Emmanuel Zunz, the CEO and founder of ONErpm, has spent 16 years building one of the fastest-growing independent music companies in the world, across 40 territories, with a staff of over 500, and without a single round of outside investment. In this episode, he breaks down exactly how that happened.

This week on the podcast, Emmanuel and Dmitri get into why the traditional definition of independence is outdated, why Taylor Swift can be on a major label and still be completely independent, and what it actually means for an artist or company to be in control of their own destiny.

They also dig into the convergence happening right now between distributors and labels, the race to the bottom on margins that's pushing funded indie companies toward acquisition or collapse, and why Emmanuel believes the label of the future is built on scalable technology, diversified deal structures, and a global roster rather than big advances and market share at any cost.

If you work in music distribution, run an independent label, or are trying to build a sustainable creative business on your own terms, this one is worth your full attention.

The news

• The live-music boom has convinced some artists they're bigger than they are

• Live Nation pushes back on 'blue dot fever': 'It's a normal touring year'

• Listeners engage less deeply with music labeled as AI – even when it's actually human-made, academic study finds

The Music Tectonics podcast goes beneath the surface of the music industry to explore how technology is changing the way business gets done. Visit musictectonics.com to find shownotes and a transcript for this episode, and find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!

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