Pod Squad, Lumumba Drive, Nairobi (2025)

14/11/2025

Music Distribution Basics: How to Get Your Songs on Streaming Platforms (and Get Paid)

Back in the day, getting your music heard meant landing a record deal. Today, all you need is a good song and a digital distributor. But if you don’t understand how distribution works, you could be missing out on money that’s rightfully yours.

🎵 What Is Music Distribution?
Music distribution is the process of delivering your songs to digital platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Deezer, Tidal, and TikTok so fans can find and stream your music.
Instead of physical CDs, everything now runs through digital distributors
companies that act as the middleman between you and the platforms.

🚀 How It Works
1️⃣ You upload your song and artwork to your chosen distributor (e.g. DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby, Ditto, UnitedMasters).
2️⃣ The distributor sends your track to streaming services and online stores worldwide.
3️⃣ Every stream or sale generates revenue.
4️⃣ The distributor collects the income and pays you, usually through your online dashboard.
Each service has different fees and royalty structures some take a percentage, others charge an annual fee.

💡 Important Tip:
Distributors handle your master royalties (for the recording), but not your publishing royalties (for songwriting).
To make sure you collect all your money, register your songs with a PRO like ASCAP, BMI, PRS, or SAMRO, and consider a publishing admin like Songtrust.

🎯 Takeaway:
Uploading a song doesn’t guarantee payment understanding distribution and registration does.
You worked hard to make it make sure you get paid for it.

🔥 Follow this page for weekly insights on music business, royalties, contracts, and artist strategy. Let’s turn your creativity into real income.

Author: Producer Mavich
Studio: Janesonrecordings

13/11/2025

💰 Royalties 101: How Artists Actually Get Paid

If your music is out there getting streams or radio spins, that means someone’s getting paid,but it might not be you.
To make sure you’re earning what you deserve, you need to understand royalties the backbone of the music business.

1️⃣ Mechanical Royalties
These are paid every time your song is reproduced,that means streaming, downloads, and physical sales.
Mechanical royalties go to the songwriter and publisher, not the performer.
Make sure your music is registered with a publishing administrator (like Tunecore or Distrokid) to collect them.

2️⃣ Performance Royalties
Whenever your song is performed publicly at concerts, on the radio, or in a café it earns performance royalties.
These are collected by Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) such as ASCAP, BMI, PRS, or SAMRO and paid to both the songwriter and the publisher.

3️⃣ Sync Royalties
When your music is used in a movie, ad, YouTube video, or TV show, that’s called a sync license.
You can earn a one-time fee (for the sync) and ongoing performance royalties if it’s broadcasted multiple times.

4️⃣ Master Royalties
These go to whoever owns the master recording.
If you’re an independent artist, that’s probably you.
If you’re signed, the label usually owns it and pays you a percentage.

💡 Pro Tip: If you write, produce, and perform your own music, you could be entitled to all four royalties.
But only if your music is properly registered with a PRO and a distributor that reports your plays correctly.

Producer's takeaway:
The goal isn’t just to make great music, it’s to build a system that pays you for it, forever.

🚀 Follow this page for weekly guides on music copyrights, royalties, contracts, and industry strategy, so your art turns into real income.

12/11/2025

A Janeson Productions film Wendo Waku official music audio out now Ft female mugithi star Kene💯💯

Watch on youtube:https://youtu.be/ZpWJScLuYvo?si=PLPiNiRR4x-PczQr

10/11/2025

🎵 Remix vs Cover: What’s Legal and What’s Not in Music

In today’s remix culture, it’s easy to take a song, flip it and upload it, but many artists don’t realize there’s a big legal difference between a remix and a cover. Understanding that difference can save you from takedowns, strikes, and even lawsuits.

🎤 Covers
A cover song is your own version of someone else’s song. You’re singing or playing it yourself, but the composition,lyrics and melody belongs to the original songwriter.
To legally release a cover on streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.), you need a mechanical license. This license allows you to distribute your version and ensures the songwriter gets paid.
Platforms like DistroKid, Tunecore make this process simple and affordable.

🎧 Remixes
A remix uses parts of the original sound recording, the master owned by the label or artist. When you remix a track, you’re altering their recording, which means you need explicit permission from the rights holders.
If you don’t have permission and you upload it, platforms like YouTube, Spotify, or SoundCloud can remove it for copyright violation.
Some labels run official remix campaigns, giving producers access to stems and permission that’s the right way to do it.

💡My Pro Tip: If you love flipping songs, start by making unofficial remixes for promo only but never monetize or distribute them commercially unless you have clearance.

Takeaway:
Cover: Legal with a mechanical license.
Remix: Needs permission from the original rights holder.

Respect the art. Respect the law. Protect your brand.

🔥 Follow this page for more bite-sized lessons on music law, royalties, distribution, and contracts helping artists turn creativity into income.

08/11/2025

Sampling vs Interpolation: What Every Artist Should Know

If you’re a producer, DJ or songwriter, you’ve probably used or wanted to use a sample from another track. But before you drop it into your next banger, you need to understand the difference between sampling and interpolation. The difference can determine whether you’re cashing checks or paying legal fees.

🎚️ Sampling
Sampling means taking a portion of an existing sound recording maybe a drum loop, a vocal chop or a guitar riff and inserting it into your own track.
When you sample, you’re using two copyrights:

1:The master recording (owned by the label or artist)
2:The composition (owned by the songwriter or publisher).

To use a sample legally, you must get clearance from both rights holders. If not, you risk copyright infringement even if you only use a few seconds.

🎹 Interpolation
Interpolation means recreating or replaying a melody, hook, or phrase from another song, instead of using the original audio.
You’re still using the songwriting/composition part, but not the recording.
That means you only need permission from the songwriter or publisher, not the label.
A famous example: Kanye West’s “Stronger” interpolates Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.” The sound was replayed and re-sung not directly sampled but it still required clearance from the songwriters.

🎯 Takeaway:
Sampling = original sound recording → needs two permissions.

Interpolation = recreated composition → needs one permission.

Always clear your work before releasing. It’s not just about avoiding lawsuits,it’s about respecting creativity and sharing credit.

🔥 Follow this page for weekly episodes on music business, royalties, and contracts real advice from a producer who’s been in the game.

29/10/2025

WHY EVERY ARTIST NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND COPYRIGHT.

In today’s digital world, music travels fast but ownership can get lost along the way. As an artist or producer, understanding copyrights isn’t just smart, it’s essential to protect your career and your income.

Every time you create an original piece a beat, lyrics, or a recording, it’s automatically protected by copyright law. This gives you the right to control how your music is used, distributed, or monetized.

However, registering your work with your local copyright office or a performing rights organization (PRO) like BMI, ASCAP, PRS, or SAMRO makes your ownership official and easier to defend if disputes arise.

Copyright also ensures that you earn royalties whenever your music is streamed, played in public, used in a film, or covered by another artist. Without proper registration and knowledge, you might miss out on money that’s rightfully yours.

Music is not just art, it’s intellectual property.
Protect it. Respect it. Own it.

Follow this page for weekly tips on music business, royalties, distribution, and contracts, so you can make music and make money.

09/10/2025

😉When They Don’t Clap: A Note to the Unseen Artist💯

Let’s be honest,it hurts when you pour your heart into your craft and the people you love don’t show up. When friends go silent, when family doesn’t understand, when strangers scroll past like your art means nothing.

But here’s the truth: your art still matters. Even when no one sees it. Even when they don’t repost it. Even when they act like it’s not happening.

Support doesn’t always come early. And it almost never comes the way we expect.

Sometimes the people closest to you aren’t the first to believe in you,not because you’re not good enough, but because they still see the version of you before the dream began. And strangers? Some will cheer, some won’t, but none of them define your worth.

Keep creating ,releasing and sharing anyway😎

You’re not doing this just for claps,you’re doing it because something inside you refuses to stay silent.

The real ones will find you.
And when they do, they’ll catch up to what you already knew:
You were always worth the support.

Keep going. The ones who get it will come.😍

From one creative to another,
Producer Mavich.

08/10/2025

KENYA'S MUSIC SCENE: A SOUND REVOLUTION IN MOTION

Kenya’s music industry today is experiencing a dynamic renaissance.A fusion of heritage, innovation, and bold new voices that are reshaping the soundscape of East Africa. From Nairobi’s underground studios to global streaming platforms, Kenyan artists are making noise ,and the world is finally listening.

While Gengetone still commands street credibility among the youth, there’s a noticeable shift. Artists are blending Afrobeats, R&B, hip-hop, drill, and even amapiano to create hybrid genres that defy categorization. This genre fluidity reflects a generation that’s culturally rooted but globally curious.

Breakout artists like Wakadinali, Nikita Kering, Xenia Manasseh, and Boutross are pushing the envelope,lyrically, sonically, and visually. Whether it's Nikita’s soul-stirring vocals or Wakadinali’s gritty street realism, Kenyan music is becoming both more personal and more political.

Kenyan artists Like Sofiya Nzau,Bien and Idd Aziz are finally finding more visibility on the international stage. Platforms like Spotify, Boomplay, and Apple Music have helped amplify Kenyan voices beyond borders. Collaborations with Nigerian, South African, and even European acts are growing, signaling a new era of cultural export.

Despite the momentum,challenges still Remain.Issues like poor royalties, limited airplay, and lack of structured support continue to stifle growth. But artists are increasingly turning to digital tools, live shows, and DIY strategies to gain independence and control.

MY TAKE: Kenya's music isn’t just about entertainment, it’s a reflection of a young, creative, and unapologetically bold generation. The next global hit? Don’t be surprised if it comes from a bedroom studio in Nairobi.

Pod Squad

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