‘When artists say they want to be independent, what they really mean is they want to be autonomous.'

On the latest Music Business Worldwide podcast, MBW founder Tim
Ingham is joined by Milana Rabkin Lewis, the founder and
CEO of Los Angeles-based Stem, a distribution and services
company, including financial services for independent
artists.

Stem has had a big 12 months. A major highlight arrived last
summer when the company announced it had secured a $250
million credit agreement with Victory Park
Capital, which has transformed the size and scope of artist
advances that Stem can offer.

For a firm that has grown used to seeing some of its biggest
independent artists jump to major label deals, that $250 million
raise is something of a game changer for Stem and Milana.

Long-term listeners to MBW's podcasts may remember that this
isn't Milana’s first time speaking to us. She last appeared on
this podcast four years ago, just at the tip of the pandemic, and
she volunteered a number of predictions about the music
businesses in the years ahead, many of which have already come
true, or at least partly come true.

On this podcast, Milana and Tim discuss – with some agreement,
but not always – several crucial topics in the music business
right now, from TikTok versus Universal Music Group to
artist-centric streaming royalties to artificial
intelligence, and of course Stem, and why Milana truly
believes she is building a music company fit for the future.