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 โ€“ and we all have an expectation to get paid fast, and see whatโ€™s going on and what weโ€™re owed at any given time.

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

We chatted to Tipaltiโ€™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: