The melody doesn’t have to be final. You don’t even need words. But before you save and shut down, commit to your initial idea and map out the full song. Verse, pre-chorus, chorus. Maybe a bridge. Maybe an interlude. The skeleton needs to exist before you walk away.

Paul McCartney has talked about this exact approach. In his words:

So the key here is to try to map out the song from a broad perspective before you obsess over specific words or melodies. If you obsess over the details before you even have a structure, you start to lose context. Having the structure down reminds you of the song’s journey, making it easier to fine-tune the details later.

We’ve all been there. You open a project from two weeks ago, hear four bars of something that once felt electric, and now you can’t remember where it was going. The energy is gone. The intention behind it has faded. And instead of building on momentum, you’re trying to reconstruct a feeling, which is one of the hardest things to do in music.

Why Structure First, Polish Later

When you map out the full structure early, even in its roughest form, you give yourself something real to return to. You've got the arc. You know where the song breathes, where it builds, where it lands.

Once I have a verse, pre-chorus, and chorus, I immediately copy it as the next verse and chorus. If the song calls for it, I work on a bridge, then copy the chorus, and just like that, I already have a full song in front of me. There's something so satisfying about that moment because now you can see the entire song. And then comes the fun part: working on the production, adding elements for each section so nothing feels too repetitive, or sometimes even cutting a section in half.

McCartney describes his process as sitting down and starting to block stuff out with sounds, following a little phrase that’s starting to work, and chasing that trail wherever it leads. He also said something I love about the balance between freedom and structure:

“I think structure’s great. But I also like to start with chaos in order to get the freedom.”

That’s exactly what this is. You start with the chaos. You let yourself play. And before you close the session, you organize that chaos into a structure you can come back to. Because it’s always easier to take things out or tone things down.

It’s like building a house. You can’t put your favorite mid-century modern pieces in the living room or paint the bedroom your favorite color without having the bare bones of the structure standing first. The foundation comes before the finishes. Songs work the same way.

Once that full structure is down, then you can hone in on the stuff that actually matters. The emotional nuance. The lyrics. Reworking melodies that felt right in the moment but need more intention. Adjusting dynamics. Finding the production choices that serve the song. McCartney says he doesn’t overthink what he’s writing about because it spoils the magic. He follows ideas, chord to chord, and lets the song reveal itself. The perfecting comes later.

From Graveyard to Catalog

What do you do if you have multiple ideas floating around, and they aren’t necessarily connected to the same song?

When I create a full-length rough demo, I drop it into a folder in my notes app labeled “Demos.” Knowing that I have a folder of full-length song structures I can pick up at any time takes so much pressure off the creative process. And when I do open one of those files, it’s never daunting, because I already have the complete framework.

If you’re someone who’s constantly coming up with melodies, hooks, or little fragments throughout the day, keep recording those in your voice memos. But create a separate folder for those. I keep one called “Hooks” so that when I’m in a session and need a melody, I know exactly where to go. No scrolling through hundreds of untitled voice memos hoping something jumps out.

The Takeaway

McCartney’s biggest piece of advice to young songwriters is simple: write a lot. As he puts it, don’t just write three songs and say you’ve written three songs, because that’s not enough.

I’d add to that: finish them. Get the structure down. Give every idea a skeleton. Because the more full songs you have sitting in your demos folder, the more material you actually have to work with. And the less likely any single idea is to die in a voice memo or a half-built Pro Tools session.

Finishing a song’s structure in a single session removes the biggest barrier most of us face: coming back to a fragment of an idea and losing the thread or the inspiration. When the skeleton is there, every future session becomes about refinement and emotional depth. Also, when you play a full rough demo for someone, they can actually imagine what the finished version could sound like. They can hear the potential. A snippet of an idea doesn’t have the same power.

This is one of the simplest habits you can build into your creative workflow, and it will save more songs than you realize.

What does your current demo organization look like? Do you have a system for capturing and revisiting ideas, or are you working through the chaos? I’d love to hear what’s working for you.

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And then, at some point, you have to let go.

The artist wants to recut the entire song. The label wants changes. Your favorite part of the song gets cut. The mix goes to another engineer. The thing you gave everything to is no longer under your control.

This is where the art of detachment becomes crucial. Not just with the work itself, but with the pace and lifestyle that comes with it. Because if you can’t detach, you will break. I did.

I learned detachment out of pure necessity. In one year, I spent 270 out of 365 days in recording sessions. At the time, I was wearing multiple hats as a studio assistant, recording engineer, and session drummer. I was living away from home, sleeping on the studio couch, traveling overseas, and my personal life was virtually non-existent.

I quickly realized that this kind of intensity for weeks and months on end without an outlet was unsustainable. The lifestyle, the emotional ups and downs of each project, and the constant creative investment. Especially for someone who tends to be more introverted and absorbs people’s energy like a sponge. I had to be honest about my limits and find a way to keep going without losing the quality of my work. So I started journaling every day and seeing a therapist virtually once a week.

What I learned from this process was the importance of detachment. Developing a stoic mentality of letting go of what you can't control, like the outcome, while remaining fully engaged in what you can. You give everything you have to the process, and then you trust that the process was enough.

For production, the most important thing is that everyone on the team serves what's best for the song as a whole, which requires separating your ego from the outcome. It's a constant work in progress, but it's the foundation of sustainable creative work.

The tricky part is knowing when to switch gears. Because studio work demands that you are emotionally and physically connected to the music at all times. It’s the only way our output can carry momentum and fire. There’s nothing better than feeling goosebumps from something you created, because it means it truly resonates with you.

But that emotional connection can work against you if you can't release it when the moment calls for it. Whether it's a production decision that didn't go your way, an idea you loved getting scrapped, or the finished product being handed off to the world, you have to be able to detach from yourself and be objective. If you stay attached, your ego takes over. And ego doesn't make good decisions.

In production, I’ve learned to hold two things at once. When we’re recording, I am all in. Even if it’s an idea I don’t particularly like, I try my best to make it work. I will fight for a take or an arrangement, and stay late to get the sound right. The moment it’s done, I lower my expectations and practice letting it go. If the artist wants to change the direction, that’s their right. If the label wants another producer to get involved, that’s the reality.

Something I know is hard for a lot of producers and engineers to accept is that just because you spend hours creating an idea, it doesn't mean it deserves to live in the song. For me, being an engineer taught me something very valuable - that being emotionally invested in the music and being able to step back from a single idea are not mutually exclusive. Because I wasn't the one who lived inside that idea for weeks or months, I often had a clearer sense of whether it was making the song better or not. I realized that a lot of my suggestions were trusted because of that distance.

One of my favorite studio mantras is the “seven-minute rule,” and I believe it originated from producer CJ Vanston, who’s worked with Prince, Toto, and Joe Cocker. The idea is simple: any idea is worth seven minutes. You don’t argue about whether a bass feel should change or debate a vocal harmony for an hour. You just record it, because it’s faster to decide from actually hearing the idea back than to sit around debating it, especially when you have musicians in the room. Give it seven minutes. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, you move on with peace of mind because now you know.

What I love about this is that it eliminates the part of the creative process that kills the most momentum. The talking phase and the overthinking - the ego battle over whose instinct is right. Seven minutes costs you almost nothing. It gives everyone in the room permission to throw something at the wall in a safe space, without fear or judgment, because the stakes are low enough that failure doesn’t sting.

The concept of detachment applies well beyond the studio. You can care deeply about an outcome while accepting that you don’t control it. You can invest your whole heart in a project, a relationship, a vision, without letting the outcome define you.

Of course, it’s easier said than done depending on the situation. I like to ask myself if I did the best I could, and if I gave it my all with honesty. And if the answer is yes, I can give myself permission to detach and accept that it’s now out of my hands.

Remember, detachment doesn’t mean you don’t care. It means you cared enough to do your part fully, and now you’re wise enough to let it live.

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There’s never been a better time to make a living from your music.

I know the overwhelm is real. Aside from making music, you're handling socials, running release campaigns, managing your digital presence, booking shows, distributing your music, and managing your royalties. The list goes on.

But we also live in an age of endless tools. Now with AI, there isn't much we can't do. Still, tools alone won’t sustain a career.

The hardest part of being an artist isn’t the logistics.

It’s the inner game.

Not losing your artistic identity in the endless hustle of running your own career. Staying committed when the numbers are quiet. Releasing the song when it doesn’t feel perfect. Being your own hype person while keeping your head clear when everyone around you seems to be moving faster.

I’ve spent my whole life as a musician, years as a recording engineer, and now I run my own creative studio, Sono Hikari, where I work with artists, bridging everything from recording and creative direction to release planning and go-to-market strategy.

I’ve seen the artist’s journey from every seat in the room, both major and indie.

I also grew up in a family of artists. My grandfather was a theater director, my grandmother a ballet dancer, and my father a musician.

The artist’s life is in my DNA.

Watching the extreme ups and downs was my norm. Now, that’s not to say I navigate the uncertainty with grace (I wish!). When my path feels unclear, I spiral into a full existential identity crisis. I've realized that starting my own business is a lot like being my own artist that requires constant retuning.

Because after all, what is the life of an artist?

For me, it’s choosing growth over comfort. It’s moving through life with curiosity, creating with purpose, doubling down on your passion, mapping out a destination that’s never been traveled before, and paving your own path toward a life you’re proud of. It’s channeling the deeper parts of yourself and the world around you, and creating something that could only come from you.

So I wanted to share some of the reminders I keep coming back to for staying grounded through the ebbs and flows of this unpredictable life. I’ve put them into perspective for independent artists, but really, they apply to anyone who is building and creating something of their own.

1. Committing to Yourself

Showing up for yourself every day is the best thing any of us can do.

If you chose to be an artist, you chose it because every time you try to pivot, you keep coming back to the need to create and express yourself. You’re not an artist for the money or fame.

You are an artist because something in you won’t let you be anything else.

The artist path requires a hell of a lot of resilience and consistency, and on top of that, it can be one of the loneliest feelings when you feel lost.

One of the best ways to re-commit to yourself is by coming back to why you became an artist in the first place.

What part of being an artist gives you the most spark?

It’s also important to have healthy expectations and some self-compassion to be ok with the fact that not everything you create will get the reception you hope for. If it doesn’t reach a certain metric you were hoping for, you simply carry on.

Why?

Because the universe gives us access to infinite ideas, we just have to be open enough to receive them and turn them into something.

Not every song will be someone’s favorite, and that’s actually the point. A catalog gives your audience room to discover what resonates with them. Many of the greats talk about how some of their best work is the work that gets overlooked. And overlooked doesn’t mean zero people connected with it. To those people, your song means something.

So if a release doesn’t land the way you hoped, just ask yourself:

“Am I proud of this song?”

Because that’s all that matters. It’s not a sign to stop. It’s one more song in a body of work that’s still growing.

You are committed to yourself because you are in it for the long game.

2. Letting Go of Perfectionism

Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way shuts down perfectionism in a way that wakes me up every time I read it.

“Perfectionism is a refusal to let yourself move ahead. It is a loop, an obsessive, debilitating, closed system that causes you to get stuck in the details of what you are writing or painting or making and to lose sight of the whole.”

It took a long time for me to realize that:

Perfectionism ≠ High Standards.

High standards are rooted in growth. You care about the quality of the work, you care about the process, and you allow yourself to make mistakes because that’s how you learn.

Perfectionism is rooted in fear and the need to avoid mistakes. Fear of criticism, fear of shame, fear of putting something out that someone might judge negatively. It makes you procrastinate, second-guess, and wait for a version of “ready” that never arrives.

High standards create momentum. Perfectionism creates paralysis.

And the hardest part is that from the inside, they can feel exactly the same!

So next time you're feeling stuck, ask yourself:

“Am I still making this better, or am I just afraid to let it go?

3. Self-Doubt Is A Companion

Artists are people who have learned to live with doubt and do the work anyway.

Self-doubt is a companion on this path, and the goal was never to eliminate it. The goal is to keep moving through it.

The job of an artist is to do the work. To create.

The judging part is for the listener, and at that point, it’s out of your hands.

You can’t please or win everyone.

There are billions of people in the world, billions of users on platforms like TikTok alone. Not everyone will connect with you or your music. That’s not personal - it’s just math.

When you’re stuck in self-doubt, ask yourself:

“What am I so worried about?”

For me, it’s almost always judgment, insecurity, or failure.

And the answer to combating that always takes me back to #2, the need to let go of perfectionism, *aka* ego.

4. Compare Yourself to Who You Were Yesterday, Not With Who Someone Else Is Today

It’s easy to compare ourselves with the people we see online, simply because we can’t escape it. Social media is dominated by influencers who only highlight the best moments of their lives. “Content creator” is an actual job now. So naturally, if that’s not your full-time job, watching content creators can make you feel like you’re not producing enough.

Going back to my earlier point about staying committed to yourself: do whatever it takes to keep yourself in the healthiest mindset possible. You're in it for the long game, so it has to be sustainable.

If there are accounts you follow that started as aspirational but now give you a toxic or negative feeling about yourself or your trajectory, mute or unfollow them.

As an artist, keeping your creative space sacred and your mind clutter-free is crucial.

It takes discipline, so it’s never a one-and-done task. It takes constant awareness to keep your algorithm from learning your weaknesses.

We live in a noisy world, and every bit of noise cancellation helps these days.

Instead of looking at artists who’ve achieved more visible success, look at yourself and ask,

“What’s one thing I can do today that will make me 1% better than yesterday?”

If you’re overwhelmed or have no idea where to start, grab a blank piece of paper and write down your goals. Then break them down into tasks. The more granular the better, because each task feels doable on its own, and you’re not chasing one giant, fluffy milestone.

Being able to cross off even one task today makes you better than you were yesterday.

5. Enthusiasm Over Discipline

Don’t get me wrong, discipline is necessary. In fact, in my experience, what separates a successful artist from the rest is discipline. Not in some boring, Type A kind of way. Discipline is having specific goals, a relentless drive, and staying committed to them. Knowing that it's not always going to feel good, and doing the work anyway.

But you know those days when you’re just “not in the mood” to create?

Some might call that a lack of discipline, but I think it’s a lack of enthusiasm.

Art is not created on autopilot.

At least not the meaningful kind. No amount of willpower can help you create something great if you don’t really feel it.

Enthusiasm is an ongoing energy supply tapped into the flow of life. It’s grounded in play, not obligation. It’s reconnecting with our inner child, getting back in touch with that spark you experienced as a kid. The first time you ever felt excited by something.

As we grow older, that spark dims under the weight of having real-life responsibilities. On top of that, maybe you’re surrounded by people who don’t bring it out in you, or even suppress it. Whatever the case, you never lose it. You just need to find a way to access it again.

When you catch yourself “not in the mood”, ask yourself,

“What will make me excited to ______ right now?”

The 'I should be doing this, I should be doing that' spiral is just self-punishment. It's unproductive because deep down, you already know what needs to be done, and after all that guilt, you're probably not going to do it anyway.

Another way to reignite enthusiasm is by practicing gratitude.

We naturally feel grateful when an opportunity comes our way. So what if we reframe what feels like an obligation into an opportunity?

The most common struggle I've seen with many artists I've worked with is making TikTok content for their music. It can be genuinely soul-draining. But it's become non-negotiable. I've had artists tell me they face being dropped by their label if they don't post. The anxiety around it is completely legitimate.

The bad news for artists who struggle with content is that you really can’t control the fact that it’s no longer optional.

The good news is, you CAN control your mindset and make it work in your favor.

What if instead of saying,

“I HAVE to post a TikTok video today to promote my new music,”

you say,

“I GET to promote my new music today to a brand new audience.”

Because if you really think about it, before platforms like TikTok, reaching new listeners was way harder. Now you can put your music in front of strangers on a bigger scale for free.

The problem with TikTok, however, is that it desensitizes us to engagement numbers. If we don’t have thousands or millions of views, we think it’s a failed post.

If you've ever played a show where your only audience was the bartender who couldn't give a flying f*** about your set, then you know how significant it feels when you have an actual audience. We lose that perspective online. But the point is, those view counts are not nothing. And you didn't start making music for the numbers in the first place.

Today, our perspective gets messed up so quickly and so often that we have to constantly retune back to ourselves.

Social media has a toxic effect on me. Sometimes I swear I can feel and see dark energy radiating off my phone screen! So when I get consumed by feeling lost or behind, I remind myself that I’m grateful that:

I get to wake up every morning with a fresh start.

It is a privilege to be creating art and pursuing my passion.

I am so lucky to have a partner who supports my dream and wants to see me thrive.

I have family and friends who believe in me.

I have all the tools and support I could ask for.

The unknown is an opportunity for growth.

These reminders never fail to bring me back up from the rut. They remind me that I'm the only one getting in the way of my own path, and that showing up for myself every day is the only way to move forward and find clarity. And if the right path doesn't exist yet, I have to pave my own.

What’s a reminder that resonated with you most? What are some reminders you like to keep going back to? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

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Apple Music Launches AI Transparency Tags — But Only If Labels and Distributors Declare Them

Apple Music has introduced Transparency Tags, a metadata system that flags when AI has been used to create artwork, tracks, compositions, or music videos. Labels and distributors can apply them now and will be required to for future deliveries. The catch: Apple is relying entirely on self-reporting. There’s no detection technology on their end, and if a tag is omitted, the system assumes no AI was involved.

Compare that to Deezer, which built its own detection infrastructure. Deezer is now receiving over 60,000 fully AI-generated tracks per day, with synthetic content making up roughly 39% of all daily deliveries. They’ve tagged over 13.4 million AI-generated tracks and report that up to 85% of streams on those tracks were fraudulent in 2025.

Sono Hikari Take: Two models are emerging for AI transparency: one that trusts the supply chain to police itself, and one that verifies independently. Apple’s approach matters for good-faith actors, but the people uploading AI content to game royalty pools aren’t going to voluntarily tag their tracks.

Deezer’s detection system, which can identify 100% AI-generated content from tools like Suno and Udio, is the more consequential infrastructure. They’ve already begun licensing it to collecting societies. If detection becomes the industry standard rather than self-reporting, it changes the economics for everyone. That 85% fraud rate on AI-generated streams isn’t a platform problem. It’s money being siphoned from the royalty pools that pay real artists.

For Self-Label Artists: I've recently started including an AI disclosure clause in producer agreements, requiring producers to confirm whether they used AI-generated output from platforms like Suno or Udio. As more producers incorporate these tools into their workflows, this kind of protection matters. You don't want to find out after release that your song has been flagged with an AI tag you didn't know about. Beyond contracts, keep your metadata airtight, your credits accurate, and check what your distributor's AI settings look like. The artists who benefit from transparency frameworks are the ones whose ownership is already documented clearly.

Charlie Puth Named Chief Music Officer at AI Music Company Moises

Charlie Puth has been named Chief Music Officer at Moises, an AI platform that offers production tools like vocal isolation and mastering. Unlike Suno and Udio, Moises doesn’t generate music from prompts. It provides non-generative tools designed to speed up the recording process. Puth, who produces and engineers his own music, described AI done right as something that helps artists learn and explore rather than replacing them.

Sono Hikari Take: This distinction gets lost in the broader AI conversation. There’s a real difference between AI that generates music for you and AI that helps you make music better and faster. Moises falls in the second category. Vocal isolation, stem separation, mastering assistance: these are production tools that save time and lower costs, the same way a better plugin does.

Charlie Puth feels like the right person for this role. Beyond his success as a recording artist, he’s built a massive following on TikTok through his “Professor Puth” series, where he breaks down production techniques, music theory, and the craft behind the sounds. He’s someone who genuinely keeps the art of production visible in a generation that’s increasingly exposed to prompt-based output. Having him attached to a tool that enhances the creative process rather than replacing it sends the right message.

For Self-Label Artists: If you’re producing your own music, tools like Moises are worth exploring. Vocal isolation for reference tracks, quick mastering for demos, and stem separation for remixes. These aren’t replacing your process. They’re removing friction from it. The cost of professional-grade production tools continues to drop, and that’s a direct advantage for artists building without a label budget.

South Korea’s Music Industry Unites to Declare ‘War’ on AI Copyright Infringement

Six of South Korea’s major music industry organizations have formed a coalition declaring a “state of emergency” against AI copyright infringement. The coalition includes organizations representing songwriters, performers, labels, and entertainment producers, with council members from HYBE, SM Entertainment, JYP, YG, and the local arms of Sony, Warner, and Universal.

Their demands: a ban on unauthorized AI training without creator consent, mandatory transparency in AI generation, and clear standards for distinguishing human-created work from AI output. They’re also building blockchain-based infrastructure to link ISWC, ISRC, YouTube Content ID, and Korea’s UCI into a unified system for tracking and distributing royalties in real time.

Sono Hikari Take: South Korea is treating AI copyright as an existential issue rather than a policy conversation. When six organizations spanning the entire rights chain form a joint task force and call it a “declaration of war,” that tone will ripple outward.

What makes this more than a public statement is what they’re building behind the demands. Right now, rights data in the music industry is scattered across different organizations and systems that don’t talk to each other. That fragmentation is one of the reasons it’s so hard to track who owns what and make sure the right people get paid. South Korea’s coalition is building a unified system to fix that, and they want it to become the global standard.

They’re also already enforcing stricter rules than anyone in the US. KOMCA, South Korea’s largest music copyright collective, requires creators to certify that AI was not used when registering new works. If they find out otherwise, they can withhold royalties or remove the work entirely.

For Self-Label Artists: The standards being built in one major market tend to influence global policy, and what South Korea is implementing now is a preview of where the industry is heading everywhere. It's worth paying attention to how AI rules are evolving, because the consequences are real: automatic AI tagging on your releases, withheld royalties, or removed registrations. If you're working with producers, make sure you know whether they're using AI-generated tools in the process. That conversation needs to happen before anything gets delivered, not after your song gets flagged. Keep your metadata transparent, your credits accurate, and your rights clearly documented. When global standards tighten, the artists who are already organized benefit first.

Nearly 50% of All US Consumers Use TikTok as a Search Engine

A new Adobe study found that 49% of American consumers now use TikTok as a search engine, up from 41% in 2024. Among Gen Z, that number is 65%. The most common search categories are recipes, beauty advice, restaurant recommendations, new music, and product recommendations. Google still leads as the most trusted source at 85%, but search behavior is expanding across formats. Also notable: 14% of consumers said they’re more likely to use ChatGPT than Google for search, distributed fairly evenly across generations.

Sono Hikari Take: The important detail for music: “new music” is one of the top search categories on TikTok. People aren’t just stumbling on songs in their feed. They’re actively searching for music the way they used to search on Google or Spotify.

If half of US consumers are using TikTok as a search engine, your content needs to be findable, not just scrollable. Song titles, genre descriptors, mood language: the keywords people type into TikTok’s search bar matter as much as the content itself. This isn’t about virality. It’s about being present when someone is looking for exactly what you make.

For Self-Label Artists: Think about TikTok as a search engine, not just a content feed. Use descriptive captions, relevant hashtags, and clear text on screen. If someone types “chill indie folk” or “dark R&B” into TikTok’s search bar, you want your music in those results. Also worth noting: TikTok recently introduced Local Feeds, making it easier for users to discover local artists and events. If you’re playing shows or doing anything with a physical location attached, that’s more discoverable now than it used to be.

Robert Kyncl Talks Suno, AI, the Value of Music and More at Morgan Stanley Event

Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl used a Morgan Stanley conference to argue that AI represents a growth opportunity for the music industry. He cited Suno’s 2 million paid subscribers and $300 million in annual revenue as proof that AI creation platforms are an incremental revenue source. He described WMG’s AI licensing deals as variable, revenue-share structures rather than flat fees, and predicted AI creation tools would eventually migrate to the major DSPs.

His most significant argument: AI could shift royalty distribution from a market-share model to an attribution model, where value flows to the specific works used as inputs for AI-generated content. He suggested this would reward “familiar and iconic” content. He also detailed WMG’s internal AI tools for catalog management and revenue forecasting, and pushed back on the idea that AI diminishes the role of major labels.

Sono Hikari Take: Let’s be direct about what Kyncl is telling investors: AI is good for Warner because it creates new licensing revenue, rewards catalog ownership, and makes discoverability harder for artists to solve alone.

The most important thing he said: as AI creation platforms grow, a new stream of royalty revenue is emerging where artists get paid based on whether their songs get used as source material by AI tools, not based on plays. Sony is already moving in this direction, recently launching their own AI detection system that can identify when their artists' music has been used to generate AI output. That model funnels money toward the artists and catalogs people already know. Major labels with decades of recognizable hits are positioned to benefit the most. For independent artists still building their catalogs, that's a structural disadvantage being written into the next version of the business model.

For Self-Label Artists: This is exactly why infrastructure matters now as a self-label artist. A new revenue model is being built where catalog recognition determines who gets paid, and major labels are already investing in the detection systems to make sure they collect. This means you need to be building the things that protect your position: a properly registered catalog, clean metadata, a clear artist identity, and a growing body of work that's documented and discoverable. The artists who have that in place will have options no matter how the model shifts.

In Case You Missed It:

Read This Before You Use Suno

5 Hacks to Start Operating Like Your Own Label

One Thing To Carry With You This Week:

"If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one."

- Dolly Parton

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‘Say No to Suno’: Artist Rights Groups Push Back Against AI Music Company

A coalition of artist rights organizations published an open letter titled “Say No to Suno,” calling out the AI music platform for what they describe as unauthorized training on copyrighted music and flooding streaming platforms with AI-generated content. Signatories include the Music Artists Coalition, the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance, the Artist Rights Alliance, and several other advocacy groups. The letter accuses Suno of being a “brazen smash and grab” operation and draws a pointed comparison to the recent Louvre jewelry heist. The campaign arrives during a turbulent stretch for Suno, where the company simultaneously announced 2 million paid subscribers and $300 million in annual revenue, while still facing active copyright lawsuits from UMG and Sony. The letter also raised concerns about Deezer’s research showing that up to 85% of streams on fully AI-generated tracks are fraudulent.

Sono Hikari Take: The timing of this letter couldn’t be more strategic. The same week artist advocates publicly call Suno a threat to the creative ecosystem, the company reports numbers that prove millions of people are paying for exactly what artists are protesting. What’s also worth paying attention to is the “walled garden” debate underneath all of this. UMG’s licensing deals with Udio require AI-generated music to stay inside the platform and not be distributed elsewhere. Suno’s deal with Warner doesn’t include that restriction. The industry is splitting into two camps over whether AI-generated music should be allowed to leave the platform where it was created. That question will shape how much AI content ends up competing with your music on streaming platforms, and how royalty pools are affected.

The fraud numbers from Deezer also deserve more attention than they’re getting. If 85% of streams on AI-generated tracks are artificial, this isn’t just an artistic integrity issue - it’s a direct financial hit on the royalty pool that pays real artists. Every fraudulent stream on an AI-generated track is money that doesn’t go to artists.

For Self-Label Artists: The practical move right now is the same one it’s been: make sure your catalog is properly registered, and your metadata is airtight across every platform. As detection tools, licensing frameworks, and compensation models emerge, the artists who benefit first will be the ones whose ownership is documented clearly and completely. Also worth checking - does your distributor have AI licensing settings you don’t know about? Know what you’ve opted into. The decisions being made at the industry level right now will affect your royalty statements within the next year.

TIDAL Expands Its Spotlight Program to More Artists

TIDAL has expanded its Spotlight program into Canada, the UK, and several European markets, opening up editorial promotion and cash awards to more independent artists. The program is tied to TIDAL Upload, the platform’s direct publishing tool, where artists upload original tracks, make them public, and become eligible for editorial placement and a one-time $1,000 award if selected by TIDAL’s editorial team. There’s no separate application process. Eligible countries now include the US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Poland, Sweden, Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland.

Sono Hikari Take: This is a small but meaningful signal. In a landscape where algorithmic discovery dominates, and most platforms reward existing momentum, TIDAL is pairing human editorial curation with direct financial incentives. A $1,000 award won’t transform anyone’s career, but the model itself is interesting - it says that editorial selection based on musical quality should come with compensation, not just a playlist add and a pat on the back.

I recently visited TIDAL in New York City, and their passion for supporting artists was refreshing to experience. Their staff prides itself on actually listening to every single submission. They’re aware they’re a small team, and they’re not trying to compete with Spotify - their focus is providing meaningful service to artists with artist-friendly payouts, and they’re able to do that because they’re a subsidiary of Block, the financial company. It will be interesting to see how their business shifts amid Block’s recent major layoffs, but regardless, TIDAL is a platform independent artists should be taking advantage of.

The deeper point here is the philosophy behind it. Most streaming platforms treat playlist placement as a favor. TIDAL is treating it as something that deserves payment. For independent artists who often pour hundreds or thousands of dollars into releases without any guaranteed return, a platform that pays you for being selected, rather than expecting you to pay for promotion, is a different value proposition entirely.

For Self-Label Artists: If you’re distributing to TIDAL and you’re in an eligible country, make sure you’re using TIDAL Upload for your original releases. The barrier to entry is low, and there is no pitching process, no gatekeeping beyond your distributor. The editorial selection is competitive, but the combination of visibility and a cash award makes it one of the better risk-free opportunities available to independent artists right now. Even if you don’t get selected, having your catalog present on TIDAL Upload positions you for future consideration.

Primary Wave Nears Deal to Acquire Kobalt, Which Would Create a $7B Indie Music Powerhouse

Primary Wave is reportedly in advanced negotiations to acquire Kobalt Music Group, the world’s largest independent music publishing administration company. If the deal goes through, the combined entity would represent over $7 billion in assets. Primary Wave’s portfolio includes stakes in the catalogs of Prince, Whitney Houston, Bob Marley, and Britney Spears. Kobalt administers over 1 million songs and represents songwriters including Max Martin, Karol G, Andrew Watt, and Phoebe Bridgers. The deal would give Primary Wave its own publishing administration infrastructure for the first time, plus control of Kobalt’s AMRA digital royalty collection operation, which collects directly from streaming services rather than routing through local societies. Kobalt is currently generating roughly $100 million in EBITDA and could fetch a sale price exceeding $1.5 billion.

Sono Hikari Take: Kobalt built its reputation as the tech-forward alternative to traditional publishing with transparent royalty tracking, faster payments, and a platform designed for self-publishing songwriters. Primary Wave is a catalog acquisition machine with deep pockets and a roster of iconic legacy rights. When these two models combine, the question is which philosophy wins.

Kobalt’s newer service, KOSIGN, which provides publishing administration to independent songwriters who often have no other way to collect publishing royalties on their masters, is a growing part of this equation. If you’re an independent artist releasing music and not collecting your publishing royalties - and many aren’t -services like KOSIGN, Songtrust, and Word Collections exist to close that gap. Whether this acquisition strengthens or deprioritizes that side of Kobalt’s business is worth watching.

This deal also sits alongside BMG’s reported talks to acquire Concord. Two of the biggest independent music companies could change hands in 2026, which means the “independent” sector is consolidating in ways that start to look less “independent” by the year.

For Self-Label Artists: If you’re not collecting your publishing royalties, this is your reminder. Every time your song is streamed, there are two sets of royalties: one for the recording (your master) and one for the composition (your publishing). Most independent artists collect the first and most think that their PRO covers all their publishing royalties. Services like KOSIGN and Songtrust close that gap.

Google Acquires AI Music Startup ProducerAI

Google has acquired ProducerAI, the AI music creation platform formerly known as Riffusion, and brought the team into Google Labs. ProducerAI uses Google DeepMind’s Lyria 3 model to let users generate tracks, remix audio, write lyrics, create album art, and produce music videos through an interactive AI agent. The platform was developed in collaboration with The Chainsmokers and Grammy-winning rapper Lecrae. All content created through ProducerAI is embedded with SynthID, Google’s imperceptible watermark for identifying AI-generated content. The acquisition came just one week after Google launched Lyria 3 inside Gemini, which generates up to 30-second music clips for consumer use. ProducerAI is available globally with free and paid plans.

Sono Hikari Take: Google is making a clear two-pronged play in AI music. Lyria 3 inside Gemini is the consumer-facing side: short clips for social sharing and casual use. ProducerAI is the creator-facing side, with longer-form production tools aimed at people who actually want to make music. The fact that Google separated these two approaches tells you something about where they think the market is heading.

The SynthID watermarking is the detail I’m paying most attention to. If Google embeds an invisible, persistent watermark in every piece of audio generated through its AI tools, that creates a system where AI-generated content can theoretically be identified and tracked across platforms. That’s meaningful for the fraud and royalty dilution conversation happening around Suno. But it also raises a question worth sitting with: if an artist uses just one AI-generated part and the rest is human-played, their entire song could still potentially be flagged as AI. Whether other AI music companies adopt similar transparency measures, or are required to, will shape how this industry evolves.

The bigger picture: this acquisition happened the same week as the “Say No to Suno” campaign. Google is betting that the path forward is building AI music tools with artist endorsements and built-in identification systems, not fighting the copyright battles Suno is still fighting. Whether that approach earns trust from the broader creative community remains an open question.

For Self-Label Artists: AI music tools are not going away. They are getting more sophisticated, better funded, and more integrated into the platforms you already use. Your competitive advantage as a human artist isn’t that you can make music — it’s that you can make music that means something, that comes from somewhere real, and that carries a story only you can tell. That’s the part AI can’t replicate. Lean into it.

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Sony Group Develops Tech to Track Original Music in AI-Generated Songs

Sony Group has reportedly developed technology capable of identifying copyrighted music embedded in AI-generated tracks. The system works two ways: when AI developers cooperate, Sony connects directly to their base model systems to extract training data. When they don’t cooperate, the system compares AI-generated output against existing catalogs to estimate which original works were used. The research was developed by Sony AI, a paper has been accepted at an international conference, and the company envisions the technology as the foundation of a revenue-sharing framework that would compensate creators based on how much their work contributed to an AI-generated song.

Sono Hikari Take: As much as I’d like to call this a clear win for human creators, the more important question is who actually benefits from a system like this. Sony is the world’s largest record label. When they build AI detection technology, it’s reasonable to assume it was designed around their catalog and their artists first.

There’s also a deeper problem here that the “30% Beatles, 10% Queen” framing exposes. Who wasn’t influenced by The Beatles? That kind of attribution framework may work for direct sampling, but music doesn’t work that way. Artists influence each other in overlapping, non-linear ways. Think about James Taylor, Carole King, and Joni Mitchell shaping each other’s sounds simultaneously in the early 70s. How granular does this system actually get, and who decides where influence ends and infringement begins?

Each major label will likely build its own version of this technology, and when that happens, the systems will reflect who funded them. Expect competing tools, competing standards, and competing claims over which artist the AI was actually influenced by.

For Self-Label Artists: Your music can end up in AI training datasets whether you opt in or not. Start thinking about your catalog as something that has value in this ecosystem, not just on streaming platforms. Register your songs everywhere they can be registered. Keep your metadata clean and current. If compensation frameworks do emerge from technology like this, the artists who can clearly prove ownership and document their catalog will be the ones positioned to benefit. You can’t collect what you can’t prove is yours.

This Machine Eats Music: Pushing Back Against AI in Art

The Nashville Scene published a deep look at the growing resistance to AI in music and art, examining how artists in Nashville and beyond are pushing back against the rapid normalization of AI-generated work. The piece explores the human cost of AI replacing session musicians, demo singers, and songwriters, and the philosophical questions around what it means to create art in an era when machines can produce something that sounds convincingly human. It also examines who benefits from this shift and who loses ground.

Sono Hikari Take: Nashville is the most songwriter-centric city in American music, which makes it a particularly sharp lens for this conversation. The artists speaking out in this piece are not technophobes or people afraid of change. They are working professionals watching a livelihood disappear in real time, often without the industry's acknowledgment that anything significant is happening. When AI can generate a demo in seconds for free, the entire infrastructure of how songs get made and paid for changes overnight. For self-label artists, the tools that lower production costs are real and useful. Worth sitting with, though, is the fact that those same tools are devaluing the craft that made the music worth making in the first place.

For Self-Label Artists: Think carefully about where you draw your own lines with AI tools. Using AI to streamline admin work, generate reference tracks, or spark ideas is one conversation. Using AI-generated music in your artist output without disclosure is a different one. Your audience trusts that when they listen to you, there is a human on the other side of that sound. That trust is your most valuable asset, and it is worth protecting.

Spotify Bets on AI Remixes as Pressure to Monetize Grows

On Spotify’s Q4 2025 earnings call, co-CEOs Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström laid out the company’s AI strategy in detail. Spotify reported 751 million monthly active users and paid out $11 billion to the music industry in 2025. Their AI roadmap has two categories: net new music created with generative tools, and “derivatives” of existing songs, including AI-powered remixes and covers. It’s the second category where Spotify appears most excited, describing it as “an untapped opportunity for artists to make money off of their existing IP.” The technology is already built. Licensing is the remaining hurdle. Norström stated directly that Spotify “will not do deals that aren’t good for artists.”

Sono Hikari Take: Spotify’s position as the world’s largest streaming platform gives them real leverage to shape what a “fair” AI deal looks like, and the framing of “artists choosing whether to participate” is a meaningful commitment if it holds. What I’m watching closely is the derivatives feature. Letting fans remix your catalog inside Spotify is a genuinely new revenue model, and for artists who want it, it could be valuable. For artists who don’t want their sound and catalog used to generate variations, the opt-in framing has to be real and clearly enforced. Platforms have a long history of making promises to artists that dissolve quietly when business priorities shift. Spotify’s pressure to monetize AI features will only increase from here.

For Self-Label Artists: Start paying attention to your distributor’s AI licensing settings. Some distributors are already prompting artists to opt in or out of AI training data licensing, sometimes in language buried in terms of service updates, without even letting you know. Know what you’ve agreed to and what you haven’t. When Spotify’s AI derivative features roll out, you will want to understand exactly what participation means for your catalog, your royalties, and your brand before you make a decision.

TikTok Launches Listening Party Feature With Apple Music: How to Host One

TikTok has launched a beta version of a Listening Party feature in partnership with Apple Music, allowing verified artists to host synchronized album listening sessions directly inside TikTok. Fans with active Apple Music subscriptions can hear full tracks in real time while chatting with the artist and each other. Non-subscribers can still join the chat and listen to 30-second previews. Artists can also gamify the experience by setting collective streaming milestones that unlock exclusive content. The feature is currently available to verified artists on TikTok’s iOS app, with the wider rollout still to be announced.

Sono Hikari Take: The discovery-to-listening pipeline has always been broken. A fan hears 15 seconds of a song on TikTok, gets pulled away, and the momentum dies before they make it to a streaming platform. This feature patches that gap by keeping fans inside TikTok while they stream the full track through Apple Music. From a pure artist-to-fan mechanics standpoint, that’s a real improvement. The Listening Party format also creates something meaningful: a shared experience around your music that feels intentional rather than algorithmic. The limitation right now is that it requires both TikTok verification and an Apple Music subscription on the fan side. That’s a smaller audience than it sounds. Curious how this evolves and whether Spotify, YouTube Music, or others get added as partners.

For Self-Label Artists: If you are already verified on TikTok and your music is on Apple Music, this feature is worth experimenting with around a new release. The interactive format rewards artists who have something to say about their music beyond the song itself. Behind-the-scenes stories, lyrics breakdowns, and real-time Q&As make the listening party something fans will actually show up for. Plan it the way you would plan a release event, and promote it across all your channels in advance. The metric to watch is whether fans who attend are converting to saves and follows on Apple Music, which you can track through Apple Music for Artists.

Deezer Refreshes Flow With Advanced Algorithm Upgrade

Deezer has introduced Flow Tuner, a major update to its flagship personalized streaming feature. The upgrade gives listeners direct control over their recommendation algorithm by allowing them to activate or deactivate specific genres and subgenres in real time. The changes reflect immediately in the Flow playlist without requiring likes, dislikes, or skips to signal preferences. Notably, Deezer’s updated Flow also excludes AI-generated tracks from recommendations by default, backed by the company’s proprietary AI detection tool. Deezer is now receiving over 60,000 fully AI-generated tracks per day and has been working to license its detection technology to the wider industry.

Sono Hikari Take: Two things stand out here. First, user-controlled algorithms are a meaningful shift. Platforms have spent years telling listeners that the algorithm knows best, and artists have been at the mercy of recommendation systems they cannot influence or understand. Giving listeners more control changes the dynamic and potentially opens up more room for niche sounds and smaller artists who speak to specific tastes. Second, Deezer’s decision to exclude AI-generated tracks from recommendations by default is a real stance. They are receiving 60,000 AI tracks daily. That number is growing. A platform that actively filters for human-made music in its core recommendation feature is making a values statement. Whether it moves the needle commercially remains to be seen, but it is worth knowing.

For Self-Label Artists: Deezer may not be your primary streaming platform, but genre tags and metadata accuracy matter across every DSP you are on. As recommendation algorithms become more sophisticated and more user-directed, the specificity of how you describe your music becomes more important. If a listener is actively curating for a particular mood, subgenre, or sound, your metadata is what determines whether you show up. Audit how your releases are tagged on every platform and make sure the descriptions match what you are actually making.

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Korea’s Music Giants Target Japan as Paid Streaming Scales Up

Japan’s premium music streaming surged by 14.2 billion plays last year. At the 2026 Korea Music Data Summit, executives from HYBE, SM, JYP, and YG met with analytics firm Luminate to map a data-driven expansion strategy into Japan’s growing paid streaming market. Industry leaders emphasized that intuition-based strategies are no longer enough, pointing to localized release timing, platform prioritization, and fan-to-revenue conversion as the new playbook.

Sono Hikari take: Japan continues to operate as one of the most unique music markets in the world. It’s the second-largest music market in the world accounting for roughly one-third of all premium streams in Asia-Pacific, and still generating massive revenue from physical sales. What stands out here is the shift toward data-driven strategy. These Korean labels are treating Japan as a market that requires precision, localization, and a deep understanding of consumer behavior. That level of intentionality is something self-label artists can learn from, regardless of scale.

For self-label artists: You don’t need a team of analysts to start thinking strategically about where your listeners are. Check your streaming data. Which countries or cities are showing growth? Are you tailoring anything to those audiences, even something as small as release timing or playlist pitching strategy? The labels going into Japan aren’t guessing anymore. Neither should you.

Songs Are Reaching 1 Billion Spotify Streams 14x Faster Than a Decade Ago

Chartmetric’s 2025 Year in Music report revealed that the average time for a song to reach one billion Spotify streams dropped from 2,729 days in 2015 to 197 days in 2025. In October 2023, BTS member Jungkook’s Seven broke the record for the fastest song to reach one billion Spotify streams at 108 days. Three times as many artists reached “Superstar” status in 2025, but sustaining that level of chart dominance is becoming harder. Regional genres like Bollywood, K-pop, Brazilian funk, and Reggaeton are among the fastest-growing sounds globally. South Korea now accounts for five times as many artists in the top 1,000 compared to 2020, and India’s share surged from 0.6% to 11%.

Sono Hikari take: The speed of consumption is accelerating, and so is the speed at which attention fades. More artists are breaking through than ever before, but staying power is shrinking. That paradox is worth sitting with. The report also highlights something important: regional genres and non-English-speaking markets are driving global growth. The music industry is becoming less centralized, and artists rooted in specific cultural identities are finding global audiences. The old model of needing to break through in the U.S. or UK first is losing its grip.

For self-label artists: If your music is rooted in a specific sound, culture, or region, that’s an asset. The data is proving that authenticity and cultural specificity travel further than ever. And if you’re worried about not hitting viral numbers, remember that the artists sustaining long careers are the ones building loyal audiences, not chasing the fastest billion-stream milestone.

Epidemic Sound Launches Global Artist Series Featuring Reworked Tracks From Catalogue

Epidemic Sound launched “re/works by Epidemic Sound,” a global series inviting artists to reimagine tracks from their catalogue of over 50,000 songs. The reworked tracks will live across streaming platforms, social media, and brand partnerships. The Swedish edition kicks off with artists like Kleerup and Jenny Wilson, with a UK edition planned for autumn. Their previous initiative, Extra Version, amassed over a billion views across YouTube and TikTok in six months.

Sono Hikari take: The re/works concept is smart. Inviting established artists to reimagine existing catalogue tracks gives those artists visibility across Epidemic Sound’s massive creator and brand network, and the numbers back it up. Their previous initiative, Extra Version, pulled over a billion views across YouTube and TikTok in six months. That’s real exposure. For producers and musicians who thrive on making mood-driven, sync-ready music, this kind of opportunity can generate meaningful income and connect their sound to audiences they might never reach on their own. Worth knowing before you dive in: Epidemic Sound owns 100% of the rights to every track in its catalogue, including masters, composition, and neighboring rights. Artists receive an upfront fee and a 50/50 streaming split, but the ownership is permanent. That model works well for musicians who want steady studio income creating vibe and atmosphere tracks for creators and brands. For artists focused on building a fanbase under their own name, the trade-off is worth understanding clearly before signing anything.

For self-label artists: Programs like this can be a solid revenue layer if you treat them as work-for-hire, separate from your artist project. The exposure is real, and the pay structure is transparent. Just go in with your eyes open. Know what you’re keeping and what you’re giving up. If ownership is your priority, protect your artist catalogue and use opportunities like this strategically on the side, not as the foundation of your career.

YouTube Rolls Out an AI Playlist Generator for Premium Users

YouTube now allows Premium users on iOS and Android to create playlists using text or voice prompts. Users can type something like “sad post-rock” or “90s classic hits,” and the AI builds a playlist. Spotify, Amazon Music, and Deezer have all rolled out similar features. YouTube also recently restricted free users from viewing song lyrics, pushing more features behind the Premium paywall. Google reported 325 million paying subscribers across Google One and YouTube Premium.

Sono Hikari take: AI-generated playlists are becoming the norm across every major platform. For listeners, it's convenient. For artists, it’s not so black and white. AI playlists could surface music that editorial playlists would never touch, expanding discovery for smaller artists. But if algorithms are doing the curating, the already-existing bias toward popular and familiar-sounding tracks could deepen. It's also worth noting that more platforms are locking lyrics behind premium paywalls. That move actually validates something artists have always known: listeners care about lyrics. If platforms see enough value in words to charge for access to them, that's even more incentive to be intentional with yours.

For self-label artists: As AI playlists become more common, your metadata matters more than ever. Genre tags, mood descriptors, and accurate song information all influence how algorithms categorize and surface your music. Make sure your distributor uploads are detailed and correct. And keep building direct connections with your fans outside of any platform. The algorithm changes constantly. Your email list and community don’t.

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"Art is created in the present. The motivation for the creation can be commercial. But that art is limited in its power by its intentions."

— Quincy Jones

Apple Music Flagged 2 Billion Fake Streams in 2025, Then Doubled Its Penalties

Apple Music revealed that the platform identified and demonetized roughly 2 billion fraudulent streams last year, representing an estimated $17 million in royalties that would have been siphoned from legitimate artists. The company has now doubled its fraud penalties from a 5-25% range to 10-50% of would-be royalties. Schusser pointed to the surge in AI-generated content as a driving factor. For context, Deezer reported receiving approximately 60,000 AI-generated tracks per day, with up to 85% of streams from fully AI-produced music flagged as fraudulent in 2025.

Sono Hikari take: Two billion fraudulent streams sounds enormous, but Apple says that’s still less than 0.5% of total listening on the platform. The real story is what’s driving the increase: AI-generated music created specifically to game royalty distribution. These aren’t artists using AI as a creative tool. These are fraud networks manufacturing AI tracks at scale to extract money from the same pool your music earns from. Every fake stream that gets paid dilutes the per-stream value for everyone. The penalty doubling is a step, but the deeper issue remains: the royalty system was built on the assumption that music comes from real people making real art. That assumption is now being stress-tested daily. Platforms that take enforcement seriously are protecting the ecosystem artists depend on.

For self-label artists: This is why clean metadata, proper registration, and understanding your royalty infrastructure matters more than ever. The money reclaimed from fraudulent streams goes back into the pool, which means it finds its way to artists who are registered correctly and playing by the rules. Are your songs properly registered with your PRO, publishing admin, and SoundExchange? If not, you’re leaving the reclaimed money on the table too.

Spotify Ditches the Blue Checkmark “Registered Artist”

Spotify is replacing its blue Verified Artist checkmark with a new label: “Spotify Registered Artist.” The designation moves from the prominent checkmark placement to the About section of your profile. Spotify says the change is about clarity. The blue check was being interpreted as a status symbol or endorsement, when it really just meant an artist had claimed their profile through Spotify for Artists.

Sono Hikari take: This is purely a cosmetic update. Your algorithm standing, playlist eligibility, royalties, and access to Spotify for Artists tools remain exactly the same. But the rebrand does say something about how "verification" has been culturally distorted across platforms. After Twitter's checkmark chaos and Meta turning verification into a paid purchase, the word "verified" lost its meaning entirely. What's worth noting is what this rebrand doesn't address. At a time when platforms are drowning in AI-generated uploads (remember Deezer's 60,000 AI tracks per day), there's no mention of "Registered Artist" being used to distinguish human artists from AI-generated profiles. That feels like a missed opportunity. A label that signals "this is a real person making real music" would carry actual weight right now. Instead, "Registered" just means you claimed your profile.

For self-label artists: Have you claimed your profile on every platform where your music lives? Spotify for Artists, Apple Music for Artists, Amazon Music for Artists, YouTube for Artists. Each one gives you data and tools that help you understand how your audience is finding you.

Spotify Upgrades Lyrics With Offline Access and Global Translations

Spotify announced updates to its lyrics feature by now appearing directly beneath album artwork for more prominent placement, expanding translations globally (up from 25 markets), and Premium subscribers getting access to lyrics offline. Spotify says user tests showed the more prominent lyrics placement increased engagement with the feature.

Sono Hikari take: The global translations expansion is genuinely interesting for self-label artists thinking about international audiences. If your lyrics are now accessible in multiple languages, listeners in markets you haven’t actively targeted can engage more deeply with your music. This is especially relevant for English-speaking artists with growing international streaming numbers. It lowers one barrier to connection without requiring any extra effort on your end.

For self-label artists: If you’re seeing international streaming activity in your Spotify for Artists data, pay attention to which countries are showing up. Expanded lyric translations could deepen engagement in those markets organically. And if you haven’t checked your lyrics on Spotify recently, make sure they are accurate. These are now front and center in the listening experience.

How Splice Automated Royalty Payments, and Why It Matters Beyond Splice

Digital Music News highlighted how sample marketplace Splice overhauled its royalty payment system through automation. Their finance team had been manually processing 900+ royalty payments each quarter, a process that took two weeks per cycle, totaling eight weeks of manual work per year. After implementing automated payment infrastructure, that same process now takes less than an hour.

Sono Hikari take: This story is a sponsored case study, so take the framing with that context. But the underlying principle is relevant beyond Splice. The music industry’s payment infrastructure has historically been slow, manual, and opaque. When companies like Splice, Symphonic, and others invest in automating their royalty operations, it means faster, more accurate payments to the artists and producers creating on those platforms. For self-label artists, this is a reminder that the platforms and services you choose to work with matter. A distributor or sample marketplace that has invested in its payment infrastructure and transparency is more likely to pay you correctly and on time. When you’re evaluating distributors, ask about payment timelines and how they handle royalty accounting alongside the feature comparison.

For self-label artists: When was the last time you audited your own payment infrastructure? Do you know when each of your revenue sources pays out, how much they take in fees, and whether your banking details are up to date across every platform? Building that awareness is part of operating like your own label.

Olivia Dean and Lola Young’s Grammy Win Is a Masterclass in Patience

Olivia Dean took home Best New Artist at the 2026 Grammys, becoming the first British act to win that category since Dua Lipa in 2019. Fellow Brit Lola Young also won Best Pop Vocal Performance for “Messy.” Dean’s acceptance speech hit hard: “I’m up here as a granddaughter of an immigrant. I’m a product of bravery, and I think those people deserve to be celebrated.” Her single “Man I Need” is now sitting at No. 2 on the US Hot 100, and The Art of Loving has rebounded to its No. 3 peak.

Sono Hikari take: What stands out about Dean’s trajectory is the years that came before the Grammy. She spent half a decade putting out EPs, testing different musical approaches, and building her craft before most people outside the UK knew her name. She recorded The Art of Loving in a rented East London flat because she wanted to control the environment, to set the tone of the room herself. She told Billboard last year, “I’ve never been on the charts before, and I’ve been putting out music for quite a long time.” That’s someone who was making music because the music mattered to her. The Grammy didn’t create her artistry. It confirmed what years of patient, intentional work had already built.

For self-label artists: Dean’s story is worth sitting with. Are you building something you’d be proud of even without the big moment? What would your career look like if you gave yourself permission to develop at your own pace, instead of measuring progress by someone else’s timeline?

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Olivia Dean just won Best New Artist at the 2026 Grammys. And if you watched her acceptance speech, you saw something refreshing: an artist who looked genuinely stunned. She took the stage in tears, hugged Chappell Roan, and said, “I never really imagined that I would be up here.”

She thanked her “best friend and manager” Emily, the same manager who discovered her at a school showcase ten years ago. “An artist is really nothing without their team,” she said.

And then she addressed the room. “I’m up here as a granddaughter of an immigrant. I’m a product of bravery, and I think those people deserve to be celebrated. We’re nothing without each other.” Very much in line with her hit album, The Art of Loving. A quiet, powerful statement at a time when the world needed to hear it.

If you're a self-label artist who needs a reminder that patience and artistic integrity actually lead somewhere, this one is for you.

Her rise is one of the strongest cases I've seen for why artistic integrity still wins - even in an industry obsessed with trends.

Yes, She’s Signed. That’s Not the Point.

Olivia Dean is signed to Capitol Records UK, in partnership with Island Records in the US. She has a label and a team. She has infrastructure that most of us are still building.

But the things that drove her success are tools that self-label artists have access to right now.

Patience. Authenticity. Artistic clarity.

Refusing to chase trends that don’t feel aligned. Building a body of work that means something before expecting it to perform.

Those are all choices.

And the people around her campaign keep saying the same thing. Her label’s managing director, Tom Paul, told Billboard that her biggest moments on social media “have always come from fans, not marketing.” EMI’s Rebecca Allen said they never forced her to work with anyone, and that Dean herself would push back on anything that didn’t feel authentic.

That kind of alignment happens when an artist knows who they are.

Seven Years of Becoming

Dean self-released her debut single, “Reason to Stay,” in 2018. She’d taught herself guitar and piano as a teenager, busked on London’s South Bank, and eventually caught her manager Emily Braham’s eye during a performance at the BRIT School where she was a student.

Her first EP was recorded in a converted pub in East London.

Between 2019 and 2023, she released multiple EPs and a debut album, Messy, which peaked at No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart and was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize. But it didn’t break her globally. Not yet.

During the pandemic, when most artists were scrambling to figure out TikTok, Dean travelled the UK in a bright yellow truck sponsored by Clarks, performing mini-gigs in seaside towns. The crowds were often sparse. Some shows were held in a prawn restaurant.

Yes, a prawn restaurant.

She showed up in person, connected through performance, and kept building even when the numbers didn’t justify it.

Then came The Art of Loving in September 2025. It debuted at No. 1 in the UK, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. “Man I Need” hit No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. She became the first British female solo artist to simultaneously have four Top 10 singles on the UK chart.

Seven years. From a pub EP to a Grammy.

The Anti-Trend Strategy

Dean told Music Week in 2023:

“I’m a pretty old soul. I like live gigs, I like doing stuff with bands and I don’t like TikTok. I would never post a video of me talking into my phone because it creeps me the hell out.”

While the industry was telling artists to test hooks on TikTok before finishing songs, to let engagement metrics guide creative decisions, to optimize for the algorithm, Dean was doing the opposite. But it wasn’t a smooth process.

On the And the Writer Is.. podcast, she described a stretch during the making of The Art of Loving where nothing was working. She’d written a few songs she liked early on, but then hit a wall. “There was a whole middle chunk where I was like, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing,” she said. The material wasn’t landing. She had no desire to release it or keep working on it.

Then she visited an art exhibition in LA called All About Love, inspired by bell hooks’ book of the same name. Something clicked. She said,

“It would be interesting for me to make an album in response to the book and the exhibition, and do like a case study almost on love.”

That became the creative anchor for everything that followed. From there, she recorded in a house in East London converted into a live-work studio for eight weeks, making complete songs meant to be listened to as a body of work.

Dean released only one track in an entire year and still sold out multiple London venues. “She was building this audience by putting out very little,” Allen said, “but it was quality content.”

Quality over quantity. That's not about perfectionism or waiting years between releases. It's about taste. Knowing the difference between 'this needs more time' and 'I'm stalling.' Dean knew and that's why it worked.

What the Fans See Is Everything

“She looks like her music.”

“Her music is like waking up on a Saturday morning to sunshine, putting on an old record and making pancakes.”

“You can HEAR her smile.”

“The way she is in love with her own music and performing bleeds through to the fans and her musicians.”

Every comment is about how she makes them feel.

When an artist actually means what they’re making, people can tell. That’s what makes someone hit replay. That’s what makes someone buy a ticket.

That only comes from meaning it.

Your Self-Label Playbook Inside Her Story

1. Know who you are before you ask the world to care.

Dean spent years figuring out her artistic identity. She experimented and released EPs that performed well on streaming but didn’t translate into widespread recognition. She didn’t rush to become something she wasn’t. And when the industry pushed her to fit a specific mold of artists her age, her manager championed Dean’s vision to develop her own Motown-infused soul sound instead.

That kind of alignment doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when an artist knows what they’re building and the people around them respect it.

As a self-label artist, you have something Dean had to negotiate for: full creative control from day one.

2. Your live presence is your strongest asset.

Dean’s team figured out early that her live energy was where the magic was. The Jazz Cafe recordings. The yellow truck tour. Clips of her singing with just a guitar on a balcony in Brazil. Every one of these became organic social content that outperformed any marketing push.

You don’t need a label budget for this. You need a phone, a good room, and the willingness to perform even when the crowd is small. And always film it because that footage will always connect deeper than a video following a trend.

3. Let your creative starting point be something real.

Dean’s album The Art of Loving was inspired by Mickalene Thomas’ art exhibition and bell hooks’ writing about love.

If your starting point is “what will perform well,” you’re building on sand. The stuff that actually connects is specific, deeply personal and rooted in something you felt and experienced.

4. Patience is a strategy.

Billboard’s post-Grammy analysis called Dean’s rise “a lesson in letting potential unfold in its own time.” Her manager Emily Braham put it more directly:

“Instead of having one big break, it’s about building a really good business and catalogue of music.”

This is the part most self-label artists struggle with. You see peers pulling ahead and wonder if something is wrong with your approach. But consistently releasing quality work, building a catalog that means something, showing up with integrity over time... that compounds.

5. Commit to it.

FKA twigs, who also won a Grammy that night, said something that stuck with me:

“To any artist: Don’t give up, follow your vision, do you, because that’s what’s going to make the world fall in love with your art.”

Just because something isn't hitting doesn't mean it's not working. It might take years. Switching directions every time something underperforms doesn't just slow your momentum - it confuses the people trying to follow you. Commit to your identity. No one else is going to show up for you the way you can show up for yourself.

The Deeper Question

If Dean’s story proves anything, it’s that artistic integrity builds over time.

The label infrastructure helped scale her globally. But her voice, her emotional clarity, her refusal to be anything other than herself - all of that existed before the label got involved. That was hers.

As a self-label artist, you’re building the same thing. You’re building the art and the infrastructure at the same time. That takes longer and yes, it requires more patience and discipline. It means some seasons will feel unbearably slow.

I often compare the mindset this requires to an athlete’s. I grew up playing competitive tennis and I can tell you that when a player loses a match, they don’t quit the sport or overhaul their entire technique. They regroup, review what could be better and the next morning, they’re back on the court showing up for themselves and focusing on what they can control and improve. The career doesn’t reset after a loss -it continues. That’s the discipline self-label artists need too. Stay on the court and keep refining.

The foundation you’re building is yours. The catalog is yours. The relationship with your audience is yours. And when the moment comes, whether that’s a sync placement, a viral fan post, or something you can’t predict yet, you’ll be ready. Because you put in the hours becoming undeniably you.

What part of Olivia Dean’s approach resonates most with where you are right now? And what’s one thing you could commit to doing differently this month because of it?

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AI Is Starting to Figure Out Who Deserves to Get Paid

A new framework called “creative weight attribution” is gaining traction in AI licensing, basically, what happens to the artists whose music trained AI-generated music. When an AI generates a track, that output was shaped by millions of existing recordings it learned from. Attribution tech measures how much each source track actually influenced a specific AI output, so the original artists can be compensated accordingly. Startups like Musical AI have built tools that can parse what percentage of a generated output came from which source material, and major labels are already structuring licensing conversations around this model.

It’s worth noting that the U.S. Copyright Office has ruled that prompt-only AI generation doesn’t meet the threshold for copyright ownership. The person who typed the instruction didn’t make the creative decisions - the AI did. Which means the artists whose work trained the model have a stronger claim to what it produces than the person who generated it. Attribution tech is being built to make that compensation trackable and enforceable.

Sono Hikari take: This is the first real mechanism that could put money directly in artists' hands from AI - not just establish the legal right to be paid, but create an actual trackable path to payment. I still have a lot of questions: how deep does the attribution actually trace? If an AI output sounds like Bruno Mars, does it consider his influences too - Lenny Kravitz, Prince, Michael Jackson, Earth, Wind & Fire etc., or does it stop at the surface? And songwriters need to be in this conversation. Some writers create the melodic DNA that defines a song's identity without ever being the performing artist. If attribution tech only measures sonic similarity to recordings, it could miss the most influential element entirely. These are real limitations. But even imperfect attribution is better than the current system, which is nothing. If this works even partially as intended, your music could generate passive income every time it influences an AI output - without you doing anything.

For self-label artists: If an AI tool generated something that sounded like your music tomorrow, would your metadata be clean enough to get found and paid? What does your catalog documentation actually look like right now?

AI’s Most Critical Role in 2026 Isn’t Creation - It’s Rescue

Jacob Varghese, CEO of data company Noctil, wrote an op-ed for Music Business Association that reframes the entire AI debate. His argument: the real threat isn’t AI replacing artists. It’s that legacy rights management systems can’t handle the volume of new licensing revenue that AI deals are about to generate. The music industry is currently sitting on an estimated $2.5 billion in globally unclaimed royalties - money that was earned but never collected because of bad metadata, incorrect identifiers, and siloed databases. As AI licensing deals multiply, that number grows. Varghese’s solution: deploy AI not as a creator, but as a “rescue” tool, as specialized systems designed to clean databases, resolve metadata conflicts, and ensure payments actually reach the right people. He calls it “Janitorial AI.”

Sono Hikari take: Varghese is right, and the stakes are higher than most people realize. The industry isn't just behind on data; it's actively losing money because of it. Here's what a lot of artists don't know: when royalties sit unclaimed because the metadata can't match them to a rights holder, they don't just disappear. After the holding period expires, those unclaimed royalties that are sitting in the “black box” gets redistributed based on market share. Which means it flows to the biggest stakeholders. Major publishers. Major labels. Rarely independent aritsts. The global black box is estimated at $2.5 billion, and independent artists are the ones most likely to lose out because they're the least likely to have airtight registrations. This is exactly why "janitorial AI" is urgent. If the infrastructure can't identify who earned what, the system defaults to whoever already has the most power. Cleaning up the data is crucial to making sure money actually reaches the people who made it.

For self-label artists: Think about the last song you released. Are all your royalty streams actually flowing? When did you last verify your registrations with your PRO, publishing admin, and SoundExchange? Have you audited your metadata recently?

Spotify, Sony, Warner, and UMG Sue Anna’s Archive Over 86 Million Scraped Tracks

In December 2025, a shadow library called Anna’s Archive scraped approximately 300 terabytes of data from Spotify - metadata for 256 million tracks and audio files for 86 million songs. Spotify identified and disabled the accounts responsible almost immediately. Now Spotify, backed by all three major labels, is suing. The potential damages are calculated at nearly $13 trillion, based on the maximum statutory copyright penalty of $150,000 per track, applied to 86 million songs. A preliminary injunction was issued in January by a federal judge in New York. Anna’s Archive did not appear in court.

Sono Hikari take: Someone attempted to duplicate nearly the entire catalog of commercially released music in a single move. The industry responded within days - legally, forcefully, and with all three majors unified. For self-label artists, this is a useful reminder: your music has quantifiable value, and the legal infrastructure around protecting it is being actively enforced right now. This is also a preview of how seriously the AI training data question is being taken. When someone tries to scrape the library, the industry fights back.

For self-label artists: Are you registered with a distributor that would flag unauthorized use of your catalog? Do you actually know what protections are in place for your masters if someone tried to scrape them at scale?

Spotify Paid $11 Billion to the Music Industry in 2025 - And Is Cracking Down on AI Slop

Spotify announced it paid out more than $11 billion to the music industry in 2025 - up over 10% from 2024, and the largest single-year payout from any music retailer in history. Independent artists and labels accounted for half of all royalties. The platform now represents roughly 30% of all recorded music revenue. Spotify’s Head of Music, Charlie Hellman, also flagged something self-label artists should watch closely: AI-generated content is flooding the platform at scale, and Spotify is updating its verification systems, song credits, and artist identity protections to push back. Over 100,000 new tracks are uploaded to Spotify every single day.

Sono Hikari take: $11 billion sounds impressive until you divide it by the number of artists on the platform. And when a significant portion of those 100,000 daily uploads are AI-generated tracks designed to game the royalty pool, the math gets even less friendly for human artists. That dilution is real. The more promising signal is that Spotify is actually moving to protect against it; tightening verification, cleaning up credits, and flagging synthetic uploads. If those systems are built well, it could meaningfully protect your share of the pool. But it only helps you if your own profile, credits, and verification are already in order.

For self-label artists: Is your Spotify artist profile verified? Are your song credits accurate and complete on every track? In a landscape where AI is actively competing for the same royalty pool, your metadata and verification aren’t just housekeeping. They’re defense.

‘Mickey’ Gave ‘APT.’ It's Hook - So Why Aren’t the Original Songwriters Grammy Eligible?

Bruno Mars and Rosé’s “APT.” interpolated the chorus of Toni Basil’s 1982 hit “Mickey.” The songwriters behind “Mickey”, Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn are credited on “APT..” They authorized the use, and they receive royalties. But they are not eligible for a Grammy nomination in Song of the Year. The Recording Academy’s rule is straightforward: Song of the Year honors new creative work from this year. Interpolated material, no matter how central to the song’s identity, doesn’t qualify the original writers for the nomination. Chapman and Chinn are two of 12 credited songwriters on “APT”, but only the ones who wrote new material are nominated. This isn’t a one-off. Multiple 2026 Song of the Year nominees contain interpolations, driven by the reality that short-form platforms reward familiar hooks that grab attention in under three seconds.

Sono Hikari take: The Grammy rule reveals something worth understanding about how the industry values songwriting. The people who created the hook that made “APT.” impossible to get out of your head can get the royalty check and the credits, but not the recognition on music’s biggest night. For self-label artists, the practical takeaway is this: interpolation is increasingly how hits get built, and if your songwriting catalog contains material worth borrowing, you need the infrastructure to license it properly, track when it’s being used, and ensure you’re compensated correctly. Your catalog has a shelf life longer than you think. The value doesn’t disappear when the original release stops charting.

For self-label artists: Have you thought about the long-term value of your songwriting catalog? If someone wanted to sample one of your compositions tomorrow, would you have the splits documented, the licensing infrastructure in place, and a way to track and approve usage?

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One Thing To Carry With You This Week:

“I know people think independence means you do it by yourself, but independence means freedom.” - Chance the Rapper (@The Grammys)

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ElevenLabs Launches “The Eleven Album” With Liza Minnelli, Art Garfunkel & Other Legacy Artists

AI voice company ElevenLabs released “The Eleven Album” on Spotify featuring 13 artists including EGOT-winner Liza Minnelli and Art Garfunkel collaborating with their AI music generation tool. Artists retain full ownership and collect all streaming revenue from their tracks. The album spans genres from rap to EDM, with each artist creating original music using AI-generated backing tracks or voice cloning. Artists are also joining ElevenLabs’ “Iconic Marketplace” where they can license their voice or musical identity for approved brand deals and media projects. The company claims their model is “fully trained on licensed music” and includes “sonic fingerprints” to identify AI-generated content.

Sono Hikari take: This is AI companies attempting legitimacy through celebrity endorsements. When filmmaker Justine Bateman says “the first thing you gotta look at is how much money did they pay them,” she’s naming the reality: these partnerships are marketing, not genuine artistic collaboration. Minnelli’s new EDM track sounds nothing like her legacy work, because it isn’t her work, it’s a voice clone performing over AI-generated music. The real question isn’t whether the technology works. It’s whether this normalizes a model where tech companies profit from artist likenesses while the actual craft - the years spent developing a voice, a sound, an artistic identity, becomes just another dataset to be monetized. ElevenLabs positioning this as “empowering creators” while simultaneously planning to lock all creation inside their platform by 2026 (no downloads, everything stays on their service) reveals the endgame: build dependency, control distribution, extract value. This isn’t about artists. It’s about establishing a closed ecosystem where the platform, not the artist, holds the power.

For self-label artists: If an AI company approached you tomorrow offering money to license your voice or catalog for training, what would you need to know before deciding? What protections would actually matter - not just in the contract, but in how your music gets used once it’s in their system?

Physical Music Sales Set for First Increase in 20 Years—Driven by Vinyl and Gen Z CD Buyers

Physical music sales are on track for their first overall increase since 2004, with vinyl leading at 12.4% growth and CD sales showing the slowest decline in years (down only 1.5% vs. double-digit drops in previous years). Gen Z is driving the resurgence - 43% of CD buyers in France are under 35, and they’re purchasing vinyl, CDs, and cassettes more than any other generation. The appeal isn’t just nostalgia: it’s tangible ownership, superior sound quality, collectability, and direct artist support. In the US, physical sales generated around $2 billion in 2024, with vinyl accounting for $1.4 billion. Smaller artists are increasingly treating physical releases as essential revenue streams rather than niche extras, bundling them with merch at shows.

Sono Hikari take: Physical sales aren’t replacing streaming but they’re serving a different purpose entirely. While streaming prioritizes convenience, physical products prioritize meaning and connection. For superfans, buying physical music is how they express loyalty and participate in an artist’s world. The shift toward premium products (limited editions, colored vinyl, bespoke box sets) over mass distribution means higher margins and stronger emotional engagement, even with lower volumes. What matters here isn’t that physical is “back” - it’s that artists who understand their audience can create revenue streams that aren’t subject to per-stream economics or platform whims. The question becomes: how do you make your physical release feel like an experience rather than just another purchase?

For self-label artists: If you released a physical product tomorrow - vinyl, CD, cassette, what would make it feel essential to your core fans rather than just “nice to have”? What could you offer that streaming can’t replicate?

Aphex Twin Overtakes Taylor Swift on YouTube—Thanks to a 24-Year-Old Track Going Viral

Experimental electronic producer Aphex Twin reached 448 million monthly YouTube listeners in January 2026, surpassing Taylor Swift’s 399 million. The anomaly stems from how YouTube Music calculates monthly listeners: it includes not just direct plays and official videos, but passive consumption through YouTube Shorts, fan uploads, and user-generated content. Aphex Twin’s 2001 track “QKThr” has become a viral background soundtrack for short-form content, meme compilations, and “subtle foreshadowing” / “hopecore” videos. The track has appeared in over 4 million TikTok videos, 530,000 Instagram Reels, and 507,000 YouTube Shorts. On traditional streaming metrics, Aphex Twin has around 5.10 million listeners - still impressive, but nowhere near the YouTube count.

Sono Hikari take: This reveals how discovery works in 2026: algorithms decide what travels, and platform mechanics reshape visibility in ways traditional charts never capture. A minimalist piano piece from 2001 becomes a global phenomenon not because someone marketed it, but because it emotionally resonated in thousands of micro-moments across the internet. This matters for self-label artists because it proves that catalog value isn’t just about playlist placement or release strategy - it’s about whether your music can serve a purpose beyond just being “music.” Can it soundtrack a feeling? Accompany a moment? Become a cultural marker? The passive consumption economy rewards tracks that work in the background, that create atmosphere without demanding full attention. That’s a very different value proposition than trying to manufacture a viral single.

For self-label artists: Looking at your catalog, do you have tracks that could serve a purpose beyond traditional listening - ambient pieces that could soundtrack videos, emotional builds that fit montages, textures that work as background? Are you thinking about your music’s second life beyond the initial release?

Ed Sheeran Lets Fans Vote on His Setlist Every Night—And You Should Consider It Too

Ed Sheeran is letting fans curate five songs in his setlist each night during his Australia/New Zealand Loop Tour, using real-time text voting. He’s committed to learning any song requested - not just his own catalog, creating a different show every night. Fans have already pulled out deep cuts from 2013 and tracks not performed since 2021. The approach transforms concerts from one-way performances into collaborative experiences, giving fans ownership over the show while providing artists with unfiltered data about what truly resonates with their audience regionally.

Sono Hikari take: This isn’t just a gimmick, it’s smart relationship-building. When fans help shape the setlist, they become collaborators rather than spectators. That sense of ownership creates loyalty that extends far beyond the show itself. For self-label artists, the principle applies even if you can’t set up a text-voting system: find ways to give your audience creative input in your live experience. It could be as simple as posting Instagram Stories before a show asking which songs they want to hear, or letting your email list vote on which unreleased track you perform. That mutual respect strengthens the artist-fan relationship in ways that algorithmic playlisting never will.

For self-label artists: What’s one way you could involve your audience in shaping your next live show, release, or creative decision? What would make them feel like collaborators rather than just consumers? Do you have a direct way to engage with them?

Udio Signs AI Licensing Deal with Merlin—Major Labels Now on Board, Indie Artists Still Deciding

AI music platform Udio signed a licensing agreement with Merlin, the digital rights agency representing thousands of independent labels globally. The deal allows Merlin members to opt-in to licensing their recordings for training Udio’s AI models, with compensation and usage rules. Participation is strictly voluntary. The partnership follows similar deals Udio made with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, leaving Sony as the only major not yet involved. Udio has not disclosed payment rates or whether backdated compensation will be offered for music previously used in training. Udio plans to retire its current model in 2026 and relaunch as a closed platform where users can’t download AI-generated tracks—everything stays within the Udio ecosystem.

Sono Hikari take: This is the pattern we keep seeing: AI companies secure legitimacy through licensing deals with major aggregators (labels, rights agencies) while individual artists are left deciding whether to opt in (if they even have that choice) often without clear information about compensation rates or long-term implications. “Opt-in” sounds like consent, but when payment structures aren’t transparent and you don’t know how your music will be used once it’s in the system, how informed is that consent? The bigger issue: Udio is moving toward a closed ecosystem where all creation happens inside their platform and nothing leaves. That’s not empowering artists - that’s building a walled garden where Udio controls distribution, monetization, and access. For self-label artists, the question isn’t “should I let AI train on my music?” It’s “do I trust this company to act in my long-term interest when their business model depends on locking creators and listeners inside their platform?”

For self-label artists: If your distributor or a rights organization you belong to made an AI training deal on your behalf, would you opt in? What information would you need to make that decision and who would you trust to give you honest answers?

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One Thing To Carry With You This Week:

The real threat to your career isn’t new technology, changing platforms, or algorithm shifts. It’s losing your creative “why” - the reason you started making music in the first place. Awareness is your most powerful tool for breaking free from mimetic patterns and external validation. When you feel the pull to chase what everyone else is chasing, pause and ask: Is this what I actually want, or is this what I think I’m supposed to want? That clarity is everything.

-Sono Hikari

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Spotify Launches First-Ever Songwriters To Watch List

Spotify released its inaugural Songwriters to Watch 2026 list, spotlighting emerging songwriters and writer-producers across genres, from Nashville hitmakers to global pop builders. The company’s global editors and Songwriter & Publisher Partnerships team curated the list, with Head of Songwriter & Publisher Partnerships Jacqueline Ankner stating: “Songwriters are the architects of the songs we fall in love with, and too often their stories stay behind the scenes.” Each featured writer has two essential cuts added to a dedicated playlist.

Sono Hikari take: It's genuinely good to see the people who build the songs getting a spotlight. However, the fact that it's taken until 2026 for the world's largest streaming platform to launch something like this says a lot about whose stories have mattered up to now. Even more forgotten than songwriters are the musicians, engineers, mixers and mastering engineers who actually create the recordings. Hopefully, this is a start to not just acknowledging the creators behind the music but making them visible, and creating a healthier ecosystem where everyone involved in the creative process can benefit from exposure in addition to being compensated fairly. Recognition is a start, but it also reminds us how invisible the work has been.

For self-label artists: Are your songwriter credits accurate across all platforms? Is your publishing registered so that recognition can actually translate to compensation? Are you crediting your musicians properly?

Spotify’s AI Deals: Permission-Based or Just Better PR?

Spotify announced partnerships with Sony Music Group, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Merlin, and Believe to develop “artist-first AI music products.” The company outlined four principles: upfront licensing agreements with rightsholders, choice in participation for artists, fair compensation and new revenue streams, and tools that enhance rather than replace human artistry. Spotify stated: “Some voices in the tech industry believe copyright should be abolished. We don’t. Musicians’ rights matter. Copyright is essential. If the music industry doesn’t lead in this moment, AI-powered innovation will happen elsewhere, without rights, consent, or compensation.”

Sono Hikari take: Spotify is using all the right words here: consent, compensation, choice. But it’s important to note that nothing has been signed yet. This is Spotify saying they intend to do things the right way before launching AI products. The big question is whether independent artists who account for roughly half of Spotify's total royalty payouts will be included in these conversations, or if it’s just the major labels at the table. Either way, these discussions are crucial to shaping how AI is used in music for years to come.

For self-label artists: When did you last read your distributor’s terms of service, especially the sections on data usage and AI? Make sure you’re not signing away your songs for AI training purposes and that you have full ownership of your songs.

Bandcamp Bans AI Music: Why It Matters for Real Artists

Bandcamp announced it will no longer permit music “generated wholly or in substantial part by AI” on its platform. The company also prohibited AI tools used to impersonate other artists or styles. In a blog post titled “Keeping Bandcamp Human,” the platform stated: “We believe that the human connection found through music is a vital part of our society and culture, and that music is much more than a product to be consumed.” Users can flag suspected AI content for review, and Bandcamp reserves the right to remove music on suspicion of being AI-generated.

Sono Hikari take: Bandcamp framed this as protecting "the sheer quantity of human creativity and passion that artists express on Bandcamp every single day." That's a different starting point than platforms focused on scale and efficiency. It's not just about banning AI; it's about what kind of space they want to be. Enforcement will be messy, and the line between "AI-assisted" and "AI-generated" isn't clear yet. But in an industry where most platforms are hedging, it's notable when one doesn't.

For self-label artists: Are you distributing on platforms that align with how you want your work treated? If you're using AI music tools like Suno, have you read their latest terms? Some platforms may flag your music as AI-generated to distributors or limit your ownership rights. Understand Suno’s recent fine print here.

Mark Cuban Invests in Live Events Company Burwoodland

Billionaire investor Mark Cuban made a significant investment in Burwoodland, the New York-based live events company behind Emo Night Brooklyn, Gimme Gimme Disco, Broadway Rave, and All Your Friends. Burwoodland produces over 1,200 shows annually and has sold more than 1.5 million tickets to date. Cuban said: “It’s time we all got off our asses, left the house and had fun. Alex and Ethan know how to create amazing memories and experiences that people plan their weeks around. In an AI world, what you do is far more important than what you prompt.”

Sono Hikari take: Cuban’s quote is the headline here: “In an AI world, what you do is far more important than what you prompt.” Burwoodland’s model is built around community-driven, genre-based events, not individual artist tours. Co-founder Ethan Maccoby described it as “the tour that never officially begins or ends.” There’s something interesting about the bet being placed: that shared, in-person experiences built around a vibe will matter more, not less, as digital spaces get noisier. It’s a reminder that connection doesn’t scale or resonate with audiences the same way content does.

For self-label artists: What would it look like to turn your show into an experience built around community, not just a one-off performance? How do you want your audience to feel after seeing your show?

Landmark Ruling: Songwriters Can Reclaim Their Music Worldwide, Not Just in the U.S.

A U.S. appeals court ruled that songwriters can use American copyright law to get their songs back globally, not just in the U.S. The case centered on Cyril Vetter, who sold his 1963 rock song “Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love)” for one dollar. Sixty years later, the court said he’s entitled to take back full control of the song worldwide. Judge Carl Stewart wrote that giving artists only their U.S. rights back would leave them with “half of the apple,” which was never the intent. Major industry groups warned this could shake up decades of standard agreements.

Sono Hikari take: This one matters. A songwriter sold his song for a dollar in 1963 and is finally getting it back, sixty years later, and not just in the U.S., but everywhere. That’s the key shift: termination rights now apply worldwide. If you signed away your music early in your career, this changes what’s possible down the line. U.S. copyright law lets you reclaim your work after 35 years, and this ruling says that includes global rights too. It also changes how future deals might be written, now that labels know this precedent exists. The music industry has long assumed certain rights stay locked forever. This cracks that open.

For self-label artists: This is a good reminder that ownership plays out over decades, not just release cycles. If you’ve signed anything in the past, it’s worth understanding what termination rights you have down the line.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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One Thing To Carry With You This Week:

“Never play to the gallery. I think it’s terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfill other people’s expectations.”

- David Bowie

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What Does the UMG and NVIDIA Partnership Mean for Artists?

Universal Music Group and NVIDIA announced a collaboration on January 6 centered on Music Flamingo, an AI model that can analyze full songs up to 15 minutes long. The technology identifies key, tempo, chord progressions, instruments, lyrics, song structure, and what they call “emotional arcs.” It’s an 8 billion parameter model trained on approximately 2 million songs across 100+ genres. The idea is to move music discovery beyond simple genre tags toward something more nuanced - surfacing songs by harmonic similarity, emotional narrative, or cultural context. The partnership also includes an artist incubator at Abbey Road and Capitol Studios, where UMG-signed artists will co-design AI tools. No specific products or timelines were announced.

Sono Hikari take: “Responsible AI” and “artist-centric” are the new industry buzzwords, but the real question is who’s building the tools and who benefits. The technology itself is genuinely interesting - understanding music at the level of chord progressions and emotional arcs could change how listeners find new artists. But when a tech giant holds the infrastructure, “artist-centric” often means “major-label-artist-centric.” The incubator is for UMG-signed artists. There’s no mention of independent artist access.

And a deeper question: should AI control how humans discover music? Part of the beauty of discovery is stumbling onto something outside of the style of music you typically listen to. Algorithms that surface songs by “harmonic similarity” sound sophisticated, but they also sound like a faster path to echo chambers.

For self-label artists: As AI becomes central to music discovery, who controls those systems? If you’re not in the room where the tools are designed, what does that mean for your discoverability five years from now?

X Sues 18 Music Publishers. Their Argument Is Flawed - But It Exposes a Broken System

X filed an antitrust lawsuit on January 9 against 18 music publishers and the NMPA (National Music Publishers' Association), claiming they colluded to force “industry-wide licensing at inflated rates” and “weaponized” DMCA takedowns (500K+ since 2023). X is the only major social platform without music license - a choice Elon Musk made after he took over. The NMPA called the lawsuit “a bad faith effort to distract from publishers’ and songwriters’ legitimate right to enforce against X’s illegal use of their songs.”

Sono Hikari take: X’s argument shows a fundamental misunderstanding of how music licensing works. Collective licensing isn’t a scheme - ASCAP was founded in 1914 because individual negotiation with thousands of rights holders is impractical. Every radio station, streaming service, and social platform has figured this out. X had chances to negotiate and chose not to. “Individual negotiation” sounds fair, but it’s really a tactic to avoid paying what everyone else pays.

That said, this raises a broader problem: the system publishers are defending don’t serve songwriters well either. Remember when Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” had a major resurgence and got 5 billion TikTok views? Well, the song reportedly made almost nothing because of how these deals are structured. The infrastructure itself is broken.

For self-label artists: Whether X pays or doesn’t, the money still flows through systems that weren’t built to reach independent songwriters. The real question is why, in 2026, we’re still fighting over who gets to underpay creators.

Spotify Wants to Be Your Group Chat

Spotify is rolling out new real-time sharing features designed to turn passive listening into social currency. The shift moves discovery from algorithmic playlists toward friend-to-friend moments, letting users share what they’re listening to in more immediate, social ways.

Sono Hikari take: This is actually interesting for self-label artists. Algorithmic playlists have always favored artists with existing momentum, label support, or marketing budgets. But friend-to-friend sharing? That’s organic. That’s someone texting their group chat saying, “you have to hear this.” If Spotify is betting that social discovery matters more than editorial placement, that could benefit artists who build genuine fan communities over those just gaming the algorithm. The question is whether Spotify will actually let this feature breathe or eventually monetize it into irrelevance.

For self-label artists: When someone discovers your music, is there a clear path for them to share it with their friends? Are you making music that people feel compelled to recommend, or just music that satisfies an algorithm?

The Vinyl Paradox: What £2 Billion in Streaming Revenue Says About What We Actually Value

UK streaming revenue hit a milestone, but here’s the twist: vinyl grew faster. The gap between these two formats reveals something about what listeners are actually willing to pay for versus what they consume passively.

Sono Hikari take: Streaming numbers keep climbing, but the real story is in what fans choose to spend on. Vinyl isn’t practical. It’s inconvenient, expensive, and requires intention. That’s exactly why it keeps growing. People want to own something. They want the ritual, the object, the commitment. For self-label artists, this is a reminder that your most dedicated fans don’t just want access to your music via streaming. They want to invest in it. The challenge is giving them something worth investing in.

For self-label artists: Beyond streaming, what can fans actually buy from you that feels like ownership? Are you offering anything that creates the ritual and intention that vinyl represents?

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• Rethinking Discovery for 2026

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Since Suno recently partnered with Warner Music Group, their fine print quietly changed. As technology advances, staying hyper-aware of your rights as an artist isn’t optional anymore.

So let’s break down what the terms actually say, what they mean for you, and my recommendations on how to use Suno without compromising your work.

What You Own vs. What You Grant

Suno’s terms are clear that your pre-existing intellectual property (your input to the platform) remains yours. If you write lyrics, compose a melody, or create chord progressions before uploading them, basic copyright law protects those elements.

But here’s the catch.

When you submit anything to Suno, whether that’s lyrics, audio, melodies, or prompts, you grant them a license that’s worth reading carefully:

“A worldwide, non-exclusive, fully paid-up, sublicensable, assignable, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use, reproduce, store, modify, distribute, create derivative works based on, perform, display, communicate, transmit and otherwise make available any and all Content... including... to train, develop, fine-tune or otherwise improve the Service and any related artificial intelligence or machine learning models.”1

Translation: The moment you upload your original lyrics or melody to Suno, you’re giving them permission to use that work to improve their AI. Forever; for free. And they can sublicense that right to others.

Let that sink in. Your phrasing, your melodic choices, your lyrical structures become part of the training data that helps Suno generate music for everyone else.

Suno’s CEO has suggested that not all user inputs directly train the model in the way people assume. From a technical standpoint, training on low-quality user submissions would pollute the model. But the terms of service explicitly reserve the right to use your submissions for training purposes. The legal language protects them, not you.

As much as we might want to cry theft, it’s not theft if you agreed to it. That’s why reading the fine print matters.

My personal advice: never upload your entire song to an AI platform if you care about your ownership rights. That might sound extreme, but it’s the safest position.

That said, you can still use these tools strategically. I recently started experimenting with Suno, and I only input prompts to work on a part for a song. Never the full song. A guitar texture here, a drum idea there. That way, the platform never has access to my complete work. And when I do use a part generated from Suno, I recreate it all in my DAW entirely.

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Ownership Depends on What You Pay (But It’s Not What You Think)

The terms make a clear distinction between tiers.

If you’re on a paid Pro plan, Suno assigns you their rights in the output. You can release commercially, distribute to streaming platforms, monetize, and license for sync.

If you’re on the free or basic tier, you can only use outputs for personal, non-commercial purposes. You must credit Suno and you don’t own what’s generated.

But here’s what’s hidden in the fine print about “ownership” on the Pro plan.

The Fine Print:

The ToS states: “Suno assigns to you all of its right, title and interest in and to any Output owned by Suno.”

Translation: You own what Suno owns. The problem? Suno might not own anything copyrightable in the first place. Courts are still deciding whether AI-generated content qualifies for copyright protection. If it doesn’t, you’re getting commercial rights to something with no legal protection.

The ToS also states: “Due to the nature of machine learning, Output may not be unique across users and the Service may generate the same or similar output for a third party.”

Translation: Someone else could prompt Suno tomorrow and get nearly identical output as yours. You’d have no legal claim against them.

What This Could Actually Look Like:

Scenario 1: You release a Suno track and it starts gaining traction. Another user prompts something nearly identical and releases it the same week. You can’t file a takedown because you can’t claim infringement. You both have “commercial use rights” to something neither of you owns.

Scenario 2: A music supervisor wants to license your track for a TV placement. They ask you to prove you own the copyright. You can’t and they pass because the legal uncertainty isn’t worth the risk. Sync deals require clear ownership chains.

Scenario 3: You build a catalog of 50 tracks using Suno over two years. You want to sell your masters or license your catalog to a publisher. But there’s nothing to sell. No transferable copyright means no asset. The music you made has no long-term value beyond what you already earned from streams.

The bottom line: AI-generated music might get you faster results, but there’s a price to pay. Commercial use rights let you release music today. Copyright ownership protects you tomorrow. With AI-generated output, you may only have the first.

Use platforms like Suno as a tool, but don’t rely on them to create full songs. Always put your own DNA in it. Your lyrics, your melodies, your human authorship in your own DAW. That’s what’s copyrightable.

The Platform Flagging Problem

Here’s something the ToS doesn’t tell you, but distribution platforms will.

Many distributors are now stamping music as “AI-generated” in their metadata, and platforms like Deezer automatically detects it. Even if only one song on an album used AI, the entire project can be branded as containing AI-generated content.

As AI detection improves, this metadata will only get stronger and more widespread. Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube are all watching how AI music evolves, and policies around disclosure, monetization, and content ID systems are shifting.

For self-label artists building long-term careers, being flagged as an AI artist could affect how your music is perceived, surfaced, and monetized.

The Arbitration Clause: Why This Could Cost You Money

If you’ve been following the conversation around AI and music, you’ve probably heard the concern: platforms like Suno may have scraped publicly available music to train their models without consent, compensation or credit.

Right now, there are multiple active lawsuits against Suno for exactly this. The major labels (Sony, Universal, Warner) filed their lawsuit in June 2024, which most were lifted recently since their partnerships with Suno/Udio.2 In June 2025, independent country artist Tony Justice filed a class action specifically representing indie artists, arguing that musicians whose music was scraped have been “left without a seat at the table” in the major label litigation.3 That lawsuit now has nearly 1,300 artists signed on as plaintiffs, with potential statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work.

Here’s where Suno’s ToS becomes significant. When you sign up, you agree to this:

“YOU AND SUNO AGREE THAT EACH OF US MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR PROCEEDING.”

Translation: If you’re an independent artist whose music may have been scraped to train Suno’s AI, and you create a Suno account, you may be signing away your right to: sue Suno in court, join the independent artist class action, or receive any settlement if that lawsuit wins.

The majority of music on streaming platforms comes from independent artists, not major labels. If Suno trained on publicly available music, indie artists are the ones most affected. And those same artists might unknowingly give up their legal options the moment they click “agree.”

If you believe your music may have been used to train AI models and you want to preserve your legal options, think carefully before creating an account.

Other Clauses Worth Knowing

A few more provisions that matter for artists:

You waive moral rights. The ToS states you “irrevocably waive any and all so-called ‘moral rights’” in your content.

This means you can’t later claim the output misrepresents your artistic vision or harms your reputation.

You indemnify Suno. If your use of the platform causes legal problems, you’re responsible for covering Suno’s legal fees.

If you generate something that sounds too close to an existing song and get sued, that’s entirely on you.

The license on your submissions is perpetual.

Even if you cancel your subscription and delete your account, the license you granted Suno continues indefinitely. They retain the right to use anything you submitted.

The Bottom Line for Self-Label Artists

If you write your own music:

• Don’t upload your original work to Suno.

• Don’t build your catalog on AI-generated output.

• Understand what you’re agreeing to.

• Consider your legal options before signing up.

• Use AI tools intentionally, not as a crutch.

The self-label path is about ownership. Handing your creative work to a platform that reserves the right to train AI models with it runs counter to everything ownership represents.

Create with intention. Protect what’s yours.

What’s your take? Have you used AI music tools in your process? How do you draw the line between experimentation and protecting your work?

Leave a comment

Legal Disclaimer: The information, ideas, and suggestions in this article are not intended as legal advice. Before following any suggestions contained in this article, you should consult your personal attorney.

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Suno Changes Ownership Rights After WMG Agreement

Suno updated its terms of service following its settlement with Warner Music Group. The most significant change: Suno no longer grants users ownership of AI-generated music. Previously, users owned what they created. Now, users get “commercial use rights” but are not considered owners since “the output was generated by Suno.” The platform also states it “can’t guarantee that the output won’t be similar to other outputs we generate.” Songs made on the free plan cannot be monetized at all. Even paid subscribers don’t own their creations.

Sono Hikari take: The whole point of staying independent is keeping your masters. If you’re generating tracks with AI and don’t own the output, you’re giving up control before your music even exists. Warner forced Suno to acknowledge that AI-generated music sits in murky legal territory around copyright and ownership. Artists who trained the models have claims. The platform has claims. You, the user, get limited rights at best.

For self-label artists: Read the terms of service for any AI tool you use to create music. If you don’t own the output, you’re building your career on borrowed ground. Understand what “commercial use rights” actually means versus full ownership. If protecting your masters matters to you, be very careful about how much AI you lean on in your creative process.

When Breaking Free Costs $31 Million: What the NewJeans Lawsuit Reveals About Artist Power

Hybe Corporation's subsidiary, Ador sued former NewJeans member Danielle Marsh for $31 million in damages after terminating her contract. NewJeans attempted to break their contract with Ador last year, citing workplace hostility and creative sabotage. A South Korean court ruled in October that the contract remains valid until 2029. Three members returned to the label, one is negotiating, and Danielle was terminated. Ador is now suing her, a family member, and former label head Min Hee-jin.

Sono Hikari take: K-pop contracts are notoriously restrictive, but this shows the worst-case scenario for any artist who signs away control. The court sided with the label. Danielle can’t leave even when citing hostile working conditions. Now she’s being sued for damages on top of losing her career with the group. Labels build these contracts specifically to trap artists, making it financially impossible to walk away.

For self-label artists: If you ever consider signing with a label, read every word of that contract with a lawyer who represents artists, not labels. Understand the penalty clauses. Understand what “leaving” would actually cost you. Better yet, if you can build your career without signing, do it. Ownership protects you from ending up in a lawsuit you can’t afford to fight.

The Law Ticketmaster Wrote Is Now Being Used Against Them

The FTC (the independent U.S. government agency that enforces consumer protection and antitrust laws) sued Ticketmaster for helping brokers bypass ticket limits, then profiting when resale tickets were sold on their own platform. Ticketmaster earned $3.7 billion in resale fees from 2019-2024. The irony? Ticketmaster helped create the BOTS Act in 2016 to fight scalpers. Now that law is being used against them.

Sono Hikari take: When one company controls both the box office and the resale market, even artists with leverage can’t protect their fans - and this feels like a fight artists have been fighting for ages. Olivia Dean recently called out Ticketmaster and Live Nation after her tour tickets immediately appeared on resale sites for up to $992 (original price was around $53-$180). Ticketmaster responded by capping resale prices and offering refunds, but only after public backlash. This is the same dynamic the FTC is now challenging: gatekeepers profit twice while artists lose control of their own shows, and fans pay the price.

For self-label artists: If major artists can’t control their own ticket sales, what chance do you have inside these systems? Build what you can own directly: your email list, your live shows (even small ones), your masters, your merch. The relationship with your fans is the only asset no platform can control.

Australia Protects Copyright from AI: A Win for Creators

Australia’s Productivity Commission ruled that AI companies must license copyrighted music instead of scraping it for free. This decision came after artists like Missy Higgins and Peter Garrett pushed back hard against an earlier proposal that would have let AI companies train their models on artists’ work without permission or payment. Even Spotify sided with creators, stating “musicians’ rights matter.”

Sono Hikari take: Australia just proved that if AI companies want to use your music to build their billion-dollar models, they have to pay you for it. The U.S. is still fighting this battle. Copyright isn't outdated. It's the only thing protecting you from having your life's work used without compensation. The system worked in Australia because creators fought back.

For self-label artists: Your masters and copyrights are your most valuable assets. Protect them. Register them properly. Never sign contracts that let companies use your music to train AI without your explicit consent and fair payment. When creators stand together, we can keep the system working in our favor.

Live Nation Wants the DOJ Case Dismissed. Here’s Why Artists Should Pay Attention.

Live Nation is trying to get the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit thrown out before it goes to trial. The company argues prosecutors have no evidence that it has harmed the live music industry. This comes after state attorneys general argued in December there’s enough evidence of “interlocking monopolies” to proceed. A federal judge will now decide whether the case moves forward or gets dismissed.

Sono Hikari take: Live Nation apologized publicly after they hiked up Olivia Dean’s tickets on resale sites, admitting their resale system needed fixing. Now they're telling a court there's no evidence they've harmed anyone. This contradiction shows the gap between what companies say publicly versus what they argue legally. Their business model is built on controlling both venues and ticketing, which is exactly what creates the monopoly problem.

For self-label artists: Live Nation owns both the venues and Ticketmaster, which is why touring costs so much and ticketing takes such a big cut. For mid-to-large venues, you often have no choice but to work within their system. This is the reality until something changes. In the meantime, build strong relationships with independent venues. They give you more control, better door deals, and those relationships turn into repeat bookings and genuine support for your career.

If You Missed It:

• The "Cringe" Is the Point: How to balance humanity and vanity for a sustainable music career

• Rethinking Discovery for 2026: A Fresh Mindset for Self-Label Artists

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So I thought instead of a Monday Music Briefing, I’d end the year with something different: an inspirational outlook on how we can rethink discovery as we move into 2026.

Because if you’ve spent this year chasing virality, feeling stuck, or wondering why nothing’s breaking through, this might be the mindset shift that changes everything.

The Viral Lottery Is Closing

Since COVID and through early 2024, going viral on TikTok was a playbook to getting signed by major labels. Labels were signing artists left and right based on viral moments alone.

But the bar got higher. 2026 will be different.

Major labels started realizing that TikTok virality doesn’t guarantee sustainable careers. Artists who racked up millions of views on 15-second clips couldn’t sell out venues. Many had never performed live. Their songs worked as short-form content but fell flat as complete works. And if you can’t tour, labels aren’t interested.

The viral lottery still exists, but now labels are watching what happens after the viral moment. Can you sustain momentum? Can you tour? Can you turn viral attention into an actual fanbase?

Whether you want to be a major label artist or not, going viral can open the door to discovery, but you still have to prove you can build a career. And honestly? That’s better for artists who actually have something to say.

What’s replacing the “go viral and get signed” playbook is less dramatic but more reliable: stacking small, meaningful moments over time.

This is the ‘Kaizen’ approach to discovery. And as we head into 2026, it’s how self-label artists can build sustainable momentum without losing themselves in the process.

What Is Kaizen? And Why It Matters for 2026

Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy that translates to “continuous improvement.” It’s built on a simple idea: small, incremental changes compound into significant results over time.

Instead of chasing one massive win, you focus on small wins every single day. You build systems, you refine, and you show up consistently. And those small steps stack into momentum that lasts.

For self-label artists heading into 2026, this means: discovery isn’t one viral moment. It’s multiple small discovery moments that build familiarity, trust, and connection with listeners.

You’re not trying to explode overnight. You’re trying to stack enough signals that platforms, playlists, and real human fans start to notice and stick around.

This is the infrastructure ownership requires. And this is how you build a 2026 that’s more aligned with your artistic identity.

The Case Study: How Discovery Actually Happens

Here’s an example of what stacked discovery looks like.

An independent pop-rock artist releasing a new single treats the song as a multi-week discovery asset instead of a one-day launch.

Two weeks before release: short rehearsal clips and lyric previews focused on the emotional hook. Simple visuals. Strong comments.

Release day: stripped-down performance video. Active engagement with early reactions.

Within days, one clip stands out. Not because it has the most views, but because it’s getting saved, shared, and commented on at a higher rate.

Fans connect to a specific lyric about burnout. Instead of moving to the next song, the artist leans in:

• Posts an explanation of what the lyric means

• Shares a live performance clip with audience sing-along

• Features a fan-submitted video

The song may or may not go viral. But saves, playlist adds, and follower growth steadily increase. The same listeners keep showing up.

Discovery happens gradually. And it sticks.

The takeaway: discovery comes from stacking small, meaningful signals, not chasing one breakout moment.

This is the approach that will serve you in 2026.

What This Reveals About Discovery in 2026

Your release isn’t one moment. It’s multiple entry points. Every piece of content you create gives listeners another reason to discover your music. Not just on release day - all month long.

Saves matter more than views. If 500 people scroll past your video but 50 people save it to come back to later, that second group is your real discovery signal. Platforms know the difference between passive consumption and genuine interest.

People remember songs when they understand them.

Carly Pearl, an artist I manage, went viral for her song “Pronoia.” Instead of just posting the track, she explained what pronoia means and how fans could apply it to their lives.

The response was immediate. Two years later, people are still engaging with the song. Fans share tattoos of the lyrics, post about how it changed their perspective, or helped them through difficult times.

When you explain why a song matters to you, listeners connect to it differently. Context turns casual listeners into people who actually care.

This is what discovery infrastructure looks like in 2026: not one viral post via trends, but a system of small, consistent moments that stack into real connections, aligned with your artistic choices.

Small steps every day - that’s Kaizen.

Not All Platforms Work the Same

Here’s what most “algorithm advice” gets wrong: it treats every platform like they’re interchangeable. Post everywhere, hope something sticks.

It’s important to remember that people don’t use TikTok the way they use Spotify. They don’t scroll Instagram the way they scroll YouTube. Each platform has different user behavior, which means each platform rewards different content.

TikTok and Reels users are scrolling fast. You have three seconds. A strong hook, personality, and authenticity cut through faster than production value. Striving for perfectionism is a waste of time and energy (and it will make you mad!)

Spotify and Apple Music reward the save, not the play. When someone adds your song to their library or playlist, that signals real interest. When they replay it, even better. That’s what platforms prioritize.

Instagram and Facebook thrive on conversation. The posts that get shared to Stories, that spark comments, that make people tag their friends - those are the ones that get pushed. Ask questions. Invite responses. Make people want to engage, not just scroll.

The same song can work differently on each platform if you adapt how you present it. A TikTok clip about the lyric’s meaning. A Spotify Canvas that loops the hook. An Instagram post asking fans what the song means to them.

Meet people where they are. You don’t have to change your art. Just adapt how you present it.

This is how you build a 2026 that feels sustainable, not exhausting.

Your Fresh Start for 2026

When you operate as your own label, you don’t have a marketing team like major labels do - testing strategies and creating burner accounts to create hype for you. You have to be strategic from the start.

But strategic doesn’t mean inauthentic. It means understanding the infrastructure discovery requires and building it without compromising who you are.

Discovery in 2026 doesn’t have to feel like a constant hustle for attention. It can feel more aligned with who you are, more sustainable, more real. Find ways to make you want to show up for yourself every day.

Kaizen gives you permission to stop chasing virality and start building something real. Small steps. Daily refinement. Stacking moments that compound into sustainable momentum.

Stop chasing viral and start stacking small wins.

That’s how self-label artists build careers that last. And that’s how you make 2026 the year you finally build momentum that feels sustainable.

As you head into 2026: What’s one small discovery moment you could commit to creating consistently? Drop a comment.

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[^1]: Hypebot, “How Musicians Get Discovered in 2026: A Realistic Playbook That Actually Works,” December 2025.

I’m not proud of this. I’m being judgy, and I hate it. Because who am I to judge someone willing to promote their work? They’re throwing spaghetti at the wall. They’re executing for results, and I respect that.

The real question isn’t about them. It’s about me, and maybe you: What are we willing to do that makes us uncomfortable if we want to build a sustainable career?

The Gift and The Weight

Creatives carry something most people don’t - the ability to pull something out of nothing. And musicians create worlds, feelings, and truth from thin air and turn them into sound. It’s a gift. It’s pure. And when it works, when you finish a song that feels right, there’s nothing quite like it.

But with that gift comes weight. And sometimes, if we’re honest, that weight is ego.

Not ego in the sense of arrogance. I mean the ego that limits us:

• The part that gets snarky when someone suggests using TikTok to promote your music.

• The part that irks you when you have to post promotional content that feels manufactured.

• The part that whispers: If I have to do this to get heard, maybe it’s not worth it.

And the truth is, you don’t have to do any of those things. You have every right to just create and put it out because it brings you joy. But this is for artists who want to make a career, an actual income from what they create. And my god, we all know that’s HARD. But it’s absolutely possible, with the right mindset.

I say this as someone who’s been a musician (drummer) all my life. Still am. I’ve had my share of touring from shitty empty venues to an arena of ten thousand people. I’ve spent years as a recording engineer, enduring humble beginnings: cleaning toilets and picking up champagne for artists. I’ve experienced the highs and lows and almost every angle of being on the music creation and performance side.

The creating and performing part? That’s where the magic lives. That’s the part that feels pure and fun. And honestly, with the right team, that’s the easy part.

It’s everything else that tests you. The business part carries risk, but the gain can be tremendous.

Today, as a manager, every decision made with the artists I work with starts with being honest with ourselves and our goals. My job is to make sure our strategy aligns with the artist’s identity, but also being real with each other because at the end of the day, it’s a collaborative partnership. We’re not afraid to admit, “we really need to make more revenue than last year. This is our career, not a hobby, and we need to do it in a way that’s sustainable so we never have to stop doing what we love.”

So I often ask an uncomfortable question during our strategy sessions: “How much are we willing to stop romanticizing and be honest with reality?”

What’s the Reality?

AI music exists. Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube? They’re not optional anymore if you want visibility. We thought consistency was the key to being rewarded by the algorithm, but now we have to be more strategic to get out of TikTok jail. And the artists building sustainable careers are the ones who’ve accepted this and are figuring out how to work within it without losing themselves.

If you hate TikTok, you don’t have to be on TikTok. But if it’s not TikTok, what is it? Vlogs? Aesthetic videos on Instagram? Long-form content on YouTube? The question isn’t “Do I have to do social media?” It’s: “What form of visibility am I willing to build consistently?”

The reality is, we have no excuse not to learn the tools. You don’t need a social media manager to create a content calendar. You don’t need an expensive camera for quality content. You don’t need an expensive studio to make great music.

We have all the tools we could possibly need.

What we often don’t have is constant reassurance, self-compassion, and self-discipline. And that’s what actually separates the artists who make it from the ones who don’t. Talent, connections, and luck can only get you so far.

You do your best work when you have someone excited for you. When you’re not heckling yourself. When you stop making excuses and prioritize your goals.

Let’s Be Clear About What Path You’re On

Not everyone making music has the same goal. And pretending we all do creates a false binary where you’re either “pure” or a sellout.

If music is your outlet, your therapy, if you don’t need it to pay rent, you can ignore all of this. Make what you want. Release how you want. Never think about strategy. That’s a gift. Protect it.

But if you want this to be your full-time career, you’re operating in a different reality. And in that reality, artist Jon Bellion said it plainly recently: “If you want to be, you have to be seen.”

That doesn’t mean compromising your art. It means accepting that art without an audience is just sound in a vacuum.

Humanity and Vanity Together

Jon Bellion, the artist, songwriter, and producer behind massive pop hits, talked about this “muddy greyness” in a recent interview. Perhaps it’s the place where artistry meets commerce. Where your vision meets the algorithm. Where what you want to make meets what actually allows you to keep making it.

It’s not easy for purists to live there. It’s easier not to step into the noise. We want to believe that if the art is good enough, it’ll find its people. And while that may be true for some artists in their initial discovery, behind every visible artist is someone who’s helping them bring their music to market.

The Cringe Is the Point

I was listening to a Mel Robbins podcast recently while working, and I stopped when she called out BS on the younger generation for dismissing something so quickly because it’s cringe. She says,

“Cringe is actually doing it right. Because if you’re going to do something where you step out of your comfort zone for the first time, you will feel cringy. That’s what it feels like to do something for the first time.

So maybe the cringe isn’t a sign that you’re selling out.

Maybe it’s a sign that you’re doing something new and vulnerable.

Something that your ego is fighting because it wants to keep you safe in the identity you’ve already built.

The Uncomfortable Choice

So here’s the real question I think it’s important to ask ourselves:

Are you going to suffer to protect your ego? Or can you let it go?

Because suffering looks like this: Making music you’re proud of that no one hears. Refusing to engage with platforms because they feel beneath you. Watching peers who are “less talented” succeed because they were willing to do the uncomfortable work you weren’t. Feeling bitter. Feeling stuck. Feeling like the world just doesn’t get it.

But letting go might look like this: Posting that cringe content. Testing your music on TikTok to see what resonates, not to change your art, but to understand how to present it. Learning the business side. Building systems. Asking for help. Accepting that technology and business have changed, and finding a way to make it work in YOUR favor.

Jon Bellion walked away from his career for six years. He started his own label and came back on his own terms, where he released his album Father Figure, and then played two sold-out nights at Forest Hills Stadium. He made more in those two nights than he had in entire previous tours combined.

How? Because he understood the business. Because he waited until he had leverage. Because he was willing to do the unglamorous work of figuring out how the system actually functions. He says,

He’s not saying boxed wine is better than small-batch natural wine. He’s saying they both exist. And if your goal is to serve, if you want your music to reach millions of people and sustain you, you can’t always get your way 100% of the time.

There is no right or wrong here. It’s all about being honest with your goals and coming to terms with what the necessary steps are to make that a reality.

What If the Enemy Isn’t the Enemy?

What if the tools we think are ruining art (TikTok, algorithms, promotional content) aren’t the enemy? What if resisting them is just our ego protecting itself from having to grow?

What if, by letting go of the romanticized version of how this should work, we actually open ourselves up to something bigger than we imagined? What if the artist who’s willing to post the cringe Reel, learn the business, test their music, and adapt... what if they’re not selling out, but setting themselves free?

Bellion also said: “As you get more experience, your certainty decreases. The only things I’m certain of are the things that I can’t pin down.”

My takeaway: you have to learn the rules before you can break them. Get in the room. Learn the business. Try the tools. The more you understand how it all works, the clearer it becomes what fits you and what doesn’t. That’s when intuition becomes reliable, when it’s informed by experience, not just protecting your ego.

Because the self-label path is about understanding the game well enough that you can play it on your own terms, with both your humanity and your vanity intact.

It’s messy. It’s muddy. It’s uncomfortable.

But as Julia Cameron wrote in The Artist’s Way:

So what’s the one thing that makes you feel uncomfortable but deep down you know you need to try? Where do you feel your ego fighting against what might actually help you?

I’m sitting with these questions too. Drop a comment and let’s think through this together.

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Why U.S. Radio Still Doesn’t Pay Artists (And Why That Matters for Your Career)

SoundExchange CEO Michael Huppe testified before Congress last week alongside Gene Simmons, pushing for the American Music Fairness Act, a legislation that would finally require terrestrial AM/FM radio to pay artists and labels for playing recordings. Currently, only songwriters get paid. The U.S. remains the only industrialized country with this gap.

Sono Hikari take: This inequality dates back to copyright laws written before recorded music existed. By the 1970s revision, the National Association of Broadcasters had become too powerful. Politicians need radio airtime to get re-elected, so they sided with broadcasters over artists. When Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” plays on radio, her estate gets nothing. Only Otis Redding’s songwriting earns. Every other industrialized country figured this out decades ago.

For self-label artists: While terrestrial radio remains broken, don’t miss the royalties you can collect right now. Most self-label artists aren’t registered with SoundExchange, which collects digital performance royalties from SiriusXM, Pandora, and internet radio - separate from your distributor and PRO.

Spotify’s New AI Playlists Let You Control the Algorithm—What Does That Mean For Discovery?

Spotify launched “Prompted Playlists” in beta for Premium subscribers in New Zealand. Users write detailed text prompts to generate personalized playlists based on their entire listening history, like “deep cuts from my top artists from the last five years” or “high-energy pop for a 30-minute run.” The feature will evolve before rolling out to other markets. Instagram and Bluesky are making similar moves toward user-controlled algorithms to control what type of reels/content they see.

Sono Hikari take: The algorithm still pulls from what you’ve already listened to, reinforcing existing patterns instead of creating discovery. For emerging artists, you’re now competing with potentially millions of AI-generated playlists that prioritize familiarity over the unknown. It’s more important than ever to build deep and direct fan relationships.

For self-label artists: User-controlled algorithms make initial discovery harder, but once fans find you, this works in your favor. If someone adds you to their custom playlist that refreshes weekly and pulls your deep cuts, that's a dedicated listener - not someone who passively heard you once on Discover Weekly. The barrier to entry is higher, but the fans who clear it stick around. Focus on converting casual listeners into superfans through direct engagement and live shows. Once they're yours, algorithm personalization keeps them connected to your catalog.

SoundCloud and Imogen Heap Are Building A One Stop For Metadata

SoundCloud teamed up with Auracles, a digital identity platform founded by artist Imogen Heap, to help artists manage metadata, stems, press releases, assets, and contact information in one centralized platform. Artists can connect their SoundCloud profiles to Auracles and sync data between platforms. Heap calls it a “sovereign digital ID” for artists to protect and control their work in the digital landscape.

Sono Hikari take: The announcement is vague on specifics, but if Auracles delivers on its promise as one central hub where you input metadata once and it distributes accurately to every platform you release on, including royalty collection systems, that would be a huge win for self-label artists. However, many music tech companies have tried to crack this exact problem, and none have succeeded yet. The metadata ecosystem is fragmented across distributors, PROs, and publishing admins, each requiring separate data entry.

For self-label artists: Don't wait for the perfect platform to fix metadata management for you. Right now, accurate metadata directly impacts your income. Incorrect credits mean royalties go to the wrong people. Unclaimed royalties sit in the "black box" and get distributed to major shareholders - usually major labels- after three years. Messy splits cause payment delays. Missing songwriter info blocks publishing registration. Sync supervisors pass on tracks with unclear ownership. Keep your metadata organized yourself, when the right platform finally arrives, you'll be ready.

YouTube Walks Away from Billboard Charts Over Free vs. Paid Streaming Power Struggle

YouTube announced it will stop providing data to Billboard charts after January 16, 2026, ending a decade-long partnership. The move comes one day after Billboard announced it’s changing its streaming methodology to narrow the gap between paid and ad-supported streams. Currently, 1 album unit equals 1,250 paid streams or 3,750 ad-supported streams (1:3 ratio). Billboard’s new formula tightens this to 1:2.5 (1,000 paid or 2,500 ad-supported). YouTube’s Lyor Cohen says he wants all streams counted equally, regardless of whether they’re paid or ad-supported, arguing “every fan matters and every play should count equally.”

Sono Hikari take: YouTube frames this as fairness, but it’s just another platform war. Here’s the reality: paid streams pay artists 3-5 times more than ad-supported streams, but both rates are exploitative. Under Billboard’s new formula, you need 100,000 paid streams or 250,000 ad-supported streams to equal 100 physical album sales. Think about that disparity. YouTube wants chart credit without paying artists proportionally, while Billboard’s album unit system severely undervalues digital consumption. Neither side is fighting for better artist compensation - they're fighting over marketing power.

For self-label artists: The entire streaming economy is built to benefit the platforms only. It’s still important to focus on revenue streams you can actually control: physical sales, Bandcamp, concert tickets, merch, and email subscribers who’ll support you directly. Build real relationships with fans who’ll pay you fairly for your work.

If You Missed It:

• Sombr Case Study: How to A/B Test on TikTok Without Killing Your Art

• How to Break Free From Comparison and Create on Your Own Terms

One Thing To Carry With You This Week:

“What tools do we have? What can we count on? You can count on yourself.” — Patti Smith

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Sombr just said in a recent interview that he never releases music without A/B testing it first. He posts incomplete songs on TikTok and finishes them based on his audience’s reaction. The comments exploded with: “This is why music sucks now.” “Pandering to the masses kills art.” “This is the least artistic thing to do.”

But here’s what makes this complicated: Sombr hit 1.2 billion streams in under a year. At 20 years old, “Back to Friends” earned him a Grammy nomination and global chart domination. Yes, he has the major label support, but there’s something else that’s clearly working.

I did a deep dive on his release strategy. What I found reveals a tension every independent artist needs to understand: the difference between using TikTok as a tool and letting it dictate your art. I’ll also share with you a template to try this strategy for your next release.

The Three-Year Struggle Nobody Talks About

Sombr, real name Shane Michael Boose, signed with Warner Records at 17 after his self-produced song, “Caroline,” went viral overnight. Labels flooded his inbox the morning after release.

Here’s what the success stories leave out: Between “Caroline” and “Back to Friends,” he released nearly 20 songs. For three years, he was a signed artist with major label support, releasing music that didn’t hit as powerfully as his self-released song.

But when you listen to what he actually says about that period, a more complicated picture emerges.

In interviews, he talks about using TikTok to A/B test in real time -

“Being able to A/B test things is something you’ve never been able to do in history as a musician.”

A/B testing isn’t new to music. Artists have done it live for decades, reading crowd reactions and adjusting setlists. What’s different now is scale and speed.

But when asked what finally made “Back to Friends” work, he says something different:

“Everything before ‘Back to Friends’ was me making what I thought people wanted to hear. That wasn’t the truth. ‘Back to Friends’ was when I said, ‘I’m going to make what I feel like making.’”

For three years, he and the label were using audience data to guide his creative decisions. The breakthrough came when he stopped optimizing and started trusting his instinct.

The Mimetic Trap in Real Time

I recently wrote about René Girard’s concept of mimetic desire - the idea that we want things because others want them, not because they’re authentically ours. Sombr’s three-year struggle is mimetic desire playing out in real time.

When you use TikTok to decide what to create, you’re asking: “What do people already want?” You’re reverse-engineering your art from audience reaction. That’s not creation. It’s imitation on demand.

The songs that didn’t land weren’t bad - they still had millions of streams, but they just didn’t hit the threshold that was expected by the label. They were strategically shaped by what Sombr and the label thought would work based on what they saw performing.

“Back to Friends” wasn’t A/B tested into existence. He wrote it and made a demo alone in his bedroom, and brought it to producer Tony Berg to record and release it without knowing if it would connect. It sat for three months before it caught fire.

The virality wasn’t engineered. It was a response to something genuine.

When TikTok Testing Actually Helps

So here’s the framework: there’s a meaningful difference between what you should and shouldn’t let data influence.

What NOT to A/B test: The Music Itself

Using TikTok to decide what songs to make, what sounds to chase, what lyrics will resonate - this is where you end up making strategic content that doesn’t connect.

What you CAN test: The Presentation

Once you’ve made something authentic, experiment with how you present it:

• Does a certain camera angle perform better?

• Do text overlays increase engagement?

• Does a specific section hook people faster?

• Does raw footage outperform polished content?

This testing is about distribution, not creation. You’re not changing your art, but you’re learning how to get it in front of people who’ll connect with it.

What you CAN test: Which Song to Release Next

After “Back to Friends” charted, Sombr had been teasing “Undressed” on TikTok. He saw genuine excitement building. His label wanted to wait and milk the first song’s momentum.

Sombr pushed to release it anyway. He was reading his audience’s response to something he’d already made from a real place. The song charted alongside “Back to Friends” and the two songs ended up complementing each other.

Your Self-Label Toolkit: Apply This to Your Next Release

1. Find Your Clippable Moment

Test which section of your finished song has the strongest emotional hook. Post 3-5 short videos across a week, each featuring a different section:

2. Presentation Test: 7 Days, 7 Variations

Once you’ve identified your strongest hook, post it 7 different ways - one per day. Track which variation performs best. That becomes your template:

3. Build Community You Control

TikTok is excellent for discovery, but challenging for retention. You don’t own that relationship. If the algorithm shifts, you’re at its mercy.

Sombr recognized this early. He migrated superfans to Discord - a space for direct communication and deep community. The key is to use TikTok for exposure and to migrate those audiences to your platform of priority, whether that’s Spotify, your website, newsletter, etc.

Platform Migration Setup:

Pick your goal, then align all bios to one CTA:

If your goal is to drive a release:

• Pre-save link in TikTok bio

• Same link everywhere else

• Pinned post directing to pre-save

If your goal is to build a direct connection:

• Discord/newsletter link in all bios

• Exclusive content only through that platform

• Regular mention: “Join the Discord,” “Link in bio.”

The rule: Every social bio should point to the same link. Don’t split attention.

Here is a template for your next release. Try it out and let me know how it goes.

The Three-Year Lesson

What strikes me most about Sombr’s story is the patience required to survive the gap between signing and breaking through.

He was candid about the fear: “My ego was stroked so hard. I left school. When you’re thrown into a commercial thing and competing, if you don’t do numbers within a certain time, you get dropped. That was creeping in.”

But even while songs weren’t charting, Sombr was building genuine connections through content. As i-D magazine described him, Sombr’s online presence is ‘knowingly silly and self satirizing,’ leaning into the matcha-drinking, Clairo-streaming soft boy trope with full awareness.1

This is the major label reality: artists get signed before they’ve developed their identity, and labels start the clock before they understand who they even signed. The pressure to perform commercially is immediate and constant, and that pressure pushes you away from “your” art.

For self-label artists, the timeline might be longer, but the pressure is different. You’re not racing a contract clock. You’re building something sustainable.

The Question Worth Sitting With

So here’s a question to ask yourself if you’re using TikTok as a tool:

When you post a snippet and watch the response, are you learning what resonates? Or are you learning what to imitate?

The difference matters more than any algorithm.

Test how you present your song. Test what you prioritize. But you don’t have to test what you create. The second you do, you’re not making art - you’re making content. And those two things don’t last the same way, nor do they hold the same weight.

What’s your experience with using TikTok as a tool? Have you made something because you just want that viral moment? Or released something genuine without knowing if anyone would care?

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Australia Banned Under-16s From Social Media. What Does This Mean For The Music Community?

Australia officially deactivated 1M+ social media accounts for users under 16 on December 10, blocking access to TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and more. Platforms face $50M fines for non-compliance. The US, UK, and Norway are watching closely, and so is the music community.

Sono Hikari take: If the under-16 demographic isn’t your core audience, you might think this is irrelevant. But we’re underestimating their power. They have parents who’ll spend more than the average fan in their 20s or 30s - Taylor Swift’s stadium tours were filled by teens whose parents dropped thousands on tickets. “Golden” from K-Pop Demon Hunters hit #1 in 26 countries driven by young TikTok audiences. While this ban aims to improve kids’ mental health, it proves governments can cut off access to entire audiences overnight. The promising part? Over 60% of young Australians surveyed said live music events are important to them, and 80% would support programs to help organize shows without social media. Industry leaders are calling for all-ages gigs, affordable tickets, and school-based discovery programs. The takeaway: IRL experiences suddenly matter more than ever.

For self-label artists: If you lost social media access to under-18 fans tomorrow, what infrastructure would keep your career moving? How can you strengthen your live show experiences for fans, especially younger ones who might be craving in-person connection more than ever?

Revenue Diversification in 2026: Why Streaming Alone Won’t Cut It Anymore

Independent labels pull 25.9% from physical sales and 7.4% from sync versus 59.5% from streaming. At $0.003-0.005 per stream, volume alone won’t build sustainability. Multiple revenue streams aren’t optional anymore.

Sono Hikari take: Streaming as your main income was never viable. This isn’t new information for artists and ironically, industry people keep acting like it is. You need multiple revenue streams to build sustainability. Think curated experiences like VIP packages at shows, intimate listening parties, backyard performances, and direct-to-fan platforms that strengthen long-term loyalty. In an oversaturated market, niche monetization is how you survive.

For self-label artists: Beyond streaming, what are three realistic income streams your music could generate in the next six months? What can only you offer that’s specific enough to become your niche?

Spotify Adds Music Videos — But What Does This Mean for Artists?

Spotify rolled out music videos to US/Canadian Premium subscribers in beta. They claim fans who watch are 34% more likely to re-stream and 24% more likely to save/share. They promise “additional revenue” without stating rates.

Sono Hikari take: Engagement stats sound promising, but Spotify calling this “additional revenue” without transparency is classic platform language. Another way for major platforms to make more money off of artists without fair compensation. In the last few years, artists (excluding superstars) have shifted to making lyric videos and visualizers because of budget constraints, and music videos aren’t pulling the numbers on YouTube they used to. Worth watching how YouTube responds to this new competition and what Spotify will actually pay artists for this.

For self-label artists: Do music videos genuinely move the needle on your streaming numbers, or are you making them because you feel like you have to? Is it essential to how you express your art, or just another marketing checkbox?

TikTok Saved 3 Billion Songs to Streaming—But Who’s Really Winning?

TikTok’s “Add to Music App” converted 3 billion saves since 2024. 84% of songs entering the Billboard Global 200 went viral on TikTok first. TikTok-correlated artists see 11% weekly streaming growth versus 3% for others. Taylor Swift was the platform’s Global Most-Saved Artist in 2025. Pop-rock breakout Sombr is hailed as a true TikTok success story with his hit “Back to Friends” that went viral on the platform then charted No. 10 on Top 100 charts, and earned him a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.

Sono Hikari take: The numbers are real, but so is the gap between a viral moment and a sustainable career. TikTok has genuinely changed how music gets discovered, but it’s also reshaped how songs get written. The platform’s main use for many artists have been to conduct test hooks with their audience before finishing tracks, letting engagement metrics guide creative decisions. The result? Majority of TikTok viral songs have incredibly strong hooks but fall flat as complete works. Artists are getting validation from 15-second clips, not full songs. And while TikTok highlights major success stories, remember that many of those artists have label machinery behind them, teams dedicated to creating buzz and momentum that independent artists don’t have access to.

For self-label artists: If you went viral on TikTok tomorrow, what comes next? Do you have more music you’re genuinely passionate about ready to release? What kind of content will you keep posting? Can you turn that moment of attention into real connection with listeners who’ll stick around? Remember, as a self-label artist, you have control over how you create your narrative.

If You Missed It:

• 5 Hacks to Start Operating Like Your Own Label

• How to Break Free From Comparison and Create on Your Own Terms

One Thing To Carry With You This Week:

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