Notes on music distribution, clipping, and how records actually travel in 2026. Written by the people running the networks.
Views are the loudest number and the least useful one. Which metrics predict a song that keeps moving, and how to read them.
buyer guideMusic promo is full of vague promises. The questions to ask before you pay, and the answers that should end the conversation.
release strategyRelease week is the middle of a campaign, not the end of one. The eight-week shape that turns a launch spike into a record that keeps moving.
catalogOld songs do not expire, they wait. How catalog records actually come back, and why the dead weeks on the calendar are the best ones to run them.
explainedStreet teams made records feel unavoidable one sidewalk at a time. The job never went away, it moved to the For You page. What the 2026 version runs on.
ownershipPaying creators rents attention on accounts you will never control. Owning the accounts keeps the audience, the trust, and the learning.
the algorithmThe machine grades posts, not accounts. The signals that matter, why the sound page is the whole game, and how to put real odds behind a release.
clipping strategyThe real cost of doing it yourself is not the editing. It is accounts, infrastructure, and the calendar. When DIY works, when it does not.
the mathPer post, per view, or monthly retainer: how clipping is priced, what the same dollar buys in ads, playlists, and radio, and the questions to ask before you sign.
diagnosisThe problem is almost never the record. It is that almost nobody has heard it. How the algorithm actually grades music, and the fix that matches it.
release strategyThe old single promo playbook was one big influencer post and a prayer. Here is the playbook that replaced it, step by step.
explainedThe reason you hear the same song everywhere at once is rarely luck. It is clipping, and it has quietly become the backbone of modern music marketing.
the mathBoth put your song in front of people. One buys a moment, the other buys a presence. The difference is in the math.