Today (January 16th), at the ESNS conference, leading Spanish-based digital music marketing agency Melboss will officially launch the Smart Music Manager, an AI-powered music marketing app aimed at independent labels, managers, and self-releasing artists that helps level the competitive landscape.

The app was developed to enable European artists to successfully navigate the booming Latin American streaming market and facilitate music export to the region. The Smart Music Manager was beta-tested through Algo-Rhythms, a partnership between Melboss, AIM Ireland, the European Music Managers Alliance (EMMA), and WHY Portugal.

Supported by Creative Europe, Algo-Rhythms allowed Melboss to gather feedback from over 200 European artists at bootcamps conducted during three major music conferences: the Choice Music Prize Conversations in Dublin, Digital Music Days in Lisbon and BIME in Bilbao.  

The resulting service acts as a virtual marketing manager for independent artists, managers and marketeers - guiding them through actionable tasks that support the promotion of their music on all major streaming services and social networks, while offering personalised strategies based on an artist’s existing fan base, goals and resources. 

These functionalities include:

• Integrated Insights: social and streaming metrics in a single dashboard.

• AI Advisor: provides tailored guidance, helping artists focus on priorities and stay updated with relevant news.

• Song Release Planner: generates personalised release plans based on the artist’s profile, market trends, and effective tasks.

• Direct Publishing: post directly to Instagram and TikTok from the app.

• Social Media Caption Generator: create engaging captions effortlessly.

The Smart Music Manager is available now at melboss.com for a reduced introductory price, and will be rolled out later in 2025 for €9.99 per month/€99.99 per year. 

Jaime Castañosa, Head of Marketing at Melboss, said: 
“Artists often face the challenge of learning through trial and error, investing disproportionate resources just to bootstrap their way to sustainability. Smart Music Manager accelerates their progress, empowering them to grow their fanbase and audience—the foundation for generating revenue. Smart Music Manager is like a fitness app for musicians, providing daily, tailored exercises to help them strengthen their digital presence and achieve career milestones more quickly. And this is especially crucial for artists emerging from smaller markets who need to grow bigger than their fishtank to break even.”

Alexa Rosca, Longcut Records, manager for Mischa Blanoswho has beta-tested the app said:
"As an artist manager without a marketing team, juggling all the tasks before and after a release can feel overwhelming. I used to rely on a clunky Google Sheet to keep track of everything—uploading the Spotify Canvas, organising photoshoots, and more. Now, with Smart Music Manager, everything is organised in one place, making it easy to see what’s done and what’s next. Plus, the app’s clear data insights, from social media to Spotify, turn numbers into actionable steps, making every release smoother and the impact is noticeable." 

Melboss brings decades of experience delivering impactful international digital marketing campaigns for clients such as Universal Music México, Sony Music LATAM, Warner Music Group, BMG, Interscope and Virgin Records, supporting some of the biggest artists on the global Latin music scene with marketing and export services. The company’s extensive experience has now been distilled into the Smart Music Manager. 

Francisco Buendía, Co-Founder and CEO of Melboss:
“Melboss has built our reputation working for the world’s biggest music companies, and we are delighted to share that knowledge and experience through creating this innovative automated app that we believe can help level the playing field for independent artists.”

Gill Dooley, CEO, AIM IRELAND:
“At AIM Ireland, we’ve seen the need for access to expert guidance for independent labels and self-releasing artists. Most breaking acts lack the time, the experience or the skill set to manage a release campaign, and they don’t have the finances to hire an agency. This app  has the potential to increase the reach and awareness of breaking acts and smaller bands, which is crucial for the entire creative eco system”

Per Kviman, Chair, European Music Managers Alliance (EMMA): 
“As EMMA’s report, Music Management in Europe shows, many of Europe's management companies are small businesses, operating within limited means. Getting access to an app  that can provide similar services as a social media agency or manager is invaluable, and can make a huge difference for the success of artists.”

Nuno Saraiva, International Coordinator, WHY Portugal:
“Many Portuguese artists are looking towards the growing LATAM market, but are daunted by the investment that it takes to create impactful campaigns. We are looking forward to seeing how the Smart Music Manager may be able to support national bands as they build international careers.”

According to The Worldwide Independent Network (WIN), independent music accounts for at least 40% of global market share and for 80% of the world’s new releases, with at least $4.1 billion being invested in independent talent globally. 

Today’s panel at Eurosonic will discuss tech innovations supporting marketing and export strategies for self-releasing artists and independent labels, and share additional results of the pilot project. In addition to the partners of Algo-Rhythms, participants will also include Isabel Villanueva Benito, Head of Contents and Strategy at BIME.