Your Music, Your Rules, Your Money: A New Way Forward for Artists

Let's talk about something we all know but rarely say out loud: the traditional music industry funding model is broken.

And it's been broken for so long that we've started accepting it as normal. You write amazing music. You pour your heart into it. You know it could connect with people if they just had a chance to hear it. But to get that chance, you need money...for studio time, for production, for marketing, for everything. And the people with money want to own everything in exchange. That's the deal, right?

Want funding? Hand over your masters.

Want distribution? Sign away your publishing.

Want a shot at success? Give up control of your career.

Well, what if that wasn't the only option anymore?

The Record Label Trap (And Why We Keep Falling Into It)

Here's how it usually goes: You're talented, you're hungry, but you're broke. A label comes along and offers you money upfront. In exchange, they want to own your masters, control your creative decisions, take a huge cut of everything forever (not just the music, touring, merch, pretty much your soul), and basically treat you like an employee in your own career. But you take the deal because what choice do you have?

It's hard to record a professional album in your bedroom. You can't afford radio promotion or playlist placement. You can't compete with artists who have major label backing. So you sign, and suddenly you're spending years trying to earn back the advance while watching most of your revenue disappear into label overhead and executive bonuses. If you're lucky enough to recoup, you might see some real money. If you're really lucky, you might get some creative control back eventually.

The math is brutal: 99.4% of artists make less than $10,000 a year from their music.

That's not because 99.4% of artists are untalented. It's because the system is designed to funnel most of the money to everyone except the people making the music.

What if You Could Keep Everything?

Here's what we built with Coda: a way to get funding without giving up ownership, control, or your future. Instead of selling your soul to a label, you sell shares in your music's future revenue to people who actually want to support you. Think of it like crowdfunding, but instead of getting a t-shirt, your supporters get a piece of your royalty stream.

You keep your masters.

You keep creative control.

You make all the decisions about your career.

The only thing you're sharing is the financial upside with people who believed in you early. Let's say you need $50,000 to record and promote your next album. Instead of signing to a label that will own everything forever, you could sell 50% of your existing royalties to 500 fans who each invest $100. You get your funding, they get to share in your success, and you still own 50% of something, have creative financing to grow and promote your work, and are not left with 0% of everything.

For Every Stage of Your Career

Just Starting Out: You've got some demos that people are excited about, but you need money to turn them into proper releases. Put up shares in your upcoming EP and let your early fans become early investors.

Building Momentum: You've got a growing fanbase and some streaming revenue, but you want to level up your production or book a tour. Tokenize your existing catalog to fund your next move.

Established Artist: You've been grinding for years and have a solid catalog that's making money. You could sell shares in your back catalog to fund new projects or just cash out some of your years of hard work.

Producer/Songwriter: You've got writing credits and production credits on tracks that are earning royalties. Instead of waiting years for those quarterly checks, you could sell portions of your publishing and get paid upfront.

How It Actually Works

The process is pretty straightforward. You create an account, send us your release inf, we handle all the legal stuff to create tokens that represent ownership shares, and then people can buy in at whatever level works for them. Whenever your music makes money, streaming, radio, sync licensing, whatever - the revenue gets distributed automatically to everyone who owns shares, including you. No waiting on annual statements or label audit reports and wondering where your money is.

You can sell as much or as little as you want. Keep 90% and sell 10% if you just need some fast cash for the upcoming tour. Sell 50% if you want serious funding for a major project. It's entirely up to you. And unlike label deals, this isn't exclusive. You can still pursue traditional opportunities, sign to a label for certain territories, or do whatever else makes sense for your career. The shares just represent a percentage of the specific rights you've sold.

The Secondary Market Changes Everything

Here's where it gets really interesting: people can trade their shares with each other after they buy them. This is huge because it means your early supporters aren't locked in forever. If someone needs their money back, they can sell their shares to someone else. This makes people way more willing to invest in the first place because they know they're not stuck if their circumstances change. For you as an artist, this creates ongoing buzz around your music, and also means, if you're doing well you can always buy them back yourself off the market - no need to fight through the courts like Taylor Swift to get back your revenue streams. Every time someone trades shares in your catalog, it's generating attention and potentially finding you new fans who are literally invested in your success.

Building Real Relationships with Your Supporters

This isn't just about money, it's about changing the relationship between artists and their audience. When someone owns shares in your music, they're not just a fan anymore. They're a stakeholder. They want you to succeed because your success is their success. They're more likely to share your music, attend your shows, and support your career long-term. You end up with a community of people who are genuinely invested in your growth, not just executives who are trying to extract maximum value from your work. And because this is backed by your future success, there is no pressure on you to deliver anything more than what you're love, your music!

What About the Business Stuff?

We handle all the boring legal and administrative work. We're registered with BMI, partnered with proper law firms, and set up to handle rights management, publishing, distribution, and royalty collections correctly. You don't need to become a business expert, but we can help you out there if you want also, you can simply focus on making music.

The tokens we create represent real legal ownership, not just digital collectibles. We've integrated with proper payment processors, compliance systems, and custodial services. This is a real legal platform, not some sketchy crypto experiment.

The Music Industry is Changing

Independent artists are taking more market share every year. In just the past two years, the big three labels have gone from controlling 80% of the market to 70%. Streaming has democratized distribution. Social media has democratized marketing. The only thing that hasn't been democratized is funding. Until now.

We've just launched the full platform, and we've already got 20+ releases live. We've got over 1k investors already holding rightds and ready to support musicians. We've got the legal framework, the technical platform, and the industry connections to make this work at scale. This isn't some distant future possibility. This is happening now.

Your Music Deserves Better

Let's be frank, you didn't get into music to spend your time begging for scraps from industry gatekeepers. You got into it to create something meaningful and hopefully make a living doing what you love. Coda gives you a new option. Not the only option, you can still pursue traditional deals if that's what makes sense for you. But now you have a choice.

You can keep ownership and control while still getting the funding you need to build your career. The old system worked great for label executives and industry middlemen. The new system works for artists. Which one sounds better to you?

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Coda is live at coda.to - Artists can apply for releases now. Any questions about how this works for your specific situation? Email us at team@coda.to

Ready to keep your masters and still get funded? We are too.

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