Why I built Cadance.
A note on why artists deserve label-grade tools, and why I stopped waiting for someone else to build them.
Watch the note.
Five minutes on the shape of a modern release, and what it takes to run one alone.
The tools caught up. The artists didn't.
Distribution is solved. Running a release like a label still isn't.
Anyone can upload a track in an afternoon. That part of the industry moved fast. What didn't move is everything that happens after the upload: deadlines, splits, mailing lists, catalogue, the planner, the follow-through.
Labels have always run on systems. Release calendars, metadata checks, fan comms, split sheets, campaign timelines. Artists do all of that now, usually alone, usually across a dozen tabs that were never built for music.
Notion for the plan. Linktree for the link. Mailchimp for the list. Splice for the stems. Sheets for the splits. Each tool works. None of them talk to each other, and none of them know what a release actually is.
Cadance is the operating system I wanted when I was mid-release: eight tools on one paper surface, one subscription, flat fee, no revenue share. Pages, mail, fans, tracks, catalogue, voice notes, calendar, planner. Quiet when you're creating. Present when the deadline is real.
The economics shifted. Streaming pays less per stream but reaches further. Direct-to-fan is no longer a side project. Release cadence is faster. Artists who treat their career like a label win. Artists who treat it like a hobby don't, not because they lack talent, but because they lack the infrastructure.
I built Cadance because the gap between making music and running a release shouldn't require a manager, a spreadsheet, and six subscriptions. It should require one place that respects how artists actually work.
Founder, Cadance