(Op-Ed) How NERO Is Helping Established Artists Make Thousands and Handing Real Opportunities to the Underground

By now you should have heard of a company called NERO from one of your favorite artists. They are regularly hosting live streams where fans and upcoming musicians can submit their tracks to be reviewed directly by industry heavyweights in real time. Music reviews are in no shape a new concept for the culture. However, NERO was able to build and distribute the technology in a way that simply has not been done before. We think they are truly onto something massive for the independent scene. The platform creates a direct bridge between the underground and the mainstream.  

Naturally, there have been a lot of mixed reviews out there from content creators, random people on social media, and even established music industry professionals. These critics are loudly claiming the whole enterprise is just a blatant money grab. They argue that it simply does not make sense to pay somebody just to listen to your music and give you feedback. We completely beg to differ with that skeptical perspective. The barrier for entry in music has been narrowed down to just being able to create and release art off a smartphone. Therefore, we think this platform works as a completely necessary and great filtering system for the culture.  

For one thing, we believe this entire process serves as a huge reality check for most aspiring artists. In some cases, this is the very first time somebody is being completely honest with them about their music being mid, boring, or just trash altogether. Getting that tough love in front of a live audience forces creatives to actually step their game up. The system works perfectly as long as the person on the other end is being genuinely honest with their critique. It removes the fake support artists usually get from their friends and family. Hearing the raw truth from a successful rapper or producer can completely alter a young career trajectory for the better.  

Real Wins And Tangible Opportunities

We recently came across a message on social media where somebody asked if any artist has actually found any real value in these NERO submissions. We answered him yes immediately, but we definitely want to go more in depth right here. We have seen several instances where artists and producers are hosting their submission sessions on NERO and watching them turn into real opportunities. One of the most fruitful experiences we have seen firsthand involved Chicago legend Vic Mensa. He turned his series of live streams into his own packed out showcase in Austin for SXSW 2026. All the artists that performed were handpicked and discovered directly through his streams. We had the opportunity to attend that show and can gladly vouch for the incredible talent that hit the stage.  

Some other extremely dope opportunities have popped up across the platform recently. Rexx Life Raj picked an artist from his stream and flew them out to The Bay to work on music together in person. Lefty Gunplay and OTR have completely turned their livestream events into literal artist signing opportunities. King Chip, formerly known as Chip The Ripper, is picking an artist from his weekly livestreams to do features with. In one instance, he thought a few of the artists were really dope, so he picked two additional artists from that same stream for collaborations. When someone asks if real opportunities are being presented through this app, the answer is absolutely yes.  

The momentum does not stop with just a few underground names making moves. DRAM as well handpicked a talented artist from a session to be featured on his upcoming project. Another dope opportunity we saw come to fruition was G Perico hosting live streams with Back on Figg. The ultimate winner of that session was awarded the massive opportunity to land a placement on G Perico's brand new project. He also picked a few other talented people from those exact same streams to work on records with as well. These examples prove that major players are actually listening and looking for the next wave of talent.  

The Bag And The Blueprint

Now honestly speaking, everybody involved in this ecosystem is making a serious amount of money from these submissions. Whether that is NERO as a company or the specific artist hosting the session, there is a lot of cash circulating. We absolutely do not want to deny that the submission fee is directly paying for the established artist to take time out of their day. For example, the G Perico stream lasted four days with over 400 songs submitted. At $100 for each song, that is at least $40,000 they were able to bring in. We believe there were actually closer to 600 songs submitted, and it cost $200 to skip the line. That baseline math does not even take into account how many of those total tracks were priced at the premium tier.  

Because the money is so good, it makes perfect sense for one of your favorite artists to go live and collect a bag while sitting at home doing nothing. Some of them might just listen to paid submissions even if they have absolutely no intention of offering any real opportunity. Surely there could very well be a bunch of sessions where the person submitting is not getting any quality response whatsoever. Sometimes the major artist is not being honest with their thoughts on the records they hear. There might also be zero structure regarding how the potential opportunities are being presented to the winners. Obviously, you should not be paying for those specific streams if the host is just going through the motions.  

Independent creators need to be smart about where they invest their hard earned money. Take the time to properly research and find the real opportunities because we promise you they are out there. These legitimate rooms are turning into real experiences and generating real growth for the culture. Ultimately, NERO has made connecting larger artists with smaller artists globally much easier and more realistic. The key is finding the right curators who genuinely want to uplift the next generation of stars. If you navigate the platform wisely, the return on investment can be completely life changing.  

The Major Label Evolution

We think this current wave is only the beginning of a much larger industry shift. The next phase of submissions will likely feature major labels taking this exact same approach. Could you imagine if Universal or Epic announced they were taking live submissions from all the genres they cover. They could openly declare they are looking to sign anywhere from one to five artists directly from those streams. At a reasonable $100 submission fee, we could easily expect over 100,000 artists to sign up on the low end. You are talking about an unprecedented opportunity to make independent artists see their dreams come true. Getting signed to a major label gives them the chance to create and push their records at the highest possible level.  

The financial projections for this kind of corporate move are absolutely staggering to think about. According to Google Gemini, an estimate suggests there are about 2 million independent artists in the United States alone. To think anywhere from 200,000 to 800,000 of those artists would not submit their music for a record deal is not farfetched at all. We are talking about a label possibly raking in anywhere from $20 million to $80 million just off submission fees. This creates a completely new revenue stream while simultaneously doing their talent scouting. The major labels are always looking for innovative ways to monetize the culture and find the next big superstar.  

We also cannot forget that the major labels have always historically taken email and physical mail submissions. You can still easily find an email address to submit records on almost all the major label websites right now. Remember that Odd Future was famously signed from a loose and unprofessional email from Tyler the Creator that was only about 20 words long. For labels to convert that outdated system into a live platform could deem fruitful for everybody involved. They could actually monitor the entire ecosystem and efficiently get through the massive pile of music. It is only a matter of time before the corporate side of the business adopts the blueprint NERO just established.