Join as a founding artist
Idea
Voice notes, demos and lyrics in one place, so nothing gets lost in your camera roll.
Stay independent without doing it alone.
In Cahoots tells you what to do next for your release, does the admin with you, and tells you afterwards whether the money worked.
Join as a founding artist
Opening to a small group of Australian artists first.
Sound familiar?
You've finished the songs, and everything around them is still waiting.
- You'd do the marketing yourself if someone told you what to do next.
- You've paid a publicist and you still don't know if it did anything.
- Half of it's in your head and the other half is across seven notes apps.
- You set up one ad, got lost in the settings and gave up halfway.
You're not alone
The research, from the problem to the fix.
Studies of Australian musicians and independent artists, plus a year of artists asking each other for help online.
01The problem
Thousands of releases a day, and most never get heard.
Independent artists pay for their own releases and make the marketing calls themselves, with no plan to follow and no way to tell afterwards whether the money worked.
106,000
new tracks reach streaming services every day, 96.2% of them from independent and DIY distribution.
47.6%
of all 253 million tracks on streaming services got fewer than ten streams in 2025.
Luminate, 2025 Year-End Music Industry Report
02The research
The music gets a quarter of the week, and pays very little.
Share of Australian musicians' working time.
$10,300
Half of Australian musicians earned less than this from their creative work in a year.
Creative Australia, Artists as Workers, 2024
03The pain
It wears people down.
Doing it tough? Support Act's Wellbeing Helpline is free and open 24 hours: 1800 959 500
347
artist threads on Reddit in a year asked some version of "was that spend any good?" Most of the replies were guesses that contradicted each other.
Support Act Wellbeing Survey 2024 (1,518 workers); Ditto Music Independent Music Report 2026 (5,039 artists who chose to answer); In Cahoots research, October 2026 (39,402 posts)
04The barriers
The tools that help most are locked until you're already growing.
Spotify's paid promotion tools, by monthly listeners needed
0Start
5,000Marquee
25,000Discovery Mode
Marquee also needs 1,000 streams in 28 days in that country. Discovery Mode takes 30% of the royalties on the streams it brings in.
43%
of DIY artists don't know how to pitch to editorial playlists. On Apple Music, Deezer and YouTube, only a label or distributor can send that pitch.
74%
of DIY artists earned under US$1,000 from music last year, so paying a manager, label or agency is out of reach.
Spotify for Artists help pages, checked October 2026; Ditto Music Independent Music Report 2026
05The bigger picture
Australia is losing its own music.
of streams in Australia and New Zealand are Australian music, down 31% in five years while streaming grew 50%.
Two-thirds of Australians say they want to hear more of it.
APRA AMCOS, Year in Review 25; Music Australia, Listening In, 2025; Creative Australia, May 2024
06The fix
Give independent artists what a team would.
No planThe next step, one at a time, with real dates.
No teamThe admin drafted for you to check and send.
Locked pitchingYour pitch and distributor brief written and on time. You press submit.
No way to tellYour results checked against artists your size.
Watch it work
Two minutes with Jackson's record.
Follow one songwriter from a voice memo to the day the industry calls. Jackson is made up; the app is real.
Seven stages, from the first voice memo to week one.
In Cahoots shows you where your release is up to and gives you the next step, one at a time. When it's out, what you learned goes straight into planning the next one.
Make
A recording plan, a budget and who's doing what.
Finish
A checklist for masters, artwork and song details before anything goes to your distributor.
World
Pull your moodboard together from Pinterest and YouTube, then use one look for the cover, your socials and your link page.
Plan
A release plan with real dates, and the steps move when your dates move.
Release
Drafts of your pitches, three weeks of posts and a Monday email with what's next.
Grow
Every channel's numbers in one place, read back to you in plain words.
Scroll sideways for all seven.
The boring half
It does the admin with you.
In Cahoots drafts the admin from what you've already told it. You check it, change what you like and send it.
- Pitch drafts for playlists, press and radio
- A posting schedule for release week and after
- A Monday email that says what's next
- A link page at incahoots.link that updates itself
Did it work?
It tells you if the money worked.
After release, In Cahoots reads your numbers and tells you whether the result was good for an artist your size, and how this release did against your last one. You stop guessing from other people's screenshots.
Release after release
Each release teaches the next one.
In Cahoots keeps the numbers from every release, so your next plan starts from what worked last time: which posts landed, which pitches got picked up and where your listeners are.
Shows and tours
Your shows live here too.
Plan a show or a run of dates next to your releases. Ticket sales sync in and you can see whether you're on pace to sell out, so a release and a tour can help each other.
Where it stops
The music and the art stay yours.
In Cahoots does the planning and the admin. You or your distributor press submit on pitches, because Spotify and Apple don't let apps pitch for you.
When you get stuck
A guide for every step.
Each step has a short guide written from real campaigns, and there's a help desk for anything the guides don't cover. A real person answers the help desk.
Who's behind it
Hi, I'm Caitlin :) I've worked in music for about ten years, first managing artists and now running marketing for artists, festivals and venues, and the same two questions come up on most of my calls: what do I do next, and did that work? I don't have the hours in the day to help every artist who asks, so I built a version they can run themselves.
Founding artists
Join as a founding artist.
I'm opening In Cahoots to a small group of Australian artists first. Sign up and I'll let you know the day it's ready for you.
- First in. You get access before anyone else.
- A say in what's built. Founding artists shape the next features.
- Your name on the wall. If you'd like it there, you're listed as a founding artist.
Can't wait? Start with fyi., the spreadsheet version of In Cahoots for your plan, budget and numbers. Every fyi. buyer is a founding artist automatically.
You're on the list.
Check your inbox and tap confirm, so my emails reach you. While you wait, the fyi. workbooks are the spreadsheet version of In Cahoots, available now.
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Back In Cahoots
Want to help keep artists independent?
I'm talking with people who'd like to back In Cahoots as it grows. If that's you, leave your details and I'll be in touch personally.
This form starts a conversation. It isn't an offer of shares or financial advice.
Thanks, I'll be in touch.
Expect an email from me, Caitlin, within a week.
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