Free reference · 288 terms

Every music term, explained.

Plain-English definitions from ISRC to settlement — codes, rights, royalties, releasing, marketing, production, deals and live.

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360 dealDeals & the business: A record deal in which the label takes a percentage of income beyond recordings — touring, merch, sponsorship, publishing, sometimes acting. Justified by the label's investment; often a poor trade if the label doesn't actually work those areas.; See also: Label deal, Merch, Touring income

A

A&Ralso: Artists and RepertoireDeals & the business: Artists and Repertoire — the label or publisher function that scouts and signs talent and guides the creative development of their releases. Modern A&R watches data as much as gigs: growth in saves, followers and playlist adds is what gets you a call.; See also: Label deal, Major label, Publisher
Accounting periodalso: Reporting periodRoyalties & money: How often a company calculates and reports what it owes you — typically monthly for distributors, quarterly or twice-yearly for labels and publishers, each with a lag before payment. A long period plus a long lag can mean waiting the better part of a year for money already earned.; See also: Statement, Payout threshold, Royalty audit
AdvanceRoyalties & money: Money paid up front against future royalties. It is not a fee — it is your own future earnings paid early and then recouped. Larger advances mean longer before you see another payment, which is the core trade-off of most label and publishing deals.; See also: Recoupment, Label deal, Publishing
Advance (live)also: Show advanceLive & touring: Not money — the pre-show call or email confirming the details with the venue: load-in, soundcheck, set times, tech, hospitality, payment and settlement. Advancing every show is what stops surprises on the night.; See also: Rider, Promoter, Settlement
AggregatorDistribution & platforms: Often used interchangeably with distributor. Strictly, an aggregator collects releases from many artists and labels and delivers them to platforms in bulk under one technical agreement — which is exactly what an independent distributor does.; See also: Distributor, DSP
AI-generated musicalso: Generative musicRights & ownership: Music produced wholly or partly by a generative model. Ownership rules are unsettled and vary by country — several copyright offices will not register work with no meaningful human authorship. Platforms and distributors increasingly require disclosure, and impersonating a named artist's voice raises name-and-likeness claims separate from copyright.; See also: Name and likeness, Copyright, Metadata
Albumalso: LPReleasing & metadata: A release of seven or more tracks (or over about 30 minutes). Albums still matter for critical attention, vinyl, and superfans; many independent artists now build them from previously released singles using a waterfall strategy.; See also: EP, Single, Waterfall release
Algorithmic playlistMarketing & growth: A playlist generated automatically from listening behaviour — Discover Weekly, Release Radar, Daily Mix, Radio, Autoplay. These are where most independent streams come from, and they are driven by signals like saves, completion and follows, not by pitching.; See also: Editorial playlist, Release Radar, Discover Weekly, Save rate
Alternate versionalso: Alt versionReleasing & metadata: Any recording of the same song that is not the main one — acoustic, sped up, slowed, instrumental, extended, live. Each needs its own ISRC, shares the song's publishing, and can be released separately to give a catalogue track new life.; See also: ISRC, Radio edit, Remix, Publishing
AnghamiDistribution & platforms: The leading streaming service in the Middle East and North Africa. Like other regional platforms, it only carries your music if your distributor delivers there — check your store list rather than assuming worldwide means everywhere.; See also: DSP, Territory
Apple Digital Mastersalso: Mastered for iTunesProduction & audio: Apple's programme for masters delivered at high resolution and checked with its tools so the encoded version is as close as possible to the studio master. Delivered via an accredited mastering engineer and a participating distributor; earns a badge on Apple Music.; See also: Master, Hi-res audio
APRA AMCOSRoyalties & money: The combined Australian and New Zealand societies — APRA for performance rights, AMCOS for mechanicals. One membership covers both.; See also: PRO, CMO, Mechanical royalty
Art trackDistribution & platforms: The auto-generated YouTube video — cover art plus audio — that a distributor creates for each delivered song. It is what appears under "Topic" channels and inside YouTube Music. Not a substitute for your own music video, but it earns ad and subscription revenue.; See also: YouTube, Distributor
Artist profileDistribution & platforms: Your page on a platform, created automatically from the artist name in your release metadata. Because it is keyed on the name, a shared or misspelled name can send your release to someone else's profile — most distributors let you pin your releases to an existing profile ID to prevent this.; See also: Spotify for Artists, ISNI, Metadata
ASCAPRoyalties & money: The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers — one of the two major US performing rights organisations. Membership is open to any songwriter; it pays performance royalties quarterly. You can only be a writer member of one US PRO at a time.; See also: PRO, BMI, Performance royalty
Assignmentalso: AssignRights & ownership: Transferring ownership of a copyright to someone else, permanently, as opposed to licensing it for a period. Publishing and record deals are often written as assignments — read for the word, because a licence comes back to you and an assignment does not unless a reversion clause says so.; See also: Licensing deal, Reversion, Copyright, Publisher
AttributionMarketing & growth: Working out which post, ad or link actually produced a stream or a sale. Music attribution is imperfect because streaming happens off your site, so use smart links and pixels for direction rather than treating any number as exact.; See also: Pixel, Smart link, Conversion rate
AudiomackDistribution & platforms: A free-to-listener streaming platform with deep reach in hip-hop, Afrobeats and Caribbean music, particularly in Africa and the US. Artists can upload directly as well as receive distributor deliveries.; See also: DSP, Boomplay

B

BacklineLive & touring: The shared instrument gear at a venue or festival — drum kit, bass and guitar amps, keyboard stands. Knowing what is provided decides what you carry; the rider is where you state what you need and what you bring.; See also: Rider, Stage plot, Festival slot
BandcampMarketing & growth: A store where fans buy music and merch directly from you, with pay-what-you-want pricing and a far larger share to the artist than streaming. Also a DSP in its own right for many independent scenes.; See also: Direct-to-fan, Merch
Bandcamp FridayMarketing & growth: Days when Bandcamp waives its revenue share and the artist keeps almost everything. Regular enough to plan around, and effective for direct sales, vinyl pre-orders and merch drops to an existing audience.; See also: Bandcamp, Direct-to-fan, Merch
Beat leasealso: Exclusive beat, Type beatProduction & audio: Buying the right to use a producer's instrumental under set terms — a non-exclusive lease (others can use the same beat, with stream or sales caps) or an exclusive purchase. Read the lease: many restrict distribution or Content ID, and the producer usually retains a publishing share.; See also: Producer, Sample clearance, Content ID
BeatportDistribution & platforms: The main download and streaming store for electronic dance music, organised by genre and BPM and used heavily by DJs. Its charts are a real currency in club scenes, and it pays meaningfully more per download than a stream pays.; See also: DSP, BPM, Remix
Bioalso: Artist bioMarketing & growth: Your written story in a few lengths (one line, one paragraph, one page). It appears on platform profiles, in pitches, and in press. Lead with what is specific about you and where you are now, not with adjectives.; See also: EPK, Spotify for Artists
Bit depthProduction & audio: The resolution of each audio measurement — 16-bit for CD, 24-bit for recording and most modern masters. Higher bit depth means more headroom and lower noise; 24-bit masters are accepted by all major distributors.; See also: Sample rate, WAV
Black box royaltiesalso: Unclaimed royaltiesRoyalties & money: Royalties that were collected but could not be matched to a rights holder — usually because of missing or mismatched metadata and registrations. After a holding period they are often distributed to existing members by market share, meaning unregistered writers' money goes to registered ones.; See also: MLC, Metadata, Publishing administration
BMIRoyalties & money: Broadcast Music, Inc. — the other major US performing rights organisation, historically free to join as a writer. Functionally equivalent to ASCAP for an independent artist: register your works, get paid performance royalties, and provide your IPI to collaborators.; See also: PRO, ASCAP, Performance royalty
Bonus trackReleasing & metadata: An extra track added to some editions or territories of a release. It is a real track with its own ISRC and its own royalties, not a freebie — and it is a common way to give a physical or regional edition something exclusive.; See also: Deluxe edition, ISRC, Exclusive
Booking agentalso: AgentLive & touring: The person who gets you shows — negotiating with promoters and venues for a commission of typically 10–15% of live fees. Agents take artists who can already draw; until then, you book yourself.; See also: Promoter, Commission, Guarantee
BoomplayDistribution & platforms: The largest streaming service across much of Africa, with the bulk of its audience in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania. Worth delivering to if your listener map shows African territories — the payout per stream is lower than Western services but the audience is real.; See also: DSP, Territory, Audiomack
BootlegRights & ownership: An unauthorised recording or release — a taped live show, a leaked demo, an uncleared edit circulating on streaming. You can have them removed; the practical question is usually whether removal is worth more than the attention.; See also: Takedown, Copyright strike, Remix
BPMalso: TempoProduction & audio: Beats per minute — the tempo. Stores and DJ platforms display it, sync briefs ask for it, and it is part of the metadata that helps a track get found for a specific use.; See also: Click track, Beatport, Metadata
BreakageRoyalties & money: Money a label or distributor receives from a platform that is not tied to specific plays — minimum guarantees, advances, equity — and historically kept rather than shared with artists. Modern independent distribution deals are cleaner about it; older label contracts often are not.; See also: Net receipts, Statement, Label deal
Busalso: GroupProduction & audio: A channel several tracks are routed into so they can be processed together — a drum bus, a vocal bus, the master bus. Treating a group as one thing is usually what makes a mix sound glued rather than assembled.; See also: Mix, Compression, Send, Stem
Business entityalso: Company, Sole trader, LLCDeals & the business: The legal form your music activity takes — trading under your own name, a company, or a partnership. It affects tax, liability and how you sign deals, and the right answer depends on your country and your income; this is a question for an accountant in your jurisdiction, not for a glossary.; See also: Lawyer, Withholding tax, Invoice
Buy-onLive & touring: Paying for a support slot on a larger artist's tour, contributing to the tour's costs in exchange for playing to their audience each night. Legitimate at a certain scale; judge it by the fit of the audience and the size of the rooms.; See also: Support slot, Touring income

C

CanvasMarketing & growth: Spotify's 3–8 second looping vertical video that plays behind a track. Added via Spotify for Artists; Spotify's own data suggests Canvas raises shares and saves. Cheap to make from a music-video clip.; See also: Spotify for Artists, Save rate
Cataloguealso: Back catalogueDistribution & platforms: Everything you have released: the complete set of recordings (and, on the publishing side, compositions) you own or control. Older catalogue is the closest thing to passive income in music — it keeps streaming, and a sync or viral moment can revive a five-year-old track.; See also: Master recording, Catalogue sale
Catalogue numberalso: Cat noCodes & identifiers: A label's own reference for a release — often letters plus a number, printed on vinyl sleeves and CD spines. It is internal bookkeeping, not an industry identifier: stores match on UPC, not on this. Useful once you have enough releases to need your own filing system.; See also: UPC, Label name, Vinyl
Catalogue salealso: Catalogue acquisitionDeals & the business: Selling ownership of your recordings or songs outright for a lump sum, typically priced as a multiple of annual earnings. Increasingly available to independents with established catalogue. It is a permanent trade of future income for present cash.; See also: Catalogue, Master recording, Publishing
Catalogue valuationalso: MultipleDeals & the business: What a catalogue is worth to a buyer, usually expressed as a multiple of its recent annual earnings. Stability matters as much as size — predictable sync and streaming income values higher than one viral spike.; See also: Catalogue sale, Catalogue, Statement
CDProduction & audio: Still a live format at shows, in Japan and for older audiences, and the cheapest physical product to make. Requires a DDP master and a UPC.; See also: DDP, Merch
Chain of titleRights & ownership: The documented trail proving who owns what in a song and a recording — split sheets, producer agreements, session releases, sample clearances. Sync buyers and catalogue purchasers ask for it, and a gap can kill a deal months after the fact. It is the reason to keep the paperwork of even a small release.; See also: Split sheet, Clearance, Sync placement, Catalogue sale
ClearanceRights & ownership: Getting written permission for every element in your release that you do not own — samples, interpolations, guest performances, artwork, footage. Clearance is per-use: permission for a single does not cover the remix, the ad, or the film.; See also: Sample clearance, Interpolation, Chain of title, One-stop
Click trackalso: MetronomeProduction & audio: A metronome the performers play along to so the recording stays on grid, which makes editing, quantising and adding parts later possible. Worth using even when the music should not feel rigid — a tempo map can bend it back.; See also: BPM, DAW, Multitrack
ClippingProduction & audio: What happens when a signal exceeds the maximum level and the peaks are cut flat — heard as crunch or distortion. Deliberate clipping is a legitimate loudness tool in some genres; accidental clipping on a delivered master is a defect that streaming encoders make worse.; See also: Headroom, True peak, Master
CMOalso: Collecting societyRoyalties & money: Collective Management Organisation — the umbrella term for the societies that license music on behalf of many rights holders and distribute what they collect: PROs, mechanical societies, and neighbouring-rights bodies. You will meet several, and each collects a different kind of income.; See also: PRO, Mechanical royalty, Neighboring rights
Co-writerRights & ownership: Anyone who contributed to the composition — melody, lyrics, chord progression — and therefore shares its copyright. Contributing a beat may or may not create a claim depending on what was agreed, which is why splits should be settled explicitly rather than assumed.; See also: Split sheet, Publishing, ISWC
CollaboratorDeals & the business: Anyone who shares in a release — co-writers, producers, featured artists, band members. In the LUCY app, collaborators can be attached to a release with a percentage so their share of royalties is paid to them automatically.; See also: Royalty split, Split sheet, Featured artist
Commercial music libraryalso: Production library, Royalty-free libraryMarketing & growth: A catalogue licensed for use in other people's content — ads, videos, games — usually on a subscription or per-track basis. It can be steady income, but exclusive library deals often restrict what you can do with the same track elsewhere, so read the term.; See also: Sync agent, Sync license, Exclusivity
CommissionDeals & the business: The percentage a manager, agent or other representative takes from income they are involved in. Ask whether it is on gross or net, and on which income streams.; See also: Manager, Booking agent, Sync agent
CompilationReleasing & metadata: A release collecting tracks from several existing releases, or from several artists. Multi-artist compilations need each contributor's permission and a clear split of the release's income; the metadata must credit each track's own rights holders.; See also: Album, Metadata, Royalty split
CompingProduction & audio: Assembling one performance from the best parts of several takes. Standard practice on vocals; the craft is in choosing for feel and consistent tone rather than for technical perfection line by line.; See also: Take, Pitch correction, Multitrack
Compressionalso: CompressorProduction & audio: Automatically reducing the loudest parts of a signal so the quiet parts can come up — controlling dynamics, and shaping how a sound feels. The most useful and most overused tool in a mix.; See also: Mix, Sidechain, LUFS, Bus
Content calendarMarketing & growth: A simple plan of what goes out where, and when, across the release window. Its real function is preventing the two failure modes of independent marketing: nothing for weeks, then everything on release day.; See also: Release window, Release date, Snippet
Content IDDistribution & platforms: YouTube's fingerprinting system that scans uploads against a database of registered recordings. When your music is enrolled, videos that use it are matched and you can monetise them (take the ad revenue) or block them. Enrol through your distributor; don't enrol tracks containing samples or licensed beats you don't fully own.; See also: YouTube, Copyright strike, Sync license
Controlled composition clauseRights & ownership: A record-deal clause that caps the mechanical royalty a label pays on songs the artist wrote, often to a fraction of the statutory rate. Standard in US major deals and easy to miss — it quietly reduces your songwriter income on your own record.; See also: Mechanical royalty, Label deal, Publishing
Conversion rateMarketing & growth: The share of people who take the action you wanted — clicked the link, saved the track, joined the list, bought the shirt. Judging a campaign on reach instead of conversion is how budgets disappear into impressions that never became listeners.; See also: Cost per result, Smart link, Save rate
CopyrightRights & ownership: The legal right that protects an original work from the moment it is fixed (recorded or written down). A song has two separate copyrights: one in the composition (words and melody) and one in the sound recording. You own both by default when you write and record your own music; registration with a copyright office is optional but strengthens enforcement.; See also: Master recording, Publishing, Public domain
Copyright linealso: ℗ line, © line, P line, C lineReleasing & metadata: The two ownership notices in release metadata: ℗ (the sound recording — year and master owner) and © (the artwork and packaging, often the same name). They are displayed on stores and used to identify who to pay. They do not replace registering with a society.; See also: Master recording, Publishing, Label name
Copyright strikeDistribution & platforms: A formal removal notice on a platform like YouTube, distinct from a Content ID claim. Claims redirect revenue; strikes count against the channel and three can close it. If you own everything in your video, disputing a mistaken claim usually resolves it.; See also: Content ID, Takedown
Cost per resultalso: CPC, CPM, CPAMarketing & growth: What an ad costs per outcome — per thousand impressions (CPM), per click (CPC), or per action such as a pre-save (CPA). Tracking cost per result, not spend, is what tells you whether a campaign is working.; See also: Paid ads, Pixel
Cover artalso: ArtworkReleasing & metadata: The square image attached to a release — minimum 3000×3000 pixels on most stores, no blurry or stretched images, no URLs, prices or social handles, and text that matches the release title. Artwork rejections are the most common reason a release misses its date.; See also: Metadata, Delivery
Cover songRights & ownership: A new recording of a song someone else wrote. You may release a cover without asking permission in many countries as long as the mechanical royalty is paid to the songwriter — in the US via a compulsory mechanical license. You own the new recording; the composition royalties go to the original writers.; See also: Mechanical license, Public domain, Publishing
Creditsalso: Liner notesReleasing & metadata: The named roles on a recording — writers, producers, performers, engineers, mixers. Platforms increasingly display credits, and collection societies use them to pay performers. Enter them fully at upload; adding them afterwards means a metadata update across every store.; See also: Metadata, Session musician, Producer
Cross-collateralisationalso: Cross-collateralizationRoyalties & money: A clause letting a company recoup the unearned costs of one project from the income of another — album two paying off album one, or publishing income paying off a recording advance. It is the single clause most likely to keep a successful artist unrecouped.; See also: Recoupment, Advance, Label deal, 360 deal
Cue sheetMarketing & growth: The document a production files with PROs listing every piece of music used, its writers, and its duration. It is how performance royalties for broadcast placements get paid — check that your placements have accurate cue sheets, since errors mean unpaid royalties.; See also: Sync placement, Performance royalty, PRO

D

DAWalso: Digital Audio WorkstationProduction & audio: Digital Audio Workstation — the software you record, arrange and mix in: Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Pro Tools, FL Studio, Reaper, Cubase and others. Choice of DAW does not affect the result; knowing yours deeply does.; See also: Multitrack, Plugin
DDEXCodes & identifiers: Digital Data Exchange — the standard file format (ERN, DSR and others) that distributors and platforms use to exchange release metadata and sales reports. You never write DDEX yourself, but errors in your metadata become errors in the DDEX feed, which is why store rejections are so specific about title formatting.; See also: Metadata, Distributor
DDPalso: Disc Description ProtocolProduction & audio: The file set a mastering engineer delivers for CD manufacturing — audio, track gaps, ISRCs and text, as the plant needs it. Only relevant if you press CDs, but ask for it at mastering so you have it later.; See also: Master, Vinyl, CD
Deal memoalso: Term sheet, Heads of termsDeals & the business: A short document setting out the agreed commercial points before the long contract is drafted. It is often binding in part, so treat it as a contract rather than as notes — most bad deals are lost at the memo stage.; See also: Label deal, Lawyer, NDA
Deliveryalso: IngestionDistribution & platforms: The act of sending a release's audio and metadata to a platform. Delivery is quick; the platform's processing (ingestion) can take hours to days, and the release only appears on the date you set. This is why distributors ask for a lead time.; See also: Distributor, DSP, Lead time
Deluxe editionReleasing & metadata: A re-release of an album with extra tracks, alternate versions, or a second disc. It gives an existing record a second launch moment and a second round of playlist consideration, without the cost of making a new album.; See also: Album, Bonus track, Waterfall release
Derivative workRights & ownership: A new work built on an existing one — a remix, a translation, an arrangement, a sample-based track. Making one requires permission from the original owner, and your rights extend only to what you added, not to the underlying work.; See also: Remix, Interpolation, Cover song, Copyright
Direct-to-fanalso: D2FMarketing & growth: Selling and communicating with fans directly rather than through platforms — merch, vinyl, memberships, tickets, email. Margins are far higher than streaming and you own the relationship.; See also: Superfan, Merch, Email list, Bandcamp
Discover WeeklyMarketing & growth: Spotify's Monday personalised playlist of music a listener hasn't heard but is predicted to like. Tracks get in by performing well with similar listeners — strong saves and low skips on early plays — which makes the first weeks of a release disproportionately important.; See also: Algorithmic playlist, Save rate, Skip rate
Distribution feealso: Commission (distribution)Royalties & money: What a distributor charges: either a flat annual or per-release fee with 100% of royalties to you, or a percentage of revenue (commonly 10–30%) with no upfront cost. Which is cheaper depends entirely on how much you earn, so recheck the maths as a release grows.; See also: Distributor, Net receipts, Label services
Distributoralso: Digital distributorDistribution & platforms: The service that delivers your recordings and metadata to streaming platforms and stores, then collects the recording royalties and reports them back to you. Independent artists cannot upload to Spotify or Apple Music directly — a distributor is the required middle step. LUCY is one; DistroKid, TuneCore, and CD Baby are others.; See also: Aggregator, DSP, Delivery, Statement
Dolby Atmosalso: Spatial audio, Immersive audioProduction & audio: An immersive audio format that places sounds in three-dimensional space rather than left–right stereo. Apple Music, Amazon Music and Tidal play Atmos mixes; making one requires the stems, an Atmos renderer, and a separate delivery from the stereo master.; See also: Stem, Master, Apple Digital Masters
Door dealalso: Door splitLive & touring: Being paid a share of ticket revenue (after costs) instead of a fixed fee. Common for developing artists and at smaller venues. Understand what costs come off the top before the split.; See also: Guarantee, Promoter
Drum replacementProduction & audio: Reinforcing or swapping recorded drum hits with samples, triggered from the original performance. Keeps the player's feel while fixing an inconsistent kit or a bad room.; See also: Stem, Mix, Multitrack
DSPalso: Digital Service Provider, Streaming platformDistribution & platforms: Digital Service Provider — industry shorthand for any platform that streams or sells music: Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, Tidal, TikTok, and hundreds of regional services. Your distributor "delivers to DSPs"; each DSP has its own ingestion rules and lead times.; See also: Distributor, Editorial playlist

E

Editorial playlistMarketing & growth: A playlist curated by a platform's in-house editors rather than by an algorithm. Placement can add hundreds of thousands of streams, but it is pitched — through Spotify for Artists at least a week before release — and never guaranteed. Editors read the pitch; write it for them, not for fans.; See also: Algorithmic playlist, Spotify for Artists, Focus track, Lead time
Email listalso: Mailing list, NewsletterMarketing & growth: The one audience no algorithm can take from you. Collect emails at shows, on your smart links and site, and in exchange for a download; a few thousand engaged addresses out-earn a hundred thousand passive followers.; See also: Direct-to-fan, Superfan
EmbargoReleasing & metadata: An agreed date before which press, partners or platforms may not publish something. Used for premieres and reviews so coverage lands together on release day; breaking one damages the relationship more than it helps the story.; See also: Press release, Publicist, Release date
EPalso: Extended playReleasing & metadata: Extended Play — a release of roughly four to six tracks, or under about 30 minutes. Long enough to show range, short enough to promote as one moment. Store rules on what counts as an EP versus an album vary slightly by platform.; See also: Single, Album
EPKalso: Electronic press kitMarketing & growth: Electronic Press Kit — a single page or PDF with your bio, photos, music links, press quotes, video, and contact. Anyone who might write about, book, or playlist you should be able to get everything they need from it in a minute.; See also: Bio, Press release, Playlist pitching
EQalso: Equalisation, EqualizationProduction & audio: Boosting or cutting specific frequency ranges. Most mix problems are solved by cutting what is in the way rather than boosting what you want to hear, because everything sounds better louder and louder is not the same as clearer.; See also: Mix, Plugin, Headroom
EquityDeals & the business: An ownership stake in a company, sometimes offered instead of cash by a startup label, agency or platform. Illiquid and often worthless — treat it as a bonus on top of fair payment, never as the payment.; See also: Business entity, Advance
ExclusiveReleasing & metadata: Giving one platform, store or publication first or sole access for a period. It buys support from that partner at the cost of reach everywhere else — rarely worth it for an independent artist unless the partner is genuinely paying for it.; See also: Premiere, Territory, Bonus track
ExclusivityDeals & the business: A promise not to give the same rights to anyone else during the term. Some exclusivity is normal (you can't sign one album to two labels); watch for exclusivity that is wider than the service being provided, such as a sync library that blocks all other pitching.; See also: Term, Sync agent, Distributor
Explicit contentalso: Explicit tag, Clean versionReleasing & metadata: A flag in the metadata marking a track as containing strong language or adult themes. Marking correctly is required by stores; wrongly marking a track clean can get it pulled. A separate clean version (radio edit) with its own ISRC can sit alongside the explicit one.; See also: Metadata, Radio edit

F

Fair dealingRights & ownership: The UK, Canadian and Australian counterpart to fair use — narrower, because it applies only to specific listed purposes such as research, review, and parody. Like fair use, it is not a licence and not a plan.; See also: Fair use, Copyright, Parody
Fair useRights & ownership: A US doctrine that permits limited unlicensed use of copyrighted material for purposes like criticism, commentary, news, teaching, and parody. It is a defence decided case by case, not a permission you can rely on in advance — and it almost never covers using someone's recording in your song.; See also: Fair dealing, Parody, Sample clearance, Copyright
Featured artistalso: feat.Releasing & metadata: An artist credited on a track who isn't the main act. Stores require the feature to be entered in its own field, not typed into the title. Featured artists appear on the track and often on the release, and it appears on their profile too.; See also: Primary artist, Metadata, Royalty split
Festival slotLive & touring: Your position on a festival bill — stage, day and time. An early slot on a big stage can beat a headline slot on a small one, and the booking usually comes with a radius clause.; See also: Radius clause, Booking agent, Backline
Fingerprintingalso: Audio fingerprintDistribution & platforms: Matching audio against a reference database to identify a recording wherever it appears — the technology behind Content ID, Shazam, and platform de-duplication. It is why an uncleared sample surfaces eventually, and why your own music can be monetised on other people's videos.; See also: Content ID, Shazam, Sample clearance
FLACProduction & audio: A lossless compressed audio format — identical quality to WAV in roughly half the file size. Accepted by many distributors and used by hi-res streaming services.; See also: WAV, Hi-res audio
Focus trackReleasing & metadata: The one song on a multi-track release that gets the marketing push and the editorial pitch. Platforms let you name a focus track when pitching; choosing it deliberately matters more than choosing the tracklist order.; See also: Single, Editorial playlist, Pre-save
FOHalso: Front of houseLive & touring: Front of House — the mixing position out in the room, and the engineer running it. They mix what the audience hears; a separate monitor engineer mixes what you hear on stage. At small shows one person does both.; See also: Monitor engineer, Soundcheck, Stage plot
FollowersMarketing & growth: Listeners who have followed your artist profile. Unlike monthly listeners, followers are durable: they get your releases in Release Radar and notifications, which is why "follow" is the most valuable call-to-action you can make.; See also: Release Radar, Monthly listeners, Superfan

G

Gain stagingProduction & audio: Keeping levels sensible at every step of the signal path so nothing distorts and nothing is buried in noise. Most mixes that sound harsh are not badly mixed so much as badly gain staged from the first track.; See also: Headroom, Mix, Clipping
GEMARoyalties & money: Germany's society for songwriters and publishers, covering performance and mechanical rights in one body. Germany is a large streaming market, so German income shows up for many independent catalogues via reciprocal agreements.; See also: PRO, CMO, Performance royalty
Ghost productionRights & ownership: Buying a finished track from a producer and releasing it under your own name, with the producer uncredited by agreement. Legal when the contract transfers the rights properly — the failure mode is a handshake deal, where the ghost producer still owns the composition and can say so later.; See also: Work for hire, Producer agreement, Chain of title, Split sheet
Governing lawalso: JurisdictionDeals & the business: The country or state whose law applies to a contract, and where disputes are heard. Easy to skim past and expensive to discover later — a deal governed on another continent can be practically unenforceable for a small artist.; See also: Lawyer, Deal memo
Grantalso: Funding, Arts fundingDeals & the business: Non-repayable money from arts councils, export offices, foundations and PROs for recording, touring or development. Most countries have several; applications reward a clear plan and budget more than reputation.; See also: Independent artist
Green roomalso: Dressing roomLive & touring: The artist's room backstage. Also where the merch is counted and the settlement happens, which is why it matters that someone in your party knows the numbers.; See also: Hospitality, Settlement, Merch cut
Gridalso: GRidCodes & identifiers: Global Release Identifier — an 18-character code for a digital release, used mostly inside label and distributor systems. Most independent artists never see one; the UPC does the job at the store level.; See also: UPC, ISRC
Guaranteealso: FeeLive & touring: A fixed fee paid to the artist regardless of ticket sales. Often combined with a percentage of the door above a break-even point ("versus" deals). The alternative — a pure door deal — puts the sales risk on you.; See also: Door deal, Promoter, Rider
Guest listalso: Comp listLive & touring: Names you can put on the door for free entry, capped by the promoter and agreed in advance. Spots are finite and come out of the promoter's income, so treat the cap as real.; See also: Promoter, Advance (live), Ticketing

H

HeadroomProduction & audio: The gap between the loudest point of your audio and the ceiling where it distorts. Leaving a few decibels of headroom in a mix gives the mastering engineer somewhere to work; delivering a mix already squashed against the ceiling removes their options.; See also: True peak, Master, Clipping, Gain staging
Hi-res audioalso: High-resolution audioProduction & audio: Audio above CD quality — usually 24-bit at 48 kHz or higher. Apple Music, Amazon Music and Qobuz stream hi-res if you deliver it; there is no extra royalty for it, but it is a quality and positioning choice.; See also: Sample rate, Bit depth, FLAC
HospitalityLive & touring: What the venue provides for the artist — food, drinks, a room, towels. Specified in the hospitality rider. Keep the asks realistic and specific; a rider that reads as demanding gets you a reputation faster than it gets you sandwiches.; See also: Rider, Green room, Per diem

I

In-ear monitorsalso: IEMsLive & touring: Custom or universal earpieces carrying your personal mix on stage, replacing floor wedges. They protect your hearing, remove stage volume, and take a few shows to get used to.; See also: Monitor engineer, Soundcheck
IndemnityDeals & the business: A promise to cover the other side's losses if something you warranted turns out to be untrue — usually that you own what you licensed. It is why an uncleared sample is a financial risk and not just a takedown risk.; See also: Clearance, Chain of title, Sample clearance, Lawyer
Independent artistalso: Indie artist, DIYDeals & the business: An artist releasing without a record label, using a distributor to reach platforms and keeping ownership of their masters. Independence is about who owns and decides, not about scale — many independents run teams and budgets larger than small labels.; See also: Distributor, Master recording, Label services
Independent labelalso: Indie labelDeals & the business: A label not owned by one of the three majors (Universal, Sony, Warner). Ranges from one-person imprints to companies with global reach. Deals are often more flexible; resources vary enormously.; See also: Label deal, Major label, Distributor
Instant gratalso: Instant gratification trackReleasing & metadata: A track from an upcoming album that buyers receive immediately when they pre-order. It functions as a single but is tied to the album's product listing.; See also: Pre-order, Single
Insurancealso: Public liabilityDeals & the business: Cover for the things that actually go wrong: gear stolen from a van, a cancelled show, injury to a member of the public at your event. Venues and festivals increasingly require public liability cover before they will confirm a booking.; See also: Touring income, Backline, Promoter
InterpolationRights & ownership: Re-recording or re-singing part of an existing song rather than sampling the original recording. Only the publishing needs clearing (not the master), which is why it is often the cheaper route — but the songwriters of the original still become co-owners of your composition.; See also: Sample clearance, Publishing
InvoiceDeals & the business: The document you send to get paid for a fee-based job — a session, a show, a sync. Include your payment terms and a due date; unpaid invoices in music are usually forgetfulness rather than refusal, and chasing is normal.; See also: Session musician, Business entity, Settlement
IPI numberalso: IPI, CAE numberCodes & identifiers: Interested Party Information number — a unique ID given to a songwriter or publisher when they join a PRO. It follows you across every society worldwide so that royalties for your works can be matched to you, even when your name is spelled differently or shared with someone else. Collaborators will ask for it when registering a co-written song.; See also: PRO, Publishing
ISNICodes & identifiers: International Standard Name Identifier — a 16-digit ID for a creative person or organisation, used to disambiguate artists with the same or similar names across databases. Increasingly requested by distributors and DSPs to keep your releases from landing on someone else's profile.; See also: IPI number, Artist profile
ISRCalso: International Standard Recording CodeCodes & identifiers: International Standard Recording Code — a unique 12-character code assigned to one specific recording (not the song, the recording). Every streaming play, download, and radio spin is tracked against it, so it is how royalties find their way back to you. A remix, a radio edit, and a live version each need their own ISRC; the same recording on two albums keeps the same one. Your distributor assigns ISRCs free if you don't already have them.; See also: UPC, ISWC, Metadata
ISRC prefixCodes & identifiers: The middle block of an ISRC — a country code plus a three-character registrant code assigned to you or your distributor. Every code you issue shares the prefix, and the last five digits are the ones you increment. If your distributor issues your ISRCs, they are issued under their prefix, which is normal and does not affect who owns the recording.; See also: ISRC, Distributor
ISWCalso: International Standard Musical Work CodeCodes & identifiers: International Standard Musical Work Code — identifies the composition (lyrics and melody) rather than any recording of it. Ten different covers of a song share one ISWC but have ten ISRCs. It is assigned when a work is registered with a PRO or publisher and is what links your songwriting royalties to the right song.; See also: ISRC, Publishing, PRO

J

JASRACRoyalties & money: Japan's main society for musical works. Japan is one of the largest music markets in the world and still substantially physical, so registration matters more there than streaming-only intuition suggests.; See also: PRO, CMO
JioSaavnDistribution & platforms: A major Indian streaming service. India is a huge listening market at very low per-stream rates, so it can produce large stream counts and modest income — read the two numbers separately.; See also: DSP, Territory, Streaming royalty

L

Label dealalso: Record deal, Recording contractDeals & the business: A contract in which a label funds and releases your records, typically in exchange for ownership of the masters and a royalty of 15–25% to you after recoupment. Terms to understand before signing: ownership and reversion, term length, option periods, what counts as recoupable, and which rights beyond recording are included.; See also: Advance, Recoupment, Master recording, 360 deal, Licensing deal
Label namealso: ImprintReleasing & metadata: The name that appears under "℗ / ©" and as the label on stores. Independent artists can use their own name or an imprint they invent; it doesn't need to be a registered company. Keep it consistent so your releases group together.; See also: Metadata, Copyright line
Label servicesDistribution & platforms: Distribution plus the things a label would do — marketing, playlist pitching, radio, sometimes funding — offered for a fee or revenue share while you keep your masters. The middle ground between doing everything yourself and signing away ownership.; See also: Distributor, Label deal
Latencyalso: Buffer sizeProduction & audio: The delay between playing a note and hearing it back through the computer. High latency makes performing impossible even though the recording is fine — reduce the buffer size while tracking, raise it again while mixing.; See also: DAW, Plugin
Lawyeralso: Music attorney, Entertainment lawyerDeals & the business: The one member of a team worth paying before you can afford them, at least by the hour, whenever a contract crosses your desk. Music contracts are built on standard clauses whose consequences are not obvious from the wording.; See also: Label deal, Publisher, Manager
Lead timeDistribution & platforms: The gap between submitting a release and its release date. A minimum of one to two weeks ensures every store is live on day one; three to four weeks lets you pitch for editorial playlists, run pre-saves, and fix metadata rejections without moving the date.; See also: Delivery, Pre-save, Editorial playlist
Licensing dealDeals & the business: Giving a label the right to release your recording for a set term and territory while you keep ownership. Rights revert to you when the term ends. The most artist-friendly form of label partnership and common for independent-to-label transitions.; See also: Label deal, Master recording, Reversion
Live albumReleasing & metadata: A release of recorded performances. Beyond the recording itself, it needs the songwriting cleared for any covers performed, and any guest performers credited and paid — the paperwork is closer to a covers record than to a studio album.; See also: Cover song, Credits, Setlist
LivestreamMarketing & growth: Performing or talking to an audience in real time on a platform. Rarely a large income source on its own, but the strongest tool for turning passive listeners into the people who buy tickets and merch.; See also: Superfan, Direct-to-fan, Membership
Load-inalso: Load-outLive & touring: The time you can bring gear into the venue, and the act of doing it. It sets the whole day's timing, and it is the first thing to confirm when advancing a show — arriving before it means waiting on the pavement.; See also: Advance (live), Soundcheck, Tour manager
Loudness normalizationProduction & audio: Platforms adjusting each track's playback level so songs sit at a consistent loudness. It ended the loudness war for streaming: a quiet, dynamic master and a crushed one play at similar levels, and the dynamic one usually sounds better.; See also: LUFS, Master
LUFSalso: LoudnessProduction & audio: Loudness Units relative to Full Scale — the measure of perceived loudness used by streaming platforms. Most normalise playback to around −14 LUFS integrated, so mastering louder than that gains nothing and is simply turned down (often sounding smaller than a more dynamic master).; See also: Master, Loudness normalization, True peak
LyricsReleasing & metadata: Increasingly a metadata field of their own: time-synced lyrics on Spotify, Apple Music and Instagram drive engagement and discovery. They are typically delivered via a lyrics partner (such as Musixmatch or LyricFind) rather than through the distributor.; See also: Metadata, Musixmatch

M

Major labelDeals & the business: Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment or Warner Music Group, and their many imprints. Together they control roughly two-thirds of the recorded-music market and have the leverage that comes with it — including with platforms.; See also: Independent label, Label deal, A&R
Manageralso: Artist managerDeals & the business: The person who runs the business side of your career — strategy, deals, team, day-to-day — for a commission of typically 15–20% of your gross or net income. Get the scope, the commission base, the term and what happens after you part ways in writing.; See also: Commission, Booking agent, Lawyer
Masteralso: MasteringProduction & audio: The final stage: preparing the mixed track for release — level, tone, consistency across an EP or album, and format-specific deliverables. In production, "the master" is this file; in business, "the master" is the copyright in the recording. Both meanings are in daily use.; See also: Mix, LUFS, Master recording, DDP
Master recordingalso: Master rightsRights & ownership: The final, official version of a sound recording — and the copyright in it. Whoever owns the master decides how the recording is distributed, licensed, and paid for. In a traditional label deal the label owns the masters; when you release independently, you keep them. "Owning your masters" means owning this copyright.; See also: Publishing, Copyright, Label deal
Master use licenseRights & ownership: The recording-side companion to a sync license: permission to use a specific recording in visual media. If a production can't get the master, it may re-record the song and license only the sync — which is why owning your masters makes you the one-stop shop.; See also: Sync license, Master recording
Mastering engineerProduction & audio: The specialist who prepares the final mix for release across formats. A fresh set of ears and a calibrated room are the point — mastering your own mix skips both.; See also: Master, Mix engineer, LUFS
Matrix numberalso: Runout etchingCodes & identifiers: The code etched into the run-out groove of a record, identifying the lacquer and stamper it was cut from. Collectors read it to identify a pressing; you will see it on your test pressing. Purely a manufacturing artefact — it plays no part in royalties.; See also: Vinyl, Test pressing
Mechanical licensealso: Compulsory licenseRights & ownership: The license that permits reproducing a composition — physically, as a download, or as an on-demand stream. For covers in the US this is compulsory (the writer cannot refuse) at a rate set by law. Distributors often obtain it for you on release; otherwise it comes from the publisher or a licensing service.; See also: Cover song, Mechanical royalty, MLC
Mechanical royaltyRoyalties & money: The songwriter and publisher royalty owed each time a composition is reproduced — a physical copy, a download, or an on-demand stream. In the US the rate is set by the Copyright Royalty Board and collected for streaming by The MLC; elsewhere it comes through mechanical societies or a publishing administrator.; See also: Mechanical license, MLC, Publishing
MelonDistribution & platforms: South Korea's long-dominant streaming and chart platform. Korean charting is closely watched and has its own rules, which is why Korean releases are usually handled by local partners.; See also: DSP, Territory
Membershipalso: Subscription, PatreonMarketing & growth: A recurring paid tier where fans get early tracks, demos, community access or merch — Patreon, Bandcamp subscriptions, Discord tiers. A few hundred paying members can out-earn hundreds of thousands of streams and, unlike streams, the income is predictable.; See also: Superfan, Direct-to-fan, Email list
Merchalso: MerchandiseMarketing & growth: Physical goods with your branding — shirts, vinyl, posters, anything. Typically the highest-margin income for independent artists, especially at shows. Print-on-demand removes the upfront cost at the expense of margin.; See also: Direct-to-fan, Superfan, Vinyl
Merch cutalso: Venue cutLive & touring: The percentage a venue takes from merchandise sold at a show, sometimes 10–25% and occasionally negotiable or waived for smaller acts. Ask when advancing, because merch is often the only profit on a small tour.; See also: Merch, Settlement, Advance (live)
MetadataReleasing & metadata: Everything about a release that isn't the audio: titles, artist names, featured artists, songwriters, producers, genre, language, release date, copyright lines, ISRC and UPC. Platforms display it and societies match royalties with it, so a misspelled writer name or missing credit is money that goes unpaid.; See also: ISRC, UPC, Credits, Black box royalties
Mid/sidealso: M/SProduction & audio: Processing the centre of a stereo image separately from its sides — brightening the sides without brightening the vocal, or keeping bass mono while everything above it stays wide. A mastering staple and easy to overdo.; See also: Master, Phase, Mix
Mixalso: MixingProduction & audio: Balancing, placing and processing the individual recorded tracks into a stereo (or immersive) whole. Mixing is about the relationships between parts; mastering, which follows, treats the finished mix as one piece.; See also: Master, Stem, Mix engineer
Mix engineeralso: MixerProduction & audio: The specialist who mixes the recorded tracks. Usually paid a flat fee per song; some negotiate points on major releases. Send them organised, labelled multitracks with reference tracks and clear notes.; See also: Mix, Mastering engineer
MixtapeReleasing & metadata: Historically a free, sample-heavy release outside official channels; today usually just an album released with less ceremony. Anything with uncleared samples still cannot go to stores, which is the practical line between a mixtape and a release.; See also: Sample clearance, Album, Bootleg
MLCalso: The Mechanical Licensing CollectiveRoyalties & money: The Mechanical Licensing Collective — created by the US Music Modernization Act to collect and pay streaming mechanical royalties to songwriters and publishers. Free to join; if your songs stream in the US and you are unregistered, your mechanicals sit in its unmatched pool.; See also: Mechanical royalty, Publishing administration
Monitor engineerLive & touring: The engineer running what the performers hear on stage, through wedges or in-ears. At a show large enough to have one, tell them what you need early — a good monitor mix does more for a performance than anything out front.; See also: FOH, In-ear monitors, Soundcheck
Monthly listenersMarketing & growth: The number of unique listeners in the last 28 days on Spotify. Public and much-watched, but volatile — a playlist placement inflates it and its removal deflates it. Followers and saves are better measures of an audience you actually own.; See also: Followers, Playlist placement
Moral rightsRights & ownership: Rights that protect the personal connection between a creator and their work — to be credited, and to object to distortion. They exist alongside copyright in most countries, are limited in the US, and generally cannot be sold, though they can sometimes be waived in a contract.; See also: Copyright
Multitrackalso: Session filesProduction & audio: The full set of individual recorded tracks in a session, before mixing. More granular than stems. Keep the multitracks backed up — they are what a future remix, re-mix or deluxe edition is made from.; See also: Stem, Mix
Music blogMarketing & growth: An independent site covering new music, often genre-specific. Still one of the few places where a small artist can get a written, human review — and the coverage is indexed, so it keeps working long after the release week.; See also: Tastemaker, Press release, EPK
Music supervisorMarketing & growth: The person who chooses and clears music for a film, series, ad or game. They work to briefs and deadlines and prefer music they can clear in one email — which is exactly what an independent who owns master and publishing can offer.; See also: Sync license, Sync placement, Cue sheet
MusixmatchReleasing & metadata: The lyrics platform that supplies synced lyrics to Spotify, Instagram and others. Artists can verify their profile and add or correct lyrics and their timing directly.; See also: Lyrics

N

Name and likenessalso: Right of publicity, NILRights & ownership: Your right to control commercial use of your name, image, voice and persona — separate from copyright, and increasingly the clause that matters most in AI-related contracts. Check what a deal says about using your likeness in marketing and in synthetic media.; See also: AI-generated music, Sponsorship, Moral rights
NDAalso: Non-disclosure agreementDeals & the business: Non-Disclosure Agreement — a promise not to share confidential information, common before hearing unreleased music or seeing deal terms. Normal in itself; the thing to check is that it does not quietly claim rights in what you disclose.; See also: Deal memo, Lawyer, Chain of title
Neighboring rightsalso: Neighbouring rights, Related rightsRights & ownership: Rights belonging to the performers and the owner of a recording (not the songwriter) when that recording is broadcast or played in public. Most countries pay these through a neighbouring-rights society; the US only pays for digital radio and satellite via SoundExchange. Independent artists frequently leave this money uncollected.; See also: Performance royalty, Master recording, SoundExchange
Net receiptsalso: Net revenueRoyalties & money: What is actually received after the other party's deductions, as opposed to gross revenue. A royalty quoted on net receipts can be worth far less than the same percentage on gross — always ask which, and which costs come off first.; See also: Distribution fee, Statement, Royalty split
NetEase Cloud MusicDistribution & platforms: One of China's two dominant streaming services, alongside Tencent's platforms. Delivery into China usually goes through specific distributor partnerships, and the metadata and licensing requirements differ from Western stores.; See also: DSP, QQ Music, Territory

O

Official Artist Channelalso: OACDistribution & platforms: A verified YouTube channel that merges your own uploads with your distributor-delivered art tracks under one subscriber count and one music-tab layout. Requested through your distributor once you have a channel and at least three delivered releases.; See also: YouTube, Art track
One-stopalso: One-stop clearanceRights & ownership: A recording where one party controls both the composition and the master, so a licensee can clear it with a single conversation. Independent artists who own everything are one-stops by default, which is a genuine competitive advantage when a supervisor is on deadline.; See also: Sync license, Master use license, Music supervisor
Optionalso: Option periodDeals & the business: A clause giving the label (not you) the choice to extend the deal for another album or period. Deals with several options can bind you for many years while leaving the label free to walk away at any point.; See also: Label deal, Term
Orphan workRights & ownership: A work whose rights holder cannot be found, so it cannot be licensed even by someone willing to pay. A few countries have licensing schemes for them; most do not. Relevant when you want to sample an obscure record and nobody answers.; See also: Sample clearance, Public domain, Copyright

P

Paid adsalso: Paid social, Ad spendMarketing & growth: Buying reach on Meta, TikTok, YouTube or Google to send people to a smart link, video, or pre-save. Effective when the creative is native to the platform and the budget is measured against results (saves, follows, cost per click) rather than impressions.; See also: Pixel, Smart link, Cost per result
ParodyRights & ownership: A work that comments on or mocks an original. It may be defensible without a licence in some countries, but the bar is that you are commenting on the original itself — not simply using a familiar tune for something funny. Distributors will still take it down on a claim.; See also: Fair use, Fair dealing, Cover song, Takedown
PayolaMarketing & growth: Paying for placement — radio spins, playlist adds, coverage — without disclosing it. Illegal in some jurisdictions and against platform rules almost everywhere; the modern version is a curator selling playlist slots. Beyond the legal risk, bought placements produce the engagement pattern that triggers fraud detection.; See also: Streaming fraud, Playlist placement, Radio promotion
Payout thresholdRoyalties & money: The minimum balance a distributor or society requires before it will pay you. Below the threshold, earnings roll forward. Worth checking when a small release seems to be earning nothing.; See also: Distributor, Statement
Per diemLive & touring: A daily cash allowance for food and incidentals while touring, separate from fees. Small, but it is what keeps a band fed when the show money arrives weeks later.; See also: Tour manager, Touring income, Hospitality
Performance royaltyRoyalties & money: The songwriter and publisher royalty owed when a composition is performed publicly — on radio, TV, in venues, and on streaming services. Collected by PROs from the businesses that use music and paid to registered writers. If you haven't registered your songs and joined a PRO, this money is being collected but not paid to you.; See also: PRO, Publishing, Neighboring rights
Phasealso: Phase cancellationProduction & audio: The timing relationship between two versions of the same sound — two mics on one source, a doubled part, a wide stereo effect. Out-of-phase signals cancel each other, which is why a big-sounding mix can collapse to thin on a mono speaker.; See also: Mid/side, Mix, Multitrack
Pitch correctionalso: Auto-Tune, TuningProduction & audio: Software that moves sung or played notes to pitch — transparent when used gently, an audible effect when pushed. Both are valid choices; the mistake is using it to rescue a take that was never right rather than singing it again.; See also: Comping, Plugin, Mix
Pixelalso: Tracking pixel, RetargetingMarketing & growth: A snippet of tracking code (Meta, TikTok, Google) on your links and site that lets you build audiences of people who clicked, then advertise to them again. The difference between spraying ads at strangers and re-reaching people who already showed interest.; See also: Smart link, Paid ads
Playlist pitchingMarketing & growth: Submitting a release to editors and curators before release. On Spotify, one unreleased song per artist can be pitched through Spotify for Artists; other platforms take pitches through distributors or partner tools. A pitch is short, specific about mood and audience, and names the plans behind the release.; See also: Playlist placement, Spotify for Artists, EPK
Playlist placementalso: PlaylistingMarketing & growth: Getting a track added to a playlist — editorial, algorithmic, or independent (user-curated). Independent curators can be pitched directly or via platforms; be wary of anyone who sells placement, as paid or bot-driven playlists can trigger fraud flags and removal of your track.; See also: Editorial playlist, Algorithmic playlist, Playlist pitching, Streaming fraud
Pluginalso: VST, AU, AAXProduction & audio: Software instruments and effects that run inside a DAW — EQs, compressors, reverbs, synths. VST, AU and AAX are the formats for different hosts.; See also: DAW, Mix
Pointsalso: Producer pointsProduction & audio: Percentage points of the recording's royalty income paid to a producer — typically 2–5 points for an independent release, meaning 2–5% of recording revenue. Points are on the master side; publishing is negotiated separately.; See also: Producer agreement, Recording royalty
PPLRoyalties & money: The UK society that collects neighbouring-rights income for performers and recording rights holders when recordings are broadcast or played in public. It pays performers directly — including session players — so register as a performer even if you also own the master.; See also: Neighboring rights, Session musician, CMO
Pre-orderReleasing & metadata: Making a release available to buy before its release date on download and physical stores, often with an "instant grat" track delivered immediately. Less central than pre-saves for streaming-first artists but still relevant for vinyl and iTunes.; See also: Pre-save, Instant grat
Pre-saveReleasing & metadata: A campaign that lets fans add an upcoming release to their library before it exists. On release day it appears automatically, and the early saves signal engagement to the platform's algorithm. The streaming-era equivalent of a pre-order.; See also: Pre-order, Release date, Smart link
PremiereReleasing & metadata: A first public airing given to one outlet — a blog, a radio show, a channel — usually a day or two before release. The value is the outlet's audience and endorsement, not the exclusivity itself.; See also: Embargo, Publicist, Exclusive
Press releaseMarketing & growth: A short announcement sent to media about a release or event — who, what, when, why it matters, plus links and a quote. Still the format editors expect from publicists, though for independent artists a personal, specific email usually lands better.; See also: EPK, Publicist
Primary artistReleasing & metadata: The main artist(s) on a release — the name the release is filed under. Multiple primary artists are allowed (a collaboration) and the release shows on each profile. Choose deliberately: it decides whose audience sees the release first.; See also: Featured artist, Artist profile
PROalso: Performing Rights Organization, Collection societyRoyalties & money: Performing Rights Organisation — the society that licenses businesses to play music, then collects and distributes performance royalties to songwriters and publishers. Examples: ASCAP, BMI and SESAC (US), PRS (UK), SOCAN (Canada), APRA (Australia), GEMA (Germany). You join one as a writer; it collects worldwide through reciprocal agreements.; See also: Performance royalty, IPI number, ASCAP, BMI, PRS for Music
Pro-rataalso: Pro rata modelRoyalties & money: The dominant streaming payout model: all subscription and ad revenue in a market goes into one pool, which is divided by total streams, so each stream is worth the same fraction regardless of whose listener it was. This is why the per-stream figure changes monthly and why a superfan's plays subsidise everyone.; See also: Streaming royalty, User-centric
ProducerProduction & audio: The person who shapes the recording — arranging, directing performances, choosing sounds, often creating the track itself. In modern genres the producer frequently co-writes and therefore owns part of the composition, which is why producer agreements should cover both the recording share and the publishing split.; See also: Producer agreement, Points, Beat lease, Credits
Producer agreementProduction & audio: The contract with a producer covering their fee, their percentage of the recording income (points), any publishing share, credit, and who owns the recording. Sign it before the session, however friendly.; See also: Producer, Points, Work for hire, Split sheet
PromoterLive & touring: The company or person who puts on the show: books the venue, pays the artist, markets the event, and takes the risk on ticket sales. Local promoters are the door into a city's scene.; See also: Booking agent, Guarantee, Door deal
Proprietary IDalso: Platform IDCodes & identifiers: An internal identifier a platform or distributor gives your release or track in its own system — a Spotify URI, an Apple ID, a distributor release ID. Handy when support asks you to identify a specific release, but meaningless outside that one system.; See also: Metadata, Artist profile
PRS for Musicalso: PRS, MCPSRoyalties & money: The UK's collection society for songwriters and publishers. PRS collects performance royalties; its sister society MCPS collects mechanicals. UK-based writers join PRS; writers elsewhere are paid via their own society's reciprocal agreement.; See also: PRO, Mechanical royalty
Public domainRights & ownership: Works whose copyright has expired or never existed, so anyone may use them freely. Terms vary by country (commonly life of the author plus 70 years). Note that a modern recording of a public-domain song is still copyrighted — the composition is free, the recording is not.; See also: Copyright, Cover song
Publicistalso: PRMarketing & growth: Someone hired to secure media coverage — reviews, interviews, premieres, features. Paid per campaign, not on results. Useful when you have a story and assets ready; wasted on a release without either.; See also: Press release, EPK
Publisheralso: Music publisherRights & ownership: A company that owns or administers compositions on behalf of songwriters: registering songs, collecting royalties worldwide, pitching for sync, and sometimes paying advances. In a traditional deal the publisher takes a share of ownership; in an admin deal it takes a fee and you keep ownership.; See also: Publishing, Publishing administration, PRO
Publishingalso: Publishing rights, Music publishingRights & ownership: The songwriting side of the business — the ownership and monetisation of the composition, separate from the recording. Publishing income includes performance royalties, mechanical royalties, and sync fees for the song itself. If you write your own music and haven't signed a publishing deal, you are your own publisher.; See also: Master recording, PRO, Mechanical royalty, Publisher
Publishing administrationalso: Admin deal, Pub adminRights & ownership: A service that registers your songs with societies worldwide and collects the publishing royalties you would otherwise miss — for a percentage (typically 10–20%) — while you keep 100% ownership. The usual first step for independent writers whose songs are earning abroad.; See also: Publisher, Mechanical royalty, Performance royalty
Punch-inProduction & audio: Re-recording a short section into an existing take rather than performing the whole thing again. Fast, and the thing to watch is that the punched section matches the surrounding performance in tone and energy.; See also: Take, Comping

Q

QQ MusicDistribution & platforms: Part of Tencent Music Entertainment, the largest music streaming group in China. Reaching it generally requires a distributor with a China partnership rather than a standard worldwide delivery.; See also: DSP, NetEase Cloud Music, Territory

R

Radio editReleasing & metadata: A shortened or cleaned version of a song made for broadcast — typically under 3:30 with explicit words removed. It is a distinct recording and needs its own ISRC, but shares the song's ISWC and publishing splits.; See also: Explicit content, ISRC
Radio promotionalso: Radio pluggerMarketing & growth: Pitching songs to radio stations and shows — community and college radio are open to independents; commercial radio usually requires a plugger. Radio pays performance royalties via your PRO and, outside the US, neighbouring rights to the performer.; See also: Performance royalty, Radio edit
Radius clauseLive & touring: A festival term barring you from playing nearby within a set period before and after the festival. Standard for larger festivals, and worth checking before you build a tour around one date.; See also: Festival slot, Booking agent, Promoter
Recording royaltyalso: Master royaltyRoyalties & money: Income earned by the master recording — from streams, downloads, and physical sales — paid by the platform to the distributor or label, then to the master owner. When you release independently, this is the money that arrives from your distributor.; See also: Streaming royalty, Master recording, Distributor
RecoupmentRoyalties & money: The process by which a label or investor takes back an advance from the artist's royalty share before paying anything further. An artist can have millions of streams and receive no royalty statement payment because the advance is still being recouped. Unrecouped balances are usually not repayable in cash — they sit against future earnings.; See also: Advance, Label deal
Redeliveryalso: Metadata updateDistribution & platforms: Sending a corrected version of a release to stores after a metadata or audio fix. Some changes propagate in hours, others require the release to be taken down and re-sent — which can reset playlist placement and stream counts, so it is worth getting metadata right the first time.; See also: Delivery, Metadata, Takedown
ReelsMarketing & growth: Instagram and Facebook's short-form video format, with its own audio library fed by your distributor's delivery. Same logic as TikTok: the win is other people using your audio, not your own view count.; See also: TikTok sound, UGC
Reference trackProduction & audio: A commercially released song you give a mix or mastering engineer to communicate the tone, loudness and space you are after. Far more useful than adjectives.; See also: Mix, Master
RejectionDistribution & platforms: A store or distributor refusing a release before it goes live — most often for artwork that breaks the rules, an artist name that does not match the profile, mis-tagged explicit content, or a cover with no mechanical licence. Rejections eat your lead time, which is the argument for delivering early.; See also: Cover art, Metadata, Lead time, Delivery
Release datealso: Street dateReleasing & metadata: The day your music goes live worldwide — traditionally Friday, when charts reset and Release Radar refreshes. Set it far enough ahead to pitch and pre-save; changing it after delivery is possible but can break pre-save links.; See also: Lead time, Pre-save, Release Radar
Release RadarMarketing & growth: Spotify's Friday-refreshed personalised playlist of new music from artists a listener follows or listens to. Getting followers is what puts your new single in front of them automatically — one reason to ask for follows, not just streams.; See also: Algorithmic playlist, Followers, Release date
Release windowReleasing & metadata: The stretch of time around a release when coverage, playlisting and advertising are worth spending on — roughly the fortnight before to the month after. Outside it, the same effort produces much less, which is why plans should be finished before delivery.; See also: Release date, Lead time, Playlist pitching
RemasterReleasing & metadata: A new master made from the original mix or tapes, usually to modern loudness and format standards. It needs its own ISRC and is treated as a different recording by stores — which also means it starts its stream count from zero.; See also: Master, ISRC, Catalogue
RemixReleasing & metadata: A new version of an existing recording built from its stems. A remix is a new recording (new ISRC) of the same composition, so the remixer needs permission from the master owner, and publishing goes to the original writers unless new writing is added.; See also: ISRC, Master recording, Sample clearance
RetainerDeals & the business: A recurring fee paid to keep someone working for you — a publicist, a lawyer, a radio plugger — regardless of results in any given month. Reasonable for ongoing work, wasteful for a single campaign that a project fee would cover.; See also: Publicist, Lawyer, Commission
Reversionalso: Rights reversionDeals & the business: The return of rights to the artist after a set period or event — for example, masters reverting after ten years or after the deal ends. Negotiate it into every deal; it is the difference between renting your work out and giving it away.; See also: Licensing deal, Label deal, Master recording
Rideralso: Tech rider, Hospitality riderLive & touring: The document listing what you need at a show — technical (inputs, backline, monitors, stage plot) and hospitality (food, drink, dressing room). A clear tech rider saves soundcheck time and is the mark of a professional act.; See also: Advance (live), Stage plot
Rights holderalso: RightsholderDeals & the business: Whoever actually owns or controls a given right — which can be different people for the recording, the composition, and each territory. Licensing requests fail most often because they were sent to the wrong one.; See also: Master recording, Publishing, Chain of title
RoyaltyRoyalties & money: A payment to a rights holder each time their work is used — streamed, sold, broadcast, performed, or synced. The music business runs on several different royalty streams that flow through different pipes; collecting all of them is most of the job of a well-run independent career.; See also: Performance royalty, Mechanical royalty, Streaming royalty
Royalty auditalso: Audit rightRoyalties & money: A contractual right to have an accountant inspect a label's, publisher's or distributor's books for what they owe you. Deals limit how often you can audit and how far back you can look; those limits are negotiable, and audits frequently find money.; See also: Statement, Label deal, Accounting period
Royalty splitRoyalties & money: The agreed division of income from a recording or song among the people who made it. Recording splits (who gets what from streams) and composition splits (who owns the song) are separate and don't have to match. Put both in writing before release; distributors like LUCY can pay collaborator shares automatically once splits are set.; See also: Split sheet, Collaborator
RunnerLive & touring: Someone at the venue assigned to fetch things and ferry people during the show day. If there is one, use them for the small errands rather than sending a band member off before soundcheck.; See also: Hospitality, Tour manager, Load-in

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SACEMRoyalties & money: The French society for songwriters, composers and publishers, also collecting for several French-speaking territories. As with other societies, you are paid through your own PRO's reciprocal deal unless you are a member.; See also: PRO, CMO
Sample clearanceRights & ownership: Written permission from both the master owner and the publisher of an existing recording before using a piece of it in your own track. Two clearances are needed because two copyrights are involved. Releasing an uncleared sample risks takedowns, redirected royalties, and legal claims — there is no "under six seconds" exception.; See also: Interpolation, Master recording, Publishing, Takedown
Sample rateProduction & audio: How many times per second audio is measured — 44.1 kHz is the CD and streaming standard; 48 kHz is video's; 96 kHz and above count as hi-res. Record at what your project needs and deliver what the store asks for; converting sample rates should be done once, at mastering.; See also: Bit depth, WAV, Hi-res audio
Save rateMarketing & growth: The share of listeners who add a track to their library or a playlist. One of the strongest signals platforms use to decide whether to recommend a song further. Worth more than raw plays when judging a release.; See also: Skip rate, Algorithmic playlist
Sendalso: Aux send, ReturnProduction & audio: A copy of a track's signal routed to a shared effect such as a reverb, so several parts can sit in the same space. The alternative — a separate reverb on every channel — is heavier and rarely sounds as coherent.; See also: Bus, Mix, Plugin
Session musicianProduction & audio: A performer hired to play on a recording, typically for a fee and without ownership of the recording or song. Credit them properly — in many countries performers are owed neighbouring-rights royalties, and the credits are how they get paid.; See also: Work for hire, Credits, Neighboring rights
SetlistLive & touring: The list of songs you play at a show — and, less obviously, a royalty document: registering setlists with your PRO (many have an app for it) earns performance royalties from the venue's licence for the songs you wrote.; See also: Performance royalty, PRO
SettlementLive & touring: The after-show accounting with the promoter: ticket count, costs, your fee or share, merch splits if the venue takes one. Ask to see the ticket report; count merch before and after.; See also: Guarantee, Door deal, Promoter
ShazamDistribution & platforms: The identification app, owned by Apple. Shazam counts are a useful early signal that a song is being heard somewhere you did not put it — in a shop, on a show, in someone's video — and spikes are worth chasing down.; See also: Fingerprinting, Sync placement
SIAERoyalties & money: Italy's authors' and publishers' society, collecting performance and mechanical income for musical works in Italy. It handles both rights in one body, as GEMA does in Germany.; See also: PRO, CMO, GEMA
Sidechainalso: DuckingProduction & audio: Using one sound to control a processor on another — most famously a kick drum ducking the bass or a pad, producing the pumping motion of dance music. Also the cleanest way to make room for a vocal without turning everything else down.; See also: Compression, Mix, Bus
SingleReleasing & metadata: A release of one to three tracks, each under about ten minutes. Streaming has made singles the default cadence for independent artists — regular singles keep your profile active in algorithms and give each song its own release-day push.; See also: EP, Album, Focus track
Skip rateMarketing & growth: How often listeners skip a track, especially in the first 30 seconds (a play under 30 seconds also doesn't count as a paid stream on most platforms). High skips on algorithmic placements will stop the algorithm from pushing the song further.; See also: Save rate, Algorithmic playlist
Smart linkalso: Landing page, Link in bioMarketing & growth: One URL that routes fans to their preferred platform (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Bandcamp…) and can carry tracking pixels. The standard destination for ads and bios, because you never know which service a stranger uses.; See also: Pre-save, Pixel
Snippetalso: TeaserReleasing & metadata: A short clip of an unreleased song used to tease it on social platforms. Snippets are also how a song is tested — a clip that gets used and re-used by other accounts is a stronger signal than any number of likes.; See also: TikTok sound, Pre-save, Focus track
SOCANRoyalties & money: Canada's performing rights and reproduction society for songwriters and publishers. Canadian writers join SOCAN the way US writers join ASCAP or BMI.; See also: PRO, CMO, Performance royalty
SoundcheckLive & touring: The pre-show session where the engineer sets levels and monitor mixes for each act. Headliners check first and play last; openers get the least time, so arrive with a plan and a stage plot.; See also: Stage plot, Rider
SoundCloudDistribution & platforms: A streaming platform built around uploads rather than delivered releases, long central to electronic, hip-hop and remix culture. It monetises through its own programme and is one of the few places an unofficial remix can live openly.; See also: DSP, Remix, Bandcamp
SoundExchangeRoyalties & money: The US organisation that collects digital performance royalties for recordings played on non-interactive services — satellite radio, internet radio, and cable music channels. It pays performers and master owners directly and is separate from your distributor, so you must register with it yourself.; See also: Neighboring rights, Recording royalty
Split sheetRights & ownership: The signed page that records who owns what percentage of a song — writers, and sometimes producers — with shares adding to 100%. Sign it at the session, before anyone knows whether the song will earn. Most collaborator disputes come from a missing split sheet, not from bad faith.; See also: Royalty split, Co-writer, Publishing
Sponsorshipalso: Brand deal, Brand partnershipDeals & the business: Payment from a brand for association — a post, an appearance, use of your music, a co-branded product. Rates depend on audience and fit more than size; a specific, engaged community is worth more than a broad, quiet one.; See also: 360 deal, Superfan
Spotify for Artistsalso: Artist dashboardDistribution & platforms: Spotify's free dashboard for claiming your artist profile, viewing listener data, updating imagery and bio, adding Canvas videos, and pitching unreleased songs to editors. Apple Music for Artists, Amazon Music for Artists and YouTube Studio are the equivalents on those platforms.; See also: Artist profile, Editorial playlist, Canvas
Stage plotalso: Input listLive & touring: A diagram showing where each performer and piece of gear stands on stage, with an input list naming every channel the sound engineer must provide. Sent with the rider before the show.; See also: Rider, Soundcheck
Statementalso: Royalty statement, Sales reportRoyalties & money: The periodic report showing what your music earned, where, and from what. Streaming reports typically arrive two to three months after the plays happened, because platforms report to distributors in arrears. Reading them by territory and by store is the fastest way to see where your listeners actually are.; See also: Distributor, Streaming royalty
StemProduction & audio: A sub-mix of one element of a track — vocals, drums, bass, keys — exported as its own audio file. Stems are what remixers, sync editors, live playback rigs and immersive mixes need; export and archive them for every release.; See also: Remix, Mix, Dolby Atmos
Streaming fraudalso: Artificial streaming, Bot streamsMarketing & growth: Plays generated by bots, click farms, or paid schemes rather than real listeners. Platforms detect it, withhold royalties, remove tracks, and can penalise the distributor and artist. If a service guarantees a number of streams, it is fraud — even if you didn't know.; See also: Playlist placement, Takedown
Streaming royaltyalso: Per-stream rateRoyalties & money: The money a platform pays out for streams. On the recording side it is paid to your distributor from a pool shared by all rights holders, so the "per-stream rate" is an average, not a price, and moves month to month. Songwriters are paid a separate, smaller stream via PROs and mechanical societies.; See also: Pro-rata, Recording royalty, Mechanical royalty
Sunset clauseDeals & the business: A clause that winds a commission down after a deal ends — a manager keeps a declining share of income from work they set up, for a limited period, instead of forever. Its absence is the most common reason artists keep paying a former manager.; See also: Manager, Commission, Term, Reversion
SuperfanMarketing & growth: The small share of your audience who buy, attend, share and stick around across releases. They generate a disproportionate part of independent income and are reached through direct channels — email, community, Bandcamp, merch — not through algorithms.; See also: Followers, Direct-to-fan, Merch
Support slotalso: Opening act, Support actLive & touring: Playing before a bigger artist to their audience. The fastest way to grow a live following; some larger tours sell support slots (a "buy-on"), which can be worth it for the exposure and is not the same as pay-to-play.; See also: Booking agent, Promoter, Buy-on
Sync agentalso: Sync library, Licensing agencyMarketing & growth: A company that pitches your catalogue to supervisors and handles the licensing for a share of the fee (commonly 30–50%). Exclusive agents restrict who else can pitch your songs; non-exclusive libraries don't but pitch less actively.; See also: Sync license, Music supervisor
Sync licensealso: Synchronization license, SyncRights & ownership: Permission to synchronise music with moving picture — film, TV, ads, games, trailers, online video. It covers the composition; a separate master use license covers the recording. When you own both you can grant a "one-stop" clearance, which makes independent music attractive to supervisors on a deadline.; See also: Master use license, Publishing, Music supervisor, Cue sheet
Sync placementMarketing & growth: A song being used in a film, show, ad, trailer or game. Beyond the upfront fee, placements drive Shazams and streams and pay performance royalties every time the programme airs — often the single most valuable thing that can happen to an independent track.; See also: Sync license, Music supervisor, Sync agent

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TakeProduction & audio: One recorded pass of a performance. Keep the early ones — the take with a small flaw and real commitment usually beats the clean one recorded an hour later.; See also: Comping, Multitrack, Punch-in
TakedownDistribution & platforms: Removing a release from platforms — at your request (a re-release, a fixed master), or by the platform after a copyright claim or policy violation. Takedowns usually take a few days to propagate and can reset a track's stream count if it is re-delivered under a new ISRC.; See also: Distributor, Copyright strike, Metadata
TastemakerMarketing & growth: A person or outlet whose endorsement moves an audience — a curator, a DJ, a critic, a scene account. A handful of genuine tastemaker plays is worth more than a large but indifferent playlist add, and they respond to being treated as people rather than targets.; See also: Music blog, Playlist pitching, Publicist
TermDeals & the business: How long a contract lasts — as a length of time, a number of albums, or a mix. Always read the term together with the options and the reversion, since those decide how long the commitment really is.; See also: Option, Licensing deal, Reversion
Termination rightalso: Reversion rightRights & ownership: A statutory right in some countries — notably the US — that lets authors reclaim a copyright they transferred, decades later, by filing notice inside a specific window. It cannot be signed away in advance. Long-dated, but it is why serious catalogue buyers care about dates on old agreements.; See also: Assignment, Copyright, Reversion
TerritoryDistribution & platforms: A country or region where a release is made available. Most independent releases go worldwide by default, but you can exclude territories — for example, where a song is licensed to a local label. Statements break income down by territory, which is where you learn your real audience geography.; See also: Delivery, Statement, Withholding tax
Test pressingProduction & audio: The first few copies a vinyl plant produces for you to approve before the full run. Listen to every side all the way through; once approved, the run is your responsibility.; See also: Vinyl
Ticketingalso: PresaleLive & touring: How tickets are sold and by whom. Face value is not what the buyer pays — fees add on top and shape whether your audience can afford the show. Presales through your own list are the part you control.; See also: Promoter, Guarantee, Email list
TikTok soundalso: Sound pageMarketing & growth: The reusable audio object created when your track is used in a video, which other people can then post with. Sounds, not videos, are what spread a song — the goal of a campaign is a sound other people want to use, and your distributor must deliver the track for it to exist officially.; See also: UGC, Snippet, Reels
Tour manageralso: TMLive & touring: The person who runs the road: schedules, travel, settlements, guest lists, making sure everyone is where they need to be. Once a run is more than a few shows, the cost of one is usually less than the cost of not having one.; See also: Settlement, Per diem, Advance (live)
Touring incomeLive & touring: Everything a run of shows earns — fees, door shares, merch, VIP — set against travel, crew, accommodation and commissions. For most independent artists live plus merch out-earns recorded music; the tour budget is the real business plan.; See also: Guarantee, Merch, 360 deal
Track sequencingalso: Running orderReleasing & metadata: The order of songs on a release. On streaming it matters less for listeners who shuffle and more for the first two tracks, which carry the algorithmic and editorial first impression of the record.; See also: Album, Focus track, Skip rate
True peakalso: dBTPProduction & audio: The maximum level of the audio after conversion to analogue, which can exceed the digital sample peak. Streaming masters typically keep true peak at −1 dBTP or lower to avoid distortion when platforms transcode to lossy formats.; See also: LUFS, Master

U

UGCalso: User-generated contentDistribution & platforms: User-Generated Content — videos and posts made by other people that use your music. It is a genuine income stream, collected through Content ID and social licensing deals via your distributor, and often the first place a song breaks.; See also: Content ID, TikTok sound, Fingerprinting
UPCalso: EAN, BarcodeCodes & identifiers: Universal Product Code — the 12-digit barcode for a whole release (single, EP, or album), the same kind you see on a physical product. Stores use it to catalogue the product and report sales. One UPC per release; the tracks inside each carry their own ISRC. EAN is the 13-digit European equivalent and is treated identically.; See also: ISRC, Metadata
User-centricalso: Artist-centricRoyalties & money: An alternative payout model where each subscriber's fee is divided only among the artists they actually listened to. Some platforms and markets have adopted versions of it; "artist-centric" models instead re-weight the pool toward professional artists and away from noise and fraud.; See also: Pro-rata, Streaming royalty

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VinylProduction & audio: Records — the format that came back. Pressing requires a vinyl-specific master (side lengths, low-end and sibilance managed), a test pressing to approve, and lead times of two to six months. High margin at shows and direct-to-fan; plan it well ahead of the release date.; See also: DDP, Merch, Test pressing

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Waterfall releasealso: Waterfall strategyReleasing & metadata: Releasing an album one single at a time, where each new release includes the previous tracks, so streams accumulate on one product and every drop re-surfaces the older songs. Requires careful use of the same ISRCs across releases so plays are not split.; See also: Single, Album, UPC
WAValso: Lossless, Uncompressed audioProduction & audio: The uncompressed audio file format distributors require — typically 16- or 24-bit, 44.1 kHz stereo. Never upload an MP3 as a master: platforms transcode from what you give them, and lossy-to-lossy conversion degrades the sound.; See also: Bit depth, Sample rate, FLAC
Withholding taxRoyalties & money: Tax deducted at source from royalties paid across borders, most visibly on US income paid to non-US artists. Submitting the right tax form to your distributor (a W-8BEN for individuals outside the US) can reduce the rate under a tax treaty.; See also: Statement, Distributor
Work for hirealso: Work-for-hireRights & ownership: An arrangement where the person who creates the work does not own it — the person who commissioned it does. Common for session musicians and some producer agreements. If you hire a producer without a written work-for-hire or split agreement, they may have a copyright claim in the recording.; See also: Copyright, Producer agreement, Session musician
Work visaalso: Touring visaDeals & the business: Permission to perform for payment in another country. Rules vary widely, processing can take months, and turning up on a tourist visa to play a paid show risks being refused entry and losing the tour. Factor it into routing before you confirm dates.; See also: Touring income, Booking agent, Festival slot

Y

YouTubeDistribution & platforms: Both a DSP (YouTube Music) and the world's largest user-generated music platform. A distributor typically delivers your audio as "art tracks" to YouTube Music and enrols it in Content ID; your own channel uploads are separate and can be merged into an Official Artist Channel.; See also: Content ID, Art track, Official Artist Channel

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Every music term, explained.

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Music Industry Terms Explained

Essential Vocabulary for Artists

Distribution and Rights Terms

Royalty and Revenue Terms

Music Industry Terms Explained

Distribution and Rights Terms

Royalty and Revenue Terms