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Issue Nº 42Live · October 12, 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
AllStreaming123Marketing89Business62Touring16Money48Career20
All dispatches

Page 4

A car dashboard at golden hour shot from the passenger seat: a hand with a woven bracelet on the wheel, a satellite radio head unit glowing blue, a phone in a vent mount playing a radio app, and a parking garage ticket tucked at the windshield edge.
Money

SoundExchange Explained (2026): Register + Claim Royalties

Daniel Brooks14 min read
A pressing plant quality-control bench: a gloved hand holding a fresh black LP over a glowing light table, stacks of white-sleeved test pressings with handwritten sticker notes including a reject flag, a clipboard checklist, a loupe on a jacket proof and vinyl shavings on the bench.
Money

Vinyl Pressing Cost in 2026: Real Prices + Break-Even Math

Daniel Brooks15 min read
A listening corner at night: two phones propped against a stack of CD cases each showing a different music player, over-ear headphones plugged into a small headphone amplifier, a burned CD in a paper sleeve, and a notebook with a handwritten two-column comparison list.
Streaming

Deezer vs Tidal 2026: Price, Sound, Artist Payouts

Marcus Vale24 min read
A quarterly wall calendar for October through December pinned above a musician's desk, early-October weeks boxed in green marker, December hatched out in red, a sticky note on late November, and a checklist taped beside it.
Streaming

Q4 Music Release Strategy 2026: Best and Worst Dates

Marcus Vale13 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.
Business

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.
Business

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.
Business

Video Game Sync Licensing 2026: Rates + How to Pitch

Daniel Brooks17 min read
A venue box office window at dusk: a taped-up price sheet with a handwritten sold-out strip across its tiers, a card reader angled toward the glass, a roll of wristbands, string-light reflections in the glass, and a hand with folded bills entering the frame.
Touring

Average Concert Ticket Price 2026: $122.15 [Pollstar Data]

Daniel Brooks13 min read
A kitchen counter at dusk: a phone propped against a fruit bowl showing a blurred subscription renewal notice, printed bank statements with subscription lines highlighted in three marker colors, reading glasses, a pen and a French press.
Money

Streaming Price Increases 2026: Do Artists Get Paid More?

Daniel Brooks12 min read
An artist's kitchen table in August: a laptop open to a submission portal form, a torn-out August calendar page with dates circled in red, a printed checklist with boxes ticked, a debit card, an external hard drive, and a cold mug of coffee.
Career

Grammy Submission for Independent Artists: 2027 Guide

Lena Kova15 min read
A workspace desk with a hand-drawn map of music industry roles on a large sheet, boxes for A&R, sync licensing, touring and data analytics with several circled in red, next to a laptop showing a job board, a printed CV, a highlighter and a lanyard.
Career

Music Industry Jobs in 2026: Roles, Pay + Entry Paths

Lena Kova14 min read
A small home studio at dawn: a guitar on its stand gathering light dust, a closed laptop with a phone face-down on it, a full mug of tea gone cold, a closed notebook, and a hoodie draped over the pushed-back chair.
Career

Musician Burnout: An Honest Mental Health Guide (2026)

Lena Kova13 min read
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