FROM COMPLEXITY TO CLARITY

We help music and entertainment companies understand and act on the trends reshaping their industry. Through strategic research and hands-on advisory, we turnuncertainty into opportunity.

WHO WE WORK WITH

We partner with music organizations that have real budgets and bigger ambitions:

  • Rights organizations navigating AI licensing and policy
  • Labels and publishers exploring new revenue streams
  • Music tech platforms validating market opportunities
  • Distributors evolving their artist services
  • Investors evaluating music tech deals

WHAT WE DELIVER

STRATEGIC RESEARCH & INTELLIGENCE. Get answers to your hardest questions through custom market analysis, competitor mapping, and consumer insights. We go far beyond Google (and, yes, ChatGPT) to deliver intel that shapes real decisions.

MARKET VALIDATION & POSITIONING. Test your assumptions before you build. We conduct customer discovery, market sizing, and competitive analysis that either proves your thesis or saves you from costly mistakes.

INNOVATION WORKSHOPS & ADVISORY. Align your teams and stakeholders around what actually matters through structured strategy sessions. We bring in our own frameworks that turn confusion into clarity and debates into decisions.

TESTIMONIALS

PRS FOR MUSIC

The Water & Music team have been a really valuable resource, equipping PRS with expert insights into the AI music market. Thoroughly researched, well-structured, and consistently clear, the reports created by Water & Music have enabled us to engage in informed and impactful discussions. The Water & Music team is a pleasure to work with, always receptive to new ideas and feedback. We recommend their services to any business looking to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving music and tech landscape.
Policy and Public Affairs

TUNECORE

Cherie's Strategic Systems workshops came at a pivotal moment for TuneCore, as we were working to refine our Product and Business strategy in a fast-evolving music industry. Her approach helped our cross-functional teams uncover patterns, align on priorities, and connect short-term wins to longer-term impact … Beyond the frameworks, what stood out was how engaging and collaborative the sessions were, creating momentum across teams and a shared language to move forward.
Dipanjan Kolay
Vice President, Product

MUSICAL AI

Working with Water & Music had a definite impact in giving Musical AI better strategic clarity on attribution challenges in AI … Their expertise, research, and advice set them apart as invaluable partners to us. Navigating the pace of change in our industry isn't easy. W&M made it much more approachable.
Sean Power
Co-Founder/CEO

BASE FOR MUSIC

We truly appreciated the opportunity to have our solution reviewed by an expert in music industry analysis such as Water & Music. Our discussions with Cherie were highly relevant and precise; she clearly understood our vision and marketing tools. It is very rewarding for us to see this case study validate the relevance of our approach.
Maxence Bazin
Founder

MashApp

The consumer research we did with Water & Music helped address investor concerns about MashApp's Serviceable Market Size. And the product benchmarking work Water & Music did for us turned out to be spot-on when we started doing user interviews.
Ian Henderson
Founder/CEO

MOOD WORKS

Cherie and the W&M team's rigorous research was instrumental both in validating and challenging our assumptions about the evolving state of the industry, and brought fresh insights to the table that have moved the needle on our strategic planning ever since.
Rob Filomena
CEO

HARMONY

Cherie's feedback for our pitch deck was clear, actionable, and extremely thorough. With her help, we were able to greatly improve our deck's narrative, presentation, and information hierarchy within days of receipt. It's been an invaluable step in our fundraising journey so far — highly recommend!
Robert Aparri
Founder/CEO

ACRYLIC

Working with Cherie was a total game-changer. She and her team completely redesigned our pitch deck, making it simpler, punchier, and way more impactful. She also took the lead on one of the most time-consuming parts: Market data and insights. Thanks to Water & Music's access to verifiable industry data and their solid reputation, that section now carries real weight … Put simply, Cherie just gets it — whether you're fundraising or need someone sharp to help bulletproof your narrative for investors in music and beyond, she's the one.
Jeremy Da
Founder/CEO
View detailed case studies here

WHY WATER & MUSIC

WE SEE AROUND CORNERS. Our research identifies trends 6–12 months before they impact your business.

WE SPEAK BOTH LANGUAGES. Technical enough to understand the innovation, business-savvy enough to make it actionable.

WE’VE BEEN HERE BEFORE. 20+ clients, from Series A startups to global rights organizations.

WE TELL THE TRUTH. Independent perspective with no hidden agendas.

HOW WE WORK

Most clients start with a focused project (4-8 weeks), then expand to ongoing advisory relationships. We adapt our approach to your timeline and internal capabilities. We’re flexible, and known for moving faster than our competitors.

Typical engagements start at $10K for one-off research projects, with custom pricing for ongoing partnerships.

Ready to discuss working together? Book a discovery call today.