How artist payouts work in 2026: millions of micro-royalties in hundreds of countries – we speak with Tipalti

Ep. 176: In 2026, labels, artists, musicians and creators are all working differently: generating millions of micro-royalties every month across global campaigns that involve multiple of partners across dozens of countries. Getting your music out there is easier than ever, but processing that increased volume of payouts becomes more complex – and we all have an expectation to get paid fast, and see what’s going on and what we’re owed at any given time.

So to find out what’s happening at the point where all those payment pipes meet, in this latest episode of Music Ally Focus, we partnered with a fintech company that processes tens of billions of payments each year – Tipalti, which works closely with labels like Ninja Tune to pay their artists what they’re owed.

We chatted to Tipalti’s Travis Hughson about what labels need in 2026, what artists want when it comes to payments, and how to maintain trust and transparency to keep all parties happy.

Some more Tipalti resources for the music business:

• Automated Royalty Payouts to Nurture Artists
• Ninja Tune Enhances Artist Satisfaction and Cuts Payouts Processing Time by 50% With Tipalti Mass Payments
• Fast, Secure Global Payments Anywhere
• Royalty Rate Explained: How to Determine Your Royalties

========

This is a Music Ally Co-Labs podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠musically.com/music-ally-co-labs.

Co-Labs content is created by publishing partners in liaison with the Music Ally Editorial Team. We work closely with partners to ensure that it adheres to Music Ally's high expectations of quality, thoughtfulness, and usefulness.