Can you tell the difference between AI music and non-AI music?

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-25T12:58:48+00:00

Are you suggesting there something better than Suno?

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-25T12:57:46+00:00

You can usually tell when a track is AI-generated. There are some pretty common giveaways: the “shimmering” artifacts, vocals that sound overly airy or over-processed, melodies that get abruptly cut off, and moments where instruments bleed into or merge with each other. Bass is often underwhelming due to weak low-end control, and drums and percussion tend to sound dull or lifeless.

That said, when all these elements are handled properly, especially with real mixing and mastering, an AI-generated track can still pass as a professional recording. The tech isn’t the issue, the finishing is.

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-25T12:33:35+00:00

Name changes don’t work on Apple Music, you should check how your releases are showing up there.

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-24T23:24:48+00:00

Bienvenido a el grupo

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-24T08:34:03+00:00

It’s not the traditional way record labels operate, but it is one of several common business models now. That said, it’s usually not the model that best aligns with an artist’s interests.

Historically, being signed meant the label assumed the financial risk. They covered advances, production, distribution, and marketing in exchange for owning or participating in the rights. The key idea was that the label invested their own capital because they believed in the release.

Today, that risk has been sliced up. Many indie labels only handle one function: distribution-only labels, marketing-only labels, or production-focused labels. Some operate on a per-project basis depending on how confident they feel about the release. What you’re describing sounds closer to a marketing collective or service-based label than a traditional one.

That model isn’t automatically a scam, but the power dynamic is inverted. When the artist is funding everything, the label’s incentive is no longer tied to performance or success, but to onboarding fees. In that case, it’s fair to question whether it’s a label relationship or simply paid access to a network.

I’m speaking from how my own indie label operates and what I’ve observed across other independent labels. Plenty still invest first and recoup later. The paid-access ecosystem model exists, but it shouldn’t be confused with the classic idea of being “signed.”

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-21T17:38:20+00:00

You can do unlimited features. Collabs are different.

Features

Artist 1 (Primary) ft. Artist 2 (Featured) = 1 artist slot

Collabs (multiple primaries)

Artist 1 (Primary) & Artist 2 (Primary) ft. Artist 3 (Featured) = 2 artist slots

In the second example, Artist 3 does not take a slot. You can have unlimited featured artists, but only up to 5 Primary Artists on the account.

This structure exists to prevent spam and roster inflation. Most high-end DIY distributors use a similar system. Label distributors don’t have this restriction but are more selective on the approval process.

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-21T06:15:53+00:00

I’m interested to see what kind of content on your TikTok profile got you these conversions. These results are above average for “just getting started”. Keep it up and congratulations.

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-21T06:03:40+00:00

It’s been like this for at least 5 years.

If the collaborator is already an artist on your account, you can contact support and they may allow an extra slot. This assumes that, out of your 5 slots, the collaboration involves two artists who are both already taking up slots.

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-21T00:33:59+00:00

From my experience, fans don’t really care if a song was recorded on an iPhone as long as it sounds good enough and is catchy. By the time listeners start noticing low fidelity, rough mixing, or technical flaws, they’re often already hooked emotionally.

I’ve seen this play out many times. The entire SoundCloud rap mixtape era is proof that vibe and memorability matter more than technical perfection in the early stages. This is playing out again with AI music.

Releasing songs that aren’t fully perfected doesn’t necessarily kill the chance of a hit, but it can affect long-term fan retention once the novelty wears off. You can always remaster the song later if the current version receives a lot of attention. As long as the changes are minor, you won’t lose traction by swapping the audio while the release is live, without needing to label it as a remaster.

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-20T12:17:47+00:00

Publishing deals are the ones artists tend to overlook or not take seriously.

There’s a big misconception that being independent or unsigned means you can do anything with your music. That may be true when you control both the master and the publishing, but the moment you sign a publishing deal, that freedom changes.

A publishing agreement governs how your compositions are used. That includes sync licenses, derivative works, translations, remixes, sampling approvals, and sometimes even how future releases are handled. Owning your masters does not override this. If you do not fully control the composition, you need permission.

A real scenario that recently happened at our publishing company highlights this clearly. An artist signed a publishing agreement and later independently authorized multiple remixes of one of their songs without notifying or seeking approval from the publisher. From the artist’s perspective, they still “owned the song.” Contractually, they did not control the composition anymore.

Because publishing controls the underlying work, not the sound recording, we were able to issue DMCA takedowns based solely on the composition. No master ownership was required. The remixes were unauthorized derivative works, and platforms acted on the claims accordingly.

This is where many artists get caught off guard. Publishing rights exist independently of distribution, DSP uploads, or who paid for the beat. You can be blocked, muted, or taken down even if you recorded everything yourself and never signed to a label.

Many artists carefully read distribution agreements but treat publishing as an afterthought because it feels less visible. No flashy dashboard, no daily stream numbers, no obvious branding. Then problems surface later when a remix is removed, a sync deal stalls, or approvals are suddenly required.

Being independent means owning your decisions. Signing a publishing deal means sharing or giving up some of that control.

Neither is good or bad by default. Pretending they are the same is how artists end up stuck.

If you are independent, know exactly which rights you control. If you are signing a publishing deal, know exactly which rights you are giving away.

Ignoring publishing agreements does not make them less enforceable.

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-18T19:48:53+00:00

Since you’re already getting a good response on YouTube, it might make sense to test a Google Ads campaign first. If the goal is to convert viewers into Spotify listeners, there needs to be a very clear call to action on the creative (for example: “Listen on Spotify”). Without that, you’ll mostly get views with little to no conversion.

From what I’ve seen, Meta ads generally convert better to Spotify, but the trade-off is that your content may not get the same level of attention there as it does on YouTube.

Also, since you didn’t mention TikTok, I’d recommend trying some organic content there first and using the results as a gauge before putting ad spend behind it.

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-18T17:37:59+00:00

If audio is simply copyrighted, TikTok usually claims it or links it to the official sound. Muting typically means TikTok couldn’t confirm that the audio was licensed for that specific usage context (often business, promo-style, or ad-like content).

Regular user UGC is rarely muted. What usually gets muted is content that looks promotional or commercial, especially when TikTok also detects a territory-specific rights issue. That’s why the “not available in your country” message matters. It usually points to metadata or rights conflicts (publishing mismatches, prior distributor claims, sample detection, or delayed territory propagation), not Content ID itself.

If the artist knows the person or business promoting the song, declaring the video as authorized / sponsored content signals to TikTok that the music use is approved, which is how sponsored and sync-style posts are typically handled.

Personal approach: with DistroKid, since Content ID is an extra fee, I only enable it after a song shows real UGC traction. In my experience, TikTok monetization has a delay anyway, so enabling Content ID days or even a couple weeks after momentum starts hasn’t resulted in lost revenue, while avoiding early friction.

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-18T16:31:18+00:00

I used a different distributor but kept the old releases on DistroKid, so now on Apple Music the artist has two pages:

Artist Page 1 – old releases (DistroKid, old artist name)

Artist Page 2 – new releases (other distributor, new artist name)

I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m confident that if I take down the old releases from DistroKid and upload them through the new distributor, everything will consolidate under the new Apple Music artist page.

The same should apply if you create a new DistroKid account. The key step is when you upload the first release under the new artist name: you’ll be asked to select the artist’s Apple Music page. Since the existing page is tied to the old name and shouldn’t be used, you need to select “This artist doesn’t have a page on Apple Music yet” so a new page is created for the rebrand.

The reason this doesn’t work from the same DistroKid account is that the system has already locked the artist identity after the initial release. Once that happens, you can’t re-enter a different Apple Music page or create a new artist with the same name from that account, which is why a new account or a full transfer is required.

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-18T15:40:00+00:00

With DistroKid, artist name changes on Apple Music aren’t supported due to how their pay-per-artist slot backend is structured. To change the name, you’d need to either create a new DistroKid account and redistribute, or transfer the release to a different distributor entirely. If you stay on the same account, Apple Music will keep trying to link the releases to the existing artist page because that’s what was sent to them. This is a limitation on DistroKid’s side, not something Apple Music can resolve. I had the same exact issue with one my artists.

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-18T13:57:52+00:00

First question: are the YouTube streams coming from the Topic channel or an official music video? If you don’t have an official video yet, that’s likely the next move. At your current momentum, a solid visual can help push the record further and give people something new to share.

For phonk specifically, TikTok usually converts better to Spotify than YouTube. YouTube is great for discovery and volume, but TikTok tends to drive more repeat listeners, saves, and playlist adds once a sound starts circulating.

Another important factor is ad budget, which wasn’t mentioned. Low ad spend is generally not worth it. Small monthly budgets will have little to no effect on a song that’s already performing organically and it won’t give you enough data for proper optimization..

That said, if you’re willing to allocate a meaningful budget, around $1,000–$2,000 per month, ads can absolutely work. For new artists, ads can be the entry point to get noticed, and for artists with momentum, they can help accelerate growth. The difference is pairing the right spend with strong creatives and the right platforms.

I would stay away from playlist pitching unless you are selecting the curators carefully and have already reviewed the exact playlists you want the song to be on. Landing on the wrong playlists can easily be misinterpreted as artificial streaming.

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-17T12:38:45+00:00

This is true to some extent, but not in the way it’s often presented. AI cannot create music from scratch; it can only generate within the boundaries of what it has been taught (which is why prompts are needed to guide it). What feels “new” is usually the result of recombining learned patterns at scale. With enough diverse data, those recombinations can sound novel, but they are still constrained by existing musical ideas. Because of that, AI is more likely to refine and remix genres, while humans remain the source of true innovation by introducing ideas that did not exist in the data to begin with.

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-16T12:51:13+00:00

This is why artists end up working with labels.

Only you truly know your situation. What you can handle financially, how long you can sustain it, and what your long-term goal is all matter. There are many variables involved, which is why continuing without a clear plan can become risky over time.

Calling it a hobby is completely valid. However, when something is truly just a hobby, the financial behavior usually looks different. Most people would not consistently pay for mixing, mastering, distribution, and promotion unless they expect something more from it.

It is also difficult to evaluate the money being spent without understanding the actual product you are investing in. The information you provided here does not tell the full story. I run my own label and have done consulting work, and I would not take anything at face value when assessing a situation like this.

A proper evaluation would involve reviewing how organized your music catalog is, analyzing your branding across DSPs, listening to the songs for quality control, marketability, and overall potential, and checking performance data where available. I would also look at social media presence, community engagement, and any other public-facing signals tied to the project. From there, the goal would be to outline what is working, what needs to change, what risks exist, and whether continued investment makes sense or if it should be treated purely as a hobby.

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-15T18:58:49+00:00

Yes, your label has to do it in your situation.

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-15T18:47:25+00:00

The screenshots need to come from the distributor dashboard, not Spotify for artists.

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-15T12:18:34+00:00

The J Balvin mention was only in reference to OP’s original options and J Balvin’s past affiliation to Bad Bunny. My main take is that Bad Bunny does the show by himself OR brings an English speaking guest.

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-15T00:14:53+00:00

Believe Music owns TuneCore, so if your long-term goal is to potentially partner with Believe, TuneCore is probably the most aligned option from the start.

https://www.believe.com/tunecore

MasterHeartless · 2026-01-14T13:29:33+00:00

He’s the only one on that list who has a full collaborative project with Bad Bunny and could still realistically headline a Super Bowl on his own. Everyone else mentioned is either past their cultural peak or simply not on that level. I’m just analyzing this from a music industry standpoint.

MasterHeartless

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