Master Rights vs. Publishing Rights: What’s the Difference and Why It Matters
Understand the difference between master and publishing rights in music, including ownership, royalties, and how they impact artists.
Mechanics
July 30, 2025 • 5 min read
Mechanics
In the Mechanics series, we share our knowledge and our insider's perspective, systematically reviewing each side of the music business.
How to copyright a song in the US
Did you know your music is technically protected the moment you record it — but that’s not enough to defend it in court or claim royalties? Learn how to register your songs, avoid common mistakes, and make sure your work is legally protected and ready to earn royalties.
Mechanics
July 22, 2025 • 10 min read
Streaming saturation is real — Where should artists invest their energy in 2025?
Discover why streaming is no longer the primary growth engine for emerging artists in 2025. This in-depth analysis explores alternative strategies—from short-form video to superfans and data-driven A&R—to help artists break through the noise in a saturated music market.
Mechanics
June 24, 2025 • 15 min read
How to build a custom A&R dashboard with Soundcharts, Airtable & Make.com
Build real-time dashboards for A&R and artist teams with Soundcharts, Make.com & Airtable — no devs required, just smarter workflows.
Mechanics
April 29, 2025 • 10 min read
How to Get Your Music Recommended by Streaming Algorithms (An Introduction Guide)
Learn how music algorithms work on Spotify, TikTok, YouTube, and Apple Music—and what artists can do to get recommended and grow their audience.
Mechanics
April 8, 2025 • 12 min read
How to use data for a successful music marketing campaign?
Data analysis is essential to running effective marketing campaigns in the modern music industry. In this article, we'll explore how to use data to run a successful music marketing campaign.
Mechanics
October 25, 2024 • 10 min read
The Mechanics of Artist Management: The What, Why, and How of Music Talent Managers
In our next article in the Mechanics series, we explore the all-around role of the artist managers, pinpointing their place in the Music Industry.
Mechanics
January 1, 2024 • 10 min read
How Does the Music Industry Work? Introducing the Mechanics: A 10 Part Series (2023 update)
In this article, we introduce our new Mechanics series, trace the evolution of the Music Industry over the years and introduce the main topics that we will explore in the future.
Mechanics
January 1, 2024 • 14 min read
TikTok for Artists and Music Professionals: How to Use TikTok to Promote Your Music
By 2024, TikTok has become an integral part of the music marketing landscape. That’s why we’ve decided to put together this comprehensive guide, breaking down the mechanics of TikTok, and going through some of the main strategies for promoting music on the platform.
Mechanics
January 1, 2024 • 10 min read
How Broken Metadata Affects the Music Industry (And What We Can Do About It)?
Music Metadata is the oil that makes the cogs of the industry spin. But why can't we fix it?
Mechanics
December 31, 2023 • 17 min read
The Mechanics of Music Distribution: How it Works, Types of Music Distribution Companies + 35 Top Distributors
The rise of streaming has turned music distributors from aggregators and administrators into one of the most critical players along the recording chain. Find out everything you need to know about the distribution industry
Mechanics
December 31, 2023 • 17 min read
The Mechanics of Recording Industry: A Brief History & Its Functions
What is the role of the label in the ever-changing digital environment? Our new Mechanics are here to get to the bottom of the record business
Mechanics
December 31, 2023 • 12 min read
How Music Streaming Works and The Popular Music Streaming Trends of Today
The adoption of streaming and evolution of the streaming services is the most significant ongoing shift in the music business. Our new Mechanics are here to get to the bottom of the streaming market.
Mechanics
March 16, 2022 • 28 min read
What Does the Future Hold? 4 Music Trends & Expert Predictions for 2023 (And Beyond)
How does the future of Music looks like? We've talked to some of the leading minds in the world of Muisc and Tech and put together a list of the most prominent music industry predictions and trends.
Mechanics
March 13, 2022 • 17 min read
A Hard Look at How Record Companies Make Money: Royalty Splits, Types of Record Deals, and the Label Business Model
What is the role and the future of the record labels in a volatile music industry of the post-streaming era? We've decided to get to the bottom of it, and followed the money, building a model that simulates the P&L of the release cycle, split between labels, artists and distributor. Find out how the label system really works:
Mechanics
December 31, 2019 • 21 min read
Music Publishing 101: Copyrights, Publishing Royalties, Common Deal Types, & More
Music Publishing is, without a doubt, the most complex subset of the music business. Check out our complete guide to the publishing business, covering everything you need to know about the publishing business
Mechanics
November 20, 2019 • 28 min read
How Music Synchronization Licenses Work: Inside Movie, Advertisement, and Video Game Sync Licensing
Music sync is much more than just another way to monetize the artist's music. Sync can become a massive promotion tool in the hands of music professionals — hundreds of music careers broke as a result of single fortunate sync
Mechanics
September 3, 2019 • 22 min read
The Mechanics of Touring: How the Live Music Industry Works
In the Mechanics of Touring we get down to the live industry, to see who makes the tour happen, take apart the touring cycle and show how an averaged tour turn out a profit
Mechanics
April 28, 2019 • 20 min read
Smart Speakers and the Future of Music Consumption
How smart speakers will change the way we experience music? Let’s find out!
Mechanics
March 27, 2019 • 5 min read
What Music Streaming Services Pay Per Stream (And Why It Actually Doesn’t Matter)
How much do the streaming services pay the artist? The per-stream payout seems to be the primary way to assess the return on the given platform. We think that this metric actually doesn't matter. Here's why:
Mechanics
December 31, 2018 • 17 min read