Bypass: Music Industry News for Independent Artists

Wednesday edition - 2 min read

83% of Songwriters Have Unpaid Money Sitting in MLC

What’s Up

Seriously, guys. 83%? Talk about leaving money on the table. But good news: MUSO.AI just launched Catalog Audit, a tool that scans the MLC database to find your missing royalties.

So What

You might be asking: what’s MLC, and why should you care? Well, MLC (Mechanical Licensing Collective) are the folks who collect your streaming royalties for songwriting. Take a look at these stats: 144 million tracks have problems, and 2.7 trillion streams' worth of royalties are sitting unclaimed. That could be one of your songs.

Now What

Go to MUSO.AI and create a free account to see a preview of your catalog issues. Upgrade to Pro ($12.50/month) to get the full report to see exactly where you’re missing out. Rimas Publishing (Bad Bunny’s publisher) is already using this to recover royalties, so do yourself a favor and claim what’s yours.

[Full story at Digital Music News]

TikTok Just Made It Worth Your Time (If You’re in the US/Canada)

What's Up

Platforms love to underpay you – until they don’t. If you’re in the US/Canada, TikTok just juiced up its payouts for creator-musicians. We’re talking about a 70% rev-share by default + a 20% bonus path that leaves you with 90% of the revenue.

So What

This is subscription money from superfans willing to pay for exclusive content. But there’s a catch. In the US/Canada, TikTok actually doesn't list the minimum requirements; you'll get an in-app notification when your account qualifies.

Now What

If you already have what TikTok is asking for, turn on Subscriptions. If you don’t, start growing on TikTok and turn on Subscriptions the second your account is eligible. Once you’re in, make the superfan tools do most of the heavy lifting. Offer one weekly perk (early drops, BTS, etc.) and keep delivering so those fans stick around.

[Full story at Digital Music News]

Stop Waiting on Streams. Use EVEN.

What's Up

We finally got Patreon for music – except it’s per drop, not monthly. EVEN (yep, ALL CAPS) lets you sell albums directly to superfans before streaming. Here’s where it gets good: you get paid daily, auto splits are handled for collabs, and all eligible sales are reported directly to Billboard via Luminate.

So What

If you can bring the crowd, EVEN gets you paid tomorrow, not in three months. And if you still haven’t started that email list, EVEN’s got you covered. You get your fans' contact info every time they make a purchase.

Now What

Here’s your list of chores: use EVEN for a 7-14 day pre-release window. Price the album at $8-15, add one bonus track (demo/stems/BTS), turn on auto-splits for collaborators, and point all your socials to the drop. Yeah, Bandcamp already does most of these things, but only EVEN can get you on the charts.

[Read more on Hypebot]