Business Side of Music

Why do so many independent artists stall out? JC Sanchez has seen it from inside Sony Music, Spotify, and Meta, and his answer is simpler than you’d think: artists mistake one busy week for consistency, then disappear for three months.
JC is a creative music strategist and the founder of Orphiq, an AI artist management platform built to answer the question every indie artist asks: what do I do today? Sarah sits down with JC to talk about what actually moves the needle for artists in 2026 and what’s just noise.
In this episode:
Why Spotify monthly listeners is a vanity metric, and the number you should be watching instead
How over half your streams likely come from fewer than 20% of your listeners
The streaming and social signals the algorithm actually responds to
What record labels do on every release that indie artists can copy for free
Where to spend a $200 music promotion budget for the biggest return
The patterns JC saw in artists who broke through versus artists who stalled
How AI tools like Orphiq can build a release plan in minutes, and where they stop
Why building superfans matters more than chasing playlist spikes

Whether you’re a self-managed artist, an independent musician, or working on an artist’s team, this conversation will change how you read your Spotify for Artists data.

Book a one on one strategy call with Sarah Fleshner, host and artist manager: https://businesssideofmusicpodcast.com/#bookacall
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© 362 Entertainment 2026. All rights reserved.

Thinking about signing a record deal? Or wondering if you even need one anymore?
Sandy McGraw has worked full time in the music business since he was 15. He started in publishing doing archival work on his great grandfather’s songwriting catalog, worked at a boutique jazz label in high school, moved to Los Angeles at 19 to work with Michael Feinstein, and went on to tour manage and day to day manage for Liza Minnelli. Today he runs Melody Place, an independent record label in Nashville.
Sarah sits down with Sandy to talk about what a record deal really looks like now, and why the old “sign it, take the advance, see you later” model doesn’t hold up anymore. Sandy explains why his label structures deals as 50/50 net profit splits, why he thinks the master ownership fight will matter less over time, and why he treats streaming as a marketing expense instead of an income source.
If you’re an independent artist, artist manager or young music industry professional trying to figure out how labels, 360 deals and artist development work today, start here.
In this episode:
How the modern record deal is different from deals 10 or 20 years ago
Why indie labels do the artist development majors won’t
360 deals explained, and why aligned interests can mean bigger budgets for the artist
What an A&R person actually looks for (hint: it’s still the song)
Master ownership, net profit deals, and why your masters are your 401k
Streaming royalties vs. real income: touring, superfans, merch, PROs and SoundExchange
Why sync licensing is more crowded than people think
What labels offer now beyond distribution: management help, booking, networking and time to develop
Where record deals are headed in the next five years
How labels and artists are using AI music tools, and why transparency matters
Sandy’s one piece of advice: passion isn’t enough

The Business Side of Music helps independent artists and entertainment professionals understand the business so they can focus on the art.
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© 362 Entertainment 2026. All rights reserved.

There's more advice for new artists than ever: TikTok tips, podcasts, books, platforms pitching a "must-have" tool every week. Most of it never gets acted on, and chasing all of it can keep independent artists from moving forward.

In this episode of the Business Side of Music, host Sarah Fleshner sits down with Dave Rose, owner of Deep South Entertainment and an artist manager since 1995. They strip the noise away and walk through the ten basics every developing artist should focus on to build a music career with a real strategy.

You'll hear how to tell the difference between an opportunity and a strategy, and Dave's three-month notepad trick for testing shiny objects before you spend time or money on them. You'll also hear why the order of your steps matters (one artist showed up with an LLC, a website, and a checking account, but no songs), how to record without spending your life savings, and how to define your brand as a voice and values rather than a logo. They also cover why you should claim every social platform but only focus on the ones where your fans actually are, how to set six-month, one-year, and five-year goals, and how to release, measure, and adjust. Sarah also shares a fan campaign that tripled a young artist's pre-saves.

You'll also learn why an email address or phone number is the most valuable thing a fan can give you, and why social media is rented space you don't control.

If you're an independent artist, songwriter, or musician trying to figure out where to start, or an artist manager or music professional who wants to help clients cut through the noise, this one is for you. Dave also leaves you with the one question to answer before anything else: what does success mean to you?

The Business Side of Music helps independent artists and entertainment professionals understand the business so they can focus on the art.

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© 362 Entertainment 2026. All rights reserved.

Uploading your song to Spotify is not the same as registering it, and that gap is costing artists real money. Every stream actually generates three separate royalties, but most artists only ever collect one.
In this episode, Sarah sits down with George Macias, founder of Lumoza and a music industry veteran from EMI Music Publishing and Universal Music Group, to break down what a royalty actually is, why your song has two halves (composition and sound recording) that both need separate registration, and what happens to royalty money that never gets claimed.
What you'll learn:
The three royalty streams one stream can generate, and why distributors only cover one
What "registering" a song actually means
How long you have to claim unclaimed royalty money before it's gone for good
The exact checklist: a PRO (ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC), the MLC, and SoundExchange
How Lumoza automates the whole process

Lumoza is a music rights platform that automatically registers your songs with the right organizations so you get paid everything you're owed. Register your first song for free at lumoza.io/bsom

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© 362 Entertainment 2026. All rights reserved.

Why do artists get busier than ever and still go broke? Because most musicians treat the paycheck as profit and forget the costs that consume it.

In this episode, Sarah sits down with Gary Arbuthnot and Craig Meyer, co-founders of GigLogic, a pricing and negotiation tool built for touring artists. Craig is a lifelong performer with Broadway, film, and Disney voice credits, and creator of the touring show Rocket Man: The Elton John Experience. Gary is a classical flutist turned booking agent who spent 20+ years headlining on cruise lines before moving to the agency side of the business.

They break down the one cost almost every artist forgets (it's taxes, and it can catch you owing thousands), how merchandise sales trigger tax filings in every state you sell in, and how to choose between a flat guarantee, a straight door split, or a back-end deal depending on where you are in your career. They also get into what real negotiating leverage looks like for a new artist, why 100 true fans beat 10,000 passive followers, and the red flags in an offer sheet that mean it's time to walk away.

What you'll learn:

Why artists can be busier than ever and still be losing money on every gig
The most common cost musicians forget to factor into an offer
How merchandise sales create tax obligations most artists don't see coming
How to evaluate a flat guarantee, a door split, and a back-end deal
What real negotiating leverage looks like for a new or independent artist
Why organic, local fans matter more than a big but passive following
The red flags in a contract that signal a gig isn't worth taking

"Most artists think that the paycheck is the profit." — Gary Arbuthnot

"The sustained artist is the free artist." — Craig A. Meyer

Learn more about GigLogic at giglogic.com

To stay in the loop, follow Business Side of Music on social media and subscribe to our newsletter for updates, resources, and new episodes.

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www.businesssideofmusicpodcast.com
© 362 Entertainment 2026. All rights reserved.