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ISPs Won. Artists Lost.
🔒 Supreme Court Rules ISPs Don't Have to Protect Your Music
The Supreme Court just ruled 9-0 in favor of Cox Communications, deciding that internet service providers are NOT responsible when their users illegally download and share your music. What does that mean for you? If someone is pirating your songs through their internet provider, that provider has zero legal obligation to stop them or cut off their service. The labels fought hard on this one — Sony had a $1 billion judgment on the table — and still lost. As an indie artist without a legal team behind you, this is a reminder that protecting your music starts with you. Register your copyrights, use Content ID on YouTube, and make sure your distribution agreement includes takedown support.
Spotify Just Dropped Its 2025 Royalty Numbers (And Indies Are Winning)
Spotify paid out royalties in 2025 with roughly half of all royalties generated by independent artists and labels. More than 13,800 artists generated at least $100,000 a year from Spotify alone — nearly 1,400 more than the year before. The data shows the streaming economy is growing for independents — but only for those who are consistent and strategic.
Lorde Went Independent After 2 Decades on a Major Label
Lorde revealed she's now an independent artist after her contract with Universal Music Group expired late last year — a deal she had been in since she was 12 years old. When one of the biggest artists in the world chooses independence over a major label re-sign, it says something about where the industry is heading.
Tip Of The Week
Tip You Need To Know
💡Register Your Copyright — Before You Release
💡 Tip of the Week: Register Your Copyright — Before You Release
Most independent artists release music without ever officially registering their copyright. You technically own your music the moment you create it — but if someone steals it and you haven't registered, you can only sue for actual damages, which are nearly impossible to prove and rarely worth the legal fees.
When you register with the U.S. Copyright Office before releasing or within 90 days of release, you unlock the ability to sue for statutory damages — up to $150,000 per work for willful infringement — plus attorney's fees. That's the difference between having real legal leverage and having none.
How to do it: Go to copyright.gov → Register a claim → Select "Sound Recording" for your master and "Work of the Performing Arts" for your composition. It costs $45–$65 per filing and takes about 5 minutes to submit.
Given this week's Supreme Court ruling, the message is clear — the system isn't going to protect your music for you. You have to do it yourself.
Recommended For You
Tools For Your Career
24/7 Artists Catalog Manager
Most independent artists have their songs scattered across Google Drive, random folders, text messages, and three different spreadsheets. No ISRC codes. Missing metadata. No split documentation. No registration records. That's not just disorganized — it's lost money and zero legal protection.
The 24/7 Artists Catalog Tool fixes that.
It's your single source of truth for everything related to your music — it’s how you get your music ready to make money and help protect it. Think of it as the professional structure your catalog has been missing. (When you want to make a deal with brands, labels or for sync - you will need your tracks to have all catalog info)
What it tracks for each song:
ISRC, UPC, release date, writers, producers
Split sheets and contributor approvals
Uploaded files — WAVs, stems, instrumentals, artwork
Agreements and contracts per song
Registration status across PROs and distributors
Given this week's tip about registering your copyright before you release — the Catalog Tool is where you build the paper trail that makes that possible.
👉 Sign up for the waiting list →
24/7 Artists Updates
Here’s What’s New
We're Building What Artists Need
We've been heads down building something we believe every independent artist deserves — a real operating system for your music career.
Our new dashboard is live with our beta group and the feedback has been incredible. Artists are finally seeing all their tools, resources, and career data in one place instead of jumping between apps, spreadsheets, and random notes.
Here's what's inside and what we're continuing to build out:
🎯 Career GPS Your AI-powered career planning tool. Tell it where you want to go — Career GPS builds the roadmap to get there with personalized milestones, goals, and next steps based on where you are right now.
📚 Learning Hub Workshops, courses, and resources built specifically for independent artists. No fluff — just practical education you can apply to your career immediately.
🗂️ Catalog Manager As highlighted above — your single source of truth for every song, split, file, and registration in your catalog. Stop losing money to disorganization.
💰 Budget Planner Built for artists who are serious about treating their music like a business. Track your income, expenses, and investments across your career — all in one place.
🧮 Calc Tools Quick calculation tools built for artist decisions — royalty splits, streaming revenue estimates, tour profit margins, and more. Numbers made simple.
We're not done. We're continuing to build, improve, and add features based directly on what our beta artists are telling us they need. If you're not in the beta yet and want early access — reply to this email and we'll get you in.
The goal is simple: give every independent artist the infrastructure that used to only exist inside major labels.
Upcoming Events
Don’t Miss Out
Built to Be Seen: Digital Marketing Strategies for Developing Artists
🎤 Happening TOMORROW: Built to Be Seen Digital Marketing Strategies for Developing Artists
If you're posting consistently and still not growing — this workshop is for you.
Tomorrow at 7PM EST we're hosting a free live workshop with Alexis Warner, Senior Director of Digital Marketing at LVRN — the independent label behind Summer Walker, 6LACK, and some of the most successful artist launches of the last decade.
Alexis is breaking down the exact digital marketing framework her team uses internally and translating it into six repeatable tactics built specifically for indie artists working without a label budget.
You'll leave knowing how to:
Build a discovery strategy that goes beyond just posting
Structure a release campaign from pre-drop to post-release momentum
Make data-driven content decisions that actually improve your reach
Develop a brand identity that extends beyond your music
Execute a 30-day action plan you can start the same night
This is free. Seats are limited.
Tomorrow · May 7, 2026 · 7PM EST · Zoom