Studio Budgets Blog | Royalty Insights, Creator Finance & Music Industry Intelligence
Royalties & Bundles: How “All-in-One” Plans Cut Payouts — and When Clarity Might Arrive
Royalties & Bundles: How “All-in-One” Plans Cut Payouts — and When Clarity Might Arrive When a streaming service adds audiobooks (or other media) to a music plan and calls it a bundle, U.S. mechanical royalties for songwriters can be calculated at a discounted...
Taylor Swift’s Fight for Her Masters & What It Means for Creator Rights
Taylor Swift’s Fight for Her Masters & What It Means for Creator Rights In the high-stakes intersection of creativity and commerce, few stories illustrate the power dynamics of ownership better than Taylor Swift’s years-long battle over her master recordings....
Every Play Pays™ – How Your Music Earns, and Why the Details Matter
Every Play Pays™ — How Your Music Earns, and Why the Details Matter Your music did the work. The streams were delivered. The plays happened. Now the question is: did every play pay? At Studio Budgets, our mantra is Every Play Pays™. That means we believe your music...
2025 Tax Overhaul Impacts Royalty Earnings
2025 Tax Overhaul Impacts Royalty Earnings The tax landscape for music creators is changing rapidly. Effective January 2025, new IRS and regulatory provisions introduce tailored treatments for royalty income—from cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) on mechanical...
Per-Stream Payout Comparison: Apple Leads, Peloton Surprises
Per-Stream Payout Comparisons: Apple Leads, Peloton Surprises In January 2025, new data show that per-stream payouts across digital platforms remain vastly different — and that difference matters to creators. Platforms like Apple Music and non-traditional services...
All the Ways – and I Mean All – that Creators Make Money from Music
All the Ways — and I Mean All - that Creator Make Money from Music Why this matters In an era where streaming dominates and traditional income sources shift, understanding every income stream available and how it works is the difference between scratching by and...
Drake and Allegations of Fake Billion Streams: What It Means for Streaming Integrity
Drake and Allegations of Fake Billion Streams: What It Means for Streaming Integrity As of early November 2025, the music industry is again wrestling with streaming-fraud allegations, and one of its biggest names—Drake—is cited at the center of a new class-action...
The State of Artist Royalties in 2025:
The State of Artist Royalties in 2025: What Every Music Creator Needs to Know The music industry is generating more revenue than ever, yet the question of who benefits remains front and center for creators. With streaming payouts reaching historic highs, AI disrupting...
The Royalty Audit Process Explained
The Royalty Audit Process Your Royalties. Your Right to Know. What exactly is a royalty audit? A royalty audit is a professional review of your royalty statements and underlying financial records to confirm you’ve been paid what you’re owed. It checks whether all...
The Label Recoupment Trap: Why 87% of Signed Artists Never See Royalties
The Label Recoupment Trap: Why 87% of Signed Artists Never See Royalties You signed the deal. You delivered the album. The single went gold. Your royalty statement? $0. Welcome to the recoupment trap — where record labels deduct nearly every cost before an artist sees...
The Black Box: Why $3.2 Billion in Music Royalties Disappear Each Year – and How to Stop It
The Black Box: Why $3.2 Billion in Music Royalties Disappear Each Year — and How to Stop It Every year, more than $3.2 billion in songwriter and publishing royalties vanish into what the industry calls the Black Box. After 36 months, unclaimed royalties are...
Spotify’s 38% Mechanical Royalty Drop: What Happened in January 2025
Spotify’s 38% Mechanical Royalty Drop: What Happened in January 2025 If your January 2025 publishing statement showed a 30–40% drop in mechanical royalties despite consistent streaming numbers, you’re not alone. The decline stems from a change in how Spotify reports...