Bypass: Music Industry News for Independent Artists

Tuesday edition - 2 min read

85% of AI Streams are Fraud

What’s Up

AI + fraud = A match made in heaven (or Silicon Valley - depends on who’s asking). It’s crazy to think that Deezer gets about 60,000 AI-generated tracks every day. That’s 39% of all uploads to the platform. And it gets worse: 85% of AI streams are fraudulent, and they’re straight-up stealing from the royalty pool.

So What

It’s funny how streaming platforms tell you who they really are when money’s on the line. Bandcamp and Deezer picked a side: humans over machines. While Spotify plays dumb, Deezer is doing the dirty work. They’re making sure AI tracks get tagged, buried, and demonetized. Even better: they're licensing their detection tech to other platforms.

Now What

A wise person once said: Love who loves you back. Upload your catalog to platforms that are on your side. And watch for other DSPs adopting Deezer’s tech

[Read more on Music Ally]

Native Instruments Ran Out of Money

What’s Up

Native Instruments is in trouble. Yeah, that Native Instruments. The people behind Kontakt, Komplete and Maschine just filed for preliminary insolvency.

So What

NI has a £25M business but a £250M debt problem. Yikes. Guess buying iZotope, Plugin Alliance, and Brainworx wasn’t the right move after all. Insolvency isn’t bankruptcy, but it’s definitely a warning that things are about to get rocky. Your plugins still work, and support exists… for now. Plugin Alliance already confirmed they aren’t a part of this mess.

Now What

Download every installer you own and back up any license files or serial numbers you have. Don’t impulse-buy upgrades right now. Let this play out.

[Read more on Bedroom Producers Blog]

One Wedding > 100k Streams

What's Up

While you were busy scraping pennies from Spotify, GigSalad paid musicians $12.8 million in 2025 for playing at weddings, corporate events, and birthday parties. That's from 25,235 bookings, up 12% from 2024.

So What

A four-hour wedding gig pays hundreds of dollars upfront. Sounds better than AI stealing your royalties. The top earners are violinists, pianists, DJs, jazz bands, and classical guitarists.

Now What

Give GigSalad a shot - it’s free. Put together a private-event setlist - think covers, ambience, and crowd-pleasers. Make sure your pricing actually fits your local market.

[Full story at Hypebot]