Amuse Announces Their Licensing Deal With The Walters
Artists today are choosing independence, even in the face of label offers. As a recent Spotify report revealed, independent artists accounted for more than half of streaming revenue in 2024. Among these artists, there is a growing contingent who prefer creative control and long-term sustainability--and many of these artists are working with artist services companies like Amuse.
Take The Walters, a quirky pop-rock quintet from Chicago. The band found themselves in an enviable position: Their track “I Love You So” became a viral TikTok hit seven years after its original release. They rode the wave, eventually racking up 1.7 billion streams on Spotify and 14.8M monthly listeners for the song. However, to be more than a flash in the pan, they needed a sustainable path forward as a band. They turned to Amuse for support in releasing their debut album Good Company in late March to help them forge this path while remaining doggedly independent.
The Walters are one of many Amuse artists who get the best of both worlds: artistic independence with stalwart industry-savvy support. Artists like Emei, Yot Club, 80purppp, Hotel Ugly, ARDN, Brooksie, Melvitto, and Stela Cole use Amuse’s support to reach and keep fans across platforms and media. Overall, Amuse has helped its artists hit milestones traditionally reserved for traditional stars: Headline tours across US and Europe, billion-streaming tracks, Billboard chart placements, US platinums, placements in Spotify’s Billions Club and big sync placements.
From digital music distribution and metadata optimization to smart funding and marketing, Amuse’s offerings allow the artist full ownership of their creative vision. Amuse offered The Walters a licensing deal that let them keep their rights and creative autonomy for the long haul, while giving them intensive frontline support such as DSP optimization, playlisting, editorial relationships, marketing, design support, and UGC monetization help. The deal terms stand out and point to the benefits of independence for artists: Artists retain 50-85% of their royalties for an artist-friendly deal term of several years, after which 100% go to the artist.
“We have seen what really helps independent artists stay independent and make significant progress toward their goals, however they define them,” notes John Dahlback, Head of A&R at Amuse. “Our role is to support and facilitate, not to control or own. We see ourselves providing a tailored service offering that taps into artists’ specific teams based on their vision and needs. Every artist has a unique definition of success and we help them reach it.”
About Amuse
Amuse is a one-stop digital music distribution platform. We support independent artists with a powerful alternative to the traditional industry model. Powered by streaming data, Amuse’s in-house music distribution and tailored Artist Services let artists and teams independently manage their careers, all while maintaining ownership of their masters and full creative control.