KAMELOT Drummer ALEX LANDENBURG's ROKK Streaming Service Launches Free Direct Music Upload

ROKK, the new streaming service founded by KAMELOT drummer Alex Landenburg and MENTALIST guitarist Peter Moog, has officially launched its Direct Music Upload, a new tool that allows artists to upload and release their music directly on the platform. The service is free, requires no middlemen, and lets artists keep full control of the work.

Direct Music Upload is available to any artist who owns the rights to their music. This includes independent artists releasing on their own, artists using aggregators that are not yet integrated with ROKK, such as DistroKid or CD Baby, and artists who have never released music publicly before.

"It's hard enough to be an artist today, especially when you're just starting out," says Landenburg, who also plays with CYHRA. "With Direct Music Upload, we wanted to make releasing music simpler and fairer — and show that streaming can work differently, in a way that actually puts artists first."

ROKK is billing itself as "the ultimate streaming platform for all things hard and heavy, with superior sound quality and finally fair compensation for artists at its core."

ROKK is known for higher-than-average payouts and a transparent, artist-first model. Unlike other streaming platforms, music on ROKK earns royalties from the very first stream, with no minimum play threshold.

Uploading music is free, and ROKK does not take a percentage of artist payouts.

Once their music is live, artists can immediately be supported by fans through ROKK's Direct Artist Support feature. Direct Music Upload is available now to all registered ROKK artists and to new artists upon signup.

To sign up as an artist, go to this location.

Check out the video below to see how the upload tool works.

When ROKK was first launched a year ago, Landenburg said in a statement: "As a professional drummer and lifelong metal fan, I have now spent over two decades touring, recording, and experiencing firsthand the struggles musicians face — especially when it comes to streaming revenue in this modern landscape. My co-founder, Peter, shares the same passion for music, and together, we decided to do something about this.

"ROKK is not just another streaming service — it's about a community committed to giving rock and metal the recognition it deserves, where artists can receive fair compensation for each and every stream.

"One of the main reasons we built ROKK is to address a long-standing issue in the industry: the fact that most musicians have made very little to no money from their music being streamed. With our Direct Artist Support, you can help change that."

ROKK is available now on iOS, Android, and on the web at rokk-app.com throughout Europe, with plans to expand to other territories.

Many people still think Spotify doesn't pay the artists who are featured on its platform fairly.

In recent years, Spotify's then CEO and founder Daniel Ek has been trying to defend the company's payouts, telling CBS News in early 2023: "We don't pay artists directly. [Artists] have their deals with their record companies and their deals with their publishers, et cetera. And what Spotify does is we pay out to those record companies and these publishers, and don't know what individual deals these artists may have."

Almost five years ago, Spotify created a web site called Loud&Clear to clarify exactly who receives payments. Loud & Clear is being promoted as "an annual initiative to demystify how artists earn money through streaming, clarify royalty distribution, and highlight the growing and evolving global music landscape."

According to Forbes, "Spotify has been paying back nearly 70% of every dollar generated from music as royalties to rights holders who represent artists and songwriters. These organizations, which include independent distributors, publishers, performance rights organizations, record labels, and collecting societies, then pay the artists and songwriters based on their agreed terms."

As of Q3 2025, Spotify's global Premium subscriber base reached 281 million paying users.

Spotify claims to have paid out $10 billion to the music industry in 2024 alone — more than any single company has ever contributed in one year.

As of March 2025, music streaming services boasted more than 500 million paying subscribers worldwide, according to IFPI.