Photo Credit: Labelcaster
Independent labels are no longer fringe players in the music industry—they’ve become a powerful global force in the recorded music economy. Independent labels have risen to a 35% share of the overall U.S. on-demand audio streaming market in 2025. With the onslaught of uploaded music to DSPs, now over 120,000 tracks per day*, indie labels’ significance should only increase.
This article was created in collaboration with DMN partner Labelcaster.
Yet the operational challenges of running a label at scale remain daunting. From licensing challenges and distribution bottlenecks to handling payouts and reporting, the modern label is often mired in back-office details, juggling contracts, spreadsheets and other minutiae. Labelcaster recognized this rising impediment to indie labels’ growth and built a distribution platform to address it, enabling labels to focus on serving their talent rather than administrative duties.
Labelcaster was founded with a single principle—that the next era of music will be driven by label entrepreneurs rather than tech silos. Its unique contract-first approach ensures proper licensing of content, transparency in terms and proper follow-up once a release is distributed. Labels initially set up a release with contract terms and splits, all participants e-sign on the platform, and Labelcaster takes care of the rest—from distribution to monthly reports and payouts to all participants directly. For small and mid-sized labels, this removes a major barrier for operation at scale while ensuring legal clarity and partner trust.
Labelcaster is a distribution service focused solely on the administrative needs of independent labels. From a single account, a label can add an unlimited number of sub-labels, invite artists and participants, create contracts, and prepare releases for distribution from any internet-connected device. Labelcaster distributes to all the major digital music platforms, allowing labels to track each release’s performance, and automates monthly reporting and payments to all participants directly.
Each artist invited by a label has their own Labelcaster account where they can view their contracts, monitor release performances, download detailed reports, and transfer royalty payments directly to themselves—without assistance. Because the industry is moving so quickly and has its imperfections, Labelcater provides real human support. Labelcaster’s Stockholm-based team takes a hands-on approach to addressing inevitable issues, including artist mapping, rights claims, and complex release configurations.
Manage everything from a single login anywhere
Label managers get an overview of their entire operation using the Labelcaster dashboard. This dashboard can help managers stay on top of releases, check whether a contract has been signed, and verify final approvals before delivering to DSPs. The dashboard is designed to highlight what needs attention and gets label managers to resolution in one click.
With each release a label distributes through Labelcaster, a licensing contract is set up in the system that also defines splits and other terms for all participants. Each participant is invited to create a Labelcaster account. All participants can log into their accounts to see their split amount, balances, and reports—or request a payment transfer. This makes label management self-serve for those involved, with no complicated administrative tasks to handle each month.
Labelcaster’s automated system reports monthly and makes transfer payments to all artists and collaborators through PayPal, Payoneer or direct bank transfer. Unlike other services that may pay on a rolling average of anywhere from 30 to 90 days, Labelcaster reports and pays out monthly.
Labelcaster’s pricing is straightforward, too. Labelcaster takes a 10% commission fee on all music royalties going through the Labelcaster system. That fee includes all services on offer, including distribution to all DSPs, creation of sub-labels, adding artists/participants as users, signing, handling, and archiving contracts, reporting, split handling, and payments.
Labelcaster’s global footprint reflects an understanding of where the future of music industry growth lies. The platform has achieved strong adoption across Africa, where new labels are driving explosive local music ecosystems while also maintaining a meaningful user base in both the United Kingdom and the United States. The cross-market traction signals not just an expansion of this infrastructure model but validation that the model works for independent labels across territories, genres, and structures.
“Since joining Labelcaster, my daily work has become much easier. I can focus more on developing our artists instead of getting bogged down in admin and distribution issues. The artists themselves feel more confident and supported, knowing their music is in reliable hands. From legal documents to daily support, they have us covered,” says Scott Anderson, Founder & CEO of Almighty1 Music.
For potential investors and growth partners, Labelcaster’s reach offers a glimpse into a maturing segment. Independent labels can suddenly operate with the same rigor and transparency as traditional majors while powered by a modern technology stack. Labelcaster’s commission model aligns with client success, earning as its labels earn, and positioning it squarely in the momentum of the industry’s most dynamic transformation heading into 2026.
*according to Luminate and others
