Streams, Screams & Schemes: How To Survive The New Music Business

The music industry isn't broken. It's working exactly as designed — just not for you. Spotify pays out billions every year. Less than 1.2% of artists on the platform earn even $10,000 from it. Filter out legacy acts and catalogue holders, and the number of independent artists making a livable streaming income drops closer to 1 in 10,000.You are more likely to get into Harvard than to make rent from streaming.This is not bad luck. It is architecture. And until you can read the architecture, you are inventory on someone else's balance sheet.STREAMS, SCREAMS & SCHEMES is the playbook nobody handed you. Written by a former operator inside Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Spotify, and Apple Music, this is the unsentimental field manual for surviving — and actually profiting from — the modern music business. No motivational fluff. No "follow your dream" filler. Just the mechanics of how the money moves, who owns what, and where the leverage lives.Inside, you'll learn:Why MC Hammer earned $33M and still went bankrupt — and the six structural traps that took down TLC, Toni Braxton, and Michael JacksonHow recoupment really works (and why most artists never see a royalty cheque, even with hits)The Superfan Economy: why 1,000 real fans now beat 10 million passive streamsHow to read any record deal, sync agreement, or 360 contract the way a label lawyer reads itThe catalogue gold rush — why private equity is paying 20x earnings for song rights, and how to position yoursAI, voice cloning, and the new vocal-IP asset class — what to put in your contracts before the standard forms get written for youThe Judge Judy Test: 10 real-world deals dissected, line by lineCourtroom Chronicles: the landmark lawsuits — from Prince to Taylor Swift to Kesha — and the lessons hiding in the rulingsThe Operator's Cap Table: how to build, sell, securitize, or retire on a music catalogue Who this book is for:Artists who are tired of being told to "just keep grinding" while the math gets worse every yearManagers, A&Rs, and label staff who need a single resource that explains the full stackParents whose kid just went viral on TikTok and now has DMs from people they've never heard ofLawyers, accountants, and advisors entering the entertainment space from adjacent industriesInvestors looking at music IP, catalogues, and rights as an asset class This is the book Kristian Moyo wrote for his daughter — and for every artist, parent, and operator who refuses to keep losing a game they were never taught how to play.By the last page, you will be able to read any deal in this business the way an operator reads it: where the money flows, where it leaks, and where the leverage lives.The industry runs on information asymmetry. Close the gap.Scroll up and grab your copy now. Read more