Published on Sep 21, 2024
Keep your music in stores. Amuse allows artists to keep their music in stores even if they cancel their subscription by imposing a 25% revenue share; artists keep 75%. This addresses the concern artists have about what will happen to their music if they can no longer afford to pay. Previously, Amuse's documentation alluded to the idea but didn't provide anything definitive. It is now clearly stated in their knowledge base https://support.amuse.io/en/articles/274147-how-royalties-work-without-a-subscription
Get up to 30% off Amuse when you use the promo code PAYUSNOMIND (may be case sensitive): http://payusnomind.info/shrt/fba7c4
Stream Check is a feature that monitors streaming fraud for each release and provides a notification if your releases are at risk of being removed. It's a heads-up feature that punts the responsibility of actions onto the artist, who may not be in a position to stop the activity. It's like being a victim of stolen identity and watching your credit report drop in real time. It won't do much for you beyond pushing your hairline back if it's out of your control to stop it. At the same time, it's a great feature if you can stop it. Sometimes, the only way to stop a bot playlist or system is to remove the song from the list or the system. Doing that will cause you to lose all of the equity you've built on platforms organically. But you won't face a ban or have your royalties withheld.
If you reside in a country without a US tax treaty, you're subject to a 30% tax withholding. Amuse operates outside of the US, so its artists avoid that.
Amuse provides artists with a mobile app that tracks royalties, streaming activity, allows for uploading new releases, and more. Artists can maintain their catalogs on the go.
Artists can grant access to their account to analysts, managers, assistants, and others without worrying about them accessing sensitive information by limiting their permissions. For example, a manager can be allowed to upload releases but not fool around with payment options.
Amuse has expanded its inventory of stores and is now comparable to its counterparts in the music distribution space.
Amuse has a limited inventory of stores. If maximum reach is your focus, you may be dissatisfied with Amuse. Though they’ve done better over the years, they still pale in comparison to the number of stores offered by distributors like Tunecore, CD Baby, etc.
Amuse doesn’t explicitly state that it caps transaction fees. Instead, it states the usual range of fees artists pay: $1 - $8, but up to $15. When is the fee $1? Under what circumstances could it be $8 or $15? Amuse doesn't specify. Without it being capped, it means you pay more if you earn more, and Amuse doesn’t clarify whether that is or isn’t the case.
Music Fights Fraud is an alliance of distributors and DSPs that have come together to form a database to ban artists that have been flagged for streaming fraud. The ban would extend to every distributor and platform in the network. Many artists are victims of streaming fraud. Scam companies feed them false promises and take their money. The methods of Music Fights Fraud add insult to injury by punishing the artist for being scammed. It exists to protect the interests of major record companies, not indie artists. No major label artist is likely to be flagged for streaming fraud, and there's no way they would be added to any database. Additionally, Music Fights Fraud members are adopting a new policy called KYA(Know Your Artist) that requires artists to upload their state IDs so bans can extend to their identity. Amuse has not adopted this policy, but may face pressure to do so as a member. Until the company makes a public stand against KYC/KYA, it's something to be concerned about.
Unlimited Distribution for an annual fee.
Boost: $19.99 | Pro: $59.99
Artist: $23.99 | Artist Plus: $39.99 | Professional: $59.99
$1 - $8: Unclear.
Large inventory
Artist: $9.99 per release | Artist Plus: Free | Professional: Free
Artist: Distribute music for 1 artist | Artist Plus: Distribute music for 2 artists | Professional: Distribute music for 3 artists with the ability to add more at a cost of a little over $1 per artist.
Unclear - Amuse Pro allows you to connect multiple artist accounts but doesn't specify whether each account needs a separate subscription. Connecting accounts allows you to sign into multiple accounts using a single login.
Included - No fee.
Music remains in stores under a 75%/25% Revenue Split
No exclusivity clauses in the terms, so you're free to do what you want with your releases.
Average.
Artist: Keep 85% | Artist Plus: Keep 100% | Professional: Keep 100%
Boost: Keep 85% | Pro: Keep 100%
No official policy or plans to allow AI to access artists' music for LLM
Warnings, Removal, Fines.
Yes - If another distributor has banned you, you may automatically be banned by Amuse. Music Fights Fraud is a database of artists who have been flagged.
This is promoted as a protective tool and requires you to upload your State ID to verify your identity. The Music Fights Fraud alliance and its members have plans to use this information for their database, which will likely be used for global bans and work as a No-Fly list for music distribution.
No - Amuse does not require KYA/KYC
Included + You can bring your own
With this feature, fans who pre-save your release will have future releases saved to their libraries automatically, eliminating the need for a fan to do it repeatedly.
This is another Pre-save feature that allows you to collect the emails of fans who pre-save.
If you’re an artist who resides in a country that doesn’t have a tax treaty with the US government, you’re subject to a 30% tax withholding with any distributor operating inside of the United States. Amuse is based in Sweden, which allows you to avoid the tax.
AI transcription and lyric syncing - Apple Music has a Karaoke feature where listeners can turn down the volume on their vocals and sing along. Lyric syncing highlights words as the music flows in sync. You can also create AI-generated lyric videos for usage on social media, your website, and video platforms
Publishing royalty collection is facilitated through a company called Amra which collects mechanical and digital performance royalties directly from platforms outside of the United States. You save the $100 fee you’d have to pay to register with Songtrust and get better collection because it’s coming from the source.
They’re simplifying Cover song licensing through a new partnership with Easy Song
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