From an artist’s perspective, what separates a good partner from a bad one? And what are they really looking for?
That’s what we explored in a recent Trolley webinar with leaders from SoundCloud and Believe.
Throughout the conversation, one idea came up again and again: it’s not just about distribution, access, or promotion. It’s about trust, and how that trust is built (or broken) in the moments that matter.
As Joe Sparrow, Managing Editor at Music Ally, put it:
“Artists are choosing platforms based on trust, transparency, and how they’re treated in those little moments that matter.”
And those “little moments” aren’t just about discovery or marketing.
They show up across the entire experience, from onboarding and communication to something even more fundamental: getting paid.
Watch the full webinar
If you want to hear how teams at SoundCloud, Believe, and across the music ecosystem think about artist experience and payouts, you can watch the full conversation below. It goes deeper into how trust is built and where it tends to break.
What we cover
- Trust is the real product
- The moment that defines trust: getting paid
- Where the experience breaks
- Global growth makes it harder
- The shift: payouts are part of your product
- What good payouts actually look like
- How music platforms are solving this (without adding complexity)
- The takeaway: trust is built in the details
- Where to go from here
Trust is the real product
If you’re building a platform for artists, trust isn’t something you can claim, it’s something you have to earn. If you’re running a platform, artists aren’t evaluating you based on what you promise. They evaluate you based on what actually happens, day after day, interaction after interaction.
“Do you have an ecosystem and actions that back up what you are saying?”
Chris Johnson, Head of A&R and Talent ID, SoundCloud
That gap between promise and reality is where trust is either built or lost.
And while systems matter, trust is also shaped by how well you understand the people using your platform. The strongest partners don’t just offer tools. They understand context: what an artist is trying to do, where they’re growing, and what support actually looks like at each stage.
“The team is really crucial… it’s about speaking the same language as the artist.”
Alice McLean, Head of Label & Artist Solutions, Believe
That level of understanding is becoming more important as the market evolves. Distribution is increasingly commoditized, switching platforms is easier, and artists have more choice than ever.
“It’s never been easier to pick up your ball and go to another court if the people you’re there with didn’t follow through.”
Conor Cox, VP of Revenue, Trolley
In that environment, the expectations are simple: consistency, transparency, and follow-through. Or put more directly, partners you can trust.
The moment that defines trust: getting paid
Trust is built over time, through every interaction an artist has with your platform. From how they upload their work, to how they connect with fans, to how supported they feel as they grow, it all adds up.
“Creators want to feel like they’re part of something.”
Dion Baez, VP of Community, SoundCloud
That sense of connection matters. It keeps artists engaged, experimenting, and building their careers within your ecosystem.
But even strong relationships get tested in one specific moment: getting paid. Payouts aren’t just operational, they’re personal. They’re often the clearest signal that what an artist is doing is working.
“Maybe your parents think you’re crazy until you get your first check… second check comes and now maybe you’ve got a career.”
Conor Cox, VP of Revenue, Trolley
That first payment validates the time, effort, and risk. Every payment after that has the potential to reinforce or undermine that trust.
When it works, it builds confidence. When it doesn’t, it breaks the relationship.
“One of the quickest ways to piss me off is mess with my money.”
Chris Johnson, SoundCloud
It’s blunt, but it reflects a real expectation: when it comes to money, there’s very little margin for error.
Where the experience breaks
If you’re scaling a platform, you don’t set out to create a bad payout experience. But if you’re expanding across markets, complexity creeps in quickly. More countries mean more currencies, more payment methods, and more compliance requirements to manage. What starts as a simple process doesn’t stay that way for long.
As that complexity builds, fragmentation starts to show up and it’s artists who feel it first. Not in your internal systems, but in the moments that matter most: when they’re expecting to get paid.
That usually shows up in a few familiar ways:
- Delayed or failed payments
- Unclear FX costs
- Manual tax forms
- Limited visibility into payment status
- Rising support requests
On their own, each of these might seem manageable. But together, they create friction at exactly the wrong time, right when someone is trying to understand where their money is, or why it hasn’t arrived.
And that’s where it becomes a real problem. Artists don’t separate payouts from your product. If payments feel unreliable or confusing, that’s how your platform feels, too.
“The community gets it before the executives get it.”
Dion Baez, SoundCloud
That shift in perception happens quickly. Once trust starts to slip, it’s hard to rebuild. And, in a market where switching platforms is easy, artists don’t usually wait around to see if things improve. They move.
Global growth makes it harder
As you expand into new markets, the challenge becomes more complex. Each region brings different payout expectations, financial infrastructure, and regulatory requirements.
From an operational perspective, that complexity is real. But from an artist’s perspective, it’s invisible, and it should stay that way.
“There’s no reason that someone in North America should have a better experience than someone in Southeast Asia.”
Conor Cox, Trolley
The expectation is straightforward: wherever they are, artists should be able to get paid quickly, clearly, and reliably. It’s where many platforms start to struggle and where payouts become harder to manage at scale.
The shift: payouts are part of your product
Here’s the shift: payouts aren’t just back-office infrastructure anymore. They’re part of your product experience.
Artists don’t interact with your internal systems. What they experience is much simpler:
- How easy it is to onboard
- How clearly they understand their earnings
- How quickly they get paid
- How confident they feel in the process
Those moments shape how they see your platform, and whether they choose to stay.
“Every single time it goes well, it just builds trust a little bit more.”
Conor Cox, Trolley
That’s why recipient experience is artist experience. The two can’t be separated.
What good payouts actually look like
So what does a strong payout experience actually look like? Not just in theory, but in practice.
It’s simple, but not easy:
- Onboarding that works the first time: Collect tax and banking details in one clean flow
- Clear, proactive communication: Artists know when payments are sent, received, or delayed
- Flexible payout options: Local methods that align with how artists actually want to get paid
- Built-in compliance: Tax forms, withholding, and reporting handled automatically
- Full visibility: No chasing emails or guessing where money is
Or, as Conor put it:
“When you turn on your tap, you want the water to come out… payments need to function like that.”
Conor Cox, Trolley
When payouts work like that, they disappear into the background.
And that’s exactly the point.
How music platforms are solving this (without adding complexity)
The platforms that are getting this right aren’t building everything from scratch. They’re rethinking payouts as a system and choosing partners that can handle that complexity for them.
That’s why companies like SoundCloud rely on Trolley:
“Trolley enables SoundCloud to have confidence that royalties will be handled with the care that they deserve.”
Instead of stitching together tools and workflows, they’re consolidating:
- Artist onboarding and identity verification
- Global payouts to 210 countries and territories
- Automated tax compliance and filings
- Multi-language communication
- Fraud protection and risk management
All in one place.
Today, across music, Trolley supports:
- 1.5 million+ rights holders
- 150,000+ payouts per month
- 200,000+ tax forms filed annually
The result is straightforward: Platforms can scale globally without letting complexity leak into the artist experience.
The takeaway: trust is built in the details
Artists don’t leave because of one big failure.
They leave because of small, repeated moments of friction: A delayed payment. A confusing tax form. A missing transfer.
Each one chips away at trust. And in a market where artists have more choice than ever, that trust is fragile.
Because being “artist-first” isn’t about what you offer, it’s about what artists experience. This is especially true when it comes to their money.
Where to go from here
If payouts are part of your product experience, they need to work as reliably as everything else you build.
The question isn’t whether payouts matter, it’s: Are yours helping you retain artists or quietly pushing them away?
👉 See how leading platforms are solving payouts at scale: Explore Trolley for music payouts →
