From The Stem · Standards

Research Methodology

Last updated: 2026-06-14

From The Stem publishes analysis of how the independent music business actually works, royalty flows, streaming economics, deal structures, and catalog value. Because much of this territory is poorly documented and full of confident misinformation, our credibility depends on showing our work. This page explains how we research, how we verify, and how we handle the limits of what can be known.

1. Primary sources first

We start from the organizations closest to the facts: official platform and distributor documentation, performing rights organizations, The Mechanical Licensing Collective, SoundExchange, the U.S. Copyright Office, and public filings. When we describe how a system works, mechanical rates, the streamshare payout model, recoupment math, registration rules, we trace it to the body that defines or administers it rather than to a secondhand summary.

2. Corroboration against trade reporting

Where primary documentation is incomplete or a development is breaking, we corroborate against established industry trade reporting and recognized data providers. Trade reporting is used to confirm and contextualize, not as a substitute for the underlying record. Our tiered source standard is set out in full in our Sources and Citations Policy.

3. Numbers, rates, and estimates

Rates and figures are dated and attributed. Where a per-stream payout, royalty rate, or fee is presented as a range, we say so and explain why a single number would be misleading, payouts depend on listener region, subscription tier, total platform streams in the period, and distributor cut. We label estimates as estimates and never present a modeled figure as a reported fact.

Our calculators and worked examples are illustrative tools built on documented inputs. They are designed to show how a calculation works, not to predict any individual artist's earnings.

4. Original analysis and aggregate data

Some of our reporting draws on operator-level observation, patterns we see across real catalogs and campaigns, rather than on published third-party studies. This is a deliberate strength: it lets us write about questions the trade press does not cover. It also carries an obligation to be transparent about its basis. Where an article relies on this kind of analysis, we attach the following disclosure:

FTSMusic analysis is based on anonymized aggregate artist data, internal campaign observations, and publicly available industry documentation. Individual outcomes vary by catalog, genre, audience quality, and release strategy.

This data is used only in aggregate and in anonymized, trend-focused form. We do not publish identifiable private metrics about any individual artist, and we frame aggregate observations as educational trends rather than guarantees.

5. Handling uncertainty

Where the facts are genuinely unsettled, ongoing litigation, undisclosed platform mechanics, or contested industry data, we say what is known, what is claimed, and what is unverified, and we attribute each. We would rather publish an honest "this is unconfirmed" than a confident guess. We do not resolve ambiguity by inventing a number.

6. Review before publication

Every article passes an editorial review that checks claims against their sources, confirms that figures are dated and attributed, verifies that any disclosure required by section 4 is present, and confirms that no fabricated facts, quotes, or credits have entered the draft. Articles that cannot meet this bar are held, not published.

7. Updates and durability

The independent music business changes, rates are revised, platform rules shift, deal norms move. We update evergreen reference articles when the underlying facts change and date those updates. Material corrections follow our Corrections Policy.

8. Contact

Mollohan Production Inc. · MPIArtist · Castle Rock, Colorado, USA. If you believe a figure or claim in our reporting is wrong or out of date, tell us through the official contact channel provided by MPIArtist or the From The Stem subscription workflow.