Music-industry affiliate programmes have historically been a minefield of cookie tricks, MLM pyramids, and lock-in contracts. We're writing down here what we do — and what we don't do. So you know what you're signing before you sign.
We don't build a pot from which everyone gets the same slice. We build a mechanism that grows with every referred artist and every single track — fair, transparent, no caps.
Refer 10 artists. Refer 100. Refer 500. There is no upper limit. Tier promotion caps at 50 active referrals (Platinum) — your commission share keeps growing linearly. Every additional artist counts in full.
Your referred artist releases 1 single? You earn. They release 200 tracks over three years? You earn on every single one. No "first X releases only" clause, no per-track cap, no curation of which release counts.
Royalties are NOT drawn from a fixed pot. If artist A earns €10,000 and artist B earns €100, you get your percentage of €10,100 — no redistribution, no reduction, no "you lose somewhere else." Each one stands on its own.
Platform cut, artist share and partner commission are three independent streams. Nobody eats off the artist's plate. When the track plays, all three win — and the more it plays, the bigger the pie for each.
A referred hobby producer earning €5/month counts for tier calculation the same as a pro artist earning €5,000/month. Active account with ≥1 release = active referral. No "significant royalties only" filter, no minimum streams gate.
You refer artist B → you earn on B's royalties. If B later refers artist C, B earns on C — but you don't. There is no second level, no third, no downline bonus. The schema guarantees it: `partner_referrals.referred_user_id` is UNIQUE — exactly one referrer per referred account. No chain. Anyone selling you "earn on partners you recruit" is building a pyramid. We aren't.
When a DSP pays out €100, you get your percentage of €100 — not of what's left after our distribution cut. That's intentionally against our margin. So that artist + partner + platform always pull in the same direction: all three win when the track plays.
No 30-day cookies. No "first 12 months only" clause. As long as your referred artist is on OGRECORDS™ and generating royalties, your share flows. If they leave the platform, your cut ends — no revival, no re-entry bonus. More honest than any affiliate scheme on the internet.
Your referred artist can leave any time — no termination fee, no catalog hold, no waiting period. We refuse to make the partner programme so attractive that it becomes a cage. If an artist stays with us, it's because they WANT to. That's the foundation — everything else is marketing.
You see in real time: how many tracks your referred artist has released, exactly how much commission has accrued to you, what's accrued vs. paid. You do NOT see: stream counts, DSP breakdown, top-country stats of the artist. That data belongs to the artist alone. You earn on their royalties — you don't get their private listener library.
Bronze → Silver → Gold → Platinum. Promotion happens via the number of your active, royalty-generating artists — not via "how many other partners you've recruited." There is no second-level recruiting. Partners refer artists, period. Custom tiers for managers with large rosters are agreed individually and fixed in the partner agreement in writing.
So you know what to hold us to.
No downline. No "earn on partners you recruit" schemes. No recruiting bonuses. If you advertise to recruit other partners, you earn NOTHING from that — and put your own status at risk.
We don't pay per click, per page view, per impression. We pay on actual paid royalties. If your referred artist earns nothing, you earn nothing. If they go viral, you earn for years.
There is no maximum commission per month, no stream threshold, no "only the first 100k streams count" clause. If your referred artist earns €50,000, you get your full percentage of €50,000.
Becoming a partner is free. There is no premium tier you must subscribe to to receive the full commission. There is no payout fee, no minimum payout above €10, no waiting periods beyond the normal DSP payment cycle.
Attribution runs via your partner code, explicitly entered in the signup flow (or via a 30-day cookie for the initial click). We don't do browser fingerprinting, cross-device tracking, or last-touch hijacking via other partner links. Whoever enters the code gets the attribution. Done.
If you leave the partner programme, your accrued claim runs out normally (running statements still pay out). Your referred artists stay artists — we don't reclassify them, don't take anything away, don't change their terms. Your exit is YOUR exit.
So you know what you're being measured against.
If we ever change tier thresholds, payout terms or the commission rate, it'll only be upwards — or with 90 days' notice plus opt-out on the existing terms. Grandfathering of running referrals is binding.
We will NEVER introduce a second level. If we ever want a multi-level model, it would be a separate, opt-in programme — nobody gets involuntarily placed in a downline.
We will NEVER shift the basis of your commission from "gross royalty" to "after OGR cut." If DSPs change their payout mechanic, we document it publicly and adjust the effective basis transparently.
We will NEVER show partners stream counts, DSP breakdowns or top-country data of their referred artists — not in higher tiers, not for an extra fee. That's non-negotiable.
Short application, 24h review, then it runs. No setup fee, no pyramid, no lock-in.
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Ask me about releases, splits, payouts, smart links — or the platform in general.
⚠ Note: I'm an AI bot. My answers may contain errors and don't constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. For binding decisions or sensitive matters contact info@og-records.com — we reply manually within 4 hours.