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Article 15 of the GDPR lets you ask any platform what personal data it holds about you, why, and who it went to. Here is a template request, what Spotify, SoundCloud and two distributors say they will give you, and why India's own access right is not in force until mid-2027.
Artist rightsvia gdpr-info.eu (GDPR text)
In India your song is protected the moment you make it, so registration is optional. What it gives you is evidence a court will accept. One song can be three separate works (the music, the lyrics and the recording), each needing its own application, fee and consent letters from your co-writers.
Artist rightsvia IP India (Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks)
A four-piece band now pays about $5,400 in US government fees before it plays a note, and most of that is premium processing that waits of nearly a year make hard to avoid. We add up the O and P visa bill from USCIS and State Department sources, and look at who it shuts out.
Industryvia US Citizenship and Immigration Services
Imogen Heap has trained a private model of her own singing voice, licenses her style to the AI platform Jen on her terms, and is reported to take 70% of each StyleFilter sale. It is the opposite of being scraped. It also shows how much of the model still depends on other people's tools.
AIvia Imogen Heap (imogenheap.com)
In 2023 Grimes let anyone release songs with an AI copy of her voice in exchange for half the master royalties. About three years on, the GrimesAI profile lists 168 releases, the Elf.Tech site has gone quiet and Grimes now says humans still have to tell the story. Here is what worked, what didn't, and what other artists can borrow.
AIvia TuneCore Help Center
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