Unchained Music, an independent music distribution platform, has announced a partnership with the NOISE Foundation to develop new infrastructure aimed at improving transparency and accountability across music funding, promotion, and rights management. The collaboration addresses long-standing industry challenges including unclear marketing spend, opaque recoupment arrangements, and limited visibility into how promotional support is structured and measured.
The partnership combines Unchained Music's global distribution platform with the NOISE Foundation's work on structured, auditable campaign support for independent artists. Under this arrangement, artists using Unchained Music may access optional, clearly defined services including curated marketing campaigns, promotional support, and publishing administration. These services are offered separately from distribution and are designed to provide artists with greater insight into campaign structure, costs, and outcomes.
"Independent artists often struggle to understand how promotion is funded and how returns are calculated," said Matthew Waters, CEO of Unchained Music. "This partnership is about creating clearer, more accountable systems so artists can make informed decisions about their careers without sacrificing control." The NOISE Foundation operates as a service and infrastructure organization focused on documenting and managing music campaigns in a transparent, standardized way, supporting artists through clearly scoped agreements, consistent reporting, and long-term stewardship of supported projects.
Unchained Music will continue to operate as a standalone distributor with no changes to artist ownership, royalty flows, or existing account terms. Participation in any additional services introduced through the partnership is entirely optional, with no automatic enrollment or obligation. The platform's approach separates distribution from optional professional services, allowing artists to choose if and when they engage in additional support such as marketing, promotion, or publishing administration, with each service clearly defined, scoped, and reported.
This development represents a significant step toward addressing transparency gaps that have long plagued the independent music sector. By providing clearer systems for tracking marketing investments and campaign outcomes, the partnership could enable artists to make more informed business decisions and better understand the return on investment for promotional activities. The infrastructure being developed may also help establish new industry standards for how independent artists are funded, promoted, and compensated, potentially influencing broader industry practices beyond the immediate partnership.
Additional details on participation and available programs will be announced in the coming months. Unchained Music operates globally, serving artists across genres and markets through its platform at https://www.unchainedmusic.io.
