Streaming has been a hot topic in the music industry for decades now. The moment physical media was replaced by downloads and streaming, the industry drastically changed, for both record executives and artists of all genres.

Part of that change meant forcing people to reconsider the role of the record label. In years past, having a deal with a record label was prestigious and a sign that you’d really “made it”. That deal would open doors for you and give you a real foothold in the industry.

Things are different today. In the age of social media self-promotion, record deals don’t have quite the same pull, but labels have always used artists to line their own pockets. As far back as the 1950s, they’ve been taking the lion’s share of royalties and profit from artists– like when Little Richard was paid just half a cent for every sale of his iconic song “Tutti Frutti”, a mere fraction of what other artists were making at the time.

Streaming Executive J.R. McKee wants artists to know that you don’t have to sign with a label to succeed. At this point, the benefits far outweigh the risks of working as an independent artist without a record label. With a label, someone else owns the art you’ve created; it’s no longer yours, and any profit you see from it will be secondary to theirs.

A great example of this is the now-legendary feud between Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun; Swift didn’t own the rights to her own music and her attempts to purchase them back were rejected, so she resorted to re-recording her own albums. Her choice to re-record meant that no third party can profit from her hard work, with album sales and revenue from streaming going directly to her. 

Countless other artists have been forced to part with the rights to their own music or change their image completely, at the whim of their record labels– and these are just the artists we hear about, superstars like Johnny Cash, Michael Jackson, Dr. Dre, LL Cool J, and Prince. If a label fails to put money into promotion for artists like Michael Jackson, it stands to reason that smaller artists receive even less support. 

McKee’s goal as an entrepreneur in the industry is to help facilitate careers for other entrepreneurs, to allow artists to keep ownership of their masters– to provide support without taking over their intellectual property. He coined the title “Streaming Executive” as an acknowledgement that the streaming business operates differently than the music business traditionally has.

His insight is backed by serious music industry bona fides; he’s been around for years, working with some of the biggest names around as a songwriter, manager, and marketing expert– he’s directly contributed to the sale of over sixty million records during his career. His experience comes from both the creative and business sides of music, so it’s fair to say he knows his stuff. He also wants to share it, offering Streaming Business masterclasses for artists looking to take the next step.

At the time of this writing, McKee’s streaming label, MPR Global, is behind Billboard’s #1 R&B song, “Hrs & Hrs” by Muni Long, which also reached the top of Apple Music and Spotify charts while she was named Amazon Breakthrough Artist of the Month, YouTube Artist on the Rise, and more. 

Perhaps Long’s status as a music-industry veteran (she’s written songs for the likes of Mariah Carey, Madonna, Ariana Grande, and Rihanna, among others) put her in the position to work with MPR Global, allowing her to grow as an artist while retaining creative control. Having seen the industry from the inside out, Long’s choice to work with J.R. McKee and MPR Global means she’s been able to gain the visibility and recognition she needs to take the next step in her career. With “Hrs & Hrs”, a viral hit that’s been on Billboard’s R&B charts for almost two months, it seems like MPR Global has laid the groundwork for a very bright future.