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Issue Nº 41Live · October 11, 2026Weekly · Tuesdays

The Brief.

A weekly dispatch on streaming, royalties, marketing and the music industry — written from real campaign data, not theory.

In the archive

358 dispatches

Read by

5,000+ artists

All Streaming123 Marketing89 Business62 Touring16 Money48 Career20

Business

Filed under Business

AI Voice Cloning Music Laws 2026: Country by Country

Daniel Brooks14 min read

How Many AI Songs Are on Streaming Platforms in 2026?

Daniel Brooks15 min read

Is AI Music Allowed on Spotify? 2026 Platform Rules

Daniel Brooks13 min read

A spare-room record label office: a whiteboard release schedule with artist rows and quarter columns, two laptops on a worn desk, white-sleeved test pressings leaning against the desk, a framed debut album poster on the floor and a hand-made label sign on the wall.

How to Start a Record Label in 2026: Complete Guide

Daniel Brooks16 min read

A musician's desk with a laptop showing a blurred three-tier pricing page, a printed comparison sheet annotated in blue pen with one column circled and one crossed out, a Casio calculator, a bank card, receipts on a spike, and a half-finished coffee.

TuneCore Pricing 2026: Every Plan, Fee & Hidden Cost

Daniel Brooks13 min read

A bedroom studio corner at dusk: a phone on a MIDI keyboard showing a blurred royalty dashboard, headphones on a mic arm, a notebook open to a handwritten pros and cons list, a basketball on the floor and sneakers on a shoebox by the wall.

UnitedMasters Review 2026: Pricing, Payouts & Verdict

Daniel Brooks14 min read

A label business-affairs desk after a contract signing: a thick licensing agreement open to a freshly signed signature page with an uncapped fountain pen across it, a second bound copy, espresso cups, and shelves of vinyl and awards blurred behind.

AI Music Licensing Deals 2026: Every Label Deal Tracked

Daniel Brooks13 min read

A music industry analyst's desk by a window: a printed half-year report stack with yellow sticky flags, handwritten notes with circled figures and a drawn arrow, reading glasses, stacked trade magazines, and a laptop showing an earnings-call slide.

Music Industry 2026 Report: H1 Data on Revenue, AI, M&A

Daniel Brooks15 min read

A game studio audio bay at night: two monitors showing a level editor and an audio middleware session, a MIDI keyboard with a coiled headphone cable, a printed cue sheet with ticked checkboxes, a game controller, and acoustic foam panels behind.

Video Game Sync Licensing 2026: Rates + How to Pitch

Daniel Brooks17 min read

An independent artist at a kitchen table reading a printed distribution agreement with a magnifying glass beside a laptop and calculator, one clause highlighted in yellow, in soft afternoon window light.

CD Baby Review 2026: Pricing, 9% Cut & Is It Worth It?

Daniel Brooks12 min read

A musician's desk with a laptop showing a distributor royalty dashboard as a soft-focus silhouette, a printed pricing sheet with yellow highlighter marks, a calculator and a coffee mug in morning window light.

TuneCore Review 2026: Pricing, Payouts & Is It Worth It?

Daniel Brooks13 min read

A desk with a printed stack of customer feedback pages beside a laptop, one page marked with a highlighter, reading glasses and a pen resting on the pile in soft daylight.

Chartlex Complaints: Every Negative Theme, Answered (2026)

Chartlex Team14 min read

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