MAZUFA BLOG
Writing about music distribution that you can check
Every figure in the reference articles below was read from the source that publishes it, and each article names that source and the date it was read. Where a company publishes nothing, we say so instead of estimating. Free to read, no account, no newsletter wall.
SOURCED REFERENCE
SOURCED REFERENCEAI Music: Disclosure and Platform PolicyWhat AI-generated and AI-assisted music must declare, how DDEX disclosure travels, what each platform does, and what the law requires. Sourced and dated.10 September 2026 • 18 min readSOURCED REFERENCEArabic, Persian and Urdu titles that survive deliveryWhy a Latin token inside a right-to-left title moves the punctuation to the wrong end, what Unicode UAX #9 actually does, and how to type titles that hold.9 September 2026 • 8 min readSOURCED REFERENCECopyright Registration & TerminationWhat copyright you get automatically, what US registration adds, the current and incoming fees, and how §203 termination lets you take a transfer back.10 September 2026 • 18 min readSOURCED REFERENCEIf Your Distributor Shuts Down or Is SoldWhat happens to a live release, your ISRCs and UPCs, and unpaid royalties when a distributor goes bankrupt, shuts down or is acquired — and what to do.10 September 2026 • 18 min readSOURCED REFERENCEGetting Paid, End to EndWhere royalty money sits between a stream and your bank — reporting lag, payout thresholds, rail fees, FX spreads, failed cards, withholding.10 September 2026 • 17 min readSOURCED REFERENCEHow a Stream Becomes a PaymentFollow one play from a listener's phone to money in an account, and see which identifier does what at each hop, and exactly where the chain breaks silently.9 September 2026 • 10 min readSOURCED REFERENCEWhen You Actually Need a New ISRCWhat an ISRC identifies, why a remaster usually does not need a new one, and how to check your own UPC or EAN barcode digit by digit.9 September 2026 • 8 min readSOURCED REFERENCELoudness Normalisation, Published vs ReportedOne streaming service publishes a loudness target. Five publish none. What is specified, what is only reported, and what over-limiting actually costs you.9 September 2026 • 8 min readSOURCED REFERENCEMechanical Royalties and the MLCWhat a mechanical royalty is, the 2026 US statutory rates, registering works with the MLC, black-box royalties, and how mechanicals work abroad.10 September 2026 • 18 min readSOURCED REFERENCENeighbouring Rights: The Complete ReferenceWhat neighbouring rights are, who is paid, which society collects in each territory, why the US is different, and how an independent artist registers.10 September 2026 • 19 min readSOURCED REFERENCESample Clearance: A ReferenceThe two permissions a sample needs, why de minimis will not save you, how deals are structured, and what happens if you release uncleared.10 September 2026 • 15 min readSOURCED REFERENCEThere Is No Per-Stream RateSpotify says it does not pay a per-stream rate. Revenue is pooled and split by streamshare, so the tables you have seen are averages, not rates.9 September 2026 • 8 min readSOURCED REFERENCEUS Withholding and the W-8BEN, ExplainedIf you live outside the United States, 30% of your US-sourced royalties is withheld by default. Here is what a W-8BEN changes, and what it cannot change.9 September 2026 • 7 min readSOURCED REFERENCEWhat Actually Gets a Release RejectedThe metadata mistakes that actually cost money, ordered by what they cost, starting with the one that never triggers a rejection and does the most damage.9 September 2026 • 11 min readSOURCED REFERENCEWhat a Free Distribution Tier Actually CostsFree distribution tiers are revenue shares. Here are the published percentages, withdrawal fees and payout minimums — and the companies that publish nothing.9 September 2026 • 9 min readSOURCED REFERENCEYour ISRCs When You Change DistributorYour ISRCs stay with your recordings when you leave a distributor. The prefix does not. Here is exactly what you keep, what you cannot mint again, and when to get your own registrant code.9 September 2026 • 9 min readSOURCED REFERENCEWhy Immersive Masters Fail QCAn immersive deliverable can open cleanly, sound correct and still be rejected. The audio and the metadata are two separate things that must agree exactly.9 September 2026 • 11 min readSOURCED REFERENCEYour meter is lying about your peaksWhy a master that reads 0.0 dBFS still clips after encoding, what oversampling actually buys you, and which of the three loudness meters answers which question.9 September 2026 • 9 min read
GUIDES
GUIDEHow to Get Verified on Spotify for Artists (2026 Guide)Claim your Spotify for Artists profile, get the verified check, and fix the metadata problems that stall the process — a practical walkthrough.22 July 2026GUIDEHow to Get Playlisted on Spotify (2026 Guide)How Spotify playlist pitching actually works, what you control, and the release-week routine that gives your song a fair hearing.22 July 2026GUIDEMusic Metadata Explained (Complete 2026 Guide)How artist names, titles, credits and codes decide whether your release ships, stays on one profile, and pays the right people.22 July 2026GUIDEHow to Release Your First Single (Step-by-Step)What to do, in what order, to get a finished song onto digital services without the mistakes that cause rejections and delays.22 July 2026GUIDEFree vs Paid Music Distribution: What Artists Need to KnowHow free and paid music distribution actually differ — fees, commission, takedown risk, ISRCs, tax withholding — and how to decide without guesswork.26 June 2026GUIDEHow to Distribute Your Music in 2026: A Complete GuideWhat actually happens when you release a song — audio, metadata, identifiers, delivery and payment — and how to get each step right the first time.26 June 2026GUIDEHow to Make Money With Music Distribution (2026 Guide)How streaming money is actually calculated, what quietly reduces it, and the release habits that keep more of it reaching you.26 June 2026GUIDEHow to Release Your Song on SpotifyWhat actually happens when you release a song to Spotify, Apple Music and other digital services — and how to prepare so nothing gets rejected.26 June 2026GUIDEHow to Start Your Own Music Distribution Business in 2026What a distribution business actually has to do well — metadata, identifiers, masters, rights paperwork and royalty accounting — and how to build it.26 June 2026