CreateSafe launches publishing simulator for music streaming

The new tool follows the launch of the company’s CreateOS record deal simulator in September last year.

The publishing simulator could assist emerging artists, producers and managers in understanding the different types of publishing deals and how money flows to songwriters when it’s generated on streaming services. Users can choose between different types of deals such as unpublished, co-publishing or admin, and navigate other options on the platform to get an idea of the kind of royalties they can expect from streams.

The company says CreateOS is the first music fintech software that shows independent musicians who don’t have a publisher or administrator what happens when their song is streamed.

“In 2021, we are focused on addressing royalty injustice and a need for greater financial literacy with tools to help artists grasp the monetisation and valuation of their music in the digital age,” the founders of CreateSafe said.

“The publishing simulator is another feature on the CreateOS platform designed to open source music business knowledge, empowering artists through education and levelling a historically lopsided game. When the user first opens the Pub Sim app, they learn that they risk losing money each time a song is streamed, unless they work with a company that has properly delivered their metadata to the DSPs as a songwriter.”

Both the publishing and record deal simulators are steps towards simplifying complex concepts in the recorded music business. The record deal simulator lets unsigned artists get an estimate of a proposed deal, and plug in figures for advances, costs and artist-label splits, to get the number of streams they would need in order to recover their investment.

The tool has been widely shared in the industry and was cited in a recent major-labels session at the UK’s parliamentary inquiry into the economics of music streaming.

CreateSafe was founded by Daouda Leonard and Jonathan Tanners in 2017. The company aims to remedy common frustrations and struggles that artists deal with, including royalties, publishing, producer compensations, financing and distribution. 

Interested users can test out the publishing simulator here.