard, but played, have to be taken into account.

“Ditch sending 1000-plus cold emails to radio stations and instead use Play MPE,” said indie artist Sally Dige. “It will save you so much time, money, and effort and be WAY more effective. I cannot recommend this platform enough for independent artists like myself.”

So You Got on the Radio, Now What?

The next step is tracking radio plays and learning more about the artist’s audience. Data can inform a global strategy by showing which territories a track is more appreciated. For instance, an artist may want to book live shows in these target markets. Knowing which stations are playing music means new ways to contact fans, including ticket giveaways, contests to win merchandise, and more. There could also be opportunities to set up on-air interviews or live sessions. Beyond the touring aspect, this is great intel for music marketing.

Data is critical to building an artist development strategy. For example, marketing campaigns informed by radio data can help complete social media stats. Radio stations involve people working daily at curation. Streaming and social data need to be more reliable when it comes to filling venues. All in all, radio seems to have more staying power. And retention leads to longevity.

Beyond facilitating music promotion and discovery, Play MPE supports accessibility to radio tracking. Currently, you can track radio airplay in Canada with their new platform MTR. The company also has plans to expand tracking very soon.  

On the one hand, Play MPE makes it easier for artists to reach radio stations by providing them with a promotion tool and massive distribution lists. On the other hand, they make discoverability easier for curators and industry professionals, creating a space for the latest releases with relevant information attached. Play MPE works across all music formats and genres in 6 continents. When promoting a release, considering radio can open many opportunities in the long term.

Learn more about Play MPE.

Projection of royalty collection changes following Spotify’s 1,000-stream minimum payment transition (Digital Music News)

In our recent DMN Pro Weekly report, guest author Jeff Price — founder and former CEO of TuneCore and Audiam and current founder and CEO of Word Collections — takes an in-depth look at Spotify’s updated royalty payout structure and the financial impact it could have on labels, artists, and DIY distributors like CD Baby, Distrokid, and Tunecore in 2024. It’s an eye-opening calculation, to say the least.

For a comprehensive breakdown of what Spotify’s new payout model means for major and indie labels, music distributors, artists, and the broader music industry, check out our recent DMN Pro Weekly report. The exhaustive breakdown explores the ins and outs of the streaming platform’s 2024 compensation changes. That includes a detailed look at the legal and contractual frameworks involved, which parties will benefit the most, and the potential long-term impact on the music ecosystem. 

Throughout 2023 – including well before the late-November arrival of an official announcement – Spotify’s retooled payment model spurred no shortage of discussion. While the chatter was certainly noisy, a detailed and numbers-driven focus on the shift’s likely impact on labels, DIY distributors, and artists was largely absent.

In one of our latest DMN Pro Weekly Reports, guest author Jeff Price covered the subject at length, giving the industry its first complete view of the complex matter. The analysis includes detailed projections of who stands to win and who stands to lose in revenue terms.

Expectedly, the data shows that Spotify’s new system will leave DIY distributors with far more “ineligible streams” than majors Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment. The reason is simple: developing and emerging artists are streamed less than major label acts, with many non-major artists struggling to break Spotify’s 1,000-stream annual threshold.

Specifically, the entities that work for the DIY, developing, and independent artists (i.e., Distrokid, Tunecore, CD Baby, Ditto, and many others) represent a higher percentage of the sound recordings that are streamed less than 1,000 times over the prior twelve months. That is Spotify’s new ‘bright line’ for royalty payments: stream more than 1,000 in one year, and you get paid. Stream less than 1,000, and you get nothing.

A top-level transfer quickly emerges. Quite simply, royalties previously earned from the streams of sub-1,000 recordings will be taken from smaller artists and shifted to the artists and labels that break the 1,000-stream threshold. More prominent artists are often signed to major labels, which gives bigger labels an expected revenue bump.

But how much of a bump? One projection suggests that one-fifth of Distrokid’s total streams will not get paid royalties under the new plan. CD Baby and Distrokid, the second and third largest distributors of DIY and indie artists, are projected to grapple with an even higher ineligibility rate as 25 percent or more of their total streams become ineligible for payment.

Over time, the amount of money being taken from developing artists and handed to major music companies could be significant.

To illustrate, in December of 2022, Tunecore announced that it had collected and paid over $3 billion to its artists. Under the new Spotify model, assuming that 20% of Tunecore’s royalties were earned by recordings streamed less than 1,000 times on Spotify, as much as $600 million dollars would disappear from the pockets of Tunecore artists.

There are certainly other streaming platforms, and this assumes a simplified model involving Spotify only. It’s also important to note that Spotify’s changes only affect recordings, not publishing, and Tunecore’s figure is cumulative over many years. However, the rough math demonstrates that the changes could significantly erode developing artists’ royalties and market share.

But what will actually happen in 2024 and beyond, thanks to Spotify’s changes? Though the broader analysis dives into various adjacent figures that provide insight, the brass-tacks takeaway is that the three mentioned distributors are projected to receive a cumulative 4.5 percent less than they earned in 2023.

The inverse of this is the major labels, chief among them the main advocate of streaming-compensation changes, Universal Music Group (UMG). UMG and the majors are positioned to grow their revenue share by roughly the same percentage by taking the money that used to go to the DIY artists affiliated with Distrokid, Tunecore, and CD Baby.

As laid out in the report, UMG is poised to enjoy a 2.4 percent revenue-share increase each month, against 1.4 percent for Sony Music Entertainment (SME) and 0.6 percent for Warner Music Group (WMG). That amounts to a shift of approximately $4 million per month, as detailed in the report’s analysis.

At close to $50 million annually, this revenue transfer could prove significant out of the gate, with the potential for a substantial change in the streaming landscape.

From the major label perspective, one question is whether Spotify’s new policy and recent price raises will offset any decline in revenue caused by a slowdown in Spotify subscription growth — depending on what slowdown (if any) materializes in 2024 and beyond.

In that light, the majors may have also cleverly offset pressures from a streaming subscriber plateau or decline ahead. Other headwinds, including inflation and potentially softening consumer demand, might be mitigated by Spotify’s royalty changes and recent price increases.

With UMG and others driving similarly advantageous pivots on different platforms, the numbers indicate that 2024 could represent the beginning of a broader revenue transfer away from developing artists, smaller labels, and DIY distributors. In effect, under Spotify’s new royalty structure, the market share and revenue gains of the DIY sector are now facing significant erosion, with the majors slowing down any market share losses ahead.

Custom dark-themed Onesheet for Tate McRae, part of the Onesheet 2.0 rollout.

Acquired by Chartmetric in 2022, Onesheet is now zeroing in on advanced customization options, privacy sharing, and analytics. With improved dashboard navigation and file organization features, Onesheet 2.0 also offers the much-asked-for functionality that supports private Spotify links and custom widgets.

Chartmetric’s Onesheet is a tool for the music industry that allows the creation of data-backed artist summaries — or EPKs — in seconds. At its core, Onesheet is tailored to serve specific music data insights relevant to targeted goals — backed by Chartmetric’s robust datasets. Now, as Chartmetric releases Onesheet 2.0, we look at the latest updates to these dynamically updating one-sheet summaries.

As background, Andreas Katsambas, President and COO of Chartmetric, sat down with DMN to give us a closer look at how the ‘outward facing part of its dataset’ — Onesheet — brings value to artists, managers, labels — as well as the decision-makers ultimately receiving these one-sheets.

For artists and managers, these resumes are quick to create and pull data from Spotify and the web to streamline workflows. And for decision-makers at the receiving end of these one-sheets, one glance at the insights is enough to unearth the more expansive picture required to make informed decisions.

Taking it one step further, decision-makers can set standardized fields and requirements for the one-sheets coming their way and take charge of their valuable time and resources — quickly sifting through thousands of artist profiles to pick out the best fits.

Speaking to DMN once again, Katsambas highlighted how the latest Onesheet 2.0 resolves issues and pains for artists and managers while offering labels the ability to create something ‘exciting.’

Of the various new features, the platform launched a ‘dark’ theme for artist Onesheets. It will soon allow further customization of background color, font color and style, alongside a ‘light’ theme. Moreover, users can currently customize their Onesheet URL title via sheet settings.

With Onesheet 2.0, users can rename multiple one-sheets to target unique decision-makers.

As a standard, Onesheet 1.0 generated a random set of numbers for each URL. This numerical auto-generation made the sheets unique, though multiple Onesheet links in an email didn’t display identifying characteristics. 2.0 solves this problem by allowing artists and managers to add words or phrases to Onesheet URLs.

“You can rename any Onesheet URL. When you copy-paste the link, the artist’s name can be at the end of the URL, which helps you keep things organized and know which one-sheet you’re clicking for,” says Katsambas.

For Onesheet, it’s all about efficiency. Users can rename multiple one-sheets to target unique decision-makers. For example, customizing Onesheet URLs as drake, drake-radio, drake-spotify, or drake-rollingstone would help quickly identify which one is meant to go where.

Onesheet has also added the functionality to support private SoundCloud links, the ability to customize the demo track in the Spotify widget, and upgraded privacy sharing. Artists can now also export the entire Onesheet as a PDF.

“If an artist’s SoundCloud link were set in private, it wouldn’t play on our website, so we fixed that. That was a big one,” Katsambas says.

Speaking about creating a custom Spotify widget, Katsambas says it will display the most popular current track embedded by the artist.

With more secure sharing capabilities, artists can set their sheets to ‘Private’ and share them with select individuals. Katsambas explains, “You can take any Onesheet, add users via their email, type a specific message, and each receiver gains a unique access link only they can view.”

2.0’s improved analytics allows users to see which receivers clicked on the link to view the Onesheet, how frequently they accessed it, and when. “It gives you full analytics of the people you send it to, who was able to view it,” reveals Katsambas.

Improved analytics reveal how frequently a receiver viewed the Onesheet, and when.

Another key point, artists’ managers juggling hundreds of one-sheets found it ‘challenging to organize.’ So, Onesheet improved file organization capabilities by department, genre, or other requirement.

Katsambas says there’s another, more significant reason Onesheet 2.0 now facilitates the creation of highly organized folders. “Moving forward, when you’re going to have companies giving access to all their employees, they’ll be able to control who sees which folder. So now, it’s like a drive,” he said.

Does Onesheet have more updates and broader customization options in the pipeline? Katsambas says yes.

Management agencies and labels will soon be able to replace the term ‘Onesheet’ with their variants — such as company info — anywhere on the one-sheet.

Katsambas explains that the update offers the ability to ‘brand’ Onesheets — for artists and labels alike — and explains, “You can switch the Onesheet logo with your company logo, and have the ability to use your own subdomain, say www.universal.club. You can replace anything that says ‘Onesheet.’”

Other enterprise features in the works include the creation of multiple Onesheets on the fly — simply import a CSV and generate a hundred all at once.

Katsambas says Onesheet is underutilized, and it currently offers functionalities that could equip labels with a significant competitive advantage.

For example, labels could build customized Onesheets for Grammy nomination consideration blasts. “Make it compelling instead of putting the artist’s name next to their nomination. Maybe make it a bit more exciting,” he says.

Onesheet provides features far beyond just the creation of artist resumes for decision-makers. When it launched, the ‘living resume’ already offered integration with major platforms like Songkick to sync live shows and tour dates. Users can also embed videos, images, and links from YouTube, Audiomack, Soundcloud, and others.

Given Chartmetrics’s track record of data-powered insights, analytics, and privacy features, it’s interesting to explore how Onesheet will continue incorporating new ideas, trends, and even label requests to elevate its offerings.

In September, Chartmetric conducted an in-house study on Onesheet users to discover revealing insights about their geographical location, genre of music, and career stage.

Of the thousands of Onesheet summaries initiated this year, more than half were created in the US, followed by the UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, Brazil, Japan, and Mexico. The top five genres of those artists were Pop, Hip-hop/Rap, R&B/Soul, Rock, and Electronic. 34% of those who generated Onesheets were at the ‘developing’ stage of their career, 18% were mainstream, and 16% were undiscovered.

Digital music distribution platform Too Lost is hosting a series of ‘Collab for the Crown’ contests. T-Pain is hosting the first contest, which has already kicked off.

Damien Ritter, Director of Communications at New York-based Too Lost, said the contest will require artists to do what they already do: ‘make music, work with others, and promote their music.’

To compete, independent artists must create an original song in collaboration with at least one other artist and submit an entry on ‘Collab for the Crown.’ Too Lost has allocated a $33,000 prize pool for the first in a series of three contests, which means that the distributor will ultimately give away $100,000 in cash prizes.

Announcing the team-up with T-Pain for the first contest, Ritter said, “I always tell artists that you should be participating in these contests not only to potentially win money, but it’s a good opportunity to pick up some new fans that come to vote on entries.”

“It’s ridiculously hard to pursue music. It’s that much harder to pursue it on your own,” Ritter stated, highlighting that independent artists ‘don’t collaborate enough.’ Just recently, DMN joined forces with Too Lost to broaden awareness of the Collab for the Crown contest.

Ritter further explained that collaboration can be an extremely effective way to get your craft out there. “You could be building relationships with other artists, cross-promoting, sharing fans. That’s half the effort for the same results.”

“Contests like ‘Collab for the Crown’ generate a lot of excitement. Many artists pick up new fans along the way, and ultimately, that’s the goal,” Ritter relayed.

So how can indie musicians participate in ‘Collab for the Crown?’

Artists must follow these three steps:

1. Collaborate with at least one other artist to compose an original song.
2. Distribute the track via Too Lost.
3. Submit an entry on the ‘Collab for the Crown’ website, and promote your song to gain votes.

What are the rules for ‘Collab for the Crown?’

• Collaboration with another artist is mandatory, and can be in the form of vocals, hooks, verses, composition, etc.
• Artists must distribute the song via Too Lost before submitting the entry on the ‘Collab for the Crown’ website.
• Create a video post on social media using an Instagram link to the collaborative song.
• Each entry will need at least 100 votes to be eligible for Too Lost’s selection of 25 finalists.
• There are no restrictions on who can vote. Fans can vote once every 24 hours.

Contest eligibility details:

• All independent artists are eligible to compete.
• Artists can only submit one entry.
• A second entry will not qualify for the contest even if it features a collaboration with another artist.
• All solo entries will be disqualified.
• The contest is open to artists worldwide.
• Artists must distribute their tracks via Too Lost before the contest closes on January 22nd, 2024.

How will the winners be selected?

• Artists will require at least 100 fan votes on ‘Collab for the Crown’ to qualify as a finalist.
• Too Lost will select up to 25 finalists before T-Pain reviews those submissions to select the three final winners.
• Too Lost and T-Pain will announce ‘Collab for the Crown’ winners via Instagram live stream on February 5th.

Contest Prizes:

• Grand first Prize: $20,000
• Second Prize: $8,000
• Third Prize: $5,000

All three winners also gain an opportunity to work with Too Lost label services on their next release.

Contest dates to remember:

• November 29th, 2023: Contest start date.
• January 22nd, 2024: Contest entries close.
• January 29th: Too Lost announces 25 contest finalists.
• February 5th: T-Pain announces three final winners.

From an early age, Bernie Grundman knew he wanted to dedicate his life to sound. “I knew where I needed to be when I was a little kid,” says the world-renowned mastering engineer. “I already knew the things that attracted me, and I was wide open to it. I knew where my passions were.”

The following comes from Crewest Studio, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

Welcome to The Conduit, a podcast featuring candid conversations with professional musicians who give listeners the unvarnished truth about being an artist in the music industry. In today’s episode, host and LA-based DJ, producer, and musician Dan Ubick (aka Constantine “Connie” Price) sits down with Bernie Grundman to discuss the legendary engineer’s Hollywood studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, and its long-term impact on the music industry’s soundscape. “Music is an expression, emotionally, of the human experience,” says Bernie. “We all are the same. We all have the same emotions.”

A jazz fanatic who followed his passion for music through the Air Force and on to Hollywood, Bernie is the man behind a myriad of landmark recordings, including Carole King’s Tapestry, Steely Dan’s Aja, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Prince’s Purple Rain, Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, and Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle. Since opening his Hollywood recording studio in 1983, Bernie has mastered thousands upon thousands of records, winning numerous awards along the way. In 1997, he opened a studio in Tokyo, Japan, with engineer Yasuji Maeda.

Bernie began his career with Roy DuNann and Lester Koenig at Contemporary Records, where he mastered gems by jazz greats like Art Pepper and Sonny Rollins. Before long, the engineer moved on to Herb Moss and Jerry Alpert’s famed A&M Records in 1968, where he worked for the next 15 years before launching his own studio. As you’ll discover in today’s episode, Bernie’s easy-going demeanor, his never-ending quest to better himself, and his attention to detail are unrivaled—scrolling through his discography could take up the better part of your day.

In today’s podcast episode, Bernie talks about his decision to become a recording engineer and the steps he took to pursue that passion. He also emphasizes the importance of demonstrating enthusiasm, responding emotionally to music without prejudice, and making yourself unconditionally available to the artists. Ultimately, Bernie believes that if you do what you’re passionate about, you’ll never run out of steam. “I’m 81 years old, and I’m still enthusiastic and excited about this business,” he says. “The thing is, if you’re working in your passion area, you’re never going to run out of energy.”

Photo Credit: Aleksandr Popov

After partnering with Australasian music rights management organization APRA AMCOS last year, Music Recognition Technology (MRT) company Audoo has now announced an expanded rollout of its Audio Meters in the region. Audoo’s CEO reveals that the first tranche of installations in key Australian and New Zealand cities was a success — and ‘scaling is now the next step.’

DMN first reported on the initial phase of the partnership between APRA AMCOS and British MRT company Audoo in the summer of 2022. Now a year later, Audoo reveals that APRA AMCOS is committed to the tech’s early adoption. With a focus on that ambition, APRA AMCOS is significantly expanding the number of its devices installed in venues that are licensed for public performances.

Ryan Edwards, CEO of Audoo, explained that the extended rollout will exhibit a significant increase in Audio Meters being installed throughout Australia and New Zealand. “Australia is very populous around the edges, and this next phase will encompass all major cities and major metropolitan areas. We’re already dotted across the country,” Edwards relayed.

The Audoo and APRA AMCOS expansion will allow licensees to ensure that songs played in their premises are more accurately recognized, and paid for in compliance with copyright laws. Several years ago, Audoo partnered with DMN to accelerate its accuracy-focused mission.

Edwards relayed that the partnership and their Australasian model will potentially kickstart a global evolution of methodology for rights management organizations — switching from estimated public performance plays to actual play data.

For decades, the public performance royalty-collection process has been dominated by the use of proxy data and surveys. More recently, innovation-focused organizations like APRA AMCOS have sought out precise methodologies and technologies to enhance their distribution practices.

With Audoo, Edwards believes that rights management companies can implement better technologies to ensure even greater accuracy and transparency of play counts and rights holders’ payments. Focusing on that very aspect, Edwards says, “Audoo utilizes real world data to accurately digitize, streamline, and scale public performance data.”

Audio Meters allow Audoo to tune out the noise of busy public environments, and accurately recognize the music being played via ‘fingerprinting.’

Audoo’s Audio Meter is a multi-patented solution that monitors music played on commercial premises. The technology allows Audoo to tune out the noise of busy public environments, and accurately recognize the music being played via ‘fingerprinting.’ This data is then taken to Audoo’s cloud-based platform to streamline revenue disbursement for partner royalty societies. “Rights management organizations analyze this data alongside other music-use data sources. This is a complex, ongoing process,” says Edwards.

Edwards believes that public performance insights paired with global data will kickstart a new era of accuracy.

He also revealed that Audoo has already partnered with multiple rights management organizations, with more formal announcements to follow in the coming months.

According to Edwards, Audoo is uniquely placed because governments are now inquiring about the standards and quality of metadata across the music industry supply chain. “This is another step towards music modernization. We are now dealing with rights management organizations around the world and seeing different data standards and processes,” he added.

Generic insights involving most-played artists in different locations will also assist labels, publishers, managers, and organizers. By discovering which areas have the highest traction for a certain artist or music genre, Edwards says managers gain another data point to guide targeted promotions — and ultimately higher revenue. “As one example, artist tours could be planned based on higher geographical-based plays,” he relayed.

Edwards admits that this data already exists via social media and streaming numbers, but makes a case that Audoo insights are the missing puzzle piece that make data more usable and implementable. He added, “That’s what we’re plugging. We allow rights management organizations to harness data and use it.”

In July, Audoo also announced partnerships with PRS for Music and PPL for a large-scale UK rollout. Speaking about the move, Edwards said, “The take up from venues has been amazing. We’re getting into as many locations as possible.”

Photo Credit: Scottsdale Mint

Music distributor Too Lost will now feature a direct integration of beatBread — a funding platform geared towards independent artists, labels, and distributors. The two companies originally paired up in 2021, working together to advance millions of dollars of growth capital.

Too Lost is a long-term partner of Digital Music News. We’re excited to share this latest news from the company.

Building on the success of the two-year initiative, the integration brings beatBread’s chordCashAI automated advance customization tools directly into the Too Lost platform. Too Lost-distributed artists and label owners can now access fast-tracked advances, and customize their deal terms directly via their Too Lost account.

BeatBread offers advances between $1,000 to $2 million per artist, with even larger financing options offered via the beatBread investor network. According to Too Lost, available funding options will be updated automatically with each payment cycle. All advances will be repaid from a share of the artist’s streaming and airplay revenues, over a period of time chosen by the artist.

Speaking to DMN about the Too Lost integration, beatBread CEO Peter Sinclair relayed that Too Lost has been leveraging beatBread’s financial resources and technology to stimulate massive growth during the last two years. “We are excited to help Too Lost power the next stage of their growth journey.”

“We are always looking to help pro-artist companies grow. We provide flexible options that enable our partners to confidently deploy their own capital, beatBread’s capital, or a combination of both.”

Sinclair further said, “This embedded technology shows our commitment not only to fund independent artists and labels, but also to partner with innovative artist service companies who share our mission to accelerate the music industry’s rapid transition to creator independence.”

Too Lost helps independent music creators distribute, monetize, and protect their music across the globe. The indie distribution platform has distributed millions of recordings for over 250,000 artists and labels, generating over 5 billion streams per month for its users. On the back of those achievements, Too Lost has more than tripled its revenues during the last year alone.

Gregory Hirschhorn, cofounder and CEO of Too Lost, also commented on the platform’s beatBread partnership and integration, saying, “beatBread has been a significant growth catalyst for us, and we look forward to partnering with them to power this next phase of Too Lost’s growth. There’s even more coming out of this partnership in the future, so stay tuned.”

New York-headquartered music and technology company Too Lost provides SaaS solutions for indie musicians. Too Lost-distributed artists include Pink $weats, Ali Gatie, CG5, JT Music, Alina Baraz, YG, Aaron May, ILOVEMAKONNEN, and Dave East.

With the direct integration, Too Lost artists gain greater financing customization and control. beatBread’s technology allows independent labels, distributors, and artist service companies to provide deeper financial support to their artists under their own brand, and inside their own digital experiences.

The funds are advanced to artists on the basis of existing catalogs, newly-released music, and unreleased tracks.

Users can quickly sign up for the Splash Pro free tier, reveals Splash General Manager Tarika Wickremeratne.

Generative AI platform Splash just released its Gen-2 feature, allowing users to generate new music, lyrics, and vocals from a text prompt. Splash’s models are exclusively trained on a self-owned music library of loops composed by the platform’s music team — allowing Splash to offer broad and flexible commercial licenses to users.

Tarika Wickremeratne, General Manager at Splash, recently sat down with Digital Music News to explain how the generative AI platform transcends the standards set by other generative music companies that do not own their proprietary datasets.

Splash enlisted an entire music team that recorded hours of several musicians playing music and singing to create a fully generative AI music and vocals library. This in-house library trained their AI model to generate music and vocals via a simple text prompt.

“We own all of our music in our Splash library,” Wickremeratne relayed. “We want people to go out and monetize their creations, either by putting it on YouTube and earning money that way, or if they want to use it for their actual production work, video content, etcetera.” Just recently, Splash joined forces with DMN to further broaden awareness of its Gen-2 release.

Wickremeratne reveals that the company has published a comparison that shows precisely where Splash Pro stands in the competitive AI space, specifically with other text-to-music or generative AI platforms on the market.

Compared to features other text-to-music platforms bring to the table, Wickremeratne says Gen-2’s biggest flex is its ability to issue ‘very broad, very flexible commercial licenses to users.’

Wickremeratne says Google’s MusicLM and Facebook’s MusicGen cannot offer full commercial licenses. “They don’t have the rights to the music their models were trained on,” she explains.

Speaking about Stable Audio, she notes that even though the company is offering commercial licenses to users, ‘Stable Audio’s dataset has been licensed from an external production music company called AudioSparx.’ Wickremeratne relayed that Splash Pro’s datasets — on the other hand — are custom-created, so they can be tailored ‘to suit their customers’ evolving needs.’

Ownership of music libraries isn’t Gen-2’s only differentiating factor. The platform also offers proprietary text-to-vocal AI generation across multiple genres, using a Splash-exclusive catalog that is constantly expanding and growing.

“You can generate lyrics and get a generative voice that sings for you, choose whether that voice raps or sings. Even select different voices across different genres. As far as I know, we’re one of the only companies that do that,” said Wickremeratne.

“You can generate lyrics and get a generative voice that sings for you,” says Wickremeratne.

“Ownership and rights give us the ability to control our own destiny and not be at the mercy of legal complexities that come with partnerships and licensing agreements,” she adds.

Gen-2 also boasts an extensive list of genres that users can generate. Wickremeratne says they specialize in a Gen-Z and Alpha-inspired music catalog because, in the past, they ‘have always been a core audience of Splash.’ She adds, “A lot of EDM, hyperpop, lo-fi, funk, hip hop, trap, dubstep — those kinds of genres. We feel like that’s a key differentiator for us.”

This constant diversification and growth of the Splash catalog, according to Wickremeratne, remains one of the key goals for the company. “Our catalog is always growing because our music team’s work isn’t done. They are continuing to widen and expand the genres and music styles we offer.”

Wickremeratne says Splash Pro Gen-2 is all about more control and customization options— the intuitive user interface allows just that. “The platform is set out so that people get music that matches their prompt much faster than others — and they get a lot more choices.”

“Users can leverage many levers to tweak their music, whether it’s adding lyrics or changing the length of the song,” explains Wickremeratne, concluding with, “Splash brings many nuanced customization options for users.”

Elaborating on the tool’s ease of use, Wickremeratne reveals how users can quickly sign up for the Splash Pro free tier. “Users can experiment with unlimited track generations before deciding whether they need a paid version with more features.”

She adds, “You type in a description of the song you want to hear — say, a romantic ballad or a house track from the nineties. Add BPM, and add the genre you want. In just a few seconds, you’ll get five short samples that you can listen to that match your prompt.”

Users can extend these samples to different lengths. They can add lyrics, singing, or rapping to the track to create downloadable full-length songs in multiple file formats.

After multiple AI releases over the years, Wickremeratne shares that the biggest pivot for the company occurred after various breakthroughs in Machine Learning (ML) technology. “Our products are heavily inspired by companies like ChatGPT and Midjourney, which revealed to the world how powerful text could be as an input method.”

Wickremeratne explains that these ML breakthroughs ‘allowed us to achieve a longstanding, ambitious goal for Splash — to allow people to make music with AI.’ This shift led to Splash’s March 2023 release of Beatbot, a text-to-music experiment to gauge the usage of an AI music service with AI rapping.

Just three months later, in June, Splash launched Splash Pro Gen-1, calling it the tool that brings ‘AI-powered music at the speed of a text prompt.’ Gen-1 offered customization features such as BPM specification, generative and editable lyrics, 15 AI rappers and singers, as well as song length and arrangement options. Wickremeratne reveals that amateur DJs, creators, and bloggers on YouTube and TikTok had been early takers of Gen-1.

With the September release of Gen-2, Splash now boasts its fully generative music model, producing 44.1kHz stereo quality audio, with AI mastering tools, high-quality wav and stem downloads, and even the ability to create lyric videos.

The generative platform isn’t new to the AI business. Splash (formerly Popgun) first appeared on the music landscape in 2017, led by ex-Twitter alums Stephen Phillip and Richard Slatter, who also founded We Are Hunted. In 2012, Twitter purchased this machine-learning music discovery tool.

Splash went on to secure seed funding in 2018. By 2020, the ‘Splash — Music & Skate’ game had been introduced on Roblox, allowing players to create music and perform to live audiences inside virtual venues. The company then completed a $20 million Series A round in 2021 — co-led by Amazon’s Alexa Fund and BITKRAFT Ventures, with participation from Khosla Ventures and King River Capital.

Wickremeratne recalls how Splash focused on growing the Roblox game as the biggest virtual music festival, reaching over 4 million monthly active users. “We created the Roblox game to build our loop library. The game allowed players to perform music live on a virtual stage using a beatmaker instrument — a DJ pad with 48 buttons for different sounds that could be combined in different ways to make really cool music.”

Splash began building its ‘proprietary music catalog’ in 2019, ‘first for our app, then Roblox, and now for Splash Pro.’ Wickremeratne adds, “All the while, we’ve continued to invest in R&D to improve our music and voice generation and other AI capabilities.”

Wickremeratne relays that these efforts eventually led to the data that now underpins Splash AI training. The platform deployed this music across their Roblox game and mobile app while also training their AI models on it.

“There’s always been an engine running in the background,” Wickremeratne explained. “Splash has always been about democratizing music creation — putting really easy-to-use, simple, intuitive music tools in the hands of as many people as possible. There’s a real joy to creating music that you can’t get in quite any other way.”

Gen-2 has only been on the market for two months, so predicting the next developments is difficult.

As Splash’s AI model grows bigger and gains more sophistication, new sounds or even genres could emerge. It’s also inevitable that competitors will continue to innovate in the generative music space with gusto. However, with their models trained on entirely different datasets compared to Splash AI, will these new entrants bring completely unique sounds to differentiate themselves?

There’s also the possibility of text-to-music AI becoming mainstream. If producers start incorporating the sounds of Splash Pro into their work, it could signal a seismic shift in music creation and redefine what it means to ‘make’ music.

For now, Wickremeratne is closely watching how it all develops and adjusting Splash Pro’s roadmap accordingly.

Splash Pro subscription options include a Free tier, followed by a Starter tier ($10 per month) meant for creators looking to monetize their content. A Max tier ($49 per month) is meant for teams, developers, and companies. Splash also offers an Enterprise option for companies that require special API access or other advanced support.

Photo Credit: Jordan Whitfield

The Independent Music Publishers International Forum (IMPF) has proposed four ethical guidelines for AI developers.

What are the rules for AI? Digital Music News is assembling a critical forum of music industry leaders to address this very topic. Join major labels, publishers, artists, and leading music tech players on October 25th in Los Angeles — tickets here.

Composed of 200 of the world’s most significant independent music publishing companies, IMPF is the global trade and advocacy body for independent music publishers worldwide. Members include Concord Music Publishing, Big Machine Music, Downtown Music Publishing, and Reservoir.

The IMPF informed DMN via email today that it has released four ethical principles to foster higher transparency among songwriters, music publishers, and developers that are training AI music models.

IMPF’s latest move to ‘guide’ generative music AI comes in the midst of the industry’s rapid acceptance of AI, alongside frequent copyright infringement litigation and discourse surrounding AI models’ lack of transparency. Despite the evident boom of generative AI acceptance and practical use within the music industry, there have been calls to ensure AI developers maintain accurate records of music utilized in training AI. Organizations in the EU had also recently called for mandatory artificial intelligence training disclosures, saying, “AI innovation and effective copyright protection are not mutually exclusive.”

Against this backdrop, the IMPF proposed four principles that apply specifically to generative AI. The move aims to ensure the ethical use of music during the training of AI applications by developers, and create an environment of collaboration among all parties involved.

In a document detailing the guidelines, IMPF states, “The protection of human writers’ copyright and livelihood should be explicitly acknowledged and provided for in any AI-related activities, commercial negotiations or legislative initiatives. Applying generative AI should be based on principles of legality, accountability, and transparency.”

1. Seeking express permission for the use of music in the machine training process: “Superseding social interest exists which would justify an exception to this human right of intellectual property which protects not only the writers’ economic interest but also the expression of their creative personality.”
2. Keeping records of the musical works used in the machine training process: “The process of ingesting existing musical works constitutes the best opportunity to know the creative elements used by AI applications. It is relevant for any licensing, should the writer or rightsholder choose to allow the use, to ensure that any remuneration can be accurately distributed to the writers or rights holders.”
3. Labeling human created and AI generated works: “We suggest a clear differentiation between human-created musical works which benefit from copyright protection and machine-generated music which does not. Such clear demarcation of AI-generated musical works will ensure a level playing field for human-created music while protecting consumer choice.”
4. Delineation between assistive AI and fully generative AI application: “We strongly urge differentiating between human creation and technical generation, in particular by clearly labeling AI-generated musical works as such.”

Annette Barrett, President of IMPF, said, “We have established these four key ethical principles to strike a careful balance between progress and protection, to assert creative rights, and, ultimately, to forge a healthier relationship between the creative and technology industries.”

Barrett also emphasized that despite the debate — and often panic — about the rapid development of artificial intelligence and its implications for the creative industries, the technology is here to stay.

Barrett added, “[AI] will only get more sophisticated. In many cases, it will actually enhance our work and lives. We should not fight these advancements, but it would be negligent to give tech developers free reign when it comes to the use of artistic human work — which carries its own irrefutable, intrinsic value — to enable machine learning.”

IMPF’s new principles are one of the industry’s more extensive attempts to control artificial intelligence. The guidelines surface on the first day of the second IMPF Global Music Entrepreneur and Creative Industry Summit in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. The event is taking place on October 8th to 11th, and is expected to have over 340 music industry professionals in attendance today.

AirGigs has been a long-term partner of Digital Music News, which is proud to be sharing this massive announcement.

The evolution of the song “Sunny Days (Are Comin’ Once Again)” is definitely one to be remembered. Remote collaboration allowed songwriter and independent artist Greg Poulos to work with ten-time Fiddle Player of the Year and Grammy winner Michael Cleveland through AirGigs to release a new single together.

In the world of bluegrass music, collaborations are the heart and soul of artistic expression. Michael Cleveland, a renowned Grammy-winning musician, and Greg Poulos, a talented singer-songwriter, found themselves collaborating together on a new track.

The Genesis of a Track Through Remote Collaboration

At the time, still deep under lockdown during the pandemic, nobody could tour. So musicians turned to remote production, which is exactly what Michael and Greg did, leading to their paths crossing on AirGigs.

Greg Poulos was looking for a session musician to work on his new song “Sunny Days (Are Comin’ Once Again).” He connected with Michael Cleveland on AirGigs to play on his original song. Interested by the song’s bounce, swing, and blues melody, Michael quickly accepted the offer and ended up playing the mandolin, banjo, fiddle, and a bit of guitar.

What made the project all the more meaningful was the theme. Remember that this collaboration happened during the pandemic, and “Sunny Days” was full of hope. Michael Cleveland was excited to get involved; at the time, collaboration was challenging and the song spoke to the musician.

“Thanks to AirGigs I’ve been able to meet, record and collaborate with musicians and singers from all over the world,” Cleveland said. “It still blows my mind that I can receive a track from someone, in say Ireland for example, I play on it in my basement, send it back and it somehow all lines up correctly.”

“I remember Greg sent me a version with just him singing and playing guitar and I liked the song immediately. It was such a relevant song for what we were all going through and I knew that I wanted to record it if I could.”

Creating Lasting Bonds Between Artists

So the two musicians hit it off, and Michael liked the tune so much that he decided to re-record the song on his new album Lovin’ Of The Game released in 2023.

One of the unique aspects of AirGigs is its ability to create lasting connections between artists. You never know what will happen when you hire a high-caliber musician to play on your track. AirGigs wants to help artists discover each other and build their production network by working through remote collaboration.

“As a songwriter, this is a dream come true for me, especially since I don’t have time to actually record more than a vocal and guitar,” said Greg Poulos when asked about their collaboration. “There’s no way I could find time to record my songs locally with multiple studio sessions.”

”The completely unexpected bonus to all this was when Michael asked me if he could record my song for his new album. That was shocking and gave me the highest level of validation I’ve ever received as a songwriter.”

The Safe Space for Remote Collaboration by AirGigs

Considering the high-caliber artistry and enterprise buy-in on AirGigs, it’s understandable why the platform is building  towards an even more secure remote collaboration experience. Success stories such as Michael Cleveland’s and Greg Poulos’ can only happen if the infrastructure allows it. AirGigs recognizes the importance of maintaining a secure environment for artists.

The platform will soon roll out a deep verification system to create AirGigs Verified Profiles in response to this need. AirGigs aims to protect musicians and their creative works from potential fraudulent activities to keep unveiling unexpected great collaborations such as “Sunny Days.”

AirGigs has been a long-term partner of Digital Music News, which is proud to share this massive announcement.

Most artists end up juggling various platforms and multiple ‘dashboards’ during the production, distribution, and promotion of their music. Now, OmMuse is working to consolidate everything an artist needs into a central repository — the OmMuse Hub.

For artists, the process of creating, delivering, and monetizing music is a complex chore involving seemingly-endless partners. Apart from the countless nuts and bolts of music production, artists and managers need optimal organization and storage of files, advanced sharing capabilities, collaboration tools, royalty tracking solutions, and mastering tools that allow them to extract the most out of their work.

Most of these solutions are scattered across multiple platforms, forcing artists to coordinate a large number of endpoints. That’s a headache that OmMuse is aiming to solve with a consolidated service that allows every artist — on varying stages of their creative process — to simplify and optimize their creative process. Just recently, OmMuse joined forces with DMN to broaden awareness of their consolidated platform solution.

Company founder & CEO Vivek Patel outlined OmMuse’s vision to simplify music industry processes and propel musicians in their creative pursuits.

Patel adds that OmMuse will allow artists to ‘derive more value from their work by leveraging the latest tech in AI and blockchain.’ OmMuse CMO Chris Gertz-Rombach further explained that OmMuse primarily aims to facilitate accessibility, ease of use, collaboration, and discovery by utilizing tech to its absolute capacity.

The consolidated approach means that artists can tap into interactive creative tools to organize their entire catalog, discover collaboration opportunities, and distribute their music. For indie musicians, OmMuse brings elevated accessibility, a clean interface, and the ability to be discovered directly via the platform.

To keep the interface clean, OmMuse dashboard leads to only three tabs: My OmMuse Hub, Explore, and Artists.

OmMuse is in its late seed stage with a soft launch, and Gertz-Rombach reports that a few hundred early users have provided encouraging feedback. Gertz-Rombach also relayed a success story of musician Michael Alvarado, who is already collaborating with artists he discovered through OmMuse.

OmMuse is free to join ‘because a big part of our ethos is accessibility.’ Gertz-Rombach added, “We want anyone around the world to easily access OmMuse to create music, to distribute it by signing up for free.”

The platform’s cloud-based ecosystem is structured to assist in music-focused pursuits such as storage, organization, and collaboration. Gertz-Rombach says OmMuse was developed because other creative platforms were too ‘noisy.’

“There are way too many features and buttons on other platforms, so OmMuse is streamlined and simple. That’s our most positive feedback, too.”

OmMuse also aims to create simplicity throughout, instead of overwhelming artists with complex processes. Patel calls it the ‘grandpa test,’ adding, “If our grandpa can figure out how to add the songs and batch-upload tracks, then anyone can do it, right? OmMuse hub contains it in one place. It’s encrypted.”

Unlike conventional file storage platforms like Dropbox, OmMuse isn’t packed with music-irrelevant tabs and buttons. Dropbox’s free tier provides a miserly storage of 2GB, alongside a file size limit, which is unworkable for most musicians. The cloud storage giant also fails to offer the flexibility and navigation required for effective music collaboration. Also missing from Dropbox and its competitors are song-specific organizational capabilities, including metadata fields specific to music tracks.

“One of the big long-term plays we’re focusing on is the ability to organize huge sets of music data,” Gertz-Rombach shared. “Our tech automatically extracts metadata from tracks but also detects things like BPM and genre if not added manually. So labels and massive catalogs are organized and sifted through efficiently when uploaded and stored.”

Perhaps most importantly, non-music-specific platforms like Dropbox consistently fail to provide the vigorous privacy required for high-value music files.

To keep the interface clean, the OmMuse dashboard leads to only three tabs: My OmMuse Hub, Explore, and Artist. Users subscribed to the OmMuse free tier can create a profile, upload up to five gigs for free, and gain encrypted storage for large music files. Users can also employ more precise sharing and permission tools — better-suited for potentially lucrative music files.

“Any track you upload publicly will place you on the Explore page,” says Gertz-Rombach.

OmMuse artist profiles provide the spark to find the correct chemistry for collaboration. Gertz-Rombach says these discoverability features close the ‘search’ gap. He explained, “We found a lot of artists who want to be public with their music and get discovered. So any track you upload publicly will place you on the Explore page.”

Artists can also opt-in to become featured artists so others in search for collaborators can reach out and initiate a project. “It’s a way for other musicians, writers, or even labels to find artists.”

OmMuse’s mastering tool with Dolby.io.

Artist profiles can include everything from their work history, a link to their website, and their music. “It’s an additional way for artists to be discovered, and a way to find other collaborators,” Gertz-Rombach relays, adding, “Maybe you’re looking for a producer that can make beats for your next track or a writer to help with a hook? In some ways, it is like a bit of a social platform.”

OmMuse also integrates AI to facilitate music production, mastering, smart contracts, and other creative tools.

“OmMuse also partnered with Dolby, and users subscribed for OmMuse’s paid tier at $7.99 per month receive discounts for Dolby.io AI Mastering. You can preview [the mastered track] up to 30 seconds before you pay for it,” says Gertz-Rombach.

The startup also introduces proprietary smart contracts, with which artists can upload music projects and designate different royalties for multiple collaborators. Gertz-Rombach explained that users can also mint their music through the smart contract for distribution, adding, “We absorb all the minting fees if you’re subscribed to a paid tier.”

The technology company appears to have a major partnership on the cards. Without naming any names, Gertz-Rombach hinted at a prominent digital distribution tie-up for OmMuse. “OmMuse will be the first platform that uses ‘their’ backend API to go within our platform. We’re one of the first that will be able to leverage it.”

Gertz-Rombach says that with further future developments and partnerships, OmMuse will be able to distribute music to all streaming platforms.

(Also, exclusively for DMN readers, OmMuse is offering a three-month subscription to their Major tier for free. OmMuse Minor remains free for everyone.)

Here’s a more detailed overview of OmMuse subscription tiers:

Free Access: OmMuse Minor

• 5GB of Optimized Music & File Storage
• Basic AI-Based Music Organization
• Choose to Share Music Publicly or Privately
• Profile, Tracks, & NFTs Listed on Explore Page
• Full Price Dolby.io AI Mastering ($29.99/track)
• Full Price Music NFT Minting ($29.99/track)
• Unlimited Encrypted Messaging with Users
• Update Track Versions With Collaborators

OmMuse Major: $7.99 per month

• 500GB of Optimized Music & File Storage
• Enhanced AI-Based Music Organization
• Choose to Share Music Publicly or Privately
• Profile, Tracks, & NFTs Listed on Explore Page
• Discounted Dolby.io AI Mastering ($7.99/track)
• Discounted Music NFT Minting ($14.99/track)
• Unlimited Encrypted Messaging with Users
• Update Track Versions With Collaborators

OmMuse Studio: $14.99 per month

• 1TB of Optimized Music & File Storage
• Advanced AI-Based Music Organization
• Choose to Share Music Publicly or Privately
• Profile, Tracks, & NFTs Listed on Explore Page
• *Tracks & NFTs Added to “Featured Section”
• *Profile, Tracks, & NFTs Highlighted on Website
• *Social Media Promotion on OmMuse Socials
• Discounted Dolby.io AI Mastering ($4.99/track)
• Discounted Music NFT Minting ($9.99/track)
• Unlimited Encrypted Messaging with Users
• Update Track Versions With Collaborators

*Premium benefits only available to Studio users

A higher-end, customized Enterprise tier is also available, according to OmMuse.

Photo Credit: Ian Taylor

Insights from the first-ever UK Musicians’ Census reveal the demographic makeup of UK musicians and prevalent pay gaps, barriers to career progression, and financial challenges.

In a project from Help Musicians and the Musicians’ Union, alongside research agency Walnut, a survey of nearly 6,000 musicians maps how UK artists are doing with a career in the industry — by revealing details of revenue, lifestyle, and pay gaps.

Released September 2023, the census’ results shed light on a troublesome element: rampant financial struggle under the facade of a ‘glamorous’ music industry career.

According to the report, the average annual income of a UK musician is merely £20,700 (currently $25,881). 23% of respondents indicated it was impossible to support themselves and their families by relying solely on a career in music. This discrepancy has led musicians to seek external sources of income to supplement their music earnings. These external income sources include a constant bid for freelance projects, or finding ‘regular’ employment.

Of the musicians supplementing their income, 62% said they generated additional earnings by seeking employment outside the music industry. 75% of those with another income source (in addition to music) reported that the only reason behind their quest for ‘external’ employment was an attempt to make ends meet.

46% of musicians reported that financial obstacles and limitations hinder their musical efforts, and 44% said that a lack of sustainable income restricts their career growth.

While citing other barriers to a thriving music career, 30% named cost of equipment as the biggest barrier, 27% said the high cost of transport was an issue, and 18% claimed the cost of training was holding them back from making the most out of their music passions.

Of course, there are artists who earn 100% of their income by creating music. 40% of musicians reported earning all their income from music, averaging £30,000 ($37,510) annually. 25% of these musicians reported earning more than £41,000 ($51,262) annually, and 3% responded that they made more than £70,000 ($87,521) per year.

But many musicians working fulltime in music reported taking on self-employed music projects, and their average total revenue from their craft is similar, £38,750. However, the fact that these music-employed artists are also obligated to seek out freelance projects points to a tragic reality — even a fulltime music career isn’t a guarantee of financial stability, and most respondents have resorted to topping up lower annual earnings with extra work. Additionally, 17% of all musician respondents reported being in debt.

The report noted that of the 3% outlier high earners, 79% were men, while only 19% were women.

The census and its insights highlight several other pay gaps (besides gender), that play integral roles in determining a UK musician’s average yearly income. These included disability, ethnicity, LGBTQ, and employment status.

Regarding qualifications related to music education, 50% of respondents had a music degree, and 27% stated they were self-taught.

Musicians’ Census Financial Insight Report is supported by a vast number of organizations across the sector who have input into the project and will also benefit from its insight. These include the Arts Council England, Association for Electronic Music (AFEM), Association of British Orchestras, Attitude is Everything, Black Lives in Music (BLiM), Drake Music Org, Drake Music Scotland, English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS), Featured Artists Coalition, Ivors Academy, Music Managers Forum, PiPA, PPL, PRS Foundation, Punch Records, Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain (RSM), Safe In Sound in NI, She Said So, The F List, The Independent Society of Musicians (ISM), and UK Music.

Viberate cofounder Vasja Veber.

While artists signed with major labels seem to have access to inexhaustible resources for distribution, promotion, and marketing, the opportunities available to indie artists aren’t as robust. Viberate is attempting to bridge this gap by bundling data analytics, artist websites, playlist pitching, booking pages, unlimited distribution, and more — all in one consolidated plan.

Viberate is now expanding their focus on analytics to include broader services designed to uplift musicians. The company’s just-launched ‘Viberate for Artists’ includes unlimited distribution alongside playlist pitching, festival pitching, artist websites, and an entire booking page for a single annual payment of $39.

Vasja Veber, cofounder of Viberate, recently sat down with Digital Music News to discuss the consolidated offering for up-and-coming artists. Veber pointed out that DIY distribution services generally charge $40 per year for unlimited distribution, whereas Viberate is doing more with the same price.

“We wanted to match whatever artists are already paying for distribution. With Viberate for Artists, artists can distribute to all streaming services that matter, retain 100% of ownership, make bookings, and access their data across all relevant social and streaming channels. Everything an artist needs is for $39 per year,” Veber explained. Viberate recently partnered with DMN to expand awareness of its consolidated platform.

Viberate for Artists includes unlimited distribution alongside playlist pitching, festival pitching, artist websites, and an entire booking page.

Viberate’s artist website builder includes live performances, recorded music, and stats. Veber says the resulting website has “everything an artist needs for a promoter to say ‘I want to book this guy for my festival.’”

Viberate for Artists also allows artists to solicit booking requests directly via Viberate. Decision-makers can choose venues from a database, select preferred dates for performances, and make offers to the artist via the website. Veber explains how Viberate pulls every detail from a vast database, adding, “The whole music ecosystem is in one place. Artists, tracks, playlists, festivals, labels. Viberate is a big platform.”

Other players in the competitive music distribution and analytics services arena appear to be offering specific services — but not everything in one package. That’s potentially a market void that Viberate wants to fill.

For instance, CD Baby charges up to $50 for a single album release and retains 9% of artists’ digital distribution revenue. The platform adds a price bump for additional services such as artist website bookings and analytics.

Veber clarified that while the consolidated package allows artists access to their own analytics for free, stats for other artist profiles are limited. “But that access is definitely enough for what artists need,” Veber assured.

One problem Veber noticed is that decision-makers in the business have to platform-hop for clarity and artist insights. Viberate aims to create a credible hub of analytics where metrics update automatically, allowing informed decision-making for anyone wanting to invest in an artist.

Veber further described the issue, “When artists are pitched to promoters, they have to ensure that their latest videos are embedded, and their latest tracks are Spotify linked.”

“We streamline the process. With so many channels to update, we fold the trending stuff and put it all on an automatically-updated website. You can’t manually edit anything. The website will grab stats and highlight trending content as soon as anything pops up on any platform,” Veber explained.

According to Veber, basic stats update every 24 hours. These include previews and stats from Spotify, YouTube, Shazam, radio stations, chart appearances, all major DSPs, and top playlists. Moreover, decision-makers in the business can also analyze details about artists’ followers, even artists’ professional connections.

At its core, Viberate offers analytics to music industry professionals, labels, festivals, and artists. The company claims it has ‘more insights than anyone else.’

Veber says, “Every service we create is based on, and backed by, our data.”

Viberate prides itself on housing 850,000 verified artist profiles with complete analytics dashboards. Veber explains how other major analytics platforms boast counts of over 8 million profiles, but they come with a catch. “These platforms have up to 15 different profiles for the same artist. Anyone who works in the data space knows how important it is to have a clean data set,” Veber relays, adding, “Viberate is a more robust database. We have one profile, and all the data for that artist is in one profile.”

Moreover, artists’ stats can be compared side-by-side, including audience information, listener information, fanbase growth and engagement charts.

Comparing fanbase growth and fanbase engagement reveals the credibility of artists’ follower count.

According to Veber, analyzing fanbase growth and fanbase engagement sheds light on the credibility of artists’ follower count. “These two metrics must be correlated to ensure followers didn’t come from click farms. If you see growth of the fanbase but no growth of engagement, this could signal a problem.”

Veber says, “Viberate is revolutionizing the music business with the power of data and offering more insights than anyone else.”

Veber also offered a tempered tone on AI. “Despite the world leaning onto AI, we are combining machine processing and human curation,” he noted.

Even though Viberate’s algorithms run the majority of data points, Veber believes AI is limited in its abilities, adding, “Sometimes, there are going to be two artists with the same name in different genres, and the computer will think they’re the same artist. You have to listen to them to distinguish that they’re different. So I don’t believe in machines completely replacing human curation. Not just yet.”

The company boasts 120 human curators who go through data every day. Veber is adamant that despite the world diving into the midst of an AI hype, machines still have a long way to go. “People think of ChatGPT and other language models like some Skynet that will take over the world. Although the tech is fascinating, it can only summarize our existing knowledge.”

Veber admitted that AI turned out to be an irreplaceable tool for generating artists’ bios, but the technology’s capabilities were disappointing when it came to analytics. “We tried to train AI to draw conclusions from our statistical features, but the tech failed spectacularly. Sarah Conner can still chill for a bit,” he added.

With offices in Beverly Hills, London, and Ljubljana (Slovenia), Veber reveals that the US generates more than half of the traffic. “Everything else is divided between Europe, the UK, and some Asian countries.”

Speaking about the future of Viberate, Veber reveals that the company will soon allow fan-funded advances to artists. “Those are going to be based on NFTs. So we’ll have fans funding advances to certain artists.”

Chartmetric’s Onesheet for Dominican singer-songwriter Yendry.

Last year, Chartmetric acquired the appropriately-named Onesheet, a company creating one-sheet summaries (or EPKs) for artists. With Onesheet now relaunched in beta, we take a closer look at how Chartmetric’s datasets are powering these dynamic artist resumes — and what it means for musicians and the broader music industry.

According to Chartmetric, Onesheet is now the ‘outward facing part of its dataset.’ For data-related insights, artist tracking, and showcasing projects, Onesheet is designed to streamline data processing and analysis for decision-makers within the music industry.

Andreas Katsambas, President and COO of Chartmetric, sat down with Digital Music News to talk about the key objectives of Onesheet and who stands to benefit.

Clarifying a clear distinction between the usage of Chartmetric and Onesheet, Katsambas said, “You go to Chartmetric for insights and analytics. You use Onesheet to tell the world who your artist is and what they’re promoting.”

One of the leading data platforms for the music industry, Chartmetric aims to allow professionals to make informed business decisions. Backed by accurate Chartmetric data, every artist’s Onesheet updates stats in real time. It can also be created in seconds. Just recently, Chartmetric joined forces with DMN to further expand Onesheet’s impact.

“You use Onesheet to tell the world who your artist is and what they’re promoting,” says Chartmetric COO Andreas Katsambas.

Moreover, Onesheet can pull accurate data from Spotify and the web. This capability allows the platform to streamline workflows for artists and decision-makers.

Katsambas says Onesheet’s integration with major platforms like Songkick allows it to sync live shows automatically. Artist managers can also embed videos, images, and share links from YouTube, Audiomack, SoundCloud, and others.

For artists, Onesheet is a ‘living resume’ geared towards convenience and simplification of top-level stats. For decision-makers in the business, standardizing Onesheet provides quicker and more accurate screening — with Chartmetric data backing up the information. Katsambas says, “It’s an excellent way to screen artists, just by looking at Onesheet.”

Onesheet features artists, albums, projects, events, and festivals. Artists can also ‘Spotlight Release’ upcoming tracks and albums, highlighting priority releases via Onesheet to make the announcements.

Katsambas talked about the strategic advantages for the broader music industry, including quick creation and sharing, extensive customization features, and dynamically updating metrics.

Artists and managers can add and remove sections and metrics tailored to pique the interests of specific decision-makers. Katsambas says, “Coming soon, you’ll be able to change the background colors, the text, the font — it’ll be easier to utilize and more flexible.”

Katsambas also spoke about how these dynamic digital pages take seconds to create. “You can put in anything you want. You can make it as long and extensive as you like. And metrics refresh on a daily basis,” he says.

Onesheet can pull accurate data from Spotify and the web.

“Where else can you create online EPKs with metrics updating dynamically? Where else can you add a new release, promote it instantly, and share?”

One-sheet summaries have long been used to visually depict entire careers — at a glance. Historically, the recipients of artists’ EPK one-sheets have included record stores, radio stations, labels, and magazines.

These one-sheets were summaries that took hours to create, detailing new releases, audience reach, and demographics (among many other stats). When the music industry made its digital transition, the need for one-sheets remained, but updating a growing number of stats became laborious.

For managers juggling multiple artists, manually updating streaming stats is a relentlessly demanding project. EPKs can require hours of work every week to tweak, a problem Chartmetric aims to solve.

“Onesheet simplifies the process, makes it easy to share, and evolves the necessary information,” Katsambas explains.

Moreover, if (say) a Onesheet is sent to Spotify today, and the Spotify representative opens it a month from now, they’ll see the data metrics from that morning. Katsambas reveals, “It’s going to be updated at the last minute.”

Katsambas says Chartmetric’s unparalleled datasets are the armor propelling Onesheet to the front of the race.

While the competitive landscape includes other EPK platforms, Katsambas asserts that Onesheet “brings a very different approach.”

Before Chartmetric’s Onesheet, the EPK landscape was undoubtedly different. Sonicbids and Reverbnation also create EPK profiles for artists, but Katsambas insists Onesheet doesn’t see them on the radar: “Onesheet allows you to create EPKs on the fly and share them as well. Those are different use cases.”

Katsambas says Chartmetric’s unparalleled datasets are the armor propelling Onesheet to the front of the race, adding, “We have all the metrics, and Onesheet builds a page instantly. Onesheet brings a very different approach.”

Chartmetric is already working with some early adopters. According to Katsambas, one example is indie record label Roylee Records, which is already leveraging the benefits of Onesheet.

Andrew Bonica, CEO of Roylee Records, explained how Onesheet has become essential to their daily operations. “We love the ability to customize the sheets so we can use multiple sheets per artist, tailored for different purposes such as playlist pitching, tour booking, brand deals, and more. We can be confident that the data in Onesheet is accurate and automatically kept up-to-date without having to do any extra work,” Bonica relayed.

Katsambas also hinted at future features that would further streamline workflows for event managers, booking agents, and marketing decision-makers.

For starters, the integration between Chartmetric and Onesheet will soon become hand-in-glove. “We are currently working towards a closer integration with Chartmetric, and existing users of Chartmetric will be able to benefit from some cool perks, including signing into both platforms with the same credentials,” Katsambas relayed.

Greater capabilities, including customized fields for festivals and events, are also ahead. “It’s about people finding value here and adopting it,” Katsambas said.

Onesheet is free for all account tiers until September.

In the ‘90s, rock was rock, hip-hop was hip-hop, and never the twain did meet. Then, at the turn of the century, a 73-minute, genre-bending bomb exploded onto the music scene, shattering notions about the limits of creativity and collaboration. Uneasy Listening, Vol. I, a joint record from like-minded DJs P and Z-Trip, broke genre conventions by mixing rock ‘n’ roll mainstays like Rush and Pat Benatar with dance and hip-hop cuts from Madonna, Redman, and The Pharcyde.

The following comes from Crewest Studio, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

Welcome to The Conduit, a podcast featuring candid conversations with professional musicians who give listeners the unvarnished truth about being an artist in the music industry. In today’s episode, host and LA-based DJ, producer, and musician Dan Ubick (aka Constantine “Connie” Price) sits down with Zach Sciacca (better known as DJ Z-Trip) to discuss the musician’s pioneering work as a key player in the mash-ups movement.

“It wasn’t like I set out to become a DJ,” says Z-Trip, whose Uneasy Listening arrived on the scene in 2001, just as samples, remixes, and mashups were gaining credibility as a valid form of self-expression. “It was very much about me having this music and wanting to share it,” he continues. “Once I realized that I could put it together and I could expose people to the things that I liked, the DJ thing came into play.”

Widely known as both the godfather of mashups and “America’s Best DJ,” an award he received in 2009 from the DJ Times, Z-Trip is also renowned for his technical abilities and production skills. Over the years, he’s collaborated with innovative artists like Nas, Beck, Public Enemy, and DJ Shadow, remixing songs from artists as varied as Bob Marley and the Butthole Surfers. In his interview, Z-Trip shares the brightest pearls of wisdom he’s pocketed along the way: “One thing I learned through the arc of my whole career is take chances,” he says. “Be risky, try to push boundaries. Don’t always play it safe. There’s a time to play it safe, there’s a time to lock in.”

Z-Trip also touches on his favorite genre-bending tracks (see Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock”), why creative consistency trumps big milestones, and how to find like-minded artists traveling a similar career path. His advice to aspiring DJs? “Every gig, go into it like it’s your first [and last],” he says, adding, “put your heart and fucking soul into it because you never know who’s watching.”

TikTok has officially launched an artist-promotion program called Elevate. Photo Credit: TikTok

Two months after expanding its “New Music” hashtag into “a global music discovery hub,” TikTok has debuted Elevate, which higher-ups are billing as the “first-ever program to identify, amplify and celebrate emerging artists.”

The highly controversial video-sharing app announced the formal rollout of Elevate today. Now touting itself as “the ultimate platform for music discovery and promotion,” TikTok has indicated that the newly minted program will afford participating artists “meaningful support both in-app and out in the world” – with an emphasis on developing their “careers beyond a single trending hit.”

Time will tell exactly what this meaningful support entails; the ByteDance subsidiary’s Elevate announcement message is relatively light on concrete details. However, TikTok disclosed plans to deliver “unique artist experiences to fans” as part of the campaign, “including exclusive performances” in the enrolled acts’ hometowns.

Of course, these creators are likewise set to chart their careers on (and receive a potentially significant promotional push from) TikTok, which is now operating a distribution platform and, in Brazil and Indonesia, a namesake music streaming service.

Shifting to the actual artists involved with the first Elevate iteration – which is only scheduled to run “through October,” suggesting that many creators could join the program before long – TikTok noted that CHINCHILLA, Sam Barber, Omar Courtz, Isabel LaRosa, Kaliii, and Lu Kala had been selected.

Meanwhile, TikTok intends “to release more details on upcoming Elevate cohorts in the coming months,” and the service’s North America artist partnerships lead, Rachel Dunham, in a statement underscored the app’s perceived status as a leading “destination for music discovery.”

“Elevate speaks to the heart of TikTok and our commitment to honor and empower the diverse talent on the platform,” communicated the former Live Nation artist services exec Dunham. “As the destination for music discovery, we are so excited to provide artists with meaningful support on and off TikTok to help them find long-term success in the music industry.”

Despite grappling with ample regulatory scrutiny, a number of government-level bans (as well as the adjacent threat of an outright prohibition in some nations), and multiple lawsuits, TikTok has during the past year plowed ahead with more than a few music-centered initiatives.

Among these many efforts and agreements (besides those mentioned above as well as an AI song generator from ByteDance) are a music-collaboration tool called StemDrop, a Ticketmaster tie-up, a “talent manager portal,” high-profile licensing pacts, exclusive music, featured-artist campaigns, and a “Work With Artists” option.

(Photo Credit: Rawpixel.com on Freepik)

As the march towards more realistic entertainment environments continues, the music industry is potentially diving headfirst into 3D audio. IRCAM Amplify is one player attempting to eradicate the barriers to adoption.

Spatial audio’s immersive and dimensional aspect — and its appeal to the larger music audience — isn’t exactly a novel concept for industry mega-players like Apple Music, Sony, or Microsoft. But is there a tipping point ahead into 3D audio ubiquity?

According to a study published in Fortune Business Insights, the global 3D audio market was worth $3.8 billion in 2019. The study’s prediction that it could grow to a whopping $12.97 billion by the end of 2026 now seems highly convincing. 2021 saw major streaming giants Apple Music and Amazon Music stepping into the 3D audio realm.

In January, Apple’s VP of Services Eddie Cue reported that Apple Music listeners more than tripled the platform launched a spatial audio feature, and monthly plays grew by over 1,000%. Apple Music also partnered with Mercedes-Benz to bring the treasure trove of spatial audio to drivers around the world. Now celebrating its success, the streaming giant is calling spatial audio ‘the future of the music industry.’

But for a majority of music industry players, the re-creation of stereo recordings and synthesized sound (both new and old releases) into a multi-dimensional 3D listening experience has been daunting. Labels, producers, and distributors currently wrestle with significant obstacles to 3D audio conversion.

There are different takes on how much work the transition to spatial audio requires. But for many, the conversion of tracks is incredibly expensive, takes too much time, and is highly technically demanding. Naturally, large-scale implementation isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

Already, a number of players are emerging to solve these problems for content owners and creators. One company, IRCAM Amplify, is enabling wider access to intricate 3D audio technology. By reducing entry barriers, the company says it will expedite the transition of music into an immersive 3D audio experience.

IRCAM Amplify, a subsidiary of France’s premier audio research institute IRCAM, says it is ‘situated at the forefront of audio innovation,’ and is ‘dedicated to democratizing 3D audio technology.’ The company recently joined forces with DMN to further expand its industry-changing technology.

Frédéric Amadu, CTO of IRCAM Amplify, told DMN that artists and distributors can now effortlessly process songs into 3D audio. “The transition requires minimal technical knowledge and a manageable budget,” he added.

Amadu says IRCAM Amplify’s mission is to make their 3D audio conversion engines accessible to the gamut of industry players — including mega labels, indie artists, distributors, and ‘even bedroom producers.’

Speaking about the existing constraints around large-scale audio spatialization, Amadu said the current pathway to 3D transition requires specialized studios with specific tech equipment. “While these studios are adept at processing individual tracks, challenges arise with mass spatialization.”

Amadu explains that this ‘one-track-at-a-time’ conversion process is highly unfeasible for catalog owners, because it requires a significant investment of time and money. “That’s where IRCAM Amplify steps in. We provide a scalable solution for mass-spatialization of catalog tracks, quickly and cost-effectively.”

With the ability to convert large numbers of catalog tracks into spatial audio at a reasonable price, the company is promoting large-scale adoption of the technology.

The timing might be perfect. Catalog tracks well-recorded for their time — and worth millions and millions of dollars — are now on the verge of quickly sounding ‘outdated.’

For a publisher that owns multiple artist catalogs, conversion of hundreds of tracks into 3D could be a laborious, back-breaking project. Nonetheless, this transition is becoming imperative. If publishers want to continue to monetize their catalogs, they need to find a way to transition their libraries into 3D audio — without an exorbitant price tag.

According to IRCAM, this move to spatial audio will not only ‘revolutionize the listener experience,’ but also ‘broaden the reach of catalog tracks’ that are currently gathering dust without an audience: “As the demand for 3D audio grows, the transition to spatial audio will also increase IP value.”

Amadu says these old catalog recordings, originally produced without any spatial formats in mind, could be ‘reinvigorated and revitalized to gain a new lease on life.’

“Many artists, companies, and distributors are ready to shift to 3D audio. However, they give up because the learning curve is too high and they think it’s too complex. With IRCAM Amplify, any distributor can create 3D audio versions of their tracks in seconds.”

Old recordings, created without any spatial formats in mind, could be ‘reinvigorated and revitalized,’ (Photo Credit: Mikes-Photography)

Amadu emphasizes that IRCAM Amplify aims to democratize 3D to ensure the transition is no longer prohibitive to anyone in the business.

While discussing the challenges artists, labels, and publishers face with audio spatialization, Amadu questioned whether it’s even practical or sustainable for anyone to be spending thousands of dollars on 3D conversion. “Even the most affluent labels might balk at such an expenditure. It’s simply not a feasible approach. So we’re providing a cost-effective solution as an add-on service, offered directly by distributors and labels. This will make large-scale spatialization easily accessible and financially viable.”

Amadu explains how IRCAM Amplify’s AI-powered engine is trained to understand and dissect the DNA of any song — old or new. “Running an automated algorithm that analyzes the track, understanding what it’s made of, what the mastering is like — that knowledge and understanding paves the path for spatial transformation that offers pure excellence.”

IRCAM Amplify launched their AI-powered spatial audio engine beta in May.

Indie artists’ music distributor Believe, and its subsidiary Tunecore, have already joined forces with IRCAM Amplify. The spatial audio beta offers a user-friendly interface that fine-tunes the spatialization process.

IRCAM Amplify’s beta also brings comprehensive support for multiple formats, and easy online access via a simple API. Artists can customize their spatialization approach by adding effects to audio, and incorporate special treatments to the new versions of their tracks. If required, the company’s conversion engine can also accentuate specific instruments or facets of a song. This will create a highly immersive and enhanced 3D experience for the audience. The company believes that this level of detail in customization validates artists’ aesthetic preferences, so the final output aligns with their vision.

With 3D audio gaining listeners and catalog conversions, it will be interesting to see where the format goes next. Amadu believes their AI engine will ‘empower players of the digital music industry.’

As streaming services quickly make the switch to immersive audio experiences, listeners could soon expect 3D audio as a necessity.

And that’s just the beginning. The possibility of wider industry applications include larger scale implementation of potentially realistic simulations of live concerts. As phone manufacturers and other fidelity products make hardware updates that support 3D sound, the future of this immersive experience appears limitless.

This spotlight on spatial audio formats is also drawing attention to another benefit — mental wellbeing. According to a Japanese study, 3D audio’s high-res sound alongside inaudible high-frequency components induce relaxation and boost attention even without conscious awareness. Does that mean we’ll soon find spatialized podcasts, audiobooks, and other similar formats?

From the outset, it does appear like 3D audio could quickly encompass every piece of audio. But it’s important to remember that every few years, new ‘promising’ high-res formats emerge — claiming they’ll change the music world.

So maybe we soon inhabit a world where every recorded piece of audio features sonic immersion. Or, something new and even better will surface to take 3D’s place.

For now, spatialization is improving sound quality and we’re here for it. A sensory 3D space, with sounds emerging from all around us, is edging us closer to audio reality.

Artists, distributors, labels, producers, and digital music companies can streamline entry into immersive 3D formats by participating in IRCAM Amplify Beta here.

The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) recently hosted IndieWeek 2023 in Manhattan. Apart from being one of the largest gathering of independent artists in the world, the three-day networking conference brings together distributors, labels, DSPs, investors, and others.

The following comes from Open On Sunday, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

To launch our new platform, DMN TV, sponsored by Open On Sunday, Digital Music News hit the road to cover panel discussions and industry awards. Artist and songwriter performances also took place during the three-day event A2IM IndieWeek, all hosted at Intercontinental Hotel in Times Square.

A2IM IndieWeek 2023 kicked off with a rooftop party presented by ADA. During the panel discussion, Adrienne Muhammad with Open On Sunday guided record labels on how to manage their catalogs, saying, “Before we even purchase a catalog, we need to get to know who the audience is. So we know how to market those catalogs once we acquire them.”

Multiple panels during the three-day conference cultivated discussions about how evolving technology and processes affect the independent music community. Attendees shared their knowledge about AI, sync, and music marketing alongside other insightful topics.

Speaking at a panel, Leslie Rosales from Rostrum Records narrated how an artist from Milwaukee pulled out all the stops to market his music. “Our artist stood on top of his friend’s car, put out a big speaker, and played songs from his album. His fans went crazy. It was controlled chaos. For one, something was happening in Milwaukee. Two, it’s their hometown hero doing something special for them,” Rosales said.

Discussing sync opportunities and the exposure it brings to the table, Rich Goldman from Riptide Music Group explained how one of their artists seized the ‘spark’ of sync. Goldman explained how an artist is “now approaching 100 million streams because the song got to YouTube,” adding, “It’s kind of nuts. [The song] got ported over to a bunch of different channels, created this streaming activity, and the song keeps going.”

Eden Shiferaw, VP of NVG, LLC, touched on the latest congressional developments surrounding AI and perceived national security threats with mainstream AI use. Shiferaw revealed, “[Members of Congress] are very concerned particularly with American adversaries, in terms of what they’re doing with AI, and how they’re regulating it.”

Other offsite events included a rooftop party hosted by dot HipHop, multiple investor conferences, and two bigger events centered around songwriters and their achievements.

The induction ceremony of the 2023 class of the Songwriters Hall of Fame was held at the Marriott Marquis, and the National Music Publishers Association annual meeting took place at Alice Tully Hall.

During the NMPA Gala, Taylor Swift’s songwriter Liz Rose was surprised with a live rendition of her Grammy-nominated, Swift-co-penned single, “All Too Well.” Alana Springsteen performed the song. The following evening, Rose was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame along with Glen Ballard, Calvin Broadus (Snoop Dogg), Gloria Estefan, Jeff Lynne, and Teddy Riley.

NMPA President and CEO David Israelite wrapped up the final event, remarking on the ‘stronger’ state of the industry, adding, “Last year, the total revenue for the songwriting and publishing industry was just over $5.6 billion. That represents a 19.25% increase year over year.”

A2IM IndieWeek 2023 events took place on June 12 – June 15.

Photo Credit: FLY:D

With multiple verification checkpoints and information requirements throughout the platform, Too Lost has deployed AI-powered Veriff, a state-of-the-art KYC compliance technology, for identity verification. The move aims to safeguard labels and artists from streaming fraud— potentially putting an end to the rampant industry-wide problem.

Streaming fraud, botted streams, copyright infringement — when it becomes rampant on respectable DSPs like Spotify and Apple Music, it becomes a collective issue for the entire music business. With that in mind, Gregory Hirschhorn, CEO and cofounder of digital music distribution platform Too Lost, revealed details about the company’s latest KYC (Know Your Client) compliance technology to DMN.

Hirschhorn admits that indie distribution services are the major source of this problem. “We take full accountability,” he said. “DIY distribution companies need to continue building better solutions to combat this fraud.”

Economic damage from fraud is extensive. As industry organizations delve into how deep this fraud pit really is, they’ve uncovered shocking numbers.

According to Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) data, the total amount of unmatched and unclaimed royalties was $561 million as of 2021’s end. This discrepancy is often the result of missing metadata or inaccurate payouts. DMN subsequently investigated these figures, and concluded that the amount of owed-but-unpaid mechanical royalty compensation may actually be much higher.

Earlier this month, DMN also reported that Spotify pulled thousands of songs to fight fraud. Meanwhile, Bloomberg revealed that bogus tracks may now account for a whopping 10% of all streams, also unveiling tricks scammers use to get songs on streaming playlists.

In January, a study published by the Centre Nationale de la Musique (CNM) in France estimated that 1%-3% of all streams in France during 2021 were false. That amounts to 1-3 billion fake streams in one year. With these data points in mind, DMN recently partnered with Too Lost to broaden awareness of their KYC initiative.

In an ideal world, 100% of content on reputable DSPs would be fraud-proof and credible. But is it that simple to protect the music industry space?

When a reportedly fraudulent Dua Lipa reverb track has over 80 million streams on Spotify, what are the chances for smaller players and independent artists?

Platforms like Spotify provide a threshold for accidental fraudulent content from distributors. But if a distributor brings 20 million songs onto the platform, that threshold still represents a number that’s problematic.

According to Hirschhorn, “There are so many fake artists out there that have 3 or 4 million monthly listeners. They’re making $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 a month with reverb versions, remixes, and unauthorized sampling. They’re getting paid out, and there’s nothing happening about it.” Even if this fraud was discovered, Hirschhorn says, “Streaming services and labels don’t seem to have the bandwidth to retract or redirect already paid out royalties most of the time.”

Earlier this month, Amazon Music, Spotify, Distrokid, Empire, Downtown, and others announced that they have launched ‘Music Fights Fraud Alliance’ (MFFA) — a global task force aimed at eradicating fraud in music streaming. The movement’s mission is to ensure that the global music streaming market is fair, and that all members actively contribute to solutions intended to balance the equity of its operations.

The newfound alliance signals strong industry-wide support for Too Lost’s initial step with KYC integration. With DIY distributors now controlling 70% to 80% of all new music uploads, Hirschhorn says, “It’s really important to make sure that we’re protecting the legitimacy of new music from this abundance of fraudulent releases.” He added, “We don’t want to water down the value of music. We want people to honor and respect the art form and continue to want to pay for it.”

Early-stage efforts by Too Lost to put an end to fraud appear to have delivered promising results. “The goal is to not let this stuff touch our platform. The minute it gets on distribution platforms, it gets to Spotify, Apple Music, etc.”

Hirschhorn explains how the latest KYC compliance integration ramps up security on the platform with Veriff, an AI-powered identity verification solution that prevents identity fraud.

“With additional checkpoints and the deployment of Veriff, all new and existing users will be required to validate their identity via systematic prompts. We’ve already banned over 2,500 user accounts connected to fraudulent activities.”

According to Too Lost, the latest KYC compliance integration ramps up security on the platform.

Too Lost’s updated onboarding process includes ID verification and IP matching. The compliance integration also scans emails for past activity internally on scam sites and data leak pages. The platform also sends a phantom email to confirm whether the email used to verify the Too Lost account is valid. Alongside other data points, this confirmation protects the system from a hacked address. The platform is now also tracking clicking behavior and prompting for captcha codes to rule out robot maneuvers.

The deployment of Veriff brings multiple verification checkpoints and information requirements throughout the platform.

“We have flagged thousands of accounts in the past, terminated content from those users, and have everything from IP addresses to IDs, first and last names, and emails documented. We’re also getting other distributors on board here.”

Hirschhorn reveals that Veriff cleaned up over 95% of their content issues. “This idea that you need to show your face and present your ID for a distribution account has scared off a lot of potential fraudsters, knowing that their info is being collected on a very transparent level. For good-intentioned clients, this new onboarding process only adds an additional 6 seconds on average. I think they also appreciate the bank-level security.”

Hirschhorn reveals Veriff cleaned up 95% of their content.

Further checks continue to take place long after the content is uploaded.

Using the Google Images API, Too Lost can also determine copyright owners of cover art. For verification of audio, the platform has set up a multi-step check, conducted in partnership with Audible Magic, ACRCloud, and others, alongside manual reviews by the quality control team when needed.

Hirschhorn also emphasizes how ‘fraud’ is often only a result of duplication. These ‘innocent mistakes’ include an artist changing their name or transferring to another distributor when their content already exists elsewhere. There could also be different metadata points because the artist accidentally inputted incorrect information.

The move towards KYC, and a shared data pool of ‘bad actors,’ appears to be a data-driven solution that could potentially annihilate a mammoth music industry problem. Hirschhorn reveals that the company’s efforts have already had a tremendous impact on reducing fraud.

AirGigs Music professionals for remote collaboration

AirGigs is the premier destination for remote collaboration, quietly innovating and attracting a growing roster of talent. The bootstrapped company’s roster includes some of the most esteemed recording professionals in the industry.

From Grammy winning artists to well-respected producers, a growing list of celebrated pros are now offering services for hire exclusively on the platform. AirGigs is currently the only freelance music platform at scale founded and run by a team of musicians and completely self-funded.

Today, AirGigs’s focus is to help artists not only find the right talent for their projects, but also foster an environment that facilitates long term collaboration. The music industry has never been this accessible for any creator looking to assemble a major label quality production team to work with, and make their tracks really stand out.

Build the Ideal Team to collaborate with

While the platform is meritocratic and open to all serious professionals, AirGigs has been consciously carving out space to spotlight top tier pros with major industry credits. One such initiative is the creation of “Dream Teams“, where they have curated top professionals in popular genres such as pop, hip hop, electronic, roots music and more. These are A-list musicians brought to AirGigs’ community, ready to collaborate, in a completely new way.

“To me, AirGigs legitimized remote collaboration via a great interface, thoughtful creative execution as well as great support,” said Paul Santo, a Grammy musician, session cat, and music career coach. “David [from AirGigs] has an understanding of partnerships — the artist & musician, the musician and AirGigs, etc., on a bunch of levels and has, really, made it a classy game. It’s not always a given that it’s this easy to be all that. I know, as I’ve sought out, been solicited by and ‘worked’ with other platforms to lesser thrill.

“AirGigs is my online go-to for a growing list of cutting edge ways to connect artists, musicians, producers, engineers, singers and creatives of all sorts. I love the people I’ve either coached or done sessions for and I’m excited to be part of something that is taking a solid business idea into new areas of art.”

What makes these pros unique beyond their resumes, is that they have extensive experience working remotely with songwriters and music creators at all stages in their career development. In addition, all pros on the platform work out of professional studios.

The pandemic pushed remote collaboration, an already existing vertical in music, to become one of the go-to modalities for music creators. This has enabled AirGigs to double down and reinvest, building new features and developing a robust professional network.

Remote collaboration with the internet’s best musicians

To highlight some of the most high profile talent AirGigs has to offer, the In-Session podcast is a space for top-musicians, producers, artists and entrepreneurs using the platform to share their stories and experience. Each episode of the In-Session podcast is a way to go deeper so that members can get to know how these pros have evolved along their musical journeys.

The In-Session podcast has hosted a lot of impressive talent such as Ike Willis (The Frank Zappa Band), Paul Santo, Joel Kibble and Isha Erskine (Grammy winner) to name a few.

“I was looking for a great fiddle player when I found AirGigs, and I was shocked that I could hire a Grammy-winning fiddle player – Michael Cleveland – arguably the best in the world,” relayed songwriter and producer Greg Poulos. “It just so happened he also plays banjo and mandolin, and has a famous friend who played bass for me! This was the easiest recording experience I’ve ever had, and the results were far beyond my expectations. I thought I was done with the project until Michael asked me if he could record my song for his own upcoming album. My jaw dropped, and what unfolded over the following year became the highlight of my 30 year musical career, and it’s still unfolding.”

Among the high-caliber artists, Grammy Winner Michael Cleveland is one the hottest artists in Bluegrass music today. During the pandemic, Michael was hired by Greg Poulos a songwriter on the AirGigs platform to play fiddle on his song ‘Sunny Days (Are Comin’ Once Again)’. Michael loved Greg’s song so much that he recorded it as the single on his latest album. More on that later, stay tuned.

Remote collaboration has the potential to be a powerful career and resume builder for music creators. It creates a space where top tier pros can comfortably collaborate with serious songwriters all over the world, and opens a world of possibilities.

Next features to help artists and producers

Going the extra-mile to help out artists building and growing their careers, AirGigs has added several other features. For instance, Muso.AI, as a partner, provides verified recording credits. Information is easily integrated, creating artists’ living resumes online. Muso.AI validates the credits and completes the verification process.

Following the recent release of AirGigs’ iOS app, even more pro-facing features will be added during the year, including non-generative AI-powered tools to help with artist discovery, communication and productivity among creators. It’s an exciting time at AirGigs as they are going through their biggest innovative push to create the best remote collaboration platform and create strong partnerships between artists.

Make sure to catch the next episode of the In-Session podcast by AirGigs and hear Stuart Epps share his experience. Epps has worked with an amazing roster of artists (Elton John, Led Zeppelin…) by the way, he has just joined AirGigs and is available for hire.

About AirGigs

AirGigs started out back in 2012 as the first marketplace for songwriters, music producers, bands and creatives to connect, hire and collaborate with high level session musicians. Over the past 11 years AirGigs has built a highly-engaged community, rethinking the way remote collaboration works for music projects. With more than 200 thousand+ recording sessions going through AirGigs platform, artists can rely on a reliable partner to access and work with music industry’s finest.

AirGigs has been a long-term partner of Digital Music News, and Digital Music News is proud to be sharing this massive announcement.

Photo Credit: Rhythmic Rebellion

Indie labels and artists, did you receive your invitation to join WeVerse? No, you didn’t.

The following comes from Rhythmic Rebellion, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

What does the future hold for indies when major labels have their own platforms for community and fanbase building and you’re left out?

It was great ten years ago when indies could build a fanbase on Facebook and Instagram, just as easily as a big artist. You could make a post and get a like from almost all of your followers. Now, Mark Zuckerberg has changed the rules. Only a small percentage of your followers see your posts, and you must pay for more followers to see them.

Facebook and Instagram have turned into music career killers. Today, many of you have close to a million followers on socials. You make a post and get 2,000 likes. Is this because people stopped liking you?

No. It’s because for years, your posts have been squashed. And those followers who are randomly shown your posts barely remember you. What a mess! Creators spent years building fanbases only to have them taken away.

This is exactly why Hybe created WeVerse. Hybe wanted their own platform, where they are in control of fan data and the fan experience. 

Universal Music Group was so impressed that they partnered with Hybe and are placing their artists on WeVerse. They’re building a database of super fans. Thanks to the app, they can freely communicate with these fans, with no squashed posts, and no email spam filters. This truly is the future of the music industry.

Good news! You’re not left out! Here’s your invitation!

You’re invited to join the Rhythmic Rebellion platform, which is a lot like WeVerse. It’s a place where you can build communities of fans and message them through the app. Each artist account has its own emailing system. There’s a built-in website builder, merch store, and lots of other features.

There’s strength in numbers and indies need to work together!

Why is Hybe happy to share WeVerse with Universal Music Group? Because Universal Music Group will bring millions and millions of fans to the platform, and every artist on the platform can be exposed to those fans.

If indie labels and artists work together, they can have your own platform with millions and millions of fans. The Rhythmic Rebellion platform is the perfect place for you to do this.

So who, what, and where is Rhythmic Rebellion? My name is Greg Allen and I live just south of Macon, GA, USA. I’m a singer-songwriter. I wrote my first song at 12, spent my 20s on the road with my band, had a real job for 20 years, and in 2016 I decided to get back into music by finding ways to assist other artists. 

I quickly discovered that many people were complaining about low streaming royalties. Streaming had killed album sales, which not only hurt artists but really hurt the songwriters.

My solution was twofold: (1) Create a platform where the music creators, labels, and management were in control; and (2) Come up with creative solutions for increasing income that supplemented streaming royalties.

Selling a karaoke experience and access to a 10 track/stem player were ideas designed to help increase songwriter and artist incomes. 

In January of 2017 I put together a great team of software developers that made my vision a reality. 

When I looked at Facebook and Instagram, and the billions of fans they had there, I knew that the only way we could build our own version of this was if we all worked together. 

Imagine if every indie artist on the planet joined Rhythmic Rebellion today and built their website. Then tomorrow, each artist went out and invited their fans to go to their website, click their FOLLOW button, and join their community powered by Rhythmic Rebellion. Instantly, we would have 500 million fans that we could all market to and communicate with. We would have our own version of WeVerse. 

The Rhythmic Rebellion platform has been live since July 2017. It is well seasoned and tested. There is nothing to stop us from making this happen.

I want Rhythmic Rebellion to be that place where artists, songwriters, labels, and management work together to make the rules for the platform and help decide what software we create next. I want this to be a platform where everyone feels fairly treated and that they have a voice.

With Rhythmic Rebellion, you can:

• • Create your albums digitally for sale with instant listening and downloads, and bundle that with a CD or Vinyl. 
  • Bundle albums with the karaoke experience or/and access to the 10 track/stem player for each song. 
  • Sell access to exclusive videos inside our Artist Premiere feature. 
  • Your merch store can include on-demand printing and fulfillment of CDs and vinyl by Printful. 

You can also use a gift code and offer free access to these exclusive videos. This is a great way to get fans to join your community. 

You continue to use Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to find new fans, but constantly give them reasons to go to your website and join your community. Fans join one time and can interact with and buy music and merch from any artist on the platform.

Communication with those fans is the most important thing. 

Each artist and label account comes with its own emailing system. But, each time you send an email, we place a copy inside the Fan Account Message Center. The fan instantly gets notified on their phone by the app. They tap the notification and see the message you sent. 100% delivery. No spam filters. They also see this message in the browser if they are logged in there. This message can also be sent without using email. 

Each artist and label has ownership of the fan info for fans that are your followers and part of your community. You can export this info weekly if you want. We want you to know you have control over your fanbase.

 There is artist, music, and video discovery in the app and at Rhythmic-Rebellion.com. The Rhythmic Rebellion team provides receipts for purchase and support. We retain a small percentage of sales, and it’s free to join.

Photo Credit: Rhythmic Rebellion

Artists that use our platform, like Ray Scott, are finding it easy to build their communities, message those communities, and sell more music and merch than ever before.

RayScott.com was built using our website builder, and his merch store and emailing system are powered by Rhythmic Rebellion. 

Ray is driving music sales by allowing fans to hear unreleased songs exclusively on his website, while the album is on pre-order. Fans go to his website, hear the song, and not only buy the album, but they also shop and buy lots of his other albums and merch. 11% of Ray’s income comes from tips thanks to the tipping buttons we provide at checkout. 81% of his album sales were CDs and 19% were digital only. You can learn more here.

It’s time that we take control over our business and stop letting others dictate how and when we can communicate with our fans. Hybe and Universal Music Group are taking action now. That’s proof that this approach is the future of music.

Email me at support@rhythmic-rebellion.com, tell me you agree and want to be part of this movement. We can have Zoom meetings where everyone is included, where we discuss our progress, solve problems, and plan future software improvements. I will respond to everyone that emails me within 48 hours. If you don’t get a response, check your spam folder or email me again and include your phone number. I’ll text you.

Platforms like this will be the biggest thing to happen to the music industry since the invention of music streaming. We don’t have to be excluded. We have our own platform. What if, at least for a little while, our indie platform had more fans than WeVerse? It might happen if you all start joining right now. 

Let’s do this!

Photo Credit: Rhythmic Rebellion

WeVerse is owned by Hybe. Hybe is the South Korean music label supporting BTS, Tomorrow X Together, ENHYPEN, and a host of other music acts. Hybe is one of the most successful labels in the world, mostly thanks to BTS. 

The following comes from Rhythmic Rebellion, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

WeVerse is a community building platform with a merch store built in. Fans get access to exclusive content, there is artist to fan messaging, and fan to fan interactions. 

Why is WeVerse such a good idea? If you’re a label, an artist manager, or an indie artist, you’re frustrated with how hard it is to communicate with your fans. Over 60% of your emails go into spam or promo folders. Many of you have swapped from collecting emails to collecting phone numbers, but now there’s a spam filter for that. 

Thanks to Facebook and Instagram algorithms, less than 1% of your followers see your posts. You are asked to pay the social media god for more fans to see your posts. This makes many of you mad, because you already paid once to find these fans and now you must pay again to communicate with them. 

Hybe saw WeVerse as a solution to these problems. Now, they have their own platform, where they control the fan experience and can communicate freely with the fans. All their artists are there. The fan joins the platform one time, and can interact with, and buy merch, from any artist on the platform. 

Why should Sony and Warner be worried? Universal Music Group was impressed with how Hybe was creating new opportunities for themselves and decided to partner with them. UMG already has a few artists on WeVerse and plans to place many more of them there in 2023. 

The most powerful tool in the world for driving fan actions is the app. When Hybe can send a message through the app that says “BTS has a new song out now, go stream it on Spotify,” and every signed up fan instantly sees that notification on their phone, the results are phenomenal. This is by far the best means of communication there is.

Sony and Warner vs. WeVerse — as you can see, Sony and Warner are currently at a huge disadvantage in the music label wars. Are Sony and Warner creating their own version? Probably, but creation of these apps and platforms take time and a lot of money.  

Is there another platform out there that can compete with WeVerse? The Rhythmic Rebellion platform is the only one that comes close.

It has the community building, the merch store, access to exclusive content, and possibly even better ways to communicate with fans than WeVerse. Each artist and label account comes with its own emailing system and a copy of the email is placed in the fan’s message center, and the fans get notified through the app…100% delivery. There is a built in music player, so fans can buy music and have instant listening. There’s live video streaming, subscription fan clubs, and more.

Artists can also build their website right on the platform, which is perfect for community building. You can learn more here.

Should Sony and Warner build their own platforms, or should they take advantage of the RR platform? If there is a SonyVerse, WarnerVerse, and WeVerse, which platform do you think will have the biggest community? Yes, WeVerse. UMG, through their many partnerships with other labels, has a lot of huge artists.

These artists will invite their fans to join them on WeVerse, and this community will have “buying power” that’s never been experienced before by a music label.

I expect UMG will start selling albums on WeVerse months before they release it on streaming platforms. UMG will offer subscriptions to exclusive content, which will include early releases of music videos and other exclusive artist content. Fans will be able to rent and view a movie there. I can even imagine a day where Spotify tries to play hard ball with UMG, and UMG says “Thanks to WeVerse, Spotify is no longer a necessity.” Diversification! It’s a smart business move.

So, as you can see, the future is bleak for Sony, Warner, and let’s not forget all the indie labels and artists out there….or is it?

What if Sony and Warner decided they would both join the Rhythmic Rebellion platform, and then invite all the indie labels and artists to join them there? RR was born back in 2017 and is a well seasoned platform, with more functionality than WeVerse.

Within a few months from now, Sony and Warner could have their biggest artists on the platform, and be well on their way to having a bigger community than WeVerse.

The indie artists would join in groves and invite their fans. This works for indie artists, because RR is not just a platform built for super stars and labels. It also has the DIY capability. RR management would get suggestions from Sony, Warner, and the indie labels and artists on what the RR rules should be and what software should be developed next. They can be reached at support@rhythmic-rebellion.com.

So, what will they decide? One thing is for sure, you will either be part of a WeVerse type platform, or be wishing you were. Stay tuned….

Photo Credit: Crewest Studio

Founding an indie record label is no easy feat, but making that same label thrive over two decades is truly awe-inspiring. Stones Throw Records ringleader Chris Manak (better known as Peanut Butter Wolf) balances the stress of running a tiny but influential label with a healthy dose of enthusiasm: “When I sign new artists, I feel like I’m living through them,” he says. “When I see stuff that excites them, it excites me!” From record-collecting fifth grader to internationally acclaimed DJ, Wolf maintains a deep love of music that guides him through the valleys and peaks of life.

The following comes from Crewest Studio, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

Welcome to The Conduit, a podcast featuring candid conversations with professional musicians who give listeners the unvarnished truth about being an artist in the music business today. In today’s episode, host and LA-based DJ, producer, and musician Dan Ubick (aka Constantine “Connie” Price) sits down with Peanut Butter Wolf to discuss the DJ’s struggles and successes over the last 20 years at the helm of Stones Throw. Wolf shares his thoughts on making mixtapes, finding positive mentors with eclectic musical tastes, and working with the biggest names in hip-hop, from Madlib and MF Doom to J Dilla and Anderson Paak. He also touches on the ins and outs of running Stones Throw, why streaming services might be good for indie record labels, and which records in his now-massive (and famous) collection came first.

Wolf began collecting records in the late ‘70s, right as hip-hop emerged as an exciting new genre from the Bronx. As a precocious high schooler and “bedroom DJ,” Wolf saved his lunch money for the latest singles from indie labels like Sugarhill and Sunnyview. In 1990, he met 16-year-old Charles Hicks, who would become Wolf’s ride-or-die creative partner as MC and rapper Charizma. Wolf discusses the duo’s origin story, reflecting on their close friendship and creative output over a three-year period in the early ‘90s. He also touches on Charizma’s untimely passing at age 20, the subsequent grief that swallowed his creativity, and what eventually brought him peace: “Making beats and making tracks was what really got me out of [mourning Charizma’s death],” Wolf says. “It was my therapy more than anything.”

If there’s one lesson listeners can learn from Wolf and his 20-plus years of experience in the music industry, it’s how to stay excited about art in the face of adversity. “I’m still really proud and thankful for all of the great music I am able to surround myself with,” he says. Tune in to this month’s episode of The Conduit for a fascinating conversation about stamina and passion with the legendary Peanut Butter Wolf.

Could the ‘starving artist’ cliché finally end if artists gained access to all the royalties they’re owed? For indie and DIY artists, Bridger is now aiming to unlock missing music rights while providing songwriters and publishers the avenue they need to generate revenue. It’s all happening through a modified PRO concept called an ‘Independent Management Entity,’ or IME.

In the current music industry terrain, proper artist royalty collections rely on affiliations with PROs (Performance Rights Organizations), CMOs (Collective Management Organizations), or both. These affiliations are crucial for artists to secure their rights and monetize their work. Unfortunately, for many indies, these tie-ups are simply unworkable or unavailable.

That creates a predictable problem: with a lack of affiliation with PROs and CMOs, indie songwriters and publishers generally miss out on the opportunities these organizations can offer. As a result, artists are typically only collecting recording royalties via their distributor, leaving behind potentially vast amounts of publishing-related royalties.

As a European IME, Bridger is authorized to collect mechanical and performing rights royalties directly without intermediaries. Unlike most other global distribution and royalty collection services that serve as copyright administrators, Bridger functions like a CMO for smaller, underrepresented indie artists.

Xavier Tumminello, Head of Communication at Bridger, believes that to get the money they deserve, artists need to join a PRO or CMO to help them grow their music projects and careers. But PROs and CMOs are ultimately limiting or exclusionary, which led to the creation of the IME. “We help artists boost royalty revenue by 25%. In terms of features and volume, Bridger is already the size of a small European CMO.”

So what’s the difference between a PRO or CMO on one hand, and the IME on the other? According to Tumminello, it’s simple: PROs and CMOs are typically non-profit organizations, and an IME is a business entity. Just recently, Bridger joined forces with DMN to broaden performance rights access to indie and DIY artists.

After launching in February 2022, Bridger revealed a repertoire size of approximately 35,000 works with over 700 songwriters. Bridger also recently launched a collaborative works registration feature for songwriters to register joint musical works.

Xavier notes that some talented artists have never been affiliated with any CMO because the on-boarding process requires serious hoop-jumping. Bridger has aimed to simplify that route, so artists can quickly educate themselves, affiliate themselves, and register their works “so we can represent them and collect on their behalf.”

For creators that have been disregarded by traditional CMOs but represent high volumes of streams on streaming services, Bridger can “discover the value and deliver it to artists,” Tumminello says.

The number of non-traditional artists without CMO affiliation is surprisingly large. For example, according to the company, most artists on meditation playlists get tens of millions of streams but aren’t represented by a CMO. Overall, the royalty-collection picture appears grim for creators on most platforms. “With 8 to 12 million total creators on Spotify, only 4 million members are at CISAC. And these members include duplicates because artists can be members of ASCAP and BMI at the same time. So, between 4 and 8 million songwriters aren’t receiving their royalties on Spotify alone.”

Photo Credit: Bridger

This ‘Black Box’ of unpaid millions in royalties comprises more than just indie artists.

Xavier reveals how even more prominent artists with existing CMO affiliations are missing out on potential earnings. “These artists know they deserve more than they’re receiving.”

For songwriters and owners of larger IPs that are already affiliated with PROs and frustrated with their level of royalty capture, Xavier says Bridger could potentially increase their digital revenue. “We’re not direct competitors of CMOs, but we’re offering an alternative approach to artists.”

According to the company, artists can optimize their copyright revenue by handing off their online royalties and streaming revenue to Bridger. Meanwhile, their existing CMO can continue to collect for public performances, venues and stores, malls, and traditional radio. Both organizations can exist seamlessly, side by side.

Then there’s the cross-territorial collection mess. “Copyright doesn’t travel well over the Atlantic,” Xavier says. Theoretically, the royalty-generation system breaks down almost immediately when music makes the commute out of its region of origin — because copyright laws across the Atlantic are entirely different.

For example, while the US doesn’t recognize performance rights for recordings on broadcast radio, these recordings are recognized as legitimate revenue in European countries. To top it off, artists’ reciprocal agreements with their CMOs don’t accommodate for this difference, and as a result, royalties don’t get paid back to ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC.

Xavier explains, “There is no two-way street for royalties across the Atlantic. No payment is coming back because the reciprocal agreement isn’t actually reciprocal.”

It’s common for IP owners to receive paltry paychecks even when big things are unfolding in the music world. Xavier says Bridger focuses on making sure that artists’ digital copyrights are collected at the source, across the Atlantic. “If you’re in the US, you should look at a European solution for Europe. And if you are in Europe, you should look at a US-based solution in the US. Don’t rely only on reciprocal agreements and always question how you deal with your IP in Western countries.”

Xavier admits that big publishers are on top of their game and have efficiently fragmented the market to ensure they get the most out of it. But when one goes down the ladder, music royalty payouts become complicated.

Artists dealing with these issues and frustrations need an obvious and easy solution to accelerate payments, take control, and claim revenue faster. Bridger’s bigger aim is to establish the system that will trigger change within the PRO/CMO landscape.

Xavier believes that the nature of Bridger’s agreements with DSPs allows it to do things differently. For its artists, Bridger can claim royalties up to two years before the artists’ affiliation. The platform is free to join, without any subscription or annual fees, which allows indie artists to start collecting royalties without any upfront payment. He adds, “When you’re starting out and know nothing about copyright, you’re reluctant to pay upfront. We’ve removed that barrier between artists and their affiliation with Bridger, so they can collect their rightful royalties.”

Music copyright is complicated — and takedowns, penalties, and lawsuits for copyright infringement are all too common. But 99% of takedowns, penalties, and lawsuits related to copyright violations can be avoided, according to a leading music licensing expert Easy Song.

If the music industry can agree on anything, it’s that copyright-related takedowns, penalties, and lawsuits are distressingly commonplace. Every day, thousands of creators, influencers, and advertisers get slapped with muted videos, legal threats, suspended accounts, or full-blown lawsuits. What starts with an innocent cover song can quickly end with litigation simply because the performer didn’t know the rules.

So what are the most common pitfalls for uploaders, licensors, and creatives to avoid on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Spotify, and even Netflix? Just recently, Digital Music News joined forces with longtime music licensing authority Easy Song to break down the biggest errors that uploaders and advertisers make —- and how to avoid them.

We found out that most infringement headaches are caused by a relatively small number of errors that can be easily avoided. “We see a lot of the same problems occurring repeatedly,” said Easy Song cofounder Aaron Green.

So what are the biggest copyright errors, and how can you avoid them?

1. Creating and distributing a cover song without the proper licenses.

Musicians rerecording existing works can land in hot water depending on where the song is placed. It doesn’t matter if the performer adhered to the original composition, sang something that ‘sounds like’ the original, or even remixed the track; gaining the correct PRO and mechanical licenses is imperative. This step ensures that copyright is attributed to the relevant artists, with royalties directed to songwriters and publishers of the original track — even when a song is rerecorded and redistributed as a cover song.

It’s also important to remember that publishers are obligated to grant you a license under US copyright law, but if the original song has yet to be commercially released, you won’t be able to distribute the cover song without facing legal issues. Moreover, these cover song licenses typically come with binding terms and conditions. For instance, substantially altering the melody or modifying the lyrics in any way for your published interpretation will require additional permissions.

Let’s go through a few of the most common endpoints for cover song distribution – and the rules and pitfalls for each.

2. Uploading cover songs to Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, or other DSPs without securing the necessary cover song licenses.

To upload cover songs to any DSP, creators need mechanical licensing approvals. For any cover song published on Amazon, iTunes, Spotify, Bandcamp, and other platforms like Qobuz, these licenses ensure that royalty checks make their way to the rightful owners of the creative asset.

Green says the territory is critical, adding, “In the US, all interactive-audio streaming mechanical reporting is now handled by the MLC. Digital download and physical media audio formats still require direct-to-publisher mechanical song licensing for all cover song releases for US artists.”

3. Sharing videos of cover performances on YouTube without securing authorization licenses.

YouTube offers publishers an ad revenue monetization structure when their compositions are used and record label administrators when master sound recordings are played. But most creators need to be made aware that blanket licenses and deals for YouTube come with constraints. For example, these deals don’t automatically grant any cover song video a legitimate sync license, and creators can quickly receive a monetization or ad revenue claim.

Ultimately, only the publisher can grant official licensing paperwork directly to the creator. However, YouTube will pay public performance royalties for cover song videos to PROs (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC within the US, and international PROs globally).

Green warns that for anyone thinking they got away with monetizing an unlicensed cover song video, there’s a standing risk of facing repercussions. “The rightsholder can, at any time, flag the content and take action. [Because] their intellectual property is used without a proper video sync license.”

4. Creating and publishing derivative works without obtaining the required mechanical and performance rights licenses.

Creators assume that altering an original or using a portion of it means their interpretation is now an ‘original’ and doesn’t require a license before getting published. According to Green, copyright laws safeguard artists even when someone is ‘inspired’ by their work. He adds, “The minute something changes, including language translations or re-arranging portions of a track, that becomes a derivative work.”

The good news is that there’s a license for every kind of derivative work. These mechanical licenses could give users the creative freedom to make alterations in lyrics, composition, or even melody — legally. Green, whose company specializes in these usage scenarios, says screening and identifying approval parties is a critical first step.

5. Using creative properties such as unreleased tracks, music notes, and lyrics for ‘inspired’ derivative works, music interpolations, or for use within any published content.

According to Green, new releases, decades-old tracks, commercially unreleased music, and even music notes and lyrics are protected by copyright laws. The creation of notes or music makes it copyright protected, not the actual release of the creative work. Without a license that permits the usage of such assets, creators are playing with fire.

Regardless of the specific reinterpretation, Green says these music ‘interpolations’ require approvals from the songwriter camp. “When someone creates an original composition using only a verse, bridge, chorus, melody, or a portion of the lyrics, this interpolation requires proper licensing. Discussions could lead to a new work publishing split with the songwriters.”

6. Using copyrighted music for user-generated content uploaded to platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram.

To varying degrees, all major platforms have blanket licenses for UGC (user-generated content). The mechanism allows creators to generate content for the platforms using copyright-protected music — but it’s not a protection guarantee.

Green emphasizes that these blanket deals and licenses ‘do not supersede copyright laws.’ It’s an important caveat for anyone relying on UGC platforms for revenue or audience building. Even if you’re a viral influencer using music, rights holders can call you out for copyright infringement.

7. Using copyright-protected tracks for advertisements and promotions on social media, DSPs, and other platforms.

User-generated content is mostly permissible on popular platforms, but advertising content is not. Advertisers should not rely on UGC ‘blanket licenses’ for marketing and promotions because these deals simply don’t apply to businesses trying to reach consumers.

Green notes, “The minute there’s branding, production value, or paid media, especially involving top 40 popular music, [copyright owners] can make an example out of you and take you down any time.”

Direct commercial licensing for media rights allows the usage of songs within promotional content. Green explains, “There’s already a market value baseline with rights holders who issue commercial licensing. When a company or creator bypasses this legal step before using copyrighted music, the possible damages and penalty fees mandated by the rights holders can be significant.”

8. Using disclaimers or captions to credit original owners of music assets instead of getting proper licenses.

Posting a shout-out or credit to the owner of the original track doesn’t automatically fit fair use guidelines. Posting disclaimers such as ‘I don’t own rights to this song’ or ‘All credits go to the authors’ still means you’re ripping off rightful copyright holders and using tracks without permission.

These disclaimers achieve nothing for crediting and metadata, and creators reproducing artists’ work still require the proper licensing for all media they’re planning to distribute. These could include mechanical licenses, reproduction licenses, or PRO licenses — depending on how the content will be distributed to the masses.

9. Skipping sync licenses for copyrighted music featured in film, television, or web series production.

Even major production houses and managers sometimes miss the memo and get sued for millions. Using copyrighted music/content for any purpose — film, web, or TV  — will require sync licenses, PRO licenses, global distribution rights, or more.

10. Playing copyright-protected songs during theater productions, live parodies, musicals, etc., without the mandatory theatrical/live-stage licenses.

For dramatic performances such as musicals, plays, ballets, and choreographed dance works (featuring dramatic elements, stage sets, and costumes) using copyright-protected music, organizers must gain direct theatrical/live stage licenses from the original publisher.

11. Developing an app or software that plays music or other related musical assets without authorization from the original artists or publishers.

Green says licensing is a two-step process for app developers using copyrighted music. They need direct publishing sync licensing and a blanket PRO license within all territories where users can access the app. “If the aim is to distribute apps legally, developers cannot avoid this process.”

In most cases, software and apps are distributed globally, expanding the number of licenses developers will gain. Depending on the nature and extent of usage, developers might even require publishing sync deals and master sync deals directly with labels and publishers.

Moreover, Green emphasizes that it doesn’t matter if the app is free. Someone out there created a musical asset. Not only do they deserve rightful compensation, but they also reserve the right to decide where and how their music will be consumed.

12. Using copyright-protected music to create promotional content for charities and nonprofits without obtaining relevant organizations’ licenses.

Philanthropy is noble, but so is ensuring a rightsholder gets paid for their craft. Suppose someone creates content using copyrighted music, promoting a charity, a nonprofit, or even a fundraiser for cancer patients or war victims. In that case, Green says they could still face difficulties without expressed written permission.

“We work with many fantastic nonprofit organizations, schools, churches, and community groups centered around great philanthropic causes, but they must be educated that there’s still a legal process to obtain proper permits, no matter what.”

Green further revealed that some publishers and songwriter camps have a predetermined ‘nonprofit rate’ that can be availed exclusively by nonprofit organizations. “Many rights holders want to help and partner with these great causes. Even gratis — or free permission — is on the table if a request is properly made.”

13. Using a song that’s copyright protected in another region but not in the United States.

A track that isn’t copyright protected in the US may appear like a free-usage opportunity, but that’s still categorized as theft of intellectual property. Green reveals that a non-US copyright holder will still have copyright protection, and each territory has its own copyright laws, procedures, and protections — regardless of where the work is being consumed.

Cross-Atlantic copyright infringement could trigger mammoth litigation once discovered. Green says companies like Easy Song can identify a sub-publisher with US representation to obtain a simple license, “or we can find a pathway to reach the international administration for direct permission.”

14. Expanding distribution to global outlets with US-only licenses.

If you’re creating content that has the potential to eventually make its way around the globe, proactively gaining worldwide deals and licenses will go a long way in safeguarding your interests and business. Green believes licenses may be easier to obtain if you ‘list all territories within which you plan to use the music.’

When expanding distribution to global channels or outlets, license requirements grow bigger. Green says, “Certain media rights may automatically be handled within each country’s PRO or copyright society. These include mechanical licensing reporting for cover audio releases and other special permission cases such as video sync licensing, print rights, etc.”

15. Uploading covers, derivative works, or any content on independent websites and platforms

The consensus: do not upload covers or use copyright-protected music on independent platforms. Unlike YouTube, Meta, TikTok, and DSPs, independent video and audio platforms may lack the royalty infrastructure that would accurately compensate copyright holders. There is no license that legally allows copyrighted music on these independent websites and apps. For the average music creator and user, it’s imperative to ensure that the platform you’re using to share your content pays out PRO royalties via ASCAP, BMI, and all other PRO territories for copyrighted music streamed.

Other than private listening, any other form of re-creation or reproduction is strictly prohibited without a license, and the law doesn’t care how hard you worked on building your content.

According to Green, if you’re using copyrighted music without permission, you risk allowing your reputation,  channels, and social media profiles to go up in smoke.

Fortunately, most major creators can gain permissions and licenses with little legwork. The gateway to legally using copyrighted music for cover songs, UGC, and advertisements is to enlist the services of a licensing authority like Easy Song that will oversee content creation at all stages. Licensing platforms and their affiliated organizations proactively acquire all necessary licenses when needed, so you can safely utilize copyright-protected music assets.

Photo Credit: Mike Bugaoan

West Coast producer DJ Nu-Mark has a surprising confession: “I bought a drum machine before I bought turntables,” admits the legendary DJ when asked about his start in the music industry. A longstanding member of experimental hip-hop group Jurassic 5, Nu-Mark laid the foundations for success early in life with school band, drum lessons, and an eclectic collection of rock ‘n’ roll, hip-hop, and Persian records.

The following comes from Crewest Studio, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

Welcome to The Conduit, a podcast featuring candid conversations with professional musicians who give listeners the unvarnished truth about being an artist in the music business today. In today’s episode, host and LA-based DJ, producer, and musician Dan Ubick (aka Constantine “Connie” Price) sits down with DJ Nu-Mark to discuss the producer’s personal blueprint for success in the music industry. Nu-Mark shares his thoughts on developing a rock-solid work ethic, how to successfully collaborate with other musicians, and why he chose to put all his eggs in the music basket. Above all, Nu-Mark attributes his success to a curious mind and an open heart: “A sense of wonderment is what keeps me alive in this business,” he tells Dan early in the interview.

In the ‘80s, Nu-Mark began spinning records at LA house parties, a door-opening experience that helped the young DJ segway into the next phase of his career: working with Jurassic 5. Formed in 1994, the group released their first record, Jurassic 5 EP, in 1997, followed by a revised, full-length version of the album in 1998. Widely acclaimed, their debut cemented the group’s position as power players in alternative ‘90s hip-hop. Around the same time, Nu-Mark crossed paths with a little-known producer by the name of Kanye West who handled much of the production for Chicago rapper Grav’s Down To Earth album. Working through Correct Records, Nu-Mark ignited his career by releasing the record.

In today’s episode, Nu-Mark touches on some practical tips for musicians, doling out advice on audience engagement and creative relevance after many years in the limelight. Listeners will also hear about Nu-Mark’s popular sample packs, his viral video series, and his recent foray into film and television scoring. While there are still plenty of twists and turns ahead, Nu-Mark maintains balance by cultivating a sense of fun, excitement, and adventure in everything he does. Tune in to this month’s episode of The Conduit for an engaging conversation with DJ Nu-Mark on the perks of curiosity, compassion, and perseverance.

Photo Credit: Turntable LIVE

Turntable LIVE’s listening parties cater to exclusive fan engagement sessions, fundraising events, and album releases. These virtual events feature real-time chat alongside audio broadcast directly from Spotify, Apple Music, and others. Major differentiating features include free and quick set-up, integration with Discord and Slack, and data capture for artists.

Ahead of its quick-approaching public launch, Turntable LIVE has achieved several significant milestones. In March, the company secured $7 million in seed funding led by Founders Fund and f7 Ventures. And just last month, Turntable LIVE announced that it had acquired JQBX — a self-described ‘Spotify plug-in that allows for real-time music sharing.’

Turntable LIVE founder and CEO Joseph Perla spoke about the buy-out as a move that will ‘improve the social dimension for virtual music experiences’ and ‘amplify the user experience.’

Now, Turntable LIVE is strategically focusing on artist-hosted listening parties within multifaceted digital worlds. Using the classic Turntable dancefloor environment created over a decade ago, Perla says LIVE is a refreshed version that’s ‘doing things right.’ Just recently, Turntable LIVE joined forces with DMN to further expand the listening party concept.

Currently, StationHead is arguably the only other platform that successfully allows users to listen live, stream, and attend release parties together.

Fans can connect personal Apple Music or Spotify Premium profiles to host events and play their favorite tracks. Other outwardly ‘similar’ offerings, like Amazon’s Amp, lack core DSP integration capabilities and cannot be considered direct competitors for Turntable LIVE.

Perla pointed to a dearth of direct artist-to-fan platforms, data-capture options, and unique monetization opportunities. Sniffing an opportunity, Turntable LIVE believes their differentiating features are exactly what artists and managers need to gain waves of fan engagement.

According to Perla, “People need joyful, meaningful social experiences online, and music can facilitate that.”

Users can create avatars, access digital dancefloors, listen to pre-release albums, and chat on the Turntable LIVE platform. Artists have the option to host listening parties for fans in chat/video mode or avatar mode. Audio and video can be broadcast directly from YouTube, Vimeo, Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud, or pre-uploaded files.

Users can create avatars, access digital dance floors, and listen to pre-release albums (Photo Credit: Turntable LIVE)

Immediately after joining the listening party, real-time display updates for music and chat are shared with users. The social music platform’s unique AMA (Ask-Me-Anything) feature can be accessed live from chat screens or via a custom avatar that interacts with users. Via bot integrations on the platform, artists and label managers can also draw users from communities on Discord and Slack. Moreover, artists’ teams can leverage social media channels for the promotion of specific tracks.

On the collaborative social music platform, artists can also plan surprises for fans, organize custom experiences, and display merchandise links strategically during the event to maximize engagement. With this ‘special content delivery’ during critical points in the user experience, fans can connect on a deeper level with artists, according to Turntable LIVE.

Artist listening party in chat/video mode (Photo Credit: Turntable LIVE)

Admin tools offer automated chat throttling and moderation of multiple events simultaneously, so managers can control the conversation and steer it toward a more positive mood. Advanced audience tools allow complete control over communication and narrative.

One of the most significant differentiating features of the platform is the fast set-up time.

Turntable LIVE’s ‘Listening Party Classic’ can be launched on the same day, in chat/video mode or avatar mode, alongside complete Discord and Slack integrations. For ‘Listening Party Premium,’ a lead time of 1-3 days is required so artists can customize colors, whereas ‘Listening Party Stadium’ will require a month-long lead time to ensure artists commission custom stage art (listening party stadium can only be organized in avatar mode).

For more established artists, in-person concerts are usually the financial breadwinner. But the risk of throwing a listening party is minimal for those that can’t fill a venue or want to augment their physical events. With virtual listening parties, artists no longer need to set up a stage, an audio and video rig, or even commit to actual interaction with fans. It’s no secret that traditional live concerts come with herculean price tags for artists and organizers. Turntable LIVE listening parties cost pennies in comparison, all while amplifying online fan engagement.

Initial use cases reported by Turntable LIVE include debuts of EPs and albums, vinyl listening parties, Q&A sessions with artists, and fundraising events.

Turntable LIVE reports that the platform is already “used by hundreds of artists.” According to the company, “TT’s rapid adoption in an extraordinarily organic viral method, over the course of just three months, demonstrated the demand for this type of shared, interactive, music discovery experience.”

Already, there are serious takers. According to Turntable LIVE data shared with DMN, American rock band Greta Van Fleet recently hosted a party for the release of their new single, ‘Meeting the Master,’ and its music video. Users attended in chat and video mode and could use the website for 24 hours to listen to GVF music and engage with one another. The listening party drew over 10,000 users, garnering almost 20,000 new streams on Spotify and Apple Music.

Aside from the stream counts, other areas also experienced bumps: the new music video, for example, quickly gained 1,000 streams to hit a cumulative 680,000.

Mega-label Sony Music also hosted an album release party for one of its charting country music artists, Elle King. The listening party was available 48 hours before the event, and 24 hours afterward, gained over 1,300 attendees and triggered almost 5,000 streams on Spotify and Apple Music. King claimed a spot on the Billboard 200 chart just days after the event.

Sony Music hosted a listening party for charting country artist Elle King.

All listening parties contained licensed media and artists retained 100% of the revenue.

The platform provides artists with permanent web pages devoted to sharing content and shared streaming. They can also limit the number of users that can attend.

Perla says Turntable LIVE is ‘one of the first truly participatory places online for music enjoyment and real-time social interaction.’ He added, “Music needs more and more compelling ways to reach people and bring them together. Turntable LIVE accomplishes both [goals].”

Turntable LIVE is free to join. Interested artists can contact Joseph Perla at artists@TurntableLIVE.com 

Merlin and SoundCloud have officially announced an expanded licensing deal under which the former company’s indie members will participate in the music-sharing platform’s “fan-powered” royalty model.

London-based Merlin and Berlin-headquartered SoundCloud unveiled their just-finalized tie-up today. For reference, SoundCloud debuted fan-powered royalties back in March of 2021, and Warner Music Group in July of 2022 became the first of the major labels to adopt the framework.

Unlike the pro-rata payout model employed by Spotify and others, which pool royalties and then distribute them based upon each act’s share of overall streams, the fan-powered model compensates artists as a percentage of users’ actual listening.

A SoundCloud Go+ subscriber who spends 60 percent of his or her on-platform time enjoying the music of one act in a given month would in theory contribute 60 percent of that same month’s subscription cost (less SoundCloud’s fee) to the artist at hand, for instance. The remaining 40 percent of the subscription charge would in turn be divided proportionately among the other artists whose work the individual consumed, and ad-supported accounts’ revenue would be doled out in an alike manner.

Addressing the SoundCloud union in a statement, Merlin CEO Jeremy Sirota communicated in part: “This partnership provides our members and their artists with new revenue opportunities, as well as empowering fans to directly support their favorite artists from across Merlin’s global membership.

“This collaboration will strengthen Merlin’s community of independent rightsholders and provide them, and their artists, the tools to build closer relationships with fans,” finished the former Warner Music exec Sirota, whose company last year inked licensing pacts with Pinterest, Twitch, and South Korea’s FLO.

In remarks of his own, SoundCloud CEO Eliah Seton indicated: “At SoundCloud, we’re committed to being artist-first. The FPR model makes streaming royalties more equitable, helps artists benefit directly from their fans, and opens the door for more meaningful fan-to-artist connection.

“I’m thrilled that Merlin’s extraordinary community of independent labels and distributors, and by extension their artists, will now benefit,” finished Seton, whose Session-partnered platform in December formed a JV label with Kei Henderson’s Third & Hayden.

While assessments vary as to fan-powered royalties’ effectiveness in improving the streaming earnings of artists without billions of plays to their credit, some have shared positive experiences with the system.

And as the fast-expanding selection of AI music appears poised to further inflate total streams (and dilute already-abysmal per-stream royalty rates), logic suggests that the fan-powered model may become increasingly valuable for professionals with dedicated followings but not millions upon millions of monthly listeners.

Photo Credit: Crewest Studio

For many musicians, finding the right balance between creative evolution and acclaim is a crucial, yet difficult task. Fans expect one sound, while record producers want another. In the middle, musicians walk a tightrope between experimentation and outside expectations. Today’s guests, Joe Karnes and Jeremy Ruzumna of soul-pop masterminds Fitz and the Tantrums, are no strangers to this highwire act. The chart-topping group has managed to produce a roster of incredibly diverse records while maintaining, even growing, their dedicated fanbase.

The following comes from Crewest Studio, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

Welcome to The Conduit, a podcast featuring candid conversations with professional musicians who give listeners the unvarnished truth about being an artist in the music industry. On today’s episode, host and LA-based DJ, producer, and musician Dan Ubick (aka Constantine “Connie” Price) sits down with Joe Karnes (bass, guitar) and Jeremy Ruzumna (keyboards) of Fitz and the Tantrums to discuss the duo’s journey through the music industry, both before and after joining the Tantrums.

While the two are best known for their work in Fitz and the Tantrums, both Joe and Jeremy are accomplished musicians with long histories in the industry. Joe found success playing bass in the glam rock band Imperial Drag, who opened for Alanis Morissette on her 1996 Jagged Little Pill tour. Jeremy picked up a Grammy nomination for his songwriting work with the legendary Macy Gray and has played live with artists like Nikka Costa, Bootsy Collins, Big Daddy Cane, Carlos Santana, and even our host, Connie Price.

In today’s episode of The Conduit, Joe and Jeremy discuss their separate paths through the music industry, and what their lives were like before joining Fitz and the Tantrums. The two chat about the challenges that come with finding a unique style, and why that’s such a benefit in an oversaturated industry. “It’s more important to have your own style than it is to be able to play every style,” says Jeremy. He goes on to explain that fans often have certain expectations for a band or artist, but those same fans “don’t realize that as musicians, you do want to change.” If musicians stick to their guns, Jeremy says, they’ll find their niche.

Our conversation also touches on the importance of work ethic and professionalism, what to look out for when signing record deals or advances, and the value of being kind toward other musicians. Not only are Joe and Jeremy gifted musicians, but the two are incredibly compassionate people who work to support the artists surrounding them. Tune in to this month’s episode of The Conduit for a fascinating conversation about creativity, compromise, and compassion.

‘Journey of a Song’ by Jarett Sitter (Photo Credit: Play MPE)

Behind a bevy of hits and successful careers lies a low-profile distributor whose name is rarely mentioned. Now, Play MPE is expanding awareness of its specialized network into the indie community.

While garnering none of the spotlight – by design – Play MPE’s ‘Caster’ is delivering music for the world’s largest record labels on a daily basis. But Play MPE also allows indies to ‘get on a level playing field with majors without the major label budgets,’ regardless of artist size. The company says artists can do far more to grow their profile and increase revenue by properly connecting to the global market.

Indie artists and labels now represent a significant chunk of the music landscape, and Play MPE is one of several companies aiming to super-serve this class. By allowing access to the same music promotion tool used by major labels, management agencies, and top promoters, Play MPE says indies stand a better chance of being heard and taken seriously. Just recently, Play MPE joined forces with DMN to further expand its footprint.

With a client roster that includes mega players like Universal Music Group, Warner, Sony, BMG, Atlantic, Big Machine, and more, the Vancouver-based company delivers music in 100+ countries worldwide, including the US, Canada, Australia, Europe, South Africa, and the ever-expanding Latin market.

Fred Vandenberg, CEO of Play MPE, says that the key to progress for mega labels is an ecosystem that sustains their growth, adding, “Efficiency is everything, so we streamlined the music promotion business. This tool has everything from bulk metadata entry, distribution list management, impact and take-down dates, access and permissions, to secure sharing.”

PlayMPE’s global footprint (active countries in purple) as of 2023.

Play MPE’s Caster is a professional promotion tool that propels music promotion campaigns to verified decision makers in radio, media, music supervision, A&R, curation, and more around the world.

Because of this targeted approach, the company believes its platform helps users cover more ground efficiently and economically —  in multiple markets, all packaged in one distribution campaign. The platform is designed to upgrade older methods of reaching out to business decision-makers — including mailing CDs that ended up in dusty storerooms or, more recently, pushing cold emails with attachments and links destined to be marked as spam.

Play MPE says they have the numbers to prove their platform enables growth. During the last two years, the company reported 47,805 average active recipients — counted as recipients who downloaded, streamed, or clicked release links in emails. It also facilitated 365,703 releases since January 2008.

Play MPE clarifies that it’s not a promotion company but rather a tool for targeted music promotion. The company aims to empower indies and artists to promote their music using the same platform that major labels and mega artists use on a daily basis. By providing a tool to package and present releases professionally, Play MPE facilitates a broader reach for artists internationally.

With Play MPE, artists can streamline their efforts to reach decision-makers across pop, alternative, jazz, hip-hop, metal, Christian, classical, and country.

With one distribution campaign, Play MPE enables users to target verified tastemakers across six continents, servicing all music genres and radio formats, including niche sub-genres in the Latin market. Play MPE empowers with options that help users make an impact — via its verified community of recipients in radio, media, music supervision, and various music curators in territories that artists are planning to tour.

With curated format lists, Play MPE can assist indie record labels and artists by providing distribution channels with active recipients. According to Play MPE, these lists are constantly updated so recipients can access all the content they need.

With 6,400 active tastemakers every month and 5.5 million songs in play, Play MPE appears to have cracked the code to a music industry essential — arranging and managing promotion efficiently and securely.

Getting music to tastemakers is a significant part of a campaign. According to Play MPE, “You don’t have to do the legwork to reach these decision-makers in radio, media, music supervision, and curation.”

To that point, many tastemakers do not accept unsolicited content. And with the amount of music crossing hands, tastemakers don’t have the time to chase down missing information or request correct music files. With that in mind, Play MPE presents your music on the discovery app that tastemakers use daily.

Independent artists on the quest to identify breakout markets for global expansion are usually driving blind to some degree. While planning showcases, festivals, or booking tours, knowing the right people is only half the battle. Play MPE believes that artists often underestimate the time and effort that a DIY campaign requires.

According to the company, having access to specific data that reveals which stations are getting airplay can allow artists to better plan radio visits around a tour or showcase. It can also help artists arrange interviews and performances that suit these targeted audiences.

Most indies believe basing their planning on streaming engagement is the answer, but that’s only one piece of the strategic puzzle. Play MPE states that it’s crucial to know who’s engaging with promotion campaigns and keep an eye on click-through rates of promo emails. These insights, alongside streaming and download numbers, can allow artists to gauge who’s interested in turning that initial stream into airplay, a sync placement, press coverage, or more.

Essentially, Play MPE can guarantee clean and secure music delivery via the most effective channels used by majors. But it can’t guarantee results.

So while Play MPE provides the tool to help music promotion campaigns reach farther and be more readily received, campaign success still comes down to the song, story, and strategy.

As an overall campaign strategy, indie artists must continue running playlisting and social and video campaigns to bolster numbers. They must also secure festival spots and plan tours to support sustainable momentum.

Vandenberg believes artists have the power to choose between a weekend blip of hype or longer-term impact that drives more impressive revenue, adding, “Every battle is won before it begins.”

Sound Credit CEO Gebre Waddell pictured at the 65th Grammy Awards, where he announced a $30 million advance facility for North American users’ neighboring rights royalties

Sound Credit’s Version 6 brings decentralized architecture, enhanced collaboration tools, AI-powered data enrichment, improved contract and catalog management, expanded export options, and many other features. Their goal: capture more metadata at the source, connect more artists with lost royalties, and help record labels, publishers, administrators, and indies accurately register for royalties.

Among the many dark sides of digital music distribution is the mountain of metadata that’s frequently left behind. Music files are unaccompanied by proper metadata and credits information during the creation process. With general-purpose file transfer services such as Dropbox, WeTransfer, and Google Drive lacking essential metadata recording fields within their collaboration tools, artists and studios often fail to accurately record metadata at the source.

Due to this missing focus on metadata infrastructure, the already enormous pile of lost and missing credits keeps getting bigger.

To say that this discrepancy in metadata is costly would be an understatement. The music industry estimates that over $1.4 billion of unclaimed royalties are left on the table every single year. As we’ve covered in depth, this broken metadata management system also distorts streaming data, robbing artists of crucial opportunities they could have received with proper crediting for their work.

In that soup, Sound Credit’s Version 6 is decentralizing the ingestion process, combining file transfer capabilities with metadata collection on the cloud.

Sound Credit says it has developed over 200 integrations with various supply chain points, and registers relevant information with royalty payment systems in real-time. The company partnered with DMN to give the music industry a comprehensive look at their latest Version 6 release.

The update allows more metadata to be captured from anywhere and at any time — from the moment content is recorded, and through every phase of production that follows. All the collected metadata is then aggregated into one central hub.

With a desktop app, mobile app, plug-ins for any DAW workstation, and even a kiosk, Sound Credit encourages contributors to enter credits before, during, or after a studio session.

The goal is to connect musicians with royalties by allowing easier access across apps, kiosks, and desktops. According to the company, all of these modalities can now ‘talk to one another,’ akin to a ‘Google Docs for Metadata’ or a ‘Dropbox for file storage and sharing’ — albeit with considerably more polished and specialized collaboration capability.

Sound Credit’s Workstation Plug-In collects credits immediately in the recording process.

With this decentralized cloud-based architecture, Sound Credit joins an ongoing mission to collect metadata at the place of origin — so it doesn’t get tangled later on. Placing everything on the cloud removes the possibility of inaccurate metadata entry. It also reduces the chances of that data remaining inaccurate for an extended period and mucking up everyone’s downstream payments.

Sound Credit’s founder and CEO, Gebre Waddell, explained that Version 6 emerged after pinpointing crucial problems faced by artists. “This upgrade provides premium features that raise the bar on prevalent standards within the music data landscape,” Waddell says.

Sound Credit’s ongoing mission is to collect metadata at the place of origin — so it doesn’t get tangled later on.

With Version 6, fluid interactions and better collaboration opportunities appear to be taking center stage.

Users can invite people for collaborative metadata entry on a central storage and sharing hub, with all information collected from multiple endpoints and poured into one spot. Waddell touched upon this community aspect surrounding Version 6. “You can invite people and chat with them. You get notifications on your phone and desktop. It brings a sense of community and high flexibility so people can implement Sound Credit their way across a range of devices.”

Unlike general-purpose file transfer services, Sound Credit provides essential metadata recording fields within collaboration tools.

According to Wadell, Sound Credit’s Playlist feature ‘completely shifts the way the music industry transfers files internally within the industry.’ This feature builds the bridge that connects recordings to the metadata behind them.

Uploading a track to a playlist automatically creates a project on the platform, displaying a ‘credit count,’ so users can start adding credits via desktop app or mobile. Everyone with access to the playlist can stream tracks on their app as if they’re on a streaming service, except this service is limited to those with access.

Every track on a playlist displays a ‘credit count,’ so users can start adding credits via desktop app or mobile. Wadell says, “It all happens with virtually no effort, in seconds.”

With a simple switchover to Sound Credit from a DAW, users can upload and immediately have a shareable playlist on their own private streaming service page — one that’s connected to a Sound Credit project. Everyone with access, including engineers, producers, record labels, or anyone else that’s part of the process, can view and update credit information. Any new credit entered will update on the cloud, and all collaborators with access to the music file will receive a notification. In essence, by always transferring with Sound Credit, users receive a gateway to every feature that captures data at the source — one collaborator at a time.

With streamlined uploads and playlist creation, the platform’s AI steps into the mix. AI-powered detection of artists and titles connects recordings to correct projects.

The AI mood detector scans lyrics and other metadata to determine a song’s musical mood, and an explicit content detector flags specific words and contextual references. This AI-powered data enrichment allows precise categorization, delivery of the right music, and accurate metadata.

With ease of access via any device, quick ISRC and GriD code generation, and the ability to export anywhere, Version 6 focuses on expanding metadata associated with music IP.

Sound Credit Version 6 enters the market with a complete core code rewrite that elevates the user interface, now boasting the visual polish of Salesforce and Hubspot — i.e., established multi-billion-dollar SaaS platforms.

According to the company, the platform’s previous versions contained more than 4 million lines of code. That spelled a serious rewrite process of the core Sound Credit code, though Waddell says substantially more collaborators are now using the platform. At present, Sound Credit counts 45,000 total users, with 15,000 active users.

The interface is simple and unfussy, making accurate metadata a matter of drag-and-drop for track reordering. Users can also conveniently view the number of credits entered for any given song.

The update also offers a Catalog Management feature for archiving older files in a ‘vault,’ allowing simplified segmentation to focus on current projects.

Sound Credit’s kiosk prioritizes current projects, placing them in separate ‘buckets’ for various studios and collaborators. Allowing specific access to relevant and involved parties leads to faster exports, assisting the data collection process at one core point of storage.

With expanded exports, Version 6 includes publishing label copy and song registration with ASCAP, BMI, and SOCAN. Sound Credit is also the first platform of its kind to provide split sheets with legally binding e-signatures.

When Version 4 was released in January of 2022, the platform had a patent-pending data hub method that would allow users to export to multiple formats after entering credits. This included union forms, label copy, and lyric sheets. With Version 6, Sound Credit is adding more compliance, contracts, and legal documents to the platform.

That includes producer agreements and side artist releases that help establish clear titles for recordings. There’s also a new, more simplified flow for union form exports — AFM B4, AFM B9, and SAG-AFTRA Session Reports — all of which can be exported directly from Sound Credit.

Sound Credit’s patent-pending export section allows users to Enter Once and Export Everywhere

“Sound Credit is critical for compliance, especially in this environment of all the things happening from the NMPA, the MLC, and numerous other organizations,” Waddell said, adding, “This is reducing liability and downstream workflow, benefitting artists, musicians, and songwriters.”

According to Sound Credit, the company has invested heavily in patents, aiming to further grease the wheels of metadata management and music file transfers.

Newly headquartered in a wholly-owned, historic, early 19th-century building adjacent to the Mississippi River in downtown Memphis, Sound Credit has longstanding partnerships with major music labels and publishers like Warner Music Nashville. Over the years, the company has garnered serious buy-in for its crediting solutions.

The release of Sound Credit’s Version 6 and a greater awareness of metadata appears like a step forward. At the very least, artists, labels, publishers, producers, songwriters, and other IP owners and collaborators have a better shot at getting paid and recognized for their music.

At the 65th Grammy Awards, Sound Credit’s CEO Gebre Waddell announced a partnership with PPL, which will now allow Sound Credit’s North American users to collect neighboring rights royalties. PPL represents over 100,000 performers and record labels, including John Legend, Anderson .Paak, and Rita Ora.

As the ruckus from Taylor Swift’s ‘Ticketmaster debacle’ simmers down, the ticketing space is quietly working on solutions. That includes VBO Tickets, which is road-testing a sophisticated queueing technology and finding early success.

Ticketmaster-bashing is now America’s favorite pastime — especially if you’re a Swiftie or a politician seeking re-election. But what are the solutions to managing hundreds of thousands of fans who are demanding tickets at the same time? That is now the million-dollar question challenging the industries of live concerts and ticketing.

Perhaps Ticketmaster’s headache spells opportunity for tech-focused ticketing players. Among these well-timed innovators is Silicon Valley-based VBO Tickets, which has been developing a queueing solution that neatly handles all-at-once crushes. The company has managed mass events involving over 100,000 simultaneous buyers and aims to scale those numbers soon.

VBO Tickets is a behind-the-scenes ticketing provider focused on small and mid-sized venues, artists, and events. Founded in 2012, the company has been powering built-in ticketing solutions for theaters, museums, comedy clubs, and music venues for years. Just recently, the company joined forces with DMN to further expand its footprint.

VBO has also been managing one-off events and festivals with an essentially ‘white-label’ solution that is typically invisible to the ticket buyer. Now, those events are getting bigger, showcasing the company’s technologies.

That includes its queueing solution, which has been handling increasingly-substantial crowds. VBO Tickets pointed Digital Music News to one recent success story in Europe, where the company’s queueing solution efficiently dealt with a crush of more than 140,000 prospective buyers within a two-hour timeframe. The company has also pressure-tested double that number in half the time.

“Our system performed flawlessly,” VBO Tickets founder and technology innovator David Boehme told DMN. “The thousands upon thousands of ticket buyers had a seamless experience. If a fan flies through their ticket purchase and nobody knows our name, we’ve made a happy customer for our client.”

Boehme said that while VBO Tickets could have tapped commonly used ticketing industry solutions to help it handle crowd crushes, the company chose to start from scratch. Boehme believes VBO Tickets has built a faster, more robust, and more secure queueing technology. This approach required more significant capital investment and resources, but resulted in a built-in feature immediately ready for client use while operating quietly in the background.

As soon as VBO Tickets identifies a high-load demand, Boehme says the platform’s queueing technology kicks in to manage simultaneous buyers.

This feature can handle surges without advanced preparations or additional per-buyer costs. “We have a 24-7 queueing system that’s always ready,” Boehme revealed. “We don’t need to be notified in advance, and there’s nothing to ‘turn on’ to start the queueing process.”

According to Boehme, another perk of the system is that queueing can be targeted to isolate specific buying subgroups. For example, if one promoter drives an unexpected surge of buyers without offering advanced notice, VBO Tickets’ queueing technology can isolate that surge without penalizing everyone else.

But is VBO Tickets ready for a Ticketmaster-level surge of purchasers? According to Boehme, the platform requires further testing in real ticket-buying situations.

“We can guarantee our capabilities to 95% of artists and venues. We can take care of most of the market,” Boehme continued. “We know we can handle the volumes that we’re aiming for. But right now, we’re looking at emerging to surging artists — not a Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift.”

Those are modest reflections, though VBO Tickets’ capabilities are growing. While its recent handling of more than 140,000 sessions sounds impressive, the company estimated that it could comfortably handle half-a-million simultaneous buyers.

Regarding throughput, VBO Tickets estimates it can process 2,000 ticket transactions every minute, translating into a smoothly sold-out amphitheater in roughly ten minutes. That same sellout would take a manageable forty minutes for a large-scale stadium. But Boehme points out that faster throughput can quickly scale if needed.

The company appears ready to flex its muscles on larger-scale events, which could further validate the robustness and security of VBO Tickets’ technology.

Meanwhile, Ticketmaster itself is undoubtedly working out better platform solutions. System crashes aren’t always bad news, especially when they involve record-breaking audiences. But getting grilled by legislators and regulators — many of whom are pushing for a reversal of the Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger — is motivation enough to develop crash-proof systems and approaches in the future.

Zac Brown Band’s website, powered by ONELIVE

Artist-centric ecommerce company ONELIVE is slated to drive over $300 million in GMV (Gross Merchandising Value) this year, according to details shared by the company with Digital Music News. That revenue haul is helping artists, labels, and merchandisers generate a more consistent flow of cash.

Making money is one thing. Generating a consistent flow of money is quite another. The latter has always been a challenge for musicians, though Dustin Hall, Chief Revenue Officer of ONELIVE, believes that artists usually miss out on the significant revenue opportunities offered by ecommerce. “They’re focused on touring, so they often overlook the valuable utility revenue hiding in plain sight: website and online store sales.”

As the world’s largest Shopify partner, ONELIVE operates quietly in the background, handling online growth challenges for artists. The company tackles online storefronts, websites, and order fulfillment, alongside artist services like VIP, fan clubs, ticketing, and even print-on-demand capabilities.

More broadly, ONELIVE is focused on enabling artists, labels, merchandisers, and DTC brands to tap into a more reliable and consistent revenue stream — something the music industry typically struggles with. Just recently, ONELIVE partnered with DMN to further expand its growing footprint.

ONELIVE provides a suite of tools and services that tackle every aspect of merchandising and related ecommerce sales — besides actual production. It’s a behind-the-scenes platform that could smooth the revenue streams for many artists and their teams.

In a nutshell, the company functions as an ecommerce technology and fulfillment partner for those that sell merchandise and other artist-related products to consumers. On this front, ONELIVE’s fulfillment center in Austin, Texas is consistently warehousing, shipping, tracking, and managing artist products with global delivery points.

Hall talks about ONELIVE bringing convenience to the table, saying, “Our clients want to be able to call one partner that can take care of everything related to their online store or website. It’s that simplicity that first engaged them.”

With a clientele that includes the likes of Willie Nelson and Zac Brown Band, ONELIVE has developed core competencies that focus on creating more sustainable revenue for musicians.

It’s no secret that individuals relying on the music industry for their bread and butter earn incredibly cyclical revenue. With peaks and valleys of engagements and album releases during the year, and the intermittent nature of touring, artists frequently find themselves in a quicksand of null income.

Hall believes this cyclical nature of revenue is why typical pricing models aren’t sustainable within the entertainment industry. What artists need are neutral and scalable options.

“At ONELIVE, our clients don’t have to pay anything upfront,” Hall explained. “Our fees are based on a small percentage of net GMV or Gross Merchandising Value. This model also resonates well with DTC brands in other industries.”

It appears that the scale of ONELIVE’s operations, especially within entertainment and sports, allows ONELIVE to receive significant (and even globally exclusive) discounts on software licensing. Alongside bulk rate discounts, this has allowed the ecommerce company to offer artists more profitable GMV outcomes.

ONELIVE has launched over 1,600+ storefronts since 2010 and actively manages about 1,000 sites on any given day — for a client portfolio that includes musicians, podcasters, 40+ sports teams, and well-known international brands. Most of these stores are run via B2B partners that offer ecommerce as a solution but don’t necessarily want to bring those resources in-house.

Willie Nelson’s website managed by ONELIVE

It’s important to note that while the Walmarts of this world — such as Amazon — are notorious for taking big swipes off artists’ GMV, they also hold fan data hostage.

Hall says ONELIVE is “not in the game of gaining rights,” adding, “We function on the backend to help artists scale. We’re creating the infrastructure for our clients to own their data and activate their fan base.”

By enabling all sorts of direct sales and seeing who’s buying their merch, artists can exert control over a steady and consistent cash flow.

Hall also talked about how artists that commandeer Amazon and similar services to get merchandising out “are doing nothing for the user experience.” Hall added, “That’s what we’re trying to solve on behalf of artists and bridge that gap. We know what works and what doesn’t.”

While discussing possibilities for enhancing the user experience, Hall said, “All artists need is a killer site and user experience to keep fans on the artist website. We’re removing friction from that process, creating revenue for artists, and fostering a more refined purchasing experience.”

ONELIVE’s broader mission is to allow artists (and those that serve them) to scale and grow their revenue. The company also appears to have multiple feature expansions in the works.

As part of their ecommerce fulfillment services, the company recently launched a zoneless 2-day air shipping program. This allows qualifying clients the ability to offer 2-day air delivery at a price that’s inline with ground rates.

On the ecommerce website development front, ONELIVE has developed the ‘3.0 Performance Framework.’ According to Hall, this expansion consistently drives online revenue growth for clients via SEO, conversion rate optimization, compliance and UX. “As our clients’ marketing teams drive traffic to their online stores, ONELIVE ensures those stores generate more revenue per visitor while also creating smooth, memorable fan experiences.”

The company is posting impressive compounded annual growth rates by reducing time, cost, and resources associated with selling products.

Looking forward, Hall says it’s ONELIVE’s mission to empower rights holders with leading technologies, more revenue, and increased ownership of fan data.

On the topic of what’s on the horizon for ONELIVE, Hall said, “From expanded ecommerce tech, to fulfillment and shipping capabilities and beyond, we will continue to leverage our unique expertise and size in service of rights holders and rockstar brands.”

Photo Credit: Crewest Studio

Growing up in a creative family has its advantages. Just ask today’s guests, Jack “Wildchild” Brown and his son, actor Miles Brown, who you may recognize from his breakout role on ABC’s hit show Black-ish.

The following comes from Crewest Studio, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

Welcome to The Conduit, a podcast featuring candid conversations with professional musicians who give listeners the unvarnished truth about being an artist in the music industry. On today’s episode, host and LA-based DJ, producer, and musician Dan Ubick (aka Constantine “Connie” Price) sits down with Jack and Miles Brown to discuss the duo’s separate endeavors in the entertainment industry.

A founding member of cult-favorite hip-hop group Lootpack, Jack recently released OMOWALE, his first solo album since 2014. The seasoned rapper joins his son Miles—stage name Baby Boogaloo—to discuss the young actor’s burgeoning career in the arts and how early exposure to music informed his creative drive. “The funk, that was the first genre of music that I actually started liking, because I danced to it—that is what made me like it,” says Miles, whose claim to fame can be traced back to childhood appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and America’s Got Talent, where he performed as part of dance duo Future Funk. “There were times when I wouldn’t play funk or whatever,” Jack remembers. “And literally [Miles] would say, ‘Can we hear some funk?’”

On this episode of The Conduit, Jack and Miles guide listeners through the exciting trajectory of Miles’ career, from dancing to acting to rapping. Miles chats about his role as sensitive, introverted Jack Johnson on Black-ish, now in its eighth and final season, and reminisces about his years as a child actor. “I was never like all these acting kids who take everything so seriously,” he says. “If I came out of the audition room, I just stopped focusing on the audition. I was just on to the next fun thing of the day.”

The father and son duo also share their respective projects in music and recording, including details about future releases. Miles discusses his musical inspirations, the very best moments from his young career, and why he continues to broaden his range of skills and interests. Toward the end of the episode, Dan, Miles, and Jack conduct a very important conversation about the greatest rappers of all time that you won’t want to miss. Tune in to this month’s episode of The Conduit for a fascinating conversation about the power of funk, family, and creative excellence.

Photo Credit: Bastian Riccardi

As it attempts to generate $100 billion annually by 2032, Spotify is rapidly expanding Discovery Mode to indie artists – a move that’s spurring new criticism of the long-controversial offering.

Multiple organizations and individuals are pushing back against the effort to build out Discovery Mode, which enables artists and labels to influence listener recommendations in exchange for a portion of the resulting streams’ royalties. First detailed in November of 2020, Discovery Mode grappled with congressional inquiries in both 2021 and 2022, and critics have taken aim at the tool for further diluting Spotify’s per-stream royalty rate.

Even so, the years-old program is now becoming available to a growing number of independent acts, an Ari’s Take report indicated in late February. (Spotify confirmed the overarching expansion during its Stream On event last week.) Regarding the decision to zero in on indie professionals – most of whom lack millions upon millions of monthly listeners – some have suggested that the major labels are entirely unwilling to participate in Discovery Mode (and accept the corresponding royalty cuts).

Of course, Universal Music Group has said that it’s working with Tidal, Deezer, and possibly other platforms to develop “an innovative new economic model for music streaming.” At present, the Big Three label, which kicked off 2023 by calling out “bad actors” in the streaming space, hasn’t announced Spotify as a partner on the initiative.

In any event, the Future of Music Coalition just recently encouraged its followers to reread a series of firmly worded tweets (initially published in March of last year) about the Discovery Mode expansion, describing the offering as Spotify’s “new wage suppression scheme.”

“Hearing that Spotify is starting to send around submission information for Discovery Mode, its new wage suppression scheme,” the 23-year-old entity penned. “It’s perhaps the most brazenly anticompetitive form of payola we’ve seen in digital music.

“Reports indicate that Discovery Mode involves a 50% cut in Spotify’s already low rates, in exchange for algorithmic manipulation that boosts these low cost tracks. Bad for artists and bad for fans,” the FMC proceeded.

And while the aforesaid Ari’s Take report placed Discovery Mode’s fee at 30 percent of royalties (solely for streams deriving from a campaign), logic suggests that the renewed criticism could prompt some creators to think twice about enrolling in the program, which is plugging music specifically via Radio and autoplay. (Distributors including but not limited to CD Baby, DistroKid, Stem, OneRPM, and Gamma’s Vydia are said to be participating in Discovery Mode.)

On the other side of the coin, though, it’s hardly a secret that a tremendous amount of music is arriving on Spotify and competing streaming platforms daily. Between this point and different factors – the major labels’ contractually guaranteed share of Spotify playlist spots among them – it goes without saying that certain eligible professionals will make use of Discovery Mode at once.

Meanwhile, with these acts accepting reduced royalties and presumably enjoying enhanced exposure, different artists yet, faced with the possibility of reaching fewer fans because their work is taking a back seat to projects supported by Discovery Mode, may ultimately feel compelled to sign up as well.

Photo Credit: Open On Sunday

As high-profile – and high-value – catalog deals continue to pour in, Open On Sunday (OOS) is working to make faster and more musician-friendly transactions the norm.

Despite rising rates and turbulence throughout the broader economy, a number of noteworthy song-rights sales have closed in 2023. With a tailwind of continued streaming resilience and strong catalog listenership, Hipgnosis kicked off the year with a reported $200 million agreement for Justin Bieber’s music IP, for instance. And well-established players such as Universal Music Group and Shamrock Holdings (which finalized a reported $200 million transaction with Dr. Dre), Primary Wave, and Reservoir Media have wrapped deals of their own.

Also part of the ever-changing catalog space are rising investors like Open On Sunday, which has executed approximately 70 transactions to date. Worth a total of over $60 million, the acquisitions include multimillion-dollar pacts with Taylor Swift songwriter Liz Rose, R&B legend Keith Sweat, and the estate of blues mainstay B.B. King.

Behind the sizable song-rights buyouts is a unique dealmaking approach that prioritizes transparency and expediency, Open On Sunday told Digital Music News. It’s hardly a secret that the catalog boom saw purchasers offering unprecedented multiples for in-demand bodies of work, though players like Open on Sunday are introducing more transparent and understandable methodologies for assigning valuations to certain IP. Just recently, Open on Sunday partnered with DMN to broaden its creator-friendly model.

The IP boom has also exacerbated some bad behavior in the dealmaking process, which Open on Sunday is squarely addressing.

Amongst the most nefarious practices: owners of less-coveted catalogs have been dragged into purposely drawn-out negotiations designed to score a cheaper deal. Facilitated by the exclusivity granted under ‘letters of intent,’ the prolonged talks are used to drive down the sale price of song rights. Consequently, OOS says it’s working to put hard data and reliable timetables at the center of the process.

“Open On Sunday is actively seeking the challenge of serving unmet financial needs within the music industry ecosystem while thoughtfully building long-term investor value,” founder and CEO Elliot Hayes told DMN. “We’re likely the only party seeking to reduce friction costs in a digital age via the implementation of technology solutions.”

These technology solutions impact each component of the Atlanta-headquartered business’s deals, beginning with the free quotes that are provided to prospective sellers. Made possible by proprietary data-analysis tools that gauge categories including streaming and sync potential, Open On Sunday’s upfront offers are complemented by fast closing times.

Aside from delivering similar and evenly-calculated capital valuations to all rightsholders, Open On Sunday says that this expedient model has helped it to top the competition when vying for high-profile IP. Sellers receive payments within one week after signing off on transactions, OOS told us.

Meanwhile, a buyback provision accompanies each of Open On Sunday’s contracts. According to the company, the unique option reflects the personal nature of music and decisions to sell catalogs.

Under the clause, Open On Sunday identifies “a series of guaranteed prices” at which sellers can repurchase all or a portion of their song rights within 18 to 24 months following a deal’s close. The business likewise accommodates fractional sales, purchasing as little as 25 percent of a catalog depending upon the seller’s preferences.

For those who do opt to sell less than 100 percent of their IP, OOS says that it will act as a partner in promoting and monetizing the works at hand — all without charging fees for administration of the unsold portion. Joint ventures are also on the table, the company told us, emphasizing that the arrangements can take a variety of forms and attest to an overarching willingness to break the boundaries of traditional catalog buyouts.

Further underscoring Open On Sunday’s dealmaking flexibility, the business purchases a variety of music assets — compositions, masters, neighboring rights, and artist and producer royalties among them. To date, acquisitions have varied in size from $10,000 to $10 million, and the company in 2022 raised $150 million to fuel its investment strategy.

Additionally, OOS says that it takes stakes solely in past releases and helps sellers avoid the seldom-discussed fees that affect most catalog deals.

On the former front, advances frequently compel the delivery of new projects under an extremely high distribution and administration fee structure, to the detriment of creators. And when it comes to transactional fees, sellers clearly stand to benefit from cutting out intermediary parties – and their 10 to 15 percent charge – from deals they can arrange themselves.

Ultimately, Open On Sunday strives to help music IP owners – from well-known acts to behind-the-scenes professionals – explore song-rights sales without being misled by unrealistic promises or roped into long-term agreements that could prove detrimental to their independence and financial wellbeing.

Self-determination, including choosing how much of a catalog to sell and having the option to buy back IP, is at the core of the company’s operations. As the space evolves in the approaching months and years, OOS believes that its innovative approach will guide the industry forward – all while helping rightsholders secure the support and compensation to which their hard work entitles them.

(Photo Credit: Spotify)

Artist numbers, rights holders’ payouts, and royalties — depending on your perspective, Spotify’s latest data dump could paint a promising picture for the future of streaming. The company’s self-reported royalty data for 2022 reveals who’s making money on Spotify (and who’s not).

So who’s actually squeaking out a living on Spotify? Out of 9 million artist profiles, Spotify says only an estimated 200,000 are ‘properly leveraging streaming as part of their career.’ These ‘professional or professionally aspiring artists’ have released at least 10 tracks, average a minimum of 10,000 monthly listeners, and conducted a commercial activity outside of streaming during 2022.

Spotify data reveals that just over a quarter (29%) of these 200,000 — roughly 60,000 serious artists — generated $10,000 or more in Spotify revenue in 2022. That’s either good or bad, depending on the perspective and subsequent number-crunching.

For Spotify, the analysis starts with an important working assumption. The streaming giant says it accounted for over 20% of global recorded music revenue in 2022— up from less than 15% in 2017. Also according to Spotify, the platform’s all-time payouts to music rights holders is approaching $40 Billion in recording and publishing royalties.

Spotify believes that during the last two decades, streaming has transformed the dynamic music ecosystem. With low barriers to entry, it has drawn passionate new musicians and creators from all over the world. Spotify’s report on its own royalty data also reveals that in 2022, only 12% of Spotify’s US streams were credited to the top 50 artists. Stats like these place the spotlight on how music industry revenue is reaching more than just mega artists and creators.

Spotify data also reveals that in 2022, a quarter of artists who generated over $10K from Spotify were self-distributed, and 35% reside in countries outside the top-ten music markets.

The number of artists generating over $100,000 per year grew 135% from 2017 to 2022. Moreover, artists reaching milestone annual-revenue levels of $10K, $100K, and 1 million, have more than doubled during the last five years.

With an ever-growing number of listeners, Spotify reports that in total, 913,000 songs have crossed the million-stream mark. In 2022 alone, 281,000 songs reached this milestone, with almost 350 songs already crossing the billion-stream mark by the end of last year.

Music catalogs also appear to have become ‘more valuable than ever.’ Spotify says catalogs ‘can still generate healthy revenues year after year.’

The company spotlights catalog musicians as ‘heritage artists,’ defined as an artist that averages more than 500,000 monthly listeners, with 80% of streams from tracks that are more than 5 years old. This exclusive group comprises 3400 artists that generated $433,000 from Spotify alone in 2022. Spotify estimates that  these heritage artists made well over $1 million in revenue across all streaming services.

With this powerful revenue-generating capability, the streaming giant is calling catalogs ‘a signal of optimism for the future value of music.’

Spotify’s royalty data is painting a pretty picture for the future of streaming and the overall music landscape, and the streaming giant says, ‘It expects growth rates shown on this site to continue.’

Photo Credit: HiLife Music Group

HiLife Music Group’s subsidiary label, A-Grade Music, is allowing artists to ‘Purchase a Record Deal‘ — aiming to change how label deals are done. Artists can now get ahead of the curve by buying a deal that comes with every perk that a conventional record label would provide.

Despite the multitude of label models in the music industry, the landscape is still rife with talented musicians spending a lifetime looking for a deal they’ll never procure.

Distribution-label hybrids like AWAL, Empire, and Create Music have up-ended the traditional label model while giving artists more favorable terms and options. Nonetheless, a recording contract continues to be a divine blessing that labels choose to bestow upon artists they consider a lucrative financial investment. Traditional labels also remain painstakingly cautious about offering a deal — and all the resources that come with it.

Now, A-Grade Music, a division of HiLife Music Group. is handing the strings of artist success to artists themselves. With their ‘Purchase a Record Deal’ model, the company is creating opportunities for artists to bypass the process of looking for a conventional recording contract. Instead, musicians can simply buy one. Just recently, HiLife joined forces with DMN to further expand the innovative concept.

A-Grade Music is establishing a unique system for musicians. They can purchase complete options for production, branding, campaigning, project teams, and release — with no strings attached.

CEO Adrian Fife spoke to Digital Music News about how A-Grade Music is changing significant aspects of traditional record deals. “There are a lot of talented artists out there, but to get a conventional recording deal, you need a lot more than talent.”

For artists stuck in the loop of waiting for a record label to give them a toehold in the industry, Fife believes this is the perfect way to get ahead. “There are millions of people worldwide looking for record deals. Rather than waiting, we’re empowering artists to kick start their careers on their own terms.”

According to A-Grade, even if an artist sells a million records, they keep 95% of revenue from sales. The company merely retains 5% for the artist fee, which includes administrative costs.

It’s no secret that for every artist that has procured a conventional record deal, tens of thousands have fallen by the wayside.

There are far too many artists and not enough opportunities. And thanks to consolidation among major record companies, even fewer acts are getting signed.

Fife spoke about one of the biggest reasons why record deals are hard to come by, saying, “It’s risky for a record company to break a new artist. They’re putting all this money behind an artist—money they’ll have to recoup. For an independent label, it’s an even higher risk than a major. So why not take all that risk out of the equation and turn it around?”

Fife clarifies that A-Grade Music isn’t signing artists, so the company doesn’t own IP — unless it collaborated on tracks with songwriting or composing. “Artists have the freedom. We’re not here to hold them back. They own the IP of any completed tracks and videos they want to get out there.”

Moreover, artist managers and mid-tier labels can utilize the expansive gamut of services that A-Grade Music brings to the table. ‘Purchase a Record Deal’ could be the missing piece of the puzzle that propels their artists to the next level.

Clearly, ‘Purchase a Record Deal’ isn’t just for early-stage artists trying to kick-start their careers. It’s also a fit for musicians wanting to re-enter the scene after a successful run in the past. That includes seasoned artists, allowing them to eat their cake and have it too — by retaining ownership of their IP and keeping all proceeds from sales.

‘Purchase a Record Deal’ makes sense for artists who are confident in their future prospects, and willing to invest in their talent and career.

Some labels now exclusively sign artists with established track records, existing fanbases, or a seriously viral moment. Against that reality, many musicians are seeing A-Grade Music as a stepping stone toward a conventional recording contract. With A-Grade’s professional services, artists can demonstrate their talent, popularity, and sales potential to mega-players in the industry.

For musicians who believe they can venture out on their own, their DIY fantasy typically underestimates the amount of time, money, and effort that goes into a label’s role.

A-Grade aims to fill that role for a lot less upfront cash compared to what artists will ultimately pay for studios, mastering, video production, promotions — and everything else that must be done for track production and release.

Fife explains how economies of scale allow the label to get things done cost-effectively for artists. “We’re not outsourcing anything. Recording studios, marketing, promotions, everything’s in place already. We’re doing everything any major record company does, and we have the infrastructure to tackle it all.”

A-Grade Music can take over everything from creation, marketing, release, distribution, and promotion of completed songs and videos — depending on the package purchased by an artist. With a multitude of features, artists get a chance to showcase their talent to the world from A-Grade Music headquarters based in the UK.

Every musician purchasing A-Grade Music’s record deal is assigned a creative music production team, which works alongside the artist to help maximize their artistic potential. With artist branding services, musicians develop their own brand of the desired style and sound to differentiate themselves from other artists. Moreover, merchandise and products are produced, marketed, and distributed via A-Grade Music websites and subsidiary outlets. ​

The label also combines a portfolio of campaign tools, including photography, video, image consultancy, recording studio, vocal coaches, web pages, social media, official channels, and promotions.

An extensive project management team supports every stage of an artist’s music journey. All music releases comply with UPC barcodes and international standard recording codes (ISRC), ensuring that all sales figures are reported to the Billboard charts, allowing artists to enter.

Speaking about what happens after an artist purchases a record deal from Grade-A Music, Fife explains, “You’d be given your schedule and tour manager. You’d get your track and video recorded. For the duration, you would have your accommodation, go to the recording studio, have an image consultant and a marketing team to get your social media profile up to where it’s meant to be. It is across the board, depending on what you purchase.”

Despite its ability to thrust artists into the spotlight, the company emphasizes that musicians are under no binding commitment to stay with A-Grade Music.

Fife is excited about the exposure and revenue artists can earn by taking charge of their careers, saying, “We’re not looking to tie an artist. The artist is a free agent.”

With ‘Purchase a Record Deal,’ A-Grade Music appears to be opening the doors to a one-of-a-kind opportunity for artists. It allows musicians to get ahead of the curve, and according to Fife, “That has never been done before.”

Photo Credit: Too Lost

Too Lost is the first music distributor to offer its independent artists and labels direct payout to their Nerve account. Not familiar with Nerve? Read on for more information.

The following was created in collaboration with Too Lost, a company DMN is proud to be partnered with.

Nerve is a business banking app designed for creators to make getting paid a cinch. With this new integration, artists’ earnings are sent with no fees to their Nerve business debit account. It helps artists create a clear separation between their personal finances and those of their business. Nerve also offers free invoicing, group accounts, and autosave function—all designed with creators in mind. 

Artists can send invoices directly from the Nerve app, helping them get paid faster. Once the invoice is paid, Nerve processes the payment and deposits it into the business debit account. Nerve also doesn’t charge its users to send money to others, or to move the money to another bank account. 

One of the most beneficial aspects of Nerve’s setup is its group accounts. This feature allows multiple artists to share a single account with a team so everyone in the group can access the balance and transaction information. The main account holder still retains control over transactions and how the funds are spent—but everyone in the group account gets transparency into those actions. 

Too Lost offers independent artists and labels a new way to track their music online through its Usage Discovery tool. The insights provided by this data can help artists focus their marketing efforts, resulting in higher royalty payments. Keep even more of those royalty payments by switching to Nerve banking and its creator-focused banking solution, which gives you a physical debit card to access those music royalties instantly.

Curious to learn more about Nerve banking? Here’s a quick rundown of the basics:

• Free FDIC-insured business checking with physical debit card attached, and free business savings account.
• No monthly fees. No minimum balance requirements. No hidden fees. 
• Send and receive money instantly from other Nerve account holders for free. 
• Access your money fee-free at a network of over 55,000 ATMs. 
• No credit check or paperwork for opening an account. 

Too Lost is dedicated to providing the most effortless way to do business for indie artists and musicians. It helps artists publish, monetize, and protect their songs across the globe with a roster of more than 100,000 independent artists and labels using the service so far. 

The company is headquartered in New York City and has offices in Los Angeles, Barcelona, and Reykjavik. Too Lost is also a proud member of The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) and MERLIN. The distributor aims to provide all musical creators access to the tools to build their successful music business–whatever that may be. Efficient and comprehensive digital infrastructure for the independent music sector is the goal and its partnership with Nerve is just one of the many ways the company achieves that goal. Learn more about Nerve here. 

Photo Credit: Crewest Studio

Some artists are chameleons, constantly evolving to meet the demands of a changing creative landscape. Today’s guest, Sy Smith, meets that definition, and then some. Sometimes called “the hardest working woman in underground soul” by her peers, Sy is a renowned actor, songwriter, and session singer who helped cultivate Los Angeles’ progressive nu-soul scene over a decade ago.

The following comes from Crewest Studio, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

Welcome to The Conduit, a podcast featuring candid conversations with professional musicians who give listeners the unvarnished truth about being an artist in the music industry. In today’s episode, host and LA-based DJ, producer, and musician Dan Ubick (aka Constantine “Connie” Price) sits down with Sy to discuss her creative journey as a vocalist and performer. “Singing is such an intimate thing,” she tells Dan early in the interview, which delves into the vocalist’s precocious start in the music industry and traces her ascent to the “Queen of Underground Soul.”

Born in New York City and raised in Washington D.C., Sy understood the value of creativity thanks to her parents, who exposed the young girl to reading, writing, museums, and theater at an early age. “Traveling was always a part of my life,” adds Sy, who learned about regional hip-hop by crisscrossing the country on her creative journey. Eventually landing in LA, where she now lives and works, Sy got her start as a session vocalist, providing backup to legendary artists like Whitney Housten, Chaka Khan, Usher, and Sheila E along the way. Over the decades she’s released five critically acclaimed albums, including her most recent, 2018’s Sometimes A Rose Will Grow In Concrete and her acclaimed debut, Psykosoul. Sy is the recipient of two NAACP Theater Award nominations, and has numerous television acting credits. You may recognize her from the hit FOX show Ally McBeal, where she had a long-term recurring role backing Vonda Shepard. Her voice can also be heard as the character Aisha on Saints Row, an action-adventure video game that features original music and production from the artist.

Sy also shares her thoughts on singing and making music for a living, what it felt like to be a Black artist on a predominantly white record label, and why she ultimately decided to strike out on her own. She offers some practical advice to emerging singers and musicians that covers auditions, recording, publishing, and performing rights. “Publishing and performing rights are constantly in flux,” she says, urging working artists to keep pace with the rapid changes in the music industry.

Inspired by her surroundings wherever she goes, Sy appreciates how being raised in a creative environment fueled her imagination for a lifetime. Her curious and flexible nature allowed the nu-soul artist to forge an eclectic career path she’s deeply passionate about. Tune into today’s episode with Sy Smith for an inspiring tale of fortitude, persistence, and gratitude.

Photo Credit: Andreas Forsberg

Thematic and Tipalti bring transparency to influencer marketing.

The following comes from Tipalti, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

Influencer marketing is an essential piece to an artist’s music marketing and song promotion flow. However, many artists are still kept in the dark about their campaign results and are not able to measure their song success or receive their earnings efficiently.

To help independent music artists overwhelmed by these frustrations and to provide them visibility on how and where their songs have been used and promoted, Thematic created a platform to streamline the song promotion process and bring transparency and data to an otherwise ever-changing sector.

Together with their payments partner Tipalti, they’ve been able to extend this transparency to artist UGC earnings – defining a new standard in influencer and community marketing.

Thematic leads the charge in transparency in influencer marketing for independent music artists

Thematic is a community-driven marketing platform where content creators can license music from artists in exchange for promotion. Independent artists as a result have their music promoted across social media, unlocking discovery opportunities within new fan communities.

This type of community-centric marketing can unlock new cohorts of listeners for artists completely organically. It enables them to seamlessly reach fan communities and audiences that may have been previously overlooked in their other marketing efforts.

Artists and content creators are flocking to join Thematic’s rapidly growing community of 600k+ highly-engaged creatives. New songs are dropped twice a week, with a 98% song placement success rate.

What artists love most about Thematic is their artist dashboard, with performance stats detailing exactly how and where their music is being featured in videos and detailed payment breakdowns, which are powered by an integration with Tipalti. The process Thematic set up allows for an acceleration of transparency behind what happens when the music goes viral.

“I love the dashboard where you can see all of your earnings, audience reach, video views, and more. By giving us so many detailed numbers and stats, it allows me to easily share my artist value when I apply for grants and other opportunities with my music.” Namoo Nara, Thematic music artist. 

Paying artists how they want, when they want with Tipalti’s integrated software

Since 2019, Thematic has partnered with payment solution Tipalti to process their artists’ YouTube UGC earnings.

Prior to that collaboration, Thematic was processing payments directly, spending tedious hours managing the individual artist accounts and dealing with finance management. No more. Tipalti now processes all artist payments, directly integrated into each artist’s dashboard. 

Most importantly, with Tipalti and Thematic’s partnership, artists get paid monthly, how they want and when they want. Tipalti allows for one of the fastest payment turnaround in the industry, with all their partners.

Within their dashboards, artists are able to see exactly how much earnings they have generated month-by-month and song-by-song, and withdraw their earnings easily in just a couple clicks with the Tipalti API integration.

It was important for Thematic to find a trusted payments partner that provided earnings transparency and allowed them to scale payments efficiently with their growing artist community. Additionally, with artists located around the world, Thematic appreciated Tipalti’s approach in providing a variety of payment options to fit their international users – from Paypal and ACH payments to Wire Transfers and eChecks, the artists can choose the solution that makes the most sense for them.

Artists on Thematic never miss a payment with the automated and integrated Tipalti payment experience. With the most intuitive email triggers built-in, Tipalti makes sure artists can easily track their payment status, flag any errors, and overall make it a super easy process to get their money in their pockets without issue.

“Then as I quickly input my information without even realizing the gracious fortune ahead, next thing I knew I got my first check,” said Gil Wanders, Thematic music artist. “I didn’t expect how frequently I’d get paid until the third consistent check came, and it got higher and higher and it reached a point to where I never thought I would ever reach in my life anytime soon in my music career… I would definitely recommend this to anyone who may need a slight boost in their career, or life in general. I’ve told fellow artists as well and they have already seen the change too!”

On the Thematic side, the direct integration Tipalti offers with Quickbooks makes it easy for their accounts payable department to track and report payments accurately.

The Perfect Combo: How Thematic and Tipalti are paving the way for new standards in the creator economy

Such a harmony between the two partners leads to a collaboration beyond payments. 

“Tipalti has been a great support partner throughout our creator events,” says Stephanie Leyva, Thematic’s Director of Partnerships. “They’ve collaborated with us since the first integration and supported our growing community with creator economy industry dinners, sponsored creator events, and more. Tipalti is truly built for our scale and integrates perfectly with our fast-growing creator platform. They are a clear leader for us in supporting the creator economy as a whole.” 

Tipalti has proven to be a supportive partner to Thematic, willing to activate networks to be part of the conversations with creators and artists. For instance, Tipalti is hosting a webinar on synergies in the Creator Economy on February 14th – sign up today!

Photo Credit: Side Door

How artists and hosts can utilize Side Door’s live music booking platform and more on their efforts to support underrepresented voices this festival season.

The following comes from Side Door, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

Touring has become a costly part of doing business as an artist today: inflation, skyrocketing travel, production costs, staff shortages, supply-chain issues, one positive COVID test away from derailing the whole thing, and a flooded market for venues — the ones that are still able to keep their doors open. This has led to a long line of artists publicly sharing that they are simply unable to make getting out on the road profitable.

While these challenges are echoed throughout the industry regardless of the size of the artist, how is the current touring model sustainable? How do artists make a living and grow their fanbase when they take home less than they need to spend? Especially considering the majority of an artist’s cut of the ticket sales at some traditional venues doesn’t even cover the gas money to get there. 

Live performance remains an integral part of an artist’s career, but a new alternative approach is necessary to ensure that live music is sustainable and successful.

Reducing the overhead of shows is an important first step. For example, doing house concerts in secondary and college markets between big city plays can become a profitable component of any touring strategy. A second step is providing elevated experiences for super fans, like doing an intimate listening party in a record shop.

There are many underground, regional networks and DIY promoters who create these kinds of shows. But what if artists could access hundreds of spaces like this in one spot?

Co-Founders Laura Simpson and Dan Mangan

Side Door is an innovative marketplace that connects artists with presenters to turn any space into a music venue, like backyards, libraries, breweries, etc., giving agency and access to anyone who wants to perform or curate live performances. 

Side Door was formed in 2017 by entrepreneur Laura Simpson and indie artist Dan Mangan. Mangan, a two-time JUNO award-winning artist who just received his sixth JUNO nomination for his sixth studio album, Being Somewhere, got his start playing living rooms and backyards. Simpson, an experienced house concert host and industry professional, says, “the dream is to make a more accessible and sustainable live touring ecosystem.” 

Show Calls feature

Artists can post Show Calls on the platform, announcing where and when they want to tour. Available hosts can respond to those requests or post Show Calls of their own. The platform supports matchmaking between artists and hosts, an intuitive booking flow, ticketing and payout tools to complete the process.

Creating a profile is free and you can start planning your first show in just a few clicks.

Side Door offers show guarantees with a new US touring program.

Side Door recently announced its new program, ‘On The Road with Side Door.’ A US touring program open to artists showcasing at Folk Alliance International in Kansas City or South By Southwest Conference & Festival in Austin. Artists playing ticketed Side Door shows between January and March 2023 can apply for a $500 guarantee in addition to the ticket split from the shows. 

The program aims to help independent artists minimize the financial risk associated with live touring. To introduce the concept of touring in alternative venue spaces as a viable option and fully align this program with Side Door’s values, the guarantees in the program are issued on a first-come-first-serve basis, with applications that have diverse, under-represented voices being prioritized. 

To apply or learn more about On the Road with Side Door, visit here. 

Side Door’s part in festival season 2023

In addition to the touring program, Side Door announced its 2023 South By Southwest panel, ‘How To Tour in 2023 Without Going Broke.’ This panel will give independent artists a better look into leveraging Side Door’s platform to find meaningful shows without the fear of a huge financial setback. 

The panel will be an open conversation between four music industry professionals: Dan Mangan, artist and co-founder of Side Door; Andrew Lieb, artist manager at Red Light Management; Brighid Fry of Housewife; and tour and merch manager Abbey Simmons.

“Touring can be a double-edged sword full of life-giving and/or soul-sucking results, depending on how you execute. Strategic planning is crucial to yielding a successful tour, and it starts with learning the landscape, thinking about the bottom line from day one, and focusing on the why,” says Andrew Leib, artist manager at Red Light Management.

Panelist and singer-songwriter Brighid Fry of Housewife, who saw live shows grind to a halt during COVID, says this is undoubtedly an uncertain time to be an artist. “It is scary to be stepping into this career at a time when the costs of touring are spiraling out of control and when there is so much uncertainty. As a climate activist, I want to be able to work on cutting down the carbon footprint of my tours, but it is increasingly hard for us emerging artists to do so when we have to work so hard just to make sure we don’t lose money on touring.”

 Side Door will also hold a showcase at SXSW with six bands who used its tech platform to book shows on their way to Austin. 

Photo Credit: Jonas Leupe

More catalog tracks are charting on Spotify than ever before. So Playlist Push has shifted its focus — helping ‘old’ become ‘new’ again.

Since 2020, the portion of Spotify’s Global Weekly Top Songs represented by catalog has increased by 155%, according to the company. The streaming platform defines catalog as any track over 18 months old.

Insights from the study make it abundantly clear that promoting older tracks is working. Almost a third of 2022’s charting songs are catalog, and fans are now searching for and streaming older tracks. Nearly three-quarters of active streams (from listener playlists, album pages, artist profiles, and liked songs) are catalog. For listeners under 26, the portion of total streams represented by music from the 80s has increased by 45% during the last four years.

The shift isn’t happening entirely by accident. Behind the scenes, players like Playlist Push are helping to intensify the trend. “This year we’re promoting 60% more catalog tracks versus last year, and the trend continues to grow,” George Goodrich, co-founder of Playlist Push, told Digital Music News.

As catalog claims a more significant part of the spotlight, artists and labels want to monetize their own. Playlist Push has set its sights on doing precisely that — for all rights holders playing the catalog game. The company recently joined forces with DMN to further expand its catalog successes.

Publishers and catalog owners are also seizing the opportunity to increase the ROI of their IP, whether recently acquired or owned for decades.

According to Goodrich, “This year, we’ve had publishers and labels going into their archives to find tracks that never got a chance to reach their full potential because streaming and playlist promotion didn’t exist when they were released.”

Reenergizing, boosting, and exploiting these long-owned catalogs is now a music industry focus. Investors sitting on massive IP acquisitions are betting that there’s still more juice in those catalogs. But they need a promotional engine to beef up those purchases — and recoup millions in acquisition costs.

Playlist Push Director of Strategy Alex Mitchell-Hardt spoke about how robust the catalog landscape has become. His company currently manages catalog campaigns from both major labels and independent artists. “Our business when we first started was all about ‘new.’ We were only promoting new singles,” Mitchell-Hardt explained. “Now we see more labels and publishers promoting older songs, recognizing the long tail in revenue and consumption that streaming services provide.”

For artists, this trend of promoting the ‘old’ puts an end to the constant pressure of making a big splash with a new track.

Artists also realize that they need to do more than just push newer stuff. More artists are now exploiting their older tracks for what they’re worth. They no longer have to wait to release a new single to see a spike in streams.

Goodrich explained that artists’ catalogs could be smartly leveraged to raise awareness of new releases. “When you look at the bigger picture, listeners simply want to hear great music and aren’t concerned with when it was released. We’ve also seen artists who’ve experienced a long hiatus promote a catalog song to increase discoverability for a new and upcoming song.”

For indie producers and creators sitting on substantial catalogs, Playlist Push is breathing new life into old.

Sync placements are also propelling catalogs into the limelight. After a juicy placement, tracks from any era can pop up on TikTok and Spotify to score a significant audience.

It’s no secret that sync opportunities can completely redefine the value of a catalog. Following the placement of ‘Running Up That Hill’ on Netflix’s Stranger Things, Kate Bush’s catalog saw a surge of 439%, with streams exploding on all platforms. Analyzing a set of syncs with Netflix, a Spotify study reveals that artist discoveries typically jump between 50-6,000% — and the rest of the catalog also gets a boost.

Moreover, TikTok is driving the trend of viral videos shuttling listeners onto streaming platforms. Spotify reports that one track’s viral moment can trigger a 70% increase in streams for the rest of the artist’s music.

So how does Playlist Push work?

Playlist Push aims to give an organic lift to otherwise stagnant catalogs. The company is utilizing its extensive network of playlist curators to thread tracks into prominent playlists. Playlist Push also has the tools to line up major sync opportunities that set up artists and catalog owners for growth. With multiple complementing campaign tools, Playlist Push is giving catalog the marketing boost it needs to shine.

The company finds ways to maximize the value of giant, under-exploited catalogs. According to Goodrich, “It could be a catalog a publisher has had for over 20 years.”

But the company is working with more than just high-profile IP. Smaller, niche catalogs that didn’t have marketing dollars to get the word out are now amplifying promotion with Playlist Push.

Massive shifts in the overall music industry landscape have made it more challenging than ever to break something new. So why not start with something old?

While discussing ever-changing listening habits and grabbing audience attention, Mitchell-Hardt said, “It all comes down to getting the music in the ears of the right audience and that’s what our platform is designed to do.”

Goodrich added that Playlist Push campaigns drive artists forward, “Our campaigns help build your streaming presence and feed the Spotify algorithm.”

Karen Waldrup, one of a growing number of artists using Rhythmic Rebellion.

Rhythmic Rebellion has long helped artists, labels, and others to build and benefit from fan relationships by harnessing the power of one-stop digital platforms. Now, with a number of success stories to its credit, the company is making a stronger case than ever for controlling and capitalizing upon the listener support that fuels career results.

Rhythmic Rebellion’s value proposition to the music industry is straightforward enough. In a decentralized entertainment landscape, why not develop a centralized, all-encompassing online marketplace and community geared towards dedicated fans?

Founded by singer-songwriter Greg Allen, the company enables professionals (labels and management agencies among them) to do just that, beginning with an intuitive website builder and any necessary technical support. Rhythmic Rebellion also comes with an easy-to-use email generator, facilitates digital and physical music sales, hosts livestreams and fan clubs, and allows creators to offer exclusive content to their most engaged followers.

Meanwhile, in expanding the reach of supporter hubs, artists and their teams are simultaneously building email lists that will prove valuable in the long term, as social media upstarts burst onto the scene and formerly high-flying players recede from the spotlight or cease operating altogether.

What’s more is that these social services effectively own the fans (and their data) who follow and engage with artists – the most significant assets in the contemporary music arena.

Of course, just because fan relationships begin on TikTok, Instagram, or Twitter doesn’t mean that they must end there. But amid an industry-wide push to make a splash on social media, particularly with short-form videos, conversations about how to transition followers to a more targeted community are comparatively few and far between.

At best, the ultimate result of this tunnel-vision approach to social media is that labels, management firms, and artists themselves will pay to communicate with and promote releases to their followers. In doing so, members of the music community are missing out on revenue, data, and the inherent commercial longevity associated with cultivating diehard fanbases as opposed to part-time supporters. Just recently, DMN and Rhythmic Rebellion joined forces to shift the focus towards more controllable hubs.

“We need to use these other platforms like tools,” Rhythmic Rebellion head Greg Allen told Digital Music News. “While gaining followers on social media, we need to also make those fans part of a community that labels and artists own.”

Artists including reggae singer Gyptian have tapped into the commercial potential of robust fan communities via Rhythmic Rebellion.

With the highly competitive streaming era in full swing, it’s no longer enough to make excellent music available to fans and occasionally post on social media. Connecting with supporters (and analyzing the hard numbers behind their purchases and preferences) is an integral component of successful careers.

Importantly, the problem’s solution – a centralized platform for maximizing the professional advantages of hard-won fans – likewise presents a major opportunity. Aside from laying the groundwork for meaningful fan interactions, carefully maintained and feature-heavy online communities offer an array of benefits (including improved data collection and ARPU) that social media and run-of-the-mill websites cannot.

Seoul-headquartered Hybe has already demonstrated the viability of the overarching model with WeVerse, a roughly three-year-old fan-community platform that remains popular among BTS enthusiasts. Hybe disclosed that the service boasted seven million MAUs as of Q3 2022, and execs are expanding upon the ultra-dedicated userbase by adding more artists and paid-subscription features.

For the wider music industry, Rhythmic Rebellion says that its platform can enable labels, publishers, management teams, and others to generate material revenue from the high-volume (but low-paying and fleeting) fan interest delivered by streaming and social media.

“I like to think that we can help every label on the planet increase their revenue,” continued Allen, whose service is available on web browsers as well as iOS and Android. “We’ve got merch stores built right in. We’ve got livestreaming built right in, and we have fan clubs built right in. Subscriptions or free, however you want to do it.”

At the core of these varied offerings are communities – extending to individual artists and whole labels – that some of the largest music businesses in the world neglect or overlook entirely.

Energetic fans will always find a way to connect and support their favorite acts, including through social media groups and live shows. But when it’s harder than ever to generate interest in music, fragmented collections of dedicated supporters represent lost potential and missed opportunities.

That’s because interactive artist communities are inherently better positioned to drive engagement and revenue. And in the absence of a reliable community-focused solution, fan interaction will simply revolve around the exchange of occasional messages, culminating (in the best-case scenario) with merch sales at performances.

By enabling like-minded individuals to communicate (among themselves and directly with artists) between shows and releases, however, Rhythmic Rebellion says that it’s affording fans optimal experiences and allowing labels and others to capitalize upon the vast commercial potential at hand.

Some of the many items available for purchase through the merch store that Ariel Bellvalaire built with Rhythmic Rebellion.

Besides the above-mentioned core offerings, supporters can currently comment on releases and videos, participate in contests, and sing along to songs with karaoke mode on Rhythmic Rebellion, which intends to continue building out moving forward.

“We can take this foundation and get ideas from artists, get ideas from labels, and we can continue to build to truly make it the most – I like to call it the ultimate entertainment and shopping experience on the planet,” Allen told us.

If recent years’ industry evolution is any indication, there’s no telling exactly which changes are in store for the music world and the broader entertainment sphere. Nevertheless, it’s clear that securing the attention of fans, keeping them engaged, and monetizing their interest is becoming exceedingly difficult.

“I always tell everybody I have two goals,” finished Allen. “Number one, build communities. Number two, help monetize those communities. That’s what indie artists need more than anything, and increasing revenue is labels’ whole goal. Well, you need to have the community first. We’re built to do both of those things and do them well.”

Feel free to continue the community building conversation with Greg at gregea@rhythmic-rebellion.com.

Photo Credit: Viberate

“Reducing the price from $129 to only $9.90 per month feels like the right thing to do,” says the co-founder of music data analytics platform Viberate, which also started the year by rolling out the most powerful artist chart on the market.

The following comes from Viberate, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

For the past couple of years, data was the strongest tool of the music industry’s power players – enabling them to discover promising talent, identify trends, and analyze their activities. However, access to high-quality analytics has mostly been a privilege for those who could afford them. For most artists and indie labels, access to comprehensive services was too expensive.

Viberate now wants to make the music business more inclusive by making access to one of the world’s leading music data analytics affordable for every industry professional.

Viberate’s co-founder, Vasja Veber: “Up until now, Viberate as well as other data analytics services were priced similarly, and we all catered to the wealthier, more established clients. We did offer a free tier, but we noticed that artists especially desperately wanted more data. Some of them even went as far as creating tens of different emails to keep using our free weekly trial. Reducing the price from $129 to only $9.90 per month might seem scary for us, but it also feels like the right thing to do. If we want the entire industry to prosper, we need to provide the tools at an affordable price. Streaming services nailed the price range and revolutionized how we consume music today. Now, we are doing the same for music data.”

Vasja Veber, Viberate’s co-founder

Veber announced the new pricing at the NY:LON Connect conference in London, effective immediately, and hinted that Viberate has more in the pipeline for artists this year.

The music data analytics platform also started the year by rolling out what’s currently the market’s most powerful artist chart. It provides a cross-channel ranking of every artist out there and features filters to help you find exactly the artists you’re looking for – by trending parameters, genre, subgenre, country, performance on specific channels, timeframe, and even by setting the fanbase size and ranking range. Viberate’s chart was created to simplify the way A&Rs discover new talent, event organizers find the right artists for their event, and generally, the way that music professionals benchmark the artists they’re following.

Immensity is an intelligent marketing analytics system that uses AI and machine learning to calculate Return On Ad Spend (ROAS), and figure out which marketing campaigns are actually driving consumption and revenue.

The following comes from Immensity for Artists, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

Over the past decade, Immensity’s Co-Founder & CEO, Nick Minicucci, has gained significant exposure into how musicians and teams operate as well as how machine learning is impacting various industries. He graduated music school and joined several local bands, one that signed with APA, and did some heavy touring for 6 years. In addition, he has been working around artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies since 2016, most notably working at MIT for 3 years where he was project manager on a multi-million dollar AI education research study.

“Machine learning and artificial intelligence has permeated the music industry in some really fascinating ways, but there are still massive issues surrounding data” says Nick. “This isn’t really a unique problem, data is growing rapidly and causing difficulties pretty much everywhere, but other industries have seen further advancements in AI/ML-driven technologies that are addressing some of their data problems. That, plus the many disparate and antiquated datasets the music industry has to deal with, definitely opens up an argument that the music industry might have it a little worse than some others right now.”

“Metadata, royalties, streaming data, social media and marketing data… there are pain points in every area,” Nick continues. “There are incredible tools out there starting to solve some of these issues, but there is a serious lack of intelligent tools addressing some of the others. Particularly, issues surrounding some of the biggest datasets in the industry right now – social media, digital marketing, and streaming data, and the mystery of attributing growth in one area to activity from another. Platforms don’t talk to each other well, data is siloed, so it’s difficult to understand what digital channels or campaigns are actually helping an artist stand out in an ocean of content and maximize growth/ROI”

For decades record labels were focused on quality over quantity – get one hit and everything else could fall into place. Quality is still a necessity and always will be, but now quantity is too. Optimizing that quantity is integral, and we’re seeing a pretty steep increase in quantity.

“Immensity solves several challenges that labels and artists face. The platform turns data into tactical take-aways, provided on an artist by artist basis. It allows for quick access to correlative, causal, and predictive analysis without any interpretation needed by research and insights professionals. It can scale easily to an entire roster, and it’s affordable – perfect for label/artist budgets.”

-Larry Mattera, Former Label Executive / Immensity Advisor

Just a few years ago, there were 8 million creators on Spotify, now there’s 11 million+. There were 40,000 songs getting released per day, now there are 100,000.

Every artist has unique qualities and the digital strategies that work for one won’t work for another.

How can you possibly optimize and solve for this level of quantity and diversity?

This is the exact issue that Immensity is tackling. They bring a modern, data science-backed approach to this massive pile of data that every label, agency, artist or team has to deal with and helps each one understand what campaigns are truly moving the needle.

“Immensity helped our team identify that several social media content activities that appeared to be ordinary were driving significantly more traffic to DSPs than content we were originally focused on. It has changed our approach to future campaigns. I’m excited to share these learnings with fellow managers, promoters and merch companies to help increase conversions on their social commerce marketing.”

-Randy Nichols, CEO, Force Media Management / Immensity Advisor

An example of the information you’ll get from the Immensity system is something like this –

“Your ROAS (active streams per $1 spent) is higher around 2 specific marketing campaigns on TikTok than almost every other campaign ran across Meta, Google, and X. Even though the amount spent on those 2 campaigns was significantly lower, the others have reached a saturation point. To maximize streaming consumption on your upcoming album release, you should reallocate X% more ad budget to TikTok” 

This example is a paraphrase from an actual analysis for a band, We Came As Romans. Immensity teamed up with WCAR and Hyperculture Marketing Group to analyze 12 months of paid campaign data and identify which campaigns had been driving the most consumption for WCAR so HMG could optimize ad spend and strategy for an upcoming album release. You can read more about this analysis in Immensity’s joint case study with WCAR and HMG here.

“Attributing growth in streaming consumption back to paid media has always been a bit of a black hole in data / marketing analytics…Immensity was able to not only bring clarity to the consumption data to confirm the hypothesis, but saved both Hyperculture, the label & management team immense amounts of time…The return on investment here was unbelievably clear”

-David Puckett, Founder & CEO, Hyperculture Marketing Group

“Our mission at Immensity is to both democratize modern and intelligent data science for smaller teams, and also help larger organizations power-up and scale their AI/ML efforts,” says Nick Minicucci. “The Immensity system is set up really well to do both of these things and help the whole music industry optimize time and marketing budgets.”

Read more at immensityforartists.com, and reach out to learn more about their enterprise marketing analytics.

Allowing artists to run 100% commission-free stores ‘on their own terms,’ Bandzoogle announced that its members have now generated over $100 million in merch and music revenue. Powering over 60,000 websites, the all-in-one platform provides the tools musicians need to build, manage, and promote their music website.

The following was created in collaboration with Bandzoogle, a company DMN is proud to be partnered with.

Probably Bandzoogle’s biggest differentiating feature: artists keep 100% of their revenue from the sale of music, merch, and tickets.

Bandzoogle CEO Stacey Bedford spoke to Digital Music News about the $100 million revenue milestone, saying, “We’re so proud that our members have reached such an incredible milestone, especially since all of that money went directly to them.”

The music website platform proudly claims that they ‘have never taken a commission from sales, helping musicians make more money from their music.’

Highlighting the importance of merch sales for musicians, Bedford also revealed that 75% of the $100 million revenue was generated via merchandise alone.

Bandzoogle launched its first eCommerce feature for musicians in 2006, but the company reported that over 50% of the $100 million revenue was generated in the last 5 years alone. This is because musicians now want to build more personalized experiences for fans that love their music, and understand the pros associated with direct-to-fan marketing and sales. These pros include more insights of — and control over — fan data.

Alongside the sale of music, merch, and tickets, Bandzoogle also offers a growing list of built-in eCommerce tools and features.

The company launched smart links and landing pages this year, and Bedford spoke passionately about providing more options to members, saying, “We’re always looking to improve our features for musicians, and having robust eCommerce options is at the top of the list.”

In 2021, Bandzoogle also integrated on-demand printing service Printful into the platform, and launched new bundling and upsell tools for artists. According to the company, Bandzoogle’s top 50 sellers in 2022 generated over 70% of their revenue selling merchandise through the platform.

Bandzoogle’s all-in-one offering includes fully customizable website design, a commission-free store to sell music, merch, and tickets, a built-in mailing list tool, detailed fan data, integrations with social networks, and more.

Monthly subscription plans start at $8.29, which include a custom domain. Artists can try Bandzoogle for free.

On the inaugural episode of ‘The Conduit,’ host Dan Ubick sits down with Bootie Brown to discuss the rapper’s winding journey through an often cutthroat industry.

The following comes from Crewest Studio, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

“Whether it’s good or bad, it’s always a learning experience,” says West Coast rapper Bootie Brown, who catapulted to fame early in his career as a founding member of seminal hip-hop group The Pharcyde. Whether touring the world with his crew in The Pharcyde or perfecting his skills as a producer, Bootie maintains a remarkably grounded attitude for someone who made it big early in life. His solution for surviving an often cutthroat music industry ultimately centers on cultivating a positive mindset and developing supportive relationships to sustain creativity.

Welcome to the inaugural episode of The Conduit, a podcast featuring candid conversations with professional musicians who give listeners the unvarnished truth about being an artist in the music business today. In today’s episode, host and LA-based DJ, producer, and musician Dan Ubick (aka Constantine “Connie” Price) sits down with Bootie to discuss the rapper’s long and winding journey through the music industry. Bootie shares his thoughts on making music for a living, finding constructive mentors and role models to guide the way, and what he learned about breaking the rules. He also touches on practical tips for musicians, covering topics like ownership, publishing, copyright, and signing a record deal. “The money that you make on records is not necessarily as big as the fame and notoriety,” he cautions about halfway through the interview.

Before finding his way into music, Bootie studied under the tutelage of renowned choreographer Toni Basil, who worked on American Graffiti. Soon after he joined The Pharcyde, along with founding members Imani (Emandu Wilcox), Slimkid3 (Trevant Hardson), and Fatlip (Derrick Stewart), a career path he never expected. Yet once the rhyming bug bit, there was no going back for Bootie. He reflects on The Pharcyde’s work with producer J Dilla, who was unknown at the time, but garnered praise from A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip for his groundbreaking beats: “Watching J Dilla work and just being in the studio, I realized that breaking that traditional ‘rulebook’ of what you’re supposed to do and how you’re supposed to do your song, it’s what is going to make that moment count.”

Bootie also discusses his ongoing and fruitful collaboration with Damon Albarn and Gorillaz. A frequent touring member of the group, Bootie is also featured on “Dirty Harry,” a highlight from Gorillaz debut album, Demon Days. Look out for Bootie’s latest collaboration with Tame Impala and Gorillaz, “New Gold,” which debuted in summer 2022.

Though Bootie rose to fame early in his career, he cautions listeners not to feel discouraged if it takes them longer to find success. “You not getting everything that you want so fast at a young age makes you decipher what’s right and what’s wrong,” he says. As he’s grown older, Bootie’s openness and generosity allows him to find inspiration in a variety of sources. His desire to express the beauty of the human spirit gives him reason to create, collaborate, and contribute for many years to come. Tune into today’s episode for an uplifting conversation with the one and only Bootie Brown.

Photo Credit: Create Music Group

Long payment cycles have remained endemic in the music industry. While some streaming platforms like YouTube pay royalties monthly, many labels haven’t allowed that swiftness to trickle down to artists. Against that backdrop, Create Music Group is giving artists more insights and more money for their work — and paying it out faster.

Labels and rights organizations have notoriously normalized painfully long payment turnarounds. After making collections from digital service providers (DSPs), some labels make artist payments annually, biannually, or at best — quarterly.

With major digital service providers (DSPs) typically paying out royalties every 30-60 days, this industry ‘norm’ poses a serious question: do labels lack the tech to ensure artists receive their payments faster, or are other factors at work?

According to a survey of 750 creators from the U.S. and U.K., 90% reported experiencing issues getting paid. When it came to choosing a payment platform, secure payments was the top must-have, and 47% said on-time payments was their second biggest requirement.

Against that backdrop, Create Music Group is presenting a somewhat unique proposition: a one-month payout cycle. As a result, the indie platform appears to have gained traction by achieving a serious competitive advantage.

Turnaround times can indeed be fast, with transparency to boot. Create noted that statements can ingest all DSP details and breakdowns, including every asset and artist split. According to Create Music Group’s SVP of Finance, Zach Victor, “As soon as that money comes in, we’re paying it that same month. This doesn’t just translate to happier partners, but also better business.”

By partnering with Tipalti, Create Music Group has been able to modernize, centralize and consolidate payment processes with end-to-end automation.

At a top level, Tipalti has eliminated 80% of Create Music Group’s payable workload with advanced automation. Tipalti noted that it now manages all of Create’s payment needs, including artist (aka partner) payments and accounts payable (AP). Last year, DMN joined forces with Tipalti to further showcase its backend financial capabilities.

A key component of the payout process is Create Music Group’s home-grown Label Engine system, which is designed to ingest DSP statements from across the globe. It can then quickly spit out an automated monthly statement for every artist or label by asset, DSP and split. These statement amounts can then be imported into Tipalti in minutes, and paid the same day.

Victor talked about how manual processes that used to take several days now take one hour. “Our team was tied up in so much manual processing, and payments weren’t accurate either. They would miss getting marked leading to duplicate payments, or altogether skipped payments.”

Tipalti’s cloud infrastructure is built for mass scale, powered by a multi-entity architecture for performance, reliability and security of payments. Following the integration of Tipalti, Victor reports that it’s now easier to onboard new payees and partners, no matter where they are in the world. Information is more up-to-date and artists know more about their income.

Tipalti’s end-to-end automated solutions are built to handle every step of the payables cycle.

An automated email system notifies artists of the status of payments, so they know when they get paid – and what they can expect to get paid. Victor explained how Tipalti has allowed Create Music Group to evolve, saying, “Before Tipalti, we couldn’t communicate to all the artists when payments actually went out. We got bombarded in our AP inbox with hundreds of emails, wondering where payments are. That’s been a huge advantage — the transparency across the process.”

Additionally, Tipalti offers Create Music Group various payment methods, including wire transfer, ACH, PayPal and more. Moreover, Tipalti has a pre-built, bidirectional integration to Create’s ERP, Oracle NetSuite, which helps provide a single-source of truth for finance.

Victor spoke about the future of Tipalti within Create Music Group’s unique offering to the music industry. “It has improved our business tremendously with regards to  global payments and AP,” Victor relayed. “Over the next couple of years, we’re looking to build a whole new label engine that will have deeper integrations with Tipalti. Everything will be integrated.”

Create Music Group’s one-month payment turnaround has the potential to become a processing yardstick and competitive advantage in the coming years.

With the complex set of income-generating events leading up to artist royalty payments, and different right holders’ unique shares of and splits, labels have their hands full. Accuracy of transactions that include ingestion of all assets, splits and shares are a rare find.

Create Music Group has signed artists like Tory Lanez, Marshmello and The Chainsmokers. Victor says this is because “artists don’t just make money quicker, they also make more with us.”

The indie platform also offers a bigger split of artists’ hard-earned royalties. Victor explained, “Once a major label deal runs out, many artists come to us because they have been getting splits typically under 50%. We’re flipping that, and artists get 70-80% of the split by partnering with us and they keep control of their masters. That’s a much better deal, and we can still give advances like a major label does.”

Tipalti emphasized the breadth of financial capabilities they can empower, all of which enable greater efficiency, scale and flexibility with clients. Case in point: Tipalti’s backend payment capabilities have allowed Create Music Group to process other, more complicated micro transactions — ultimately enabling Create to enhance artist income.

Victor spoke about how the viral video rights management and licensing branch of Create Music Group, Yoon, helps content creators syndicate and monetize videos that get published across social media channels, and that’s “something that major labels don’t do.”

“This can be thousands of creators and we needed a solution that could easily and quickly onboard them,” Victor noted.

Create Music Group does more than just distribution. One of the company’s biggest wins: their home brand FlightHouse owns a 28 million-subscriber TikTok platform.

Talking about this, Victor said, “We call ourselves an audience company rather than a music distribution company. We own audience, including a vast social media network and music tastemaker channels like The Nations and DubstepGutter, and we believe that’s the future for a modern music company.”

Bloomberg recently reported TikTok generated revenues approaching $4 billion in 2021. The social media platform is expected to rake in a whopping $12 billion in 2022.

Create Music Group believes social media is going to represent 40% of royalty checks within five years. Right now, it’s less than 10%. Victor confidently exclaims that “TikTok’s going to keep growing, and Tipalti’s expanding financial capabilities will help Create Music Group organize the detailed payables data they need to drive decisions.”

The company is not only expecting TikTok to rake in stronger revenues ahead, but also expects growth via YouTube. With 25% of YouTube’s audience now on YouTube Shorts — which will start monetizing by the end of this year — Create Music Group is projecting another revenue stream for artists. That’s just one expansion Tipalti aims to quickly enable, especially as the user-generated content landscape – and its revenue picture – continues to rapidly evolve in the coming years.

Originally a YouTube claiming company, Create Music Group has now grown into a worldwide distributor, content creator and marketing agency. The company’s major goal is “putting artists in control by providing transparency and fast payments, so they can focus on doing their creative thing.” According to Victor, “We’re the partner artists need for everything — from distribution to marketing and everything else.”

The company is also creating waves with Create Carbon, the first credit card for music creators. The concept  is in a pilot program currently, but will allow artists to access their earnings as soon as they’re earned, rather than having to wait for regular monthly payouts.

Extended Remix: Learn about the intricacies of streaming music platforms and the takeaways for the creator economy in Tipalti’s webinar, ‘New Rules for the Creator Economy: Lessons in Transformation from the Music Industry’.

The first song for the year will be released in February. “Rest In My Shadow” is written by Troy Raymond, and re-recorded by The Voice finalist Ryan Whyte.

Tunedly, a company that first splashed onto the scene with a decentralized music recording and collaboration concept is now seeing serious traction on its unconventional ‘Masked Music Discovery Platform.’

Tunedly’s decentralized platform for recording music involves a network of studio pros and musicians. The company’s roster of session musicians has made it easier for artists to assemble teams and dramatically lower the cost of recording music. Tunedly estimates that Rihanna spends roughly $50,000 to record a hit song, while an artist using Tunedly can slash that cost by more than 90%.

Beyond the recording and studio platform, Tunedly has been spending the past few months expanding its ‘Masked Music Discovery Platform,’ which aims to put songwriters and performers on an equal playing field with seasoned musicians.

In a nutshell, the discovery platform ‘masks’ non-musical elements like the artist’s name and image to avoid selection bias and help lesser-known indies and unsigned artists receive a more authentic evaluation. DMN first joined forces with Tunedly last year to further accelerate this fast-growing concept.

Chris Erhardt, Tunedly’s CEO and cofounder, told DMN that the goal is to isolate great songwriting and artists by stripping out the fluff of celebrity names and promotional hype. “The problem with existing music discovery services is that they replicate existing inequalities in the music industry,” Erhardt said. “Unsigned artists are at a disadvantage because it’s not a true level playing field, and they are judged on more than just their music.”

The platform analyzes listener stats and streaming patterns, unlocking opportunities for audience favorites to earn lucrative publishing deals with Tunedly in partnership with Spirit Music Group.

Tunedly also rewards listeners for their role in selecting winning songs — making artist success a community project.

Listeners can earn TunedCoin (TUC), Tunedly’s native crypto token. The ability to earn TunedCoin while they discover and rate music facilitates a community aspect, ultimately allowing deserving artists the opportunity to acquire a publishing deal.

For listeners, signing up for Tunedly is free of charge. The platform notes their genre of choice, and every listener receives one ‘star’ per day to place on any song they believe has the potential to become a hit.

Tunedly’s algorithm tracks a range of usage stats, including listener metrics like stars given to songs, number of skips, and average listening duration, among other metrics. That data allows Tunedly’s A&R team to sift through thousands of tracks and judge which songs have the most potential. A community-selected track can ultimately bubble into a publishing deal with Tunedly in cooperation with Spirit Music Group.

Other perks also await participants. If a listener gives their star to a song that ends up receiving a publishing deal, they obtain that song’s NFT. Moreover, the first 1,000 listeners who initially awarded their star to that winning song will receive 1 TunedCoin each.

Apart from TunedCoin bringing access to exclusive events, every listener who owns that song’s NFT and TunedCoins is eligible to receive a split of royalties from that song, facilitated by Tunedly’s TunedCoin project.

The more TunedCoin a listener owns, the higher their share of Tunedly royalties. This blockchain-fueled reward mechanism encourages user engagement and has drawn the attention of artists, publishers, agents, managers, and more. The platform is a way to involve music fans and enhance the perceived value of music, which Erhardt says has been lost with the emergence of unlimited music streaming platforms.

Royalty splits are dictated by individual TunedCoin holdings. As a hypothetical explanation, if Tunedly and one other individual are the sole owners of an NFT of a song, and each owns 100 TunedCoins, a $1,000 royalty will be split as $500 each. However, the following month, if the user acquired an additional 200 TunedCoins and now owns 300 TunedCoins, while Tunedly’s share remains 100 TunedCoins, the $1,000 royalty would be split differently. From the same hypothetical $1,000 royalty, 75% would go to the user (receiving $750), and Tunedly would retain merely 25% ($250).

Tunedly’s inclusion, rewards, and support model is unusual, though the aim is to surface artists that could potentially make waves. As 2023 kicks off, the company is focused on providing lucrative deals to independent musicians and artists who deserve an audience.

Did you know Will Smith earns over $50,000 per sponsored post on TikTok?

Well, he’s also got 72M followers, so don’t be surprised. But you don’t have to be Will Smith to make bank on TikTok.

Thousands of micro-influencers have built a steady stream of passive income while having fun on TikTok — and you can do it, too.

In this guide, you’ll learn 11 ways to use TikTok for making money, beyond obvious influencer marketing techniques like encouraging followers to “swipe up for your exclusive content”.

How much money can you make on TikTok?

As a member of TikTok’s Creator Fund, payouts are between $0.03 to $0.04 cents per 1,000 views.

For example, a macro-influencer with 100,000 to a million followers that receives an average of 38,517 views can expect to earn around $15 per post from TikTok.

Unless you gain millions of views per post, don’t expect to get rich with the Creator Fund.

But, it might become a good source of passive income for those who post consistently and rely on sponsored partnerships to make real money.

Speaking of sponsorships, this is one of the easiest ways to make money on TikTok as a micro- or macro-influencer.

Brands pay TikTok creators between $200 and $20,000 per branded video.

Superstar level content creators earn around $100,000 per sponsored post — such as mega-influencers like Charlie D’Amelio.

Here’s what the top-5 creators on TikTok earn:

• Khabi Lame (151M followers) — from $92,270 per post
• Charlie D’Amelio (148M followers) —  from $105,770 per post
• Bella Poarch (92M followers) — from $66,829 per post
• Addison Rae (88M followers) — from $65,194 per post
• Will Smith (72M followers) — $53,741 per post

11 Best Money-Making Strategies on TikTok

1. 1. Join your favorite brands’ referral programs.
   2. Sell products on TikTok (digital or physical)
   3. Promote brands and other influencers
   4. Join TikTok creator fund
   5. Collect tips from your followers
   6. Enable virtual gifts
   7. Run crowdfunding campaigns
   8. Create (and sell) merchandise
   9. Become a creator on patreon and earn money from subscriptions
   10.  Create a landing page featuring all your initiatives
   11. Sell your TikTok account

1. Join your favorite brands’ referral programs

This is probably the fastest way to start making money on TikTok.

Affiliate marketing, or referral marketing, allows content creators to earn money by gaining commission for selling products or services from another retailer or service provider.

Affiliate commissions may start at 5% and reach 50% of the product price.

Some of the highest paying affiliate niches are categories like:

• • Personal finance / investing
  • Top/best credit cards
  • Online dating
  • Online gaming
  • Personal care / beauty
  • Software / technology
  • Home security
  • Petcare

Brands usually offer a very simple process for affiliate marketers to join their referral programs. Most often, you’ll just need to fill in a short form and wait for the company to approve you as an affiliate marketer. When you’re approved, you can access your custom affiliate links and/or unique coupon codes.

Most brands are trying to sell products directly from their eCommerce store on platforms like Shopify or BigCommerce, or directly through Amazon — both which can be done through affiliate links on TikTok.

To promote your deals — create tutorials, lifestyle videos, and other forms of content where you could subtly promote your affiliate products and place affiliate links in the most prominent positions.

While TikTok doesn’t allow personal accounts to include clickable links within video captions, there are plenty of workarounds you can try:

• • Most brands are leveraging some type of eCommerce analytics — therefore you should request a unique coupon code and feature it in your videos.
  • If your brand provides you with the code, they’ll be able to directly attribute sales coming from people who clicked your link and bought something online.
  • Include non-clickable affiliate links in video descriptions. This is the least effective method, but it’s better than nothing.
  • Switch to a business account and include clickable product links. It’s the easiest way to promote affiliate products on TikTok.
  • Run paid TikTok ads. This way, you can drive sales with shoppable content.

2. Sell your products on TikTok (digital or physical)

What about selling your own products on TikTok? If you don’t have any physical products to sell, you can think of an idea for a digital product. Some of the best-selling e-products are:

• • Recipe books
  • Relocation guides
  • Travel guides
  • Skincare guides
  • Meal plans
  • Educational materials
  • Workout plans
  • Templates and tools
  • Cheatsheets
  • Challenges (fitness, time management, etc.)
  • Podcasts

It’s easier to sell digital products when you have already built authority and your audience trusts you. And the way you get authority and trust on social networks is by pleasing the algorithm with consistent frequency of publishing to earn engagement streaks. 

So once you create a product that reflects your expertise: design an eye-catching landing page, and promote it with your TikTok videos. For instance, to promote a cookbook, you may make a couple of free cooking videos that will spark users’ interest.

If you have no previous experience with selling products online, you must be wondering how to manage your digital goods and handle transactions.

To avoid the headache of building your own online store, it’s best that you place your digital product(s) on a marketplace like Podia or SendOwl. With a ready-made selling solution, you won’t have to worry about maintaining a website and managing online payments.

3. Promote brands or other influencers

Aside from affiliate marketing, there’s one more way to earn money by promoting retailers and influencers on TikTok — you can partner with them directly.

Instead of paying for TikTok ads to get traffic, brands and creators often choose to collaborate with other influencers, which adds just one more monetization strategy to your arsenal.

To start receiving partnership requests, consider joining TikTok’s Creator Marketplace. This is the official collaboration platform connecting brands and creators on TikTok.

You’ll need to meet the following criteria to join the community:

• • A TikTok creator account
  • Over 100,000 followers
  • At least 3 fresh videos within the last 28 days
  • Over 100,000 likes on posts within the last 28 days
  • Over 18 age limit
  • Located in one of these 24 countries

Once you’re a member of the marketplace, you can receive requests from brands or apply to open campaigns.

In case you don’t qualify for the marketplace or prefer not to wait for opportunities but create them, you can try to proactively pitch to brands you like. When pitching your TikTok account, make sure to include the following information:

• • Your profile link
  • Your audience demographics and engagement statistics
  • Why you think your audience matches their target customers
  • Your video examples
  • Your rates

Perhaps you might want to include an idea for a campaign you could create for the brand — it would increase your chances of getting a contract.

Before pitching, make sure to find the right person to send your message to. The easiest way to do so would be by finding a brand on LinkedIn and reaching out to the most relevant person on their marketing team.

If you can find the right person’s email address, a good old fashioned cold email can work wonders, too.

Important: Always enable the Branded content toggle when promoting brand deals on TikTok.

Bonus: Brands are looking for original sound to use in their TikTok content — because licensing popular music has become a major headache. 

If you’re a creator with the ability to produce original sound for TikTok videos, this can be a massive value add to the brands you create partnerships with.

4. Join TikTok Creator Fund

TikTok can become a nice side hustle or even a full-time job if you effectively use all the monetization tools the social network gives you.

The social media platform has developed a bunch of programs to support creators, and the TikTok Creator Fund is one of them.

It’s clearly not the highest-paying strategy, but it can be a nice addition to your overall monetization strategy.

The TikTok Creator Fund has been launched to support creators in the U.S., UK, Germany, Italy, France, and Spain. If you’re a legal resident of one of these countries, have a following of at least 10,000 people, generated at least 100,000 video views in the last 30 days, and your content follows TikTok Community Guidelines, you’re eligible to join the program and start earning your commissions from TikTok.

Unfortunately, there’s no concrete way to estimate your potential earnings with the TikTok Creator Fund, so it’s hard to calculate the commission precisely. TikTok claims that “a number of factors influence how funds are calculated for videos under the program.”

Once you join the fund, you’ll be paying a tiny commission for every video you publish from now on.

You can withdraw money ($10 minimum) 30 days after the month ends with your preferred payment method (PayPal or Zelle).

Pro tip: Beware of common PayPal scams and Zelle scams, which sadly target many aspiring social media content creators.

5. Collect tips from your followers

TikTok creators can now receive tips from their audience.

To opt in and start earning tips, you’ll need to apply for Creator Next. It’s TikTok’s portal that enables all the platform’s monetization features for creators. The previously mentioned Creator Fund and Creator Marketplace are also parts of Creator Next.

Tips are a monetization feature allowing viewers to express their appreciation for the content their favorite influencers publish.

When enabled, the “Tips” icon is displayed on your profile page so that everyone can send a $5, $10, $15, or custom tip to you publicly or anonymously. Your number of supporters and tips is public.

Receiving and withdrawing tips is made possible with the Stripe integration. Before you can use the feature, you’ll need to create an account in the system and get approved.

To protect the interests of TikTok users, the platform allows viewers to tip a maximum of $100 per transaction and a total of $500 per day. Also, viewers can make no more than 100 payments a day.

You may also turn to a third-party tool like Buy Me A Coffee to collect tips. Just add a link to your ‘jar’ in your bio, and don’t forget to let your followers know about it.

6. Enable virtual gifts

Viewers can now send Video Gifts to thank creators for their work.

Users eligible for Gift-giving should purchase Coins before they can start sending Video Gifts.

After recharging, they can use these Coins to purchase Gifts. The latter look like stickers and animations and cost differently.

Note: For LIVE streams, the LIVE Gifts feature is available. You can collect Gifts in real time while interacting with your followers.

How can you monetize Video Gifts?

Virtual Gifts are more than funny stickers. You can exchange them for Diamonds, which can be redeemed for money. TikTok’s Diamonds are worth 50% of the value of your Video Gifts, and each Diamond costs around $0.05. It means that when you receive a Gift that costs 2,000 coins, you get 1,000 Diamonds valued at around $50. After TikTok retains 50% of the sum, you’ll get $25 for the Gift.

You can apply to enable Video Gifts if you meet the following requirements:

• • Live in a location where Video Gifts are available
  • 18 years of age or older
  • At least 10,000 followers
  • Your account is at least 30 days old
  • You published a public video in the last 30 days.

Mind that you can’t receive Video Gifts if you have a business account or your videos include:

• • Duets and stitches
  • Ads, sponsored content, or promoted posts

7. Run a crowdfunding campaign

Crowdfunding was originally made popular by independent songwriters and musicians, but it’s also a solid move for TikTok content creators.

If you’re not eligible for the Tips and Gifts features in Creator Next or just want to scale your fundraising, you can use a crowdfunding platform.

With a crowdfunding site like Kickstarter or GoFundMe, you’ll get funding for your creative projects, events, or any other need from your fans. This is a great strategy for fundraising when you have a particular goal in mind and need money to bring your ideas to life.

8. Create your merchandise and sell it on TikTok

Do you have a loyal audience? No matter how big your follower base is, you can monetize on TikTok by selling your own merch.

Indie musicians are among the top creators taking advantage of selling merch on social media. Previously, musicians would have to sell physical merch at their live shows — but today, it can all be done on TikTok.

And you don’t have to be a celebrity to create merchandise that people want to buy. You may just have a few phrases that people have caught — why not print those on t-shirts and hoodies?

There’s almost no limit to what you can customize and sell on TikTok:

• • Candles
  • Socks
  • Water bottles
  • Mugs
  • Stickers
  • Artwork
  • NFTs
  • Notebooks
  • Tote bags

Creators can attach their logo, catchphrase, or artwork on any of these products. Making short videos and featuring merch in creative ways can attract attention and drive sales.

It’s a good idea to release limited merch collections to build hype around the release and create scarcity for each collection.

To sell your merchandise, you may include links to landing pages below your videos or right in your bio or create a TikTok shop and add clickable product snippets in your posts. To create a catalog, you’ll need to have a business account.

9. Become a creator on Patreon and earn money from subscriptions

Patreon is one of the best crowdfunding platforms for creators looking to monetize their content. We’ve already touched upon fundraising through crowdfunding sites, but Patreon is quite different from other platforms.

You can turn to Patreon to offer exclusive content to your TikTok fans for a subscription price. It’s not only a way to raise money but also a powerful method for strengthening relationships with your audience.

What can you offer to your TikTok followers on Patreon? Plenty of things:

• • Access to gated content
  • Early-access videos
  • Member-only live streams
  • Limited-time offers
  • Q&A sessions
  • Personal consultations
  • Uncut material or deleted scenes from your videos
  • Behind-the-scenes material

You can also create different packages and offer tiered pricing to make your memberships accessible to everyone.

Restrain from tricking your fans into buying Patreon subscriptions while not being able to offer them any exclusive content on the platform. If you aren’t ready to craft quality content outside TikTok, you can still make money with Tips and Video Gifts.

10. Create a landing page featuring all your initiatives

You don’t have to choose only one monetization strategy. You can sell merch, make sponsored content, and run a closed community on Patreon at the same time. But you shouldn’t forget to link to your initiatives on your TikTok account.

Build a simple landing page where all your activities and campaigns are featured so that your fans always know where to go when they want to support you.

11. Sell your TikTok account

If your TikTok profile isn’t built on your personal brand, you can always sell it for great money. With an engaged audience and great content history, you’ll surely find a person or a business willing to take over your account.

Platforms like Fameswap and Social Tradia act as marketplaces where buyers can find TikTok accounts for sale and contact sellers. You can feature your profile there if you feel you’re ready to move on.

Make money on TikTok with no limits

Fifty percent of the digital population in the U.S. uses TikTok. Approximately 131 million active users (and that’s only the U.S.) are looking for fresh content from TikTok creators, and many of them are ready to pay for it.

On the other side, businesses recognize that TikTok is a powerful marketing tool. There are countless brands looking to reach their target audiences on TikTok. They are willing to pay TikTok influencers for branded content that builds awareness for their products and drives sales.

The good news is, you can get money from both. If you’re creative and catch up on TikTok trends fast, the possibilities are endless.

A SiriusXM summary snapshot on Chartmetric for soul singer Bobby Caldwell and his 1978 smash, “What You Won’t Do for Love.”

One of the music industry’s best-paying platforms is now comprehensively tracked by Chartmetric.

Last month, we covered Chartmetric’s sizable ‘version 2’ upgrade, which includes critical TikTok tracking capabilities. But the company’s latest addition involves a platform conceptualized when TikTok was almost unimaginable.

Tucked within Chartmetric’s recently-launched Airplay monitoring section is a toggle for SiriusXM Satellite Radio. SiriusXM is a platform that rarely grabs headlines but frequently beats rivals in terms of per-stream royalties and promotional impact. Chartmetric’s SiriusXM tracking coexists alongside conventional broadcast radio monitoring, which includes major radio stations across all five continents and more than 30 countries.

That includes the United States, where SiriusXM finds most of its subscribers (the satellite radio provider is available in the US and Canada). But unlike US-based broadcast radio stations, which only pay royalties to publishers and songwriters, SiriusXM pays royalties for both publishing and recording streams.

That makes a noticeable difference for artists enjoying regular spins on Sirius stations. That includes Bobby Caldwell, whose soulful classic, “What You Won’t Do for Love,” is played regularly on stations like Yacht Rock and The Blend. “Sirius definitely plays a lot of Bobby’s music,” Caldwell’s wife and manager, Mary Beth Caldwell, told Digital Music News. “They play him a lot on Yacht Rock.”

That translates into a noticeable paycheck, though Caldwell admitted that it remains difficult to verify every play. “I ask myself: is that really all of the plays?”

Chartmetric’s tracking was partly designed with that problem in mind — and DMN recently joined the effort to spread the solution. Sirius pays recording royalties through SoundExchange, and Caldwell shared that SoundExchange paychecks are now arriving monthly. Now, the next step is verifying the stream counts tabulated by Chartmetric against the monthly breakdowns, an audit that was difficult to conduct previously.

Looking ahead, a sizable discrepancy could result in substantial royalty increases. Mary Beth shared that Bobby’s Spotify payments are substantially larger, based on the enormous streaming volume difference between the two platforms. Pound-for-pound, however, Sirius takes the per-stream royalty cake: according to one recent report, a single play on SiriusXM can generate up to $44. By comparison, Apple Music pays a penny per play, while Spotify pays substantially less than half a penny.

But it’s not just royalties that make SiriusXM a critical platform for artists. According to Big Machine Label Group founder, president, and CEO Scott Borchetta, SiriusXM is an indispensable launchpad for his roster of artists.

“SiriusXM is a critical partner for us,” Borchetta told DMN. “The argument could be made that ‘The Highway’ is the biggest country music station in America. When we have a real record, the Highway moves the national needle almost immediately for us in streams and sales.”

“They also have the ability to move on multiple key tracks from a project which only helps us break artists quicker and establish the value of a body of work.”

Big Machine’s roster is formidable, with superstars like Tim McGraw, Sheryl Crow, Thomas Rhett, Carly Pearce, Midland, and Lady A, among others. Those artists receive substantial streams on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. However, the pound-for-pound promotional and royalty impact is far more significant on SiriusXM for certain artists.

For Chartmetric, the goal is to track every platform relevant to an artist or song. That introduces a complex interplay, though the dashboard for SiriusXM Satellite Radio is relatively simple.

While SiriusXM boasts hundreds of stations across its network of satellite, streaming, and app-based platforms, this is a relatively contained platform. Geographically, SiriusXM is limited to North America, and the dial features plenty of talk-only stations like Howard Stern and sports programming. On the musical side, most songs land on a limited number of genre-specific stations.

Accordingly, Chartmetric’s breakdown for a specific song focuses on plays across relevant stations. Total plays are split between these stations, offering an easy glance for anyone tracking the action.

Case in point: Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” easily one of the holiday season’s biggest songs, is receiving spins on eight different SiriusXM stations. Incidentally, the biggest station is ‘TikTok Radio,’ which speaks volumes on how interconnected platforms have become in the music industry. It’s also a major reason Chartmetric covers both platforms – and a lot in-between.

Indeed, no platform is an island, and Chartmetric has already started mapping connections.

The company also lists every SiriusXM channel and its corresponding followers on TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and even SoundCloud. Some stations are bigger than others – and, accordingly, are more interconnected with social media platforms.

During its most recent quarterly investor call, SiriusXM revealed 34.17 million paying subscribers. That’s slightly down from last year and pales in comparison to platforms like Spotify, which most recently reported 195 million paying subscribers. But despite the discrepancy, SiriusXM has a stable bulwark of dedicated listeners — and arguably, a more potent platform for artists. Now, with Chartmetric’s recent integration, SiriusXM is far more accessible to artist marketing plans and analytics tracking.

Chartmetric has long afforded the music industry access to authoritative listenership stats and engagement insights. Now, to enhance users’ experiences and career results, the one-stop data platform has debuted a ‘v2’ update that optimizes existing offerings and adds new features.

Music data platform Chartmetric has recently launched an ambitious ‘v2,’ which includes multiple capability additions and several functionality-focused improvements. On the functionality front, Chartmetric told Digital Music News that v2 delivers a more seamless and responsive overall platform to users.

“The version two experience is just a little bit more delightful,” Chartmetric VP of engineering Jay Hung told DMN. “It’s a little bit faster. And on certain pages, as you’re loading up a dashboard, it will be noticeable that it loads quicker and is easier to use. As you click on stuff, all the interaction is smoother.”

But bolstered stability and shorter loading times only scratch the surface of the v2 update, which includes a multifaceted tracks list feature.

Through the latter, Chartmetric users can navigate to a comprehensive collection of tracks and instantly view stats, including stream totals and playlist counts on services such as Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music. TikTok likes, posts, and views are also a big part of the tracks list dashboard, which can be filtered to display songs by genre and listenership changes on specific platforms.

Chartmetric’s new tracks list feature enables users to apply a number of filters to songs and save their preferred metrics as presets for quick access.

Expanding upon the TikTok tracks list options, Chartmetric has introduced a full-scale TikTok comparison tool that, as its name suggests, allows users to see how the video-sharing app’s Sounds stack up against one another.

On the music side, the tool shows the stats behind each country’s top songs, with an option to filter by date to gain insight into trends and events. And beyond the performance of Sounds themselves, v2 has equipped Chartmetric with the data behind TikTok’s top users, viral videos, and related developments. Chartmetric first tipped the TikTok and v2 features to DMN as part of a broader partnership between the companies.

“These comparison tools allow you to take TikTok Sounds and basically line them up with each other,” Hung told us. “One might have gone viral last month, one might be going viral right now. And you can compare the trends to get an idea of what to expect or see what happened to a track before a spike. Then you can use these comparisons to make better decisions around what to do, where to promote, and how to bump a track up a little bit more to help it go viral.”

Chartmetric has added a TikTok comparison tool through its v2 update, including side-by-side views of songs’ on-platform performance.

Given the ongoing popularity of the short-form video space, the TikTok comparison tool could be built out to include Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts down the line, Chartmetric told us, depending on the availability of data and its potential value for artists.

The possibility is particularly noteworthy on the Shorts side because Chartmetric already measures “user sentiment” by analyzing comments on the YouTube videos in which songs appear – meaning that fans’ telling opinions of trends and tracks can be identified in seconds.

“Our YouTube sentiments feature will go and find matched YouTube videos for a song and analyze the comments to get some insight into the sentiment of the commenters,” Hung explained.

Furthermore, Chartmetric has already started expanding the v2 update by adding a new artist-comparison interface.

Now, Chartmetric users can compare up to 10 artists’ performance metrics, covering everything from Wikipedia views to Spotify monthly listeners and TikTok likes to YouTube views, simply by searching for and selecting creators through a responsive menu. Then, the desired information will populate an interactive graph showing daily and percentage changes.

Several of the artist-comparison tool’s categories (Spotify listeners and YouTube views among them) can display results by location (city as well as country). Users can also add data points for “milestones” that impact engagement and provide useful context, such as releases, events, playlist ads, and even television appearances, with a click or tap.

Adjacent to these milestones, Chartmetric has started compiling artists’ achievements (breaking 50,000 Spotify followers, for example) with v2, while an album-comparison tool, like its artist counterpart, can illustrate the commercial performance of a creator’s releases in detail.

Also live as part of Chartmetric v2’s post-release additions are a profile-claim feature (which artists can use to obtain permissions to edit and manage their data for accuracy), retooled designs for reports and PDF exports, a new search-results page, and integrations with electronic press kit (EPK) generation platform OneSheet (Chartmetric acquired OneSheet in early October).

For artists, the far-reaching significance of data in today’s digital-driven music space goes without saying. Streaming now accounts for the majority of industry revenue, and social platforms factor prominently into all manner of promotional campaigns.

Consequently, it’s more important than ever for members of the music community to capitalize upon the precise numbers around tracks and fan interest. Especially with the v2 update (and its helpful post-release features) in place, Chartmetric is affording artists a quick and effective means of quantifying their reach and maximizing their professional successes.

Photo Credit: Rhythmic Rebellion

The following comes from Rhythmic Rebellion, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

Dear Scott Borchetta: We have built the music platform you’ve dreamed of. We brought the best of Amazon, Bandcamp, Patreon, Bandzoogle, StageIt, YouTube, and more, under one roof.

My name is Greg Allen. I’ve heard through one of your team members that, a few years ago, you wanted to build your own platform that consisted of music and video streaming, a merch store, and other things. My team and I have made your dreams come true! We call it Rhythmic Rebellion.

We have a great software team that specializes in music and video streaming. We built the perfect music marketplace with great community-building tools. We’ve built a foundation with lots of flexibility and can build anything we can dream up on top of it.

On-demand music streaming is great, right? Well, indie artists and songwriters complain a good bit, but the real losers are…Spotify, Apple, Google, and Amazon. As a singer/songwriter myself, I’m happy to see streamers pay out the most they can to copyright owners, but where does it end? On-demand streaming royalties are squeezing so much cash out of Spotify that they’re always bleeding red ink. They just can’t seem to make a profit.

And the copyright owners continue to win royalty rate increases. Apple, Google, and Amazon also want to make money with their projects. I would be surprised if they’re doing much better than breaking even with music streaming. It’s hard to make a profit when your biggest expense is based on your revenue. The more money you bring in, the more you owe. I bet Daniel Ek never imagined that on-demand streaming would cost him so much. 

So what is the future of music? No one is really sure, but we all agree that, at some point, something new will evolve. My idea was not to compete with Spotify but to be innovative and develop new entertainment that fans would be willing to pay for to help increase artist, label, songwriter, and publisher income. Something that benefits the whole music industry. We want to be the platform for the biggest artists on the planet and new artists alike. We want to be a platform where the music industry helps decide the rules and the direction. We want everything we do to be in the best interest of the music creators and their teams. 

Here are a few reasons why every music label and artist on the planet should be using our platform right now.

1. 1. Community Building where you own the fan and the data.
   2. The Ultimate Entertainment and Shopping Experience For Fans.
   3. Each artist account comes with its own merch store and on-demand printing.
   4. Fans can instantly stream the music they buy in the browser or download our app.
   5. Sell access to a stem player, karaoke, exclusive content, and your album. 
   6. Built-in Accounting System and Payouts; Song Composition Registration for Indies with direct payments, including co-writers and publishers.
   7. Built for music labels to easily manage all their artists and content.
   8. We have a great support team, but everything is self-serve using our drag-and-drop web page builder. 
   9. Fans sign up once and can buy music and merch from any artist on the platform. 
   10. Everything artists and labels need for promotion, all in one place.

Our 10-track stem player, branded MxRR, distinguishes us from being the only platform on the planet that allows artists to sell their fans access to a player where the fans can make their own mix of the song.

The artist gets their stems from the studio and uploads them to our software. The fan can then solo, mute, L/R, and change the volume of each track/stem. They can save their new version to their playlist and hear it later when working on homework or driving. We have a scrolling lyric creator so fans can easily sing along. The artist attaches the instrumental track, and with the tap of one button, the fan can sing karaoke in their bedroom.

Artists can offer to sell fans access to the original song, the karaoke track, and a 10-track stem player, all in one bundle. Now that’s a reason to buy an album. Plus, offer a CD or vinyl copy bundled with it, and the fan gets instant listening while waiting for their physical version. Sounds like something Jack White would be interested in. 

Patreon is great, but why send your fan to another site? You want to build your community all in one place. So we built fan clubs where you can offer a free membership, or two subscription levels. The artist can post exclusive music, videos, merch, and offer other benefits like early access to tickets or special livestream events. For fans that don’t want to subscribe, we offer a single payment access to exclusive content, branded the Artist Premiere. 

On Rhythmic Rebellion (RR), your web page can use a URL we issue you, or you can make it your actual website with your artist domain name. Again, everything in one place is best. There is also live video streaming and audio-only streaming. I think live audio-only streaming might be bigger than video because it is so much easier for the artists. Therefore they do it more often.

Fans have accounts where all their purchases are stored. They sign up once and can buy items from any or many artists on the platform, all in one checkout. They can build playlists and stream the music they bought. They can log into the app with the same credentials and instantly see their purchases. We send automatic emails when items are purchased. We offer email support and a knowledge base.

As stated earlier, community building is a must. Facebook and Instagram have changed the rules. Artists and their teams constantly complain that their posts are being shown to less than one percent of their followers. Solution? As soon as you get the fan’s attention on one of the social platforms, give them a reason to go to your page on RR and join your community. Your merch store comes with a gift code generator. You can use it for discounts on merch, or to give things away. Fans love free stuff. You can offer access to a MxRR, music, or karaoke. You can offer free access to exclusive videos and music inside the Artist Premiere. It’s all digital so it costs you nothing. The artist account comes with its own artist-to-fan emailing system. 

Scott, you have a business relationship with Hybe, the BTS music label. Therefore you know about their WeVerse apps. Our apps are like WeVerse in that fans can comment on music and videos and shop, plus we focus on community building. We are also working on a way for artists to message fans inside our system, so no worries about getting trapped in ‘email spam filters.’ We will also create ways for fans to chat about their favorite artist, music, videos, or merch. We want to build a place where fans can be entertained for hours, with fun things to buy peppered all around.

So what about the future of on-demand music streaming? Here’s the plan. Build a platform that includes music streaming but only after purchase. Build it to scale so that millions of fans can stream the same songs at the same time. As mentioned, this is already done. Now we encourage every music label and artist on the planet to join us and take advantage of all the features we have. When we see a door open for on-demand streaming, we walk through it and implement our ideas. 

Maybe our platform could be the first platform to pay streaming royalties from the profits… profit sharing. If company investors, employees, management, and the copyright owners all split the profits, with the copyright owners getting the bulk of it, that would be a company where everyone was working together to reach a common goal. We have lots of ideas for generating revenue that Spotify can’t do. Plus, we keep our expenses low.

Music creators sign our agreements and choose if they want to be part of our streaming platform. We can offer the option for on-demand streaming or to be part of a channel stream that is not on-demand which helps increase album sales. That’s an on-demand music streaming model that could survive and thrive. 

Maybe the future of music will copy the movie industry? We thought Netflix was the king, but Disney and the others decided they could build their own streaming platforms and not have to negotiate with Netflix. What if Spotify decided to play hardball and threatened to stop on-demand streaming unless Universal Music Group accepted a lower royalty rate? Would UMG have any options? What if they could offer subscription-only access to all their artists, where the fan gets access to tons of exclusive music, video, merch, and lots of ways to engage with artists and other fans? UMG could still have the Spotify income but add their RR income to it. Their subscribers would login through the UMG portal, and the Rhythmic Rebellion software would only show UMG artists, content, and merch.

They can offer exclusive videos and interviews. They can build music streaming channels like you find on SiriusXM, like the Dave Matthews Band Channel. Or it can be based on a genre, and you hear the artists introduce songs and offer commentary. This would be the Ultimate Entertainment and Shopping Experience for those fans. I think they would pay $19 a month for access to this kind of exclusive entertainment. Of course, UMG would set the pricing. They would be in complete control of all the content. The platform retains 15% of digital sales and 5% of physical. We will award points each time content is enjoyed, and those points will determine how much money UMG will pay each copyright owner. We already have a great accounting and payments system, and our artists get most funds within just a few days. 

We have built a foundation that contains everything needed to make any ideas we have become reality. We can be the future of music. We can participate in NFTs and the Metaverse. We can try any ideas we want, but our foundation of music, video, and merch selling mean we are in it for the long haul, regardless of what fads we see come and go. Plus, our plans for community building, where the artist and label own the fan, means you never have to worry about your fans being taken from you again.

Scott, join us and help us finish building this place where we all feel like we are on the same team and all working for a common goal. A place where new artists and superstars all feel treated fairly and that their best interest comes first. Email me at gregea@rhythmic-rebellion.com. 

Here are three examples of artists using our platform. KarenWaldrup.com, RickyRebelRocks.com, RayScott.com. Rhythmic-Rebellion.com is new music and video discovery. 

Learn more at https://insight.rhythmic-rebellion.com/offer 

Photo Credit: Rhythmic Rebellion

The following comes from Rhythmic Rebellion, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

Dear Jack White, You deserve credit for fueling the vinyl revolution. But you wish your fans could instantly stream the music they buy on Third Man Records, and that you had your own apps. Done!

My name is Greg Allen. I’m a singer/songwriter just outside of Macon, GA. In 2017, my team and I started working to develop a platform that puts the artists and their teams first. Seeing how innovative you are lets me know that you would appreciate what we’ve created. 

The Third Man Records website and merch store are great. I have suggestions for additions that you probably already thought about. 

• When a fan buys vinyl from Third Man Records, provide the fan a way to stream their purchase instantly. 
• Sell the digital instrumental track with the original digital track and provide scrolling lyrics… bedroom karaoke.
• Provide the album in a 10-track stem player and let the fans hear solo instruments or vocals — and make their own mix of the song.
• Ask your artists to upload videos of themselves doing acoustic versions of songs or any video that fans would enjoy, and sell access behind the paywall. 
• Take advantage of built-in live video streaming and audio-only live streaming… no makeup required. 
• Start community building for Third Man Records and all the artists. YOU capture the emails, and YOU own the data using our methods.
• Take advantage of the fan clubs with one free and two paid tiers. 
• Last but not least, you must have Apple and Android apps.

All of the above is live and ready for you to tap into.

The good news is that we can build all the new pages you need to offer the above. We can also blend them into your existing Third Man website using menu links.

The other good news is that you and your people stay in control. We will teach you how to build pages with our drag-and-drop builder, and you’ll create the albums and other content using the great interface our team has developed. You’re in charge. Just think of us as your software provider. We want to work with you, and we want your advice.

We can also provide on-demand merch printing using Printful. The artist account comes with its own merch store and order processing. Our integration allows fans to buy digital and physical products in the same checkout, and we send the order to Printful, They then print the merch and ship it.

As you know, the most important thing you need to sell more music and merch is more superfans, but building superfans is hard.

Allowing fans to make more personal connections to artists helps tremendously. To facilitate this, we allow the artists to create 15-second audio files and introduce their songs. We also have song commentary that lasts up to 4 minutes. These play based on an algorithm when the fan listens to music in the music player or app.

So imagine this: a fan hears about one of your artists for the first time, and they visit the artist’s page. They see the album feature and the list of songs. They click the play button on the feature. They hear the artist introduce the song and think, “well, that was cool.” They hear a 90-second preview of the song, then it skips to the next one. Again, they hear the artist introduce the song, then a 90-second preview. After 10 minutes of music, the algorithm will change from the song’s intro to the commentary. Commentary only plays once every three days, and the fan has controls to silence intros and commentary for just one artist or all artists.

By the album’s end, the fan is hooked and wants to hear more than just previews, so they buy the album. This will increase your sales to people that don’t want a physical album but enjoy the musical experience and other entertainment they find on Third Man Records. Plus, Third Man can bundle things together any way you want. Vinyl, CDs, or cassettes can be bundled with the digital version of the album with instant listening. You can add the instrumental track or sell it separately. You can add the stem player or sell it separately. After purchase, the fan has the option to download the album or instrumental tracks if they choose, in either WAV or Mp3. You can even bundle t-shirts with the sales. 

Let’s talk more about building your community of fans.

Our team has developed some great methods for building communities. Something else you already know is that FANS LOVE FREE STUFF! We have a gift code generator that allows you to create discounts for your merch. But you can also use it to give things away. The Artist Premiere is where you can place exclusive videos, images, or music, and sell your fans access to it. But you can also give it away, and it costs you nothing. When the fan uses the gift code to gain access, they share their email with you and become part of your community.

The Artist Premiere is like albums; you can create as many different versions as you want. Think of Patreon, but instead of a subscription, it is a single payment. You can also use the gift code to give free access to music, karaoke, or the fan song mixer/MxRR. This is a great way to build your community without costing you anything. It’s time for us to stop letting social media own our fans and charging us to communicate with them. 

Every artist account comes with its own Artist to Fan emailing system. We’re developing ways for artists to communicate directly with fans on our platform so we can avoid email spam filters. We are also working on many ways for fans to engage with their favorite artists and other like-minded fans.

Fans can be very generous when given the opportunity. Our artists get a 10-15% income boost through tips. We added tip buttons at checkout, and most fans use them. 

In a nutshell, we are an All-Things Music Marketplace.

Fans sign up once and can buy items from any artist on the platform. We are the fan’s cloud storage and we can take care of the fans. We have a good support system and knowledge base. We have apps that fans can download to enjoy their purchases. We provide almost every feature an artist could wish for, including a drag-and-drop website builder. Many of our artists host their website directly on our platform. Nice to have everything in one place. 

Jack, my team and I would love to work with you. Together, we can revolutionize Third Man and make it the talk of the music industry. Fans will love all the new entertainment, listening options, and being part of a community of like-minded people. Email me at gregea@rhythmic-rebellion.com. 

Here are three examples of artists using our platform. KarenWaldrup.com, RickyRebelRocks.com, SkipEwing.com. Rhythmic-Rebellion.com is new music and video discovery. 

Learn more at https://insight.rhythmic-rebellion.com/offer

Photo Credit: Rhythmic Rebellion

The following comes from Rhythmic Rebellion, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

Dear Snoop Dogg, Congrats on being the new proud papa of Death Row Records. So you pulled the music off streaming platforms and want to build your own music streaming, video, exclusive content, and merch selling platform? Done!

I’m Greg Allen, a singer/songwriter turned music creator advocate. In 2016, I started building a team to create a music, video, and merch platform where music creators and their management have more control over their content, income, and fan info. Snoop, what we‘ve built is exactly what you’re talking to people about.

In your interview with “Drink Champs,” you said, “So what I wanted to do is snatch my music off, create a platform similar to Amazon, Netflix, Hulu.” Rhythmic Rebellion is a marketplace like Amazon. Fans sign up and can buy music and merch from our artists. We have a great music selling system, including pre-orders with instant access to listen in the music player. We are also a video platform, similar to Netflix and Hulu but geared towards music fans. We have paid access to exclusive videos, subscription access to content, live video streaming, audio-only live streaming, and the list goes on. Everything works in a browser, or the fan can download the Apple or Android app.

We can create fan subscription access to Death Row Records music, videos, and exclusive content for you. Fans can stream the music in the music player and build playlists. They can watch the videos and get access to exclusive merch. We can create special streaming channels like Snoop Dogg Radio, where fans hear you talk about music and tell stories, and you introduce the songs. It can be your songs or other DRR artists’ songs. This can be on-demand or a stream where all the fans hear the same thing at the same time. We can also give single payment access to content for people that don’t want to subscribe, but the subscription is where the fan will find the Ultimate Entertainment and Shopping Experience.

We also have our own 10-track stem player/mixer where fans can make their own mix of the song. We have scrolling lyrics, and with the click of one button, the fan is singing along to the instrumental track of the song… bedroom karaoke.

Our integration with Printful gives you access to on-demand merch printing. They will also do fulfillment of bulk printed merch, CDs, Vinyl, and others. Each artist account has its own merch store and order processing. They have facilities all over the world. Each artist and label account has its own drag-and-drop website builder. We built the platform so labels and management can easily manage all their artist content and many tools to simplify tasks.

Snoop, one thing you will need as part of your dream platform is an accounting and payments system. Good news, we built that too. We have our own song registration system where you define the songwriters, their shares, and their publishers. Inside the artist accounts, you create metadata around the recording and tie it back to the songwriter’s composition. Music labels have their own accounts, and the recording owner is assigned on a per-song basis. This means we know who all the copyright owners are. We can take a song or album sale and divide it correctly among all the copyright owners. Or we can pay it directly to the label account, and they can do the payouts. We have the ability to pay out to creators daily. We also have a plan for how you will pay all the creators whose content is enjoyed by subscription.

We have plans to push our copyright registrations to the blockchain and build NFTs on top of that. This way, you can sell music as an NFT, and we can use our accounting system to ensure all the copyright owners are paid correctly. We can also connect our accounting system to the metaverse and ensure everyone is paid correctly. We have our own music streaming system with apps, so selling music as an NFT would be no problem, and fans get a great experience.

Another thing you need is a way to build a community of fans where you’re in control, and you don’t have to pay to communicate with them. We all realize that allowing social media to own the fan and the info was a mistake. We can help you build a community of fans where you own the information and don’t have to pay to communicate with them. We already do an excellent job of getting fans to share their emails and info. We also have a built-in Artist To Fan emailing system. Currently, we are working on ways to allow you to message fans within the system, allowing notifications inside the app. We also want to allow fans to chat with fans, artists to chat with fans, and the community to bond over their favorite artists, music, and merch. Hybe and BTS have done a good job of this with their WeVerse app. Our version will do what WeVerse does and much more.

Like most marketplaces, we retain 15% of digital sales and 5% of merch. We work for you. Finding software developers is hard. Well, guess what? Your dream software development company just found you.

Go to Rhythmic-Rebellion.com and imagine that the music and videos are all Death Row Records. We can do that for you. Visit KarenWaldrup.com, RickyRebelRocks.com, and SkipEwing.com, to see examples of artists using our marketplace to sell music and merch. Their sites were built using our drag-and-drop website builder. We are happy to help artists, but our platform is built as a self-serve system like Amazon. Do it yourself with no waiting.

Snoop, we have already built everything you’re dreaming of and more. Contact me. Join us. Together, we truly can build the future of music. gregea@rhythmic-rebellion.com.

Photo Credit: Sound Legends

Sound Legends wants to empower independent artists from around the world to access the global music market — across 195 countries and 300+ streaming platforms.

In a quiet bow over the summer, a new player entered the crowded field of digital music distribution with a globally-focused model. The concept is slightly different than the incumbent class: instead of focusing exclusively on higher-tier markets like North America and Western Europe, Sound Legends wants to ’empower deserving, talented artists in all parts of the world,’ which includes tailoring price points to meet global affordability levels.

Sound Legends’ global outlook is their self-touted unbeatable competitive advantage. While music distribution is arguably a mature space, Sound Legends believes that existing digital distributors remain focused on markets such as the US, owing to the higher monthly fee first-world artists are capable of paying (and receiving).

“We understand that $6.99 a month for US-based artists is modest, but that is what an artist in another part of the world would earn in a week — if that,” explained Sound Legends CEO and cofounder Alex Malagon. “So we’re sensitive to that.”

According to Malagon, Sound Legends is the ‘entry point for international artists’ while fueling continued growth in markets like Latin America. It’s all part of a model that caters to 195 different countries and aims to create powerhouse enterprises in many of them. Just recently, DMN joined forces with Sound Legends to expand the more accessible pricing approach and get more global artists into an affordable distribution partnership.

With the platform up and running on out-of-pocket seed funding, Sound Legends is now raising outside capital. The company just kicked off its Reg CF offering at a valuation of $32 million.

Regulation CF, or ‘Reg CF,’ is a relatively new equity crowdfunding instrument, thanks to recently-relaxed investor regulations in the US. Prior to 2016, investments of this nature were generally restricted to wealthier, accredited investors or were saddled with large levels of compliance requirements.

The capital raise will be used to fuel Sound Legends’ marketing and sales initiatives and improve its UX. Malagon noted how Latin America is the fastest growing market in the world and an initial focus area for Sound Legends. “There are lots of amazing artists coming out of Latin America, particularly Colombia, Brazil, Puerto Rico, and Mexico,” Malagon relayed.

“These crossover acts are dominating and reshaping the entire musical landscape domestically and beyond. This is why our core emphasis has been on independent emerging artists from these nations. Sound Legend’s geo-targeted outreach efforts are paying off by adding thousands of daily users from the most sought-after markets”.

Beyond traditional distribution services, Malagon has also created a broader suite of artist services. These span copyrighting, song licensing, publishing administration, A&R consulting, and legal, marketing, and PR-related services. That sounds more like the broad support offered by a label, which is exactly the intent.

There are also discussions surrounding a model that offers international Sound Legends franchises.

Malagon called this the company’s ‘195 country license model,’ with a focus on country-specific franchisees. “This revenue model empowers the boots on the ground by focusing on the people who know their own market better than anyone,” Malagon explained.

“If someone from Colombia wants to have their very own Sound Legends Colombia franchise, branded with and representing their country’s featured artist, they simply purchase the licensing rights for that country. In turn they will earn 50% of all revenue proceeds that come through said country while benefiting from the vast marketing machine already happening in domestic markets and beyond”.

Underneath every country-specific entity is a common distribution platform suite. Sound Legends executives call the platform the ‘one-stop shop for artists and producers.’

Even in a perfect world, artists have limited tech awareness. When it comes to copyright legalities, the knowledgebase is even worse, which is a situation Sound Legends wants to improve. Malagon noted, “They [artists] don’t have to figure out copyright; they don’t have to license. Sound Legends has the tech to take a song worldwide in a minute.”

Sound Legends’ PR executive Dindy Yokel also addressed this ‘skill limitation’ by adding, “For artists, learning how to create and drop NFTs, obtain massive social media and traditional media exposure requires several new sets of skills that take away from their expertise, which is creating music.”

Sound Legends’ unique tiered payment plan is likely to get more artists on board. The approach ’empowers deserving, talented artists in other parts of the world,’ and puts action against the often-empty ‘equity’ platitude.

Subscription tiers prioritize music distribution and track acquisition, reflecting the company goal of ‘speaking to the hearts of artists.’ Depending on their country of residence, artists pay different subscription rates. The company calls these graduated rates for distribution’ 1st-world, 2nd-world, and 3rd-world’ tiers.

The highest tier (Tier I, applying to the US and Western Europe) is $6.99 per month, followed by Tier II (for Eastern Europe and Asia) is $3.99 per month, and Tier III (for developing countries) is $1.99 per month.

According to Sound Legends, this nominal monthly fee ‘gives artists outside the US an opportunity to be heard.’ All of these monthly subscriptions offer artists access to Sound Legends’ complete services and global distribution platform.

Discussing this unique tiered payment plan, Malagon said, “It comes from the fact that we are a global company.” But the company also offers a considerable amount of services for free, at least in the trial stages. At Sound Legends, independent artists can create an account for free, get unlimited uploads, and test-drive the platform for 60 days before paying.

This free account allows artists to discover the platform’s full breadth and gain insights into full distribution analytics and copyright administration services. Artists follow a simplified process of setting up an account, uploading tracks, and copyrighting their music to appear on more than 300 channels worldwide.

Malagon also pointed to comprehensive and broad distribution worldwide. Sound Legends promises access to ‘300 DSPs—double the amount of other music distribution platforms for publishing music.’ Throughout, Malagon noted that Sound Legend’s primary focus is to ensure all content is copyrighted correctly.

But the highlight of the platform could be the single annual fee, with the ability to keep 100% of music royalties.

That is arguably the most competitive pricing plan available, with Distrokid originally pushing rivals like Tunecore into all-you-can-eat pricing offers. Similarly, Sound Legends wants artists to ‘get every dollar you deserve for your life’s work,’ combining all of Sound Legends’ features into an independent artist domain.

Other perks are competitive and worth noting. That includes real-time visibility stats and sales information, with tabs on earnings and royalties. By centralizing analytics on a member dashboard, artists can keep an eye on their performance across different platforms.

Artists can also tackle digital assets by using the on-platform NFT marketplace. The company allows independent artists to drop, manage and sell NFTs. The platform’s NFT marketplace is equipped with the required necessities, along with a free crypto wallet.

Yokel explained how these features, along with the company’s global focus, elevate the game for licensees and artists alike. “If you create a platform that is open to almost every country in the world, you’re going to find musicians that you wouldn’t otherwise discover.”

Ah, the elusive record deal.

The glory of getting signed to a major label is the ultimate music career status symbol for every aspiring singer, rapper, songwriter, producer, musician and band — and yet, it remains the biggest unsolved mystery of the music industry.

This guide will serve as a roadmap for how to get signed to a record label, as well as a staunch reality check for those who’ve underestimated what it actually takes to get signed.

The Reality of Getting Signed Today

Record labels are like venture capitalists, and indie musicians are a startup company. The investor will provide financial resources and exclusive connections to artists with high growth potential in exchange for an equity stake.

Depending on the type of record deal you sign, that “equity stake” can total 50-90% of a signed artist’s earnings — but perhaps it still beats the $25,000 median annual salary of an indie musician.

The Bottom Line: Record companies will only sign you if they believe they can profit from you.

Even if you are worthy of a record deal, there’s a lot more competition today — with 4,000 monthly Google searches for terms like “how to get a record deal” and “how to get signed to a record label.”

So, you have to ask yourself – “how would I stack up against 4,000 other artists?” 

There are literally thousands of indie artists trying to get the attention of a major label. This is not going to happen magically. You need to be generating serious buzz on social media and in the streets, otherwise you’ll need a bonafide connection to an executive decision maker.

If You’re Desperate to Get Signed, It Won’t Happen

As the saying goes, “Don’t try to get signed. Try to get popular first.”

The funny thing about getting a record deal, is that you ALREADY need to be doing the things a major label would help you accomplish.

Artists who get record deals usually don’t need a label — that’s the irony of getting signed.

If you’ve already got a catalog of great music supported by a strong online fanbase, you’re going to eventually be noticed.

Record companies want to sign indie artists who are already doing live shows, earning royalties and making money.

Keep in mind that major record labels like Sony, Universal, and Warner aren’t taking risks on new artists like they used to. Investing in unsigned artists is a lot like gambling on horse racing — and no one wants to bet on a losing horse.

10 Steps to Get Signed to a Record Label

• Don’t quit your day job (until you can afford it).

• Be realistic: are you signable?

• Learn how to write hit songs. 

• Learn music production. 

• Learn the “business side” of music. 

• Learn the different types of record deals. 

• Learn how to monetize your music career.

• Master the art of online marketing & promotion. 

• Master the art of networking.

• Develop a killer live show.

1. Don’t Quit Your Day Job (Until You Can Afford To Go All-In)

Russ has proven that going “all-in” is necessary in order to become a songwriter, whether indie or signed to a major label.

Russ dropped a new song per week on SoundCloud, every week for two years straight before his music started to catch on.

Russ is considered a pioneer of profitability for independent artists. He is one of the most successful indie artists of all-time, pushing the limits of what can be accomplished in the music business without the help of a record deal from a major label.

Should You Quit Your Day Job to Pursue Music? Not necessarily.

You shouldn’t go broke to pursue your dream as a rapper, but let’s face it — you need stability.

If you don’t have money, you won’t be able to invest in advancing your music career. How will you pay for the following expenses?

• Recording costs.
• Music production fees.
• Mixing & mastering.
• Musical equipment.
• Music videos.
• Music marketing.
• Promotion & ads.
• Merchandise.
• Album artwork.
• Wardrobe.
• etc, etc, etc.

Not to mention rent, food, gas, and everyday costs of living.

You should only quit your day job once you are making enough money with your music career to adequately sustain yourself.

2. Be Realistic: Are You Signable?

Why do you want to be signed? Is it even realistic?

Be honest with yourself by asking these questions:

• Do you have mass market appeal?
• Do you have your own unique style of music?
• Do you stand out? Do you have star qualities a record label looks for?
• Do you have a real music career opportunity, or just an expensive hobby?
• Do you know how to effectively market yourself online?
• Do you have any real buzz or momentum going?
• Are you able to write hit songs? Can you write killer toplines?
• Are you a content creation machine?
• Are you brandable? Do you have a memorable artist name?
• Are your social media accounts engaging?
• Are your social media profiles properly branded?
• Are your live shows on point?
• How does your own music compare to artists that are already signed?

3. Learn How To Write Hit Records

This is the music business. And it’s all about hit songs.

Although it’s impossible to know exactly what makes a song a hit record, there is a formula that songwriters can follow.

Consider your approach to music releases:

1. Singles, EPs, or Albums?
2. How will you find music producers?
3. Home studio recording vs. professional?
4. What about mixing & mastering?
5. Which digital distributor will you work with?

Keep in mind, you don’t necessarily have to be signed to a label in order to become a successful songwriter. 

4. LearnMusic Production

The more you learn about the music creation process, the more signable you’ll become.

Why? Because the more skills you can bring to the table, the more appealing you’ll become to a record label.

You might not get signed as an artist, but you could earn a production deal if you have serious skills.

The following music production skills will not only make you more marketable, but it will broaden your creativity.

• Learn how to make beats on your own (this also saves you money on producer fees).
• Learn about DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) and the basics of how they work.
• Learn how to track vocals in ProTools, Logic or Ableton.
• Learn the basics of mixing, mastering, plugins and new music production technology.
• Bonus: Learn how to play a musical instrument like piano or guitar at a basic level.

5. Learn The “Business Side” of Music

After all, this is the business of music. And the money has to come from somewhere.

Even major artists like Future have recognized that no one is going to teach you all of these confusing concepts. That means you need to take massive initiative and learn the business of music yourself.

Before getting signed, you must acknowledge that record labels will give you upfront money or an “advance”, along with a team of resources — but not unless they believe you can become a money making machine.

And by the way, that upfront money advance is recoupable, meaning it must be paid back in FULL, which means you actually have to make money and be profitable at some point. (And in most cases, streaming isn’t going to close the gap.)

You must learn the role of all people (and things) that will be involved in your music career. 

• Learn the role of a music manager.
• Learn the role of a music agent.
• Learn the role of a music attorney.
• Learn the role of a publicist.
• Learn the role of streaming platforms like iTunes, Spotify, SoundCloud, Amazon Music.
• Learn the role of Digital Distributors like Tunecore, Distrokid, CD Baby, AWAL, etc.
• Learn the role of BMI, ASCAP, SESAC, and GMR.
• Learn the role of music publishing companies.
• Learn the role of SoundExchange.
• Learn the role of artist royalties and songwriter royalties.
• Learn the role of sync licensing and how to get paid from music licensing.
• Learn the role of copyrights and trademarks in the music business.

6. Learn The Different Types of Record Deals

There are many types of record deals out there. And unfortunately not all of them are good ones.

Here’s a list of the record deals you should know about (before signing one):

1. The 360 record deal.
2. The traditional record deal.
3. The distribution deal.
4. The single deal.
5. The EP deal.
6. The licensing deal.
7. The publishing deal.
8. The production deal.

Watch this video from Financial Times to understand the inner workings of how record deals work.

7. Learn How To Monetize Your Music Career

Let’s start out by acknowledging that streaming payouts are worth peanuts, so let’s look at better ways to monetize your music career.

1. Earn Song Placements (Sync Licensing).
2. Earn Performance Royalties.
3. Earn Mechanical Royalties.
4. Earn Digital Album/Song Sales.
5. Earn Revenue from Live Shows.
6. Earn Revenue from Selling Merchandise.
7. Songwriting & Producing for Other Artists.
8. Get Sponsored by Companies & Brands.
9. Get Paid Doing Influencer & Affiliate Marketing.
10. Offer Exclusive Fanclub Memberships on Patreon and OnlyFans.

8. Master The Art of Online Marketing & Music Promotion

This is perhaps the most important skill you can learn as an upcoming artist or musician, because it’s a transferable skill that can apply to any business.

If you are just getting started, your initial goal should be to earn 1,000 true fans, which is defined as a fan that will buy anything you produce.

So, how do you do that?

• Know your audience – marketing to EDM & Techno fans will be vastly different from marketing to hip hop fans.

• Gimmicks – Do you have one? Do you need one? What’s your angle? In corporate marketing, this is called “messaging & positioning” but we’ll stick to gimmicks here.

• Content creation – You need to become a content creation machine. That includes live performance, music videos, photos, interviews, press, blogs, new music, cover videos, etc.

• Social media – Trying to master YouTube, SoundCloud, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, Bandcamp and Spotify all at once will result in failure. However, if you pick 1-2 platforms and go “all-in” you’re more likely to be successful.

• Playlists – What is the role of playlist curators and bloggers? Getting your music featured is a complicated process, but it can be done.

• Website – Do you need one? Yes. It should contain your bio, EPK, press, videos, photos, music, links to upcoming gigs, access to your email list and more.

• Press Coverage – You probably won’t get featured in the NY Times. But you can focus on finding bloggers that matter. If you can’t afford a publicist, you’ll need to make connections on your own and pitch journalists on why they should cover your music.

• Radio – Is this required in order to grow a fanbase? Not necessarily, but you’ll need to know how to properly submit your music to commercial radio stations.

• SEO – As you pick up traction, people will start searching for your brand on Google and YouTube. This is why consistent branding for musicians is critical.

• Organic vs. Paid – Will you pay to play? Or grow organically? Or leverage a mix of both? If you decide to pay for promotion, where will you invest your budget?

9. Master The Art of Networking

Networking in the music business is less about getting what you want, and a lot more about the value you can bring to someone else.

You need to imagine that when you approach someone, they are a bank account.

If you never made a deposit into that account, how can you expect to make a withdrawal?

This is why you should always prioritize adding value before shooting your shot.

Here are some quick tips for networking in the music business:

• First impressions matter – Make sure your social media is on-point. Write a proper bio and showcase all your best content at the top of your feed before sending a DM.

• The sauce is in the follow up – Be careful here. You don’t want to be annoying. But remember that people are busy and distracted. Sometimes, catching a person at the right time with a genuine follow up can work wonders.

• Be consistent – Doing cold outreach for 1 day and quitting will get you nowhere. Remember there’s no substitute for hard work – networking is a grind, and you need to be intentional about it.

• Be specific – Know exactly what you want, and keep your messages short and clear.

• Timing – Perfect the art of writing cold emails, cold DMs, and understanding when to shoot your shot.

• Go around roadblocks – “Demo submissions” died a long time ago. Label A&Rs won’t accept unsolicited music — they are too heavily spammed and bombarded. Find a warm intro, or leverage a mutual connection to work your way in the door.

• Beware of scams – The music industry is notorious for various types of schemes that target upcoming artists. Everything from fake music promotion, consulting from ex-big wigs, pay for song feedback, ineffective online services.

10. Develop a Killer Live Show

The primary purpose of performing live is NOT to get signed, however it can increase your odds of being noticed by label A&Rs.

The primary purpose of performing live is to connect with your audience and fans in a way that’s more meaningful than doing it online.

Now let’s be real, the days of being “discovered” at open mics are long gone. Don’t expect a label A&R to walk into your set and offer you a contract. However, an impressive live show could help you land a major label meeting.

Here are some quick tips for a killer live show:

• Align to the audience – Cater to the audience and environment. Don’t treat a bar or lounge performance the same way you’d treat a festival performance.

• Choose the right songs – The type of event itself should dictate your setlist, but you need to have hyper-awareness about ensuring your music matches the vibe.

• Stage presence – Connect with the audience. Body language and eye contact matters. Don’t give off a nervous vibe, because the audience will notice.

• Be technically prepared – Never make excuses. Make sure your instruments are tuned, your soundcheck is done, and everything is in order.

• Show love to your bandmates – This demonstrates humility and showmanship. The audience will recognize and applaud your appreciation for your fellow mates.

• Show love to the headlining act – If you are opening for a more well known artist, make sure to shout them out and show love. This is a major key to earning the audience’s respect.

• Be in shape physically & vocally – You need to look and play the part. That means cardiovascular conditioning and taking care of your voice.

• Don’t piss off the sound guy – Avoid being bossy, pretentious or annoying. Treat the sound technician with respect. The quality of your gig depends on it.

• Don’t “cup” the microphone – This is the number one way to create a muffled sound with lots of feedback and screeching.

• Don’t annoy the audience – Avoid talking about controversial topics like politics, sex or religion. If you are performing for a liberal crowd, don’t push republican rhetoric. Use common sense and read the room.

• Don’t always expect to make money – Especially at the beginning of your music career, you will be doing shows to build brand awareness, gain exposure and capture new fans.

Photo Credit: Jimmie Allen

Country star Jimmie Allen continues to make waves in music and business. But before he was playing for massive crowds, winning awards, and discovering emerging talent, the singer-songwriter received critical support that laid the groundwork for his future achievements.

Milton, Delaware-born Jimmie Allen, who moved to Nashville in 2007 to pursue a music career, has spoken in detail about his long journey towards country success. Before cracking one billion total streams (his debut single, “Best Shot,” has racked up 146 million streams on Spotify alone) and nabbing his first Grammy nomination (“Best New Artist” at the 64th annual event), the 37-year-old struggled to make ends meet.

At one point along the difficult road to the upper echelons of the country world, the “Make Me Want To” artist was working multiple jobs, living out of his car, and had just $21 to his name. Nevertheless, Allen’s potential was apparent to some discerning members of the industry at the outset, including those in an unlikely corner of the music business. Allen was unexpectedly welcomed to SESAC in 2009 – almost a decade before “Best Shot” (which has been certified Platinum by the RIAA) began ascending the country charts.

The early bet by the invite-only performance rights organization proved valuable — both generally and in terms of the underlying confidence that it signaled in the singer-songwriter’s abilities. As other artists can attest, meaningful support is especially significant (and uncommon) before careers take off. Once popular releases and committed fans enter the picture, comparatively ample resources typically materialize.

Even today, with so much having changed in his professional life, Allen acknowledges the benefits of SESAC’s assistance years ago and the continued importance of his relationship with the PRO.

“I love SESAC. I’m never leaving them. They’ve become family,” Allen told Digital Music News. “I don’t care what a company did for anyone else; it’s what they can do for you, not what they did for somebody else. It has to be a place where you can be creative and successful.”

Strangely, DMN — like the rest of the music industry — had little knowledge of SESAC’s early involvement in Allen’s ascent. As part of a broader partnership between the companies, SESAC executives first shared the details of their early support.

With SESAC in his corner and hopes high for a breakthrough moment, Allen participated in the 10th season of American Idol, but was eliminated from the competition during the group rounds.

(Allen made the most of the experience by befriending the season’s eventual winner, Scotty McCreery, and the two later toured together. Additionally, American Idol ultimately invited Allen to serve as a guest mentor during season 20, after he’d charted his own path to commercial prominence.)

On the heels of the American Idol elimination and several years of hard work in the face of adversity, Allen scored his big break with a Wide Open Music publishing deal in 2016.

“I was lucky enough to find this guy by the name of Ash Bowers. He discovered me at Puckett’s grocery store,” Jimmie Allen explained. “It was a songwriter’s round. I had three jobs at the time, so I called out of all three jobs. I was like, ‘I can at least play some music, I can get 200 bucks, and I get a free meal. So I’m in.’ That’s where Ash found me, and we wrote and wrote for a year.”

This agreement, Allen said, set the stage for a record deal with Broken Bow’s Stoney Creek, which has released all three of his albums (along with a pair of EPs) to date, beginning with 2018’s Mercury Lane.

2021 brought the arrival of the Bettie James Gold Edition – as well as an ACM Award and a CMA Award for Allen. The Dancing With the Stars competitor then dropped his third album, Tulip Drive, in June of 2022. Allen is currently touring in support of the much-streamed project and will join Carrie Underwood on her Denim & Rhinestones Tour beginning in October.

Independent of these awards and results in his own career, Jimmie Allen has dedicated time and effort to recording achievements in business. That includes providing a platform for the stars of tomorrow.

Making a splash at the intersection of business and music, Allen, in June of 2021, launched a joint venture with Sony Music Publishing Nashville, Bettie James Music Publishing, which promptly signed his longtime collaborator Tate Howell.

2021 also saw Allen roll out a music festival, Bettie James Fest, in his hometown; the event’s sold out 2022 edition happened on August 13th, with local acts selected as openers via a contest. And to wrap 2021, the executive music producer on Netflix’s Titletown High debuted a Nashville-based management and production house called JAB Entertainment. In between, Allen also found time to author a children’s book, My Voice Is a Trumpet.

Allen told us that these and other initiatives reflect an ability to see past the present – populated as it is with acclaim and fans – to bring ambitious, far-reaching visions to fruition in the long term.

“I’m a country artist with a hip-hop artist mentality – there are ways to expand, ways to grow, and there’s no reason why artists shouldn’t be successful off the stage,” Allen told DMN.

In the end, despite his focus and accomplishments on the artist side, Allen feels more like a CEO. At the helm of a namesake company, the singer-songwriter is taking steps towards all-encompassing objectives – and providing opportunities to fellow musicians along the way.

“A lot of artists don’t have that entrepreneur mentality,” Allen relayed. “You really need to be CEO of your own company.”

And as CEO, there’s no telling which professionals – quite possibly including future household names – Jimmie Allen will assist and encourage on their respective journeys. As this now-established country superstar deeply understands, well-timed support has the potential to open career doors.

Lupe Fiasco performing live in Colorado. Photo Credit: Julio Enriquez

Lupe Fiasco has claimed that Warner Music’s Atlantic Records wouldn’t provide promotional support unless he inked a 360-degree deal or signed away “a large portion” of his work’s ownership – prompting broader conversations about the nature of major-label agreements in the contemporary music industry.

40-year-old Lupe Fiasco, who made headlines in late May for accepting an MIT teaching role, just recently took to social media to speak about his experience with Warner Music Group (WMG). The Chicago native released his first five studio albums, beginning with 2006’s Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor and concluding with 2015’s Tetsuo & Youth, via WMG’s Atlantic.

However, the one-time Grammy winner (and 12-time nominee) has dropped three subsequent albums, including June of 2022’s Drill Music In Zion, via his 1st & 15th label and Nashville’s Thirty Tigers.

The conversation surrounding Fiasco’s Atlantic years began after one Twitter user speculated that the artist’s perceived lack of critical praise had resulted from an unwillingness to conform amid the WMG imprint’s purported effort “to push pop records.”

“Not accurate,” responded Lupe Fiasco. “I was comfortable making pop records. The issue was who controlled those records and what the ownership and splits were. Atlantic would only promote my records if they owned a large portion of them or if I signed a 360 deal. I gave Bruno Mars Just The Way You Are.

“The issue was never my ability to make hit or pop records,” Fiasco elaborated in a follow-up tweet. “The issue wasn’t even the business per se. My contracts were solid. It’s when the label didn’t want to abide by the contracts anymore and started throwing sh–ty little curveballs out of FOMO and greed. All bad after that.

“I only put this out there again & again cuz folks think I be full of ego and or that I’m some hard to work with artist etc. but I’ve been in some deeply wack situations in this business that took all kinds of adjustments to stay sane and progress. I protect my peace at all costs,” he finished.

Additionally, responding to a fan who suggested that the industry had shortchanged him, Lupe Fiasco attributed two quotes to execs, writing: “‘I cannot guarantee we will promote your records if you are not a 360 artist on the label’ – Lyor Cohen President Of Warner Music 2008

“‘We don’t think BattleScars is a good look for you so we’re not gonna sign off on the release’ – Mike Kyser Head Of Urban Atlantic Records 2012,” Fiasco proceeded.

Wrapping up the conversation, the “AUTOBOTO” and Lost in the Atlantic artist stated that he’d “checked out” of his Atlantic deal some six years and three albums prior to its conclusion. “I don’t mind being controlled. It’s a team,” he said. “Let[‘s] win as a team. They were calling fouls on our own plays AFTER we already won the game!! I was like WTF are y’all doing??? After The Cool I was done. I stuck around to complete my contract but I checked out in 09.”

Needless to say, Fiasco’s qualms represent one side of the story, and the precise details of his allegations (“sh–ty little curveballs out of FOMO and greed”) remain unclear.

But in an era when viral TikTok trends are catapulting an increasing number of artists into the mainstream – and making major-label deals available to them overnight – it’s important that the information reach emerging acts before they put pen to paper and sign with one of the Big Three.

Of course, certain indie-label deals also contain unfavorable elements and have been at the center of recent legal battles – underscoring the need for artists to weigh all high-profile career moves and take advantage of each available resource.

Photo Credit: Alexander Shatov

Snap has officially launched the “Snapchat Sounds Creator Fund,” which execs say will provide up to $100,000 in monthly “grants” to indie artists who use DistroKid to distribute their music on the social media app.

The Snapchat parent company reached out to DMN with word of the grant program today. DistroKid began offering Snapchat distribution for its sizable indie userbase back in March of 2021, and beginning in August, certain of these music professionals will have the chance to secure $5,000 payments (directed to “up to 20 songs per month,” for the initially noted $100,000 total) from the Snapchat owner.

“Snap wants to help emerging, independent artists produce quality content and build their brands by recognizing Sounds creators who are driving trends and defining cultural moments – not just based on their follower numbers,” communicated the company, which, notwithstanding a recent stock-price plunge, still has a market cap of around $16 billion.

“Snap anticipates awarding up to $100,000 in grants during each month of the program,” higher-ups made clear, albeit without disclosing this program’s precise length. The company’s formal release mentions providing the grants (and “creative support” for recipients) “over the next several months,” however, and the program’s fine print underscores Snap’s right to end the initiative “at any time.”

The grants are specifically available to U.S.-based “emerging, independent” acts who upload their “original music through the DistroKid and Snap Sounds offering,” according to the above-highlighted fine print.

Digging further into the grants’ terms, eligible indie artists, besides residing in the States and distributing to Snapchat via DistroKid, must be over the age of 18 (or 16 with “parental consent”). There isn’t an application process of any kind, nor do there appear to be requirements for how the grants are used.

Regarding the payments’ most notable stipulation, Snap is poised to unilaterally select the winners, per the text, and DistroKid will then inform the appropriate artists. If any of these persons fails to return an acceptance form within a week after receiving it, the $5,000 payment at hand “will be forfeited.”

Snap, having inked a licensing deal with the final Big Three label last November, also took the opportunity to reveal that “videos created with music from Sounds on Snapchat have collectively resulted in over 2.7 billion videos created and over 183 billion views” to date.

Back in May, DMN was first to report that SUISA had filed an infringement suit against Snapchat, which unveiled agreements with Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary earlier in 2022.

We celebrate the 4^th July Independence Day with a massive 75% discount on the industry- first Lifetime plans from pCloud. Saving more than $700 on the go until July 6th easily.

The following article comes from pCloud, a proud partner of DMN.

Over the last few years, as a professional Swiss cloud storage solution, pCloud, has risen to the top 3 cloud services, gaining widespread popularity, being trusted by more than 16 million users! We demonstrated very high affinity for musicians and artists. Keeping promises is important, especially if forming company loyalty towards customers.

Such growth over the course of a very short period is explained by a revolutionary business model with unbelievable simplicity: “Let’s give our users what they need”. It seems to be working perfectly so far.

Among service values, pCloud appreciates the privacy of users, providing cutting- edge unbreakable encryption and overall robust security.

We take pride in the fact that we believe, that with pCloud, you can access and share your files anywhere you go, anytime, from any device with an effortless execution in the most secure way possible.

Artists adapt to new ways of boosting their craft and pCloud is always there, striving to live up to their highest standards. This is why tech authorities consider pCloud the best cloud of 2022, towering above others.

With complete autonomy over data and privacy, artist can safely produce and share their music in the most convenient ways possible to this day.

Not only can you forget about losing your projects, but pCloud also enhances the entire process of collaborating with other artists, or simply enjoying your music libraries with cross- functioning services.

For just $245, you can save more than $700 and get 2TB of storage for a LIFETIME, without any recurring payments.

We mentioned keeping promises. Many of our users are so happy with their Lifetime plans, that we received an increasing wave of requests to have the option to upgrade to more Lifetime storage. Because of this, we officially give the option to upgrade up to 10TB for just $990, by saving $4000!

Below are the top pCloud features, with many more to come very soon:

• Desktop- Virtual drive
• File sharing
• Branded links
• Unlimited speed (Comparison between pCloud and Dropbox)
• LIFETIME ACCESS (pay only ONCE and get set for LIFE!)
• Audio album sorting
• Access across devices
• Share link customization
• Real-time backup update
• Unbreakable encryption
• Sync locally stored folders with the cloud
• Use with your DAW and on every OS and device
• Native audio player for demo sharing and listening

You can always try pCloud for free with 500GB and consider upgrading in the future.

Music creation is a very specific craft. We want to make sure musicians focus entirely on their creative process, without being concerned about technical tools and lack of collaborative methods. We are here to stay and we kindly invite all to elevate their career with pCloud.

Only the sky is the limit.

The following comes from Soundstripe, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

This is especially true for anyone looking to turn music into a full-time job. Making a career out of music (either as a performer, songwriter, or producer) has never felt more possible.

But these tools aren’t limited to just you. They’re resources anyone can access, download, and use. So while you are empowered and equipped to improve your work, so is everyone else. This increase in competition has made it harder than ever to land paying gigs, get more downloads, and attract new listeners.

However, there are some new things that have opened doors for every musician to monetize their work. One of the most interesting ones is sync work. And since music licensing is a convoluted and complicated process, let’s look at what sync licensing is and how it can become a new source of revenue for you.

Different Types of Music Licenses

It’s not unusual to assume that licensing your music is an easy process. However, each type of music license covers a different medium; obviously our topic of discussion today is synchronization or sync licenses, which gives permission for someone to use your music in a video project. 

We won’t get too specific since most musicians are already familiar with this. Suffice to say that people who work in video (whether it’s YouTube, films, or advertising) need great music, and that means sync licenses are as much a part of video production as editing footage.

Video is only getting more popular, which means two things:

• More people are making video content than ever before, which has made certain production tools more common and accessible…not unlike how music production has really opened up in the past 10 years.
• With more people making higher quality content, the need for high quality music is skyrocketing. Royalty free music companies are looking for ways to grow their libraries to attract customers, and that’s good news for musicians looking to make money via sync licensing.

When you think about sync licenses as a way to pair your songs with someone else’s video content (and get paid for each time your music is licensed for projects), it’s easy to see this as a new stream of income for musicians.

Think about it this way: For a lot of artists, working with music licensing companies can provide recurring revenue and jobs — in other words, the things that can lead to a more stable and reliable career for musicians. No more odd jobs or last-minute gigs. Just writing great music, licensing it out to a partner you trust, and making money for your hard work.

It sounds like a perfect world, but for many artists and producers, it’s becoming a reality.

How to Find Sync Jobs for Your Music

We’ve spent a lot of time so far hyping up sync licensing, but let’s pair that with a splash of cold water: Devoting yourself to sync licensing work is not a get-rich-quick scheme. You won’t have the first track you submit get accepted, land top placement in a popular playlist, get licensed by Apple for their next AirPods ad, and turn into a $50,000 royalty check overnight.

Sync licensing (like basically any other path to success in the music industry) is a long-term challenge. Yes, licensing your music with an established library can provide an extra source of income, but in most cases that’s not going to be enough for you to quit your job or start turning down other gigs.

Here’s a helpful and informative explanation from one producer on his journey to success with sync licensing:

It’s a good reminder that someone can find enough sync work to help them achieve their dreams as a musician. But it’s equally important to know that your work will be competing with other talented artists and producers, and carving out a niche for yourself in a royalty free music library can be just as tough as finding a place in your local community’s music scene.

With that being said, there are a few starting points for anyone interested in finding sync jobs.

Get Familiar with Your Options

I mentioned that the market for royalty free music companies is growing — that means there are a lot of different websites, libraries, and companies out there. But submitting your acoustic folk work to 20 different places won’t do you any good if half of them only accept ambient electronic music, right?

Start doing research on the best music licensing companies. Look up YouTube content creators and see where they get their music. Find an active online community (like one of the many music-centric subreddits) and see what licensing options people are talking about. All of these will help you find different places and get an idea of what sort of music each library is known for.

Know What’s Popular

You might read this subtopic and assume that I mean you need to write whatever kind of music is currently popular. That might help you, but the truth is that there is demand for every kind of music, which means there are music licensing companies for every genre.

However, it may mean you’ll need to adjust some things in your creative process. Maybe you’ll need to start creating stem tracks as a way to provide a greater variety. Or maybe how you mix your music needs some tweaking to target a specific audience.

Invest in Your Work

If you’re serious about finding sync jobs, there’s a good chance you’ll want to polish and perfect the tracks you’ve already made (or adjust your writing, producing, mixing, and mastering processes for all future tracks). 

In some cases, you may need to contract someone to get some support. That could even mean hiring an engineer or producer to check out some tracks and give feedback — after all, anything you can do to improve your music could be the difference between having your choice of licensing companies to work with…or receiving a handful of rejection emails.

There are also dedicated sync agents out there who represent musicians and help them find placement with sync libraries. I can’t say if that’s worth investing into, but researching what they do and how they do it could help you decide if it’s something that would work for you.

Because in reality, that’s the case for your entire career. Sync jobs are creating opportunities for musicians and producers in every genre…but turning these opportunities into reliable sources of income will take time and dedication. 

These three steps are suggestions to help you get started and explore the different possibilities out there for you. Hopefully you’ll get familiar with sync licensing, understand how to find libraries, and choose whether or not this is something that works for where you’re at in your career as a musician.

Drew Gula is the senior content editor at Soundstripe, a company that provides creators and businesses with resources like royalty free music and music for commercials.

Whether you represent talent, or are promoting yourself, you need a great one sheet. Jaxsta’s latest feature takes the pain out of creating and maintaining one sheets by updating your official data automatically. Never miss an opportunity to be booked for gigs, media, brand partnerships, sync, collaborations and more!

The following comes from Jaxsta, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

Whether you are an artist, a record label, or a management company, if part of your responsibilities include promoting yourself or the creatives you represent; you know how important a great one sheet, or electronic press kit (EPK) is. It’s a snapshot of all your talent’s  notable achievements, and a powerful advertisement for why they deserve the next big opportunity.

You also know that keeping one sheets updated with all the latest playlist and social media stats is, frankly, a never ending, painstaking, time-sucking drag.

If you’re an independent creative without a team behind you, a one sheet is even more important – it can be one of your most valuable promotional tools, a stepping stone to your big break that highlights your achievements.

But because you don’t have a big team and loads of resources, creating a great, always up-to-date one sheet with your major credits and social stats can be next to impossible.

Until now!

Jaxsta, the world’s largest database of deep-linked official music credits, has created the Jaxsta One Sheet specifically to make creating and updating one sheets quick, easy and painless. Not only can you create your own One Sheet vanity URL to send to others, but the Jaxsta One Sheet can be embedded on your website, meaning your site will always have current information without you having to spend the time updating it manually.

How does the Jaxsta One Sheet work?

Well, every time Jaxsta receives a credit for a creative – be it an artist, engineer, producer, mixer etc – a profile page is automatically created for them which contains all their credits. They (or their representatives) can claim that profile and manage it, meaning they can add their image, bio, contacts, links and more.

Step 1: Go to Jaxsta.com

Step 2: Search for the profile and hit ‘Claim’

Step 3: Jaxsta will verify ownership of the profile

By clicking the ‘Edit One Sheet’ button on their profile, a Jaxsta One Sheet can be published within minutes, as it pulls all the relevant information – bio, image, key releases, links and contact details – from their Jaxsta profile.

The Jaxsta One Sheet also contains official Fan Metrics, meaning artists and their representatives can display social media stats from 14 platforms including TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram and Twitter, all of which are updated in real time.

And if your music is being used by other creators and fans on TikTok – you guessed it – the Jaxsta One Sheet has those stats too.

No more having to spend hours trolling through all the different social media platforms updating metrics  – the Jaxsta One Sheet does it all for you.

Crucially, all this information can be updated and adapted quickly to suit whatever opportunity you’re pitching for. For example, if you have certain credits that are perfect for one collaboration and different credits that will suit another, adapting the Jaxsta One Sheet is as easy as clicking a few buttons.

For creatives who have sales certifications and GRAMMY Awards nominations or wins, that’s all integrated into the Jaxsta One Sheet too, all provided by Jaxsta’s official data partners, the RIAA and The Recording Academy. Keep your eyes peeled for even more features as Jaxsta continues to evolve this game-changing product.

Rising hip-hop artist anees uses the Jaxsta One Sheet.

anees is distributed through DistroKid. The distribution giant is the latest official partner to provide their verified data to Jaxsta, whose database currently contains more than 223 million official music credits over 65 million pages. All those credits are sourced directly from more than 286 data partners (record labels, publishers, industry associations) – none of Jaxsta’s data is crowd-sourced.

The ability to create a Jaxsta One Sheet is available to all Jaxsta Creator, Business and Enterprise members, along with a stack of other great features, here.

If you need assistance claiming your Jaxsta profile or creating your One Sheet, please contact support@jaxsta.com

CD Baby, easily one of the world’s largest  music distribution companies, has partnered with customizable payout platform Trolley. CD Baby pointed to more cost-effective payouts from physical albums, digital downloads, and streams ahead—with advanced automation, better invoicing, and accurate tax reporting.

The move follows CD Baby’s epic artist payout total of over $1 billion, a cumulative figure crossed in 2021. With Trolley, CD Baby aims to efficiently pay their roster of 1.2+ million artists with potentially 40% lower transaction costs, distinct revenue stream categorization, and enhanced creative autonomy, according to details shared with Digital Music News.

“This volume of artist payouts was becoming a significant challenge—until we integrated Trolley,” said Christine Barnum, CD Baby’s Chief Revenue Officer, “In the first six months of working with Trolley, we’ve not only streamlined our payout process but also improved our tax reporting workflow.”

Barnum also remarked on Trolley’s ability to meet CD Baby’s unique payout challenges. “The team at Trolley has been incredible in terms of integration, ongoing support, and demonstrating a product roadmap that aligns with both our current requirements and our future needs.”

Payouts from physical albums, digital downloads, and streaming royalties from over 150+ platforms created the need for a heavyweight  payment processing system. With its 1099/1042-S tax reporting suite, Trolley also maintains accounting and tax context for every payout for simplified reconciliation.

CD Baby can now manage all payments via a single platform, streamlining its end-of-year tax process, including the  production and distribution of 1099-MISCs and 1042-S forms from within the Trolley platform.

CD Baby payouts will now feature multiple line-items of individual, distinct payments from various sources, and categorizes each to a specific income type.

Recording artists almost always receive income from various sources; all these line items can now be placed within a single invoice, with potentially dramatic cost savings.

CD Baby’s earlier course of ‘one payment per income type’ resulted in a less-than-optimal payment experience for artists, with higher transaction costs and a cumbersome payout flow. Trolley says it can manage payments across “215+ countries in 135+ different currencies.”

“In general, we are solving CD Baby’s challenges the same way we do with many of our clients, with our global reach, our recipient-first experience, and the depth of our tax solution,” Trolley’s VP of Product, Barnett Klane, told DMN.