Category: Newsletters

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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