for artists
second press is a curated streaming platform that pays 85% of subscription revenue straight to the rights holders (artists or labels) of what subscribers played. it’s built for independent musicians who want to actually make money from streaming, and for now joining is invitation or application based.
how it works
- you upload your music. we review it within 24-48 hours.
- listeners pay $12 a month and stream as much as they want.
- 85% of every subscription goes into a pot. it’s split each month based on how much each artist was played, and paid to whoever controls the rights (you, or your label).
- if you’re 5% of streams that month, you get 5% of the pot.
- payouts go out monthly. minimum threshold is $10. anything under that rolls over.
how to apply
- email hello@secondpress.com.au with links to your music and your socials. that’s the application. nothing to upload yet.
- we’ll review and come back to you. if it’s a fit, we set up your artist portal account and send you a welcome email to log in.
- from the portal you add your bank details and upload your releases yourself:
- masters (wav or flac)
- album art (2000px or bigger)
- artist photo (2000px or bigger)
- each release upload is reviewed and live on the platform within 24-48 hours.
what you keep
- full ownership of your music. always.
- a non-exclusive licence (you can keep your stuff on other platforms too).
- you can pull your music down at any time.
- real-time streaming and earnings data on your artist dashboard.
exclusives & early releases
putting exclusive content on second press is a real plus. it gives subscribers something they can’t get anywhere else, and it gives you a real reason to send your fans here.
- demos, b-sides, live sessions, alt versions, remixes, anything unreleased.
- early releases work too. drop something on second press a few weeks to a month before the wide release.
- exclusives can be permanent or time-limited (30 days, 90 days, whatever you decide).
- you keep full ownership, and exclusive streams are paid at the same per-stream rate as everything else.
rights you need to control
to upload to second press, the master recording rights need to be yours to license. for most independent artists, that’s already the case.
- own your masters? you’re good. sign up directly.
- on a non-exclusive distributor (distrokid, tunecore, cd baby, ditto, etc.)? you’re also good - these deals don’t restrict where else your music lives.
- on an exclusive distributor or label that controls your masters? the label / distributor needs to onboard you instead - see /labels.
- songwriter royalties are handled separately. second press licenses the composition side directly through apra amcos, the same way every other streaming service does - so your apra payments keep flowing the normal way.
- not sure which bucket you’re in? just email and we’ll work it out.
what we will never do
- host AI-generated music.
- run ads.
- offer a free tier that devalues your work.
- take investment from or partner with unethical ventures.
questions? email hello@secondpress.com.au.
