Streaming
The evolution of artist analytics on music streaming platforms
September 25 2023

Artists and their teams are increasingly prioritizing access to specific data on listener consumption habits and demographics in their DSP strategies.

Streaming
Comparing the listener and fan experience across streaming platforms

By and large, artists are still limited in terms of what they can present to new listeners or fans on DSPs beyond just their music.

Streaming
Michael Pelczynski (Forms + Shapes) on what we get wrong about streaming economics
September 14 2023

Even as music streaming has gotten bigger and more scrutinized, there’s still widespread confusion and misunderstanding around the basics of how streaming economics really works.

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.

Streaming
Comparing “For Artists” features on music streaming platforms
May 23 2023

Today’s music streaming platforms are increasingly trying to position their offerings as “artist-friendly.” But what does that phrase actually mean — and who’s doing it right?

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.

Web3
Web3 and music rights: Our community weighs in
January 15 2023

2022 closed with a dynamic debate in the #web3 channel of the Water & Music Discord server about the role of aggregation and traditional IP law in the music NFT landscape.

Marketing
Request for support: The unexpected labyrinth of music marketing ROI
January 05 2023

Outlining the challenges we’ve faced in attempting to build a public database of music marketing ROI benchmarks, and what they reveal about the way the music industry measures growth and success.

Web3
Sidechain: Music NFT streaming apps under fire, FTX fallout impact, and songwriter challenges in Web3
December 11 2022

Capturing the W&M community’s unique, early-adopter, critical pulse on the music/Web3 landscape, backed by ongoing reporting from our Web3 research team that you won’t find elsewhere.

Web3
Wavelengths 001: The state of music curation and discovery in Web3
November 07 2022

In late September, we hosted our first Wavelengths in Brooklyn, where industry leaders discussed Music Curation & Discovery in Web3.

Web3
A needs-driven approach to music NFT metadata
October 12 2022

A proposal for a more minimalist, needs-driven approach to ironing out a music NFT metadata schema, grounded in emerging contextual use cases around the artist/fan journey in Web3.

Web3
Splitting the difference: Music and Web3’s multiplayer problem
September 07 2022

Continuing Water & Music’s exploration of the legal maze around music and Web3, this article takes a closer look at nascent smart-contract developments around collaborative splits for Web3-native music releases.