The central problem of this desk is that the creative industries do not publish their prices. Union agreements cover unionised film and television; everything else, which is most of what our readers do, is negotiated privately and separately by people who have been told not to discuss it.
So this desk prints what is genuinely published, names the companies that publish it, and is explicit about the size of the gap.

We went looking for published rates across music PR, music video production and creative freelancing. One agency in the entire sector publishes a starting price on its own website. The silence is not an accident, and it is not neutral.

Weverse reports 422,584 accounts leaked; freelancers using the platform must secure payments, check invoices and contact the operator.

Yoto’s 4th‑gen adds a Green Button and digital cards; prices and dispatch dates are published, but creator rates and licensing terms are not.

beatBread names Andreea Gleeson; Notes·fm launches Stripe Financial Accounts and paid distribution — check fees, custody and Connect enrolment.
$1,000Cyber PR's own campaigns page states that single campaigns start at $1,000, and that it runs four, six, ten and twelve-week publicity campaigns. Its FAQ also lists a self-directed masterclass at $97.

UMG calls the ElevenLabs tie-up licensing plus product development; Kobalt and Merlin have stated a 50/50 split for ElevenMusic (checked 11 Sep 2026).
$7,300From Spotify's own Loud & Clear data, published March 2026: the artist ranked 100,000th by royalties generated roughly $7,300 across the year, against about $350 in 2015.

Spotify co-founder Martin Lorentzon told Bloomberg he'd leave Sweden 'immediately' if a billionaire wealth tax is introduced; his net worth: over USD 11 billion (checked 11 Sep 2026).

Bandcamp lists a 100 SEK+ price for Forget In Mass; Amuse lists a vinyl date and campaign metrics but not payout splits (checked 2026-09-16).

YouTube counts views from the first frame (YouTube blog, Aug 19, 2026; change effective Aug 24, 2026). Agentio finds public counts overstate engaged attention by 40%.

Joint UMG–ElevenLabs press release (10 Sep 2026) announced a multi‑year AI music partnership; here’s what freelancers must contract for.

Eight routes to being seen, priced from zero to £120 a category. Entering the same video into four awards and three outlets comes to several hundred pounds before anyone has watched it.

Five distributors within about ten dollars a year of each other, and terms underneath that differ by an order of magnitude for anyone whose music travels through other people's videos.

Ticketmaster is a Muse connector that shows seating and prices in‑agent and redirects purchases to Ticketmaster. No published changes to fees, splits or agent purchasing yet.

Superstruct’s Artistic Code fixes safety and illegality as red lines across 80+ brands, a public policy that will influence interruptions, cancellations and contract enforcement.
MoneySubmitHub and Groover, with the response guarantees that are actually written down.
MoneyThe Loud & Clear figures, and the three things they do not mean.
MoneyGlobal revenue, and the two Luminate figures that explain why promotion costs what it does.

Ari Herstand’s interview and industry snapshots show Jared built 1.2M Spotify listeners, 100M+ streams and sold‑out UK dates by prioritising Discord, Feature.fm pre‑saves and daily short videos.

Andreas Schuller breaks down song creation, publishing basics, and the business actions writers must take to get paid and placed.