Streaming
Starter Pack: Music streaming platform models
July 14 2023

A comprehensive introduction to music streaming platforms, their underlying payment models, and their consequences for artists’ career and release strategies.

The Score
What Fortnite Creative Mode’s payout model means for music
May 29 2023

The way the gaming industry is approaching creator payments could be a critical reference as rights holders continue to push for reform in streaming payout models at large.

Artificial intelligence
Starter Pack: Music AI deepfakes
April 18 2023

How deepfake songs actually work, how we got here, and what kinds of battles to expect moving forward.

Web3
Web3 music strategy in a bear market: Tips from our community
April 17 2023

For many artists and their teams, it feels like the Web3 playbook — which had barely been written in the first place — has once again been ripped up.

Artists
Starter Pack: Music and brand partnerships
April 03 2023

Securing an endorsement deal is no longer a matter of “selling out”; for many artists, it’s a matter of survival.

Gaming
The Score: Mapping Epic Games’ future music strategy
March 28 2023

It took nearly one whole year for the independent music community to see some initial fruits from Epic Games’ acquisition of Bandcamp.

Starter Packs
Starter Pack: Digital music curation
March 20 2023

If the music industry is an orchestra, curation is like its conductor — arranging and guiding otherwise disparate artists, scenes, and styles into a dynamic, narrative whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts.

Starter Packs
Starter Pack: Music in virtual worlds
March 06 2023

Music’s potential in virtual worlds is much more than just a game.

Starter Packs
Starter Pack: Digital music marketing
February 20 2023

In today’s crowded landscape, the best moat you can invest in as an artist is a strong, memorable brand — which comes downstream of good marketing.

Gaming
The Score: More game studios experimenting with virtual K-pop groups
February 15 2023

Following the growing interest in music and gaming, we’re excited to announce a new format for The Score: A monthly newsletter distributed for free to all Water & Music newsletter subscribers. Each issue will round up and analyze the biggest music and gaming stories of the month, through Water & Music’s unique industry lens — forever curious about the latest tech innovations and eager to dive into the weeds, while also pulling out actionable insights grounded in music-industry needs and challenges.

Starter Packs
Starter Pack: New music communities
February 06 2023

The concept of community has risen to a new level of prominence in the last few years as a critical source of social and commercial resilience in artists’ careers.

Starter Packs
Starter Pack: Music/Web3 data
January 23 2023

Data literacy is table stakes for making smart decisions about how to grow music careers and brands, and Web3 shouldn’t be any different.