Los Angeles-based distribution and services company Create Music Group has made what it calls a “revolutionary” update to its client-facing platform.
The firm has today (January 28) unveiled a distribution console upgrade which enables its artists to instantly access daily net royalty figures from YouTube, Apple Music/iTunes and Spotify.
Create co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Alexandre Williams (pictured) explained to MBW how Create was able to offer clients this data, which he said was “something artists have never seen before from any distributor”.
The company’s Client Portal bases its daily earnings reports on the latest royalty information Create receives from Spotify, Apple or YouTube for each of its artists.
Its software then uses this data to determine a per-stream royalty rate across different platform tiers (premium, free etc.) as well as in different individual markets.
The plays in all of these regions, on all of these services, are then processed by Create’s portal, which calculates an estimated net earnings figure (see below).
Williams told MBW: “The most common question we get asked by artists or managers when it comes to our data is simply, ‘How much money are we making?’ Artists have to make rent each month just like everyone else. People in the music industry like to talk about transparency; we don’t think you can beat daily royalty data.”
“Knowing what you’re earning can provide the motivation an artist needs, because they know their [career’s] really getting somewhere.”
Alexandre Williams, Create Music Group (pictured)
Having presented daily recorded music earnings, Create’s software then allows artists to break down their income by service, geography and paid/free tiers,
While Create already shows clients’ daily publishing royalties from YouTube, in the coming months its says the Client Portal will also implement daily publishing royalties on the same dashboard from other major DSPs too.
Added Williams: “Sometimes, being an artist is a self-deprecating and difficult existence, but we on the distributor side know how much success there is out there. We’re seeing more and more clients earning $5,000 or $10,000 or $20,000 a month just from [streaming] services.
“That’s where, for the ‘middle class’ of artists, this Client Portal becomes just as much about art as it does business – knowing what you’re earning can provide the motivation an artist needs, because they know their [career’s] really getting somewhere.”
Create’s Client Portal also provides daily revenue figures for collaborators on each creative work, making it a useful tool for producers, songwriters and other contributors to a track.
Create, which was founded in 2015 and become best known for its retrieval of unclaimed YouTube royalties for dance and hip-hop artists, recently hit headlines for inking a multi-million dollar deal with Tekashi 6ix9ine.
It now takes care of publishing and distribution for the controversial rapper, who was previously signed to Universal.
In total, Create currently monetizes more than 9 billion music streams per month for its artist and songwriter clients.
Williams further commented: “Converting streams to net earnings is no easy feat in such a dynamic landscape, but with our new Client Portal we are bringing an unparalleled level of immediacy and transparency to our distribution clients.
“Access to daily data is more important than ever in a music market where virality is the catalyst to success. Our technology was built for that and you see it first hand with the success of our artists like 6ix9ine.”
“Converting streams to net earnings is no easy feat in such a dynamic landscape, but with our new Client Portal we are bringing an unparalleled level of immediacy and transparency to our distribution clients.”
Alexandre Williams, Create Music Group
KP, founder of influential hip-hop tastemaker outlet DatPiff said, “We built one of the most popular music brands based on moving quickly and thinking forward, and Create Music Group is the only company out there that can keep up with us.”
KP has now formed a record label, The DisPensary, which utilizes CMG’s technology stack and distribution service.
Create says that it has paid its clients in excess of $60 Million in royalties over the last three years. It entered the full-service distribution business in 2016 with the acquisition of the independent distributor Label Engine.
Successful Create distribution clients include Insomniac Records, Mueva Records and Florida rapper YNW Melly who are among the 1500 labels that Create Music Group distributes to more than 90 DSPs around the world.Music Business Worldwide
