NGM Upstream · Artist Development Program · New Orleans
Turn your talent into a real music business.
NGM Upstream helps serious artists build momentum through music production, A&R, release strategy, content, live shows, business education, and audience growth.
Upstream is the Newtral Groundz Music artist development program — structure, services, accountability, and real opportunities, built to grow performers into music-business owners. Complete the program, and you're placed on one of our imprints.
The Unfair Advantage
Backed by one of the largest culture engines in one of the most culturally rich cities in the world.
Upstream artists don't start from zero. You plug into Newtral Groundz — a New Orleans media platform with its own audience, its own stages, its own press relationships, and a registered genre of its own. That's a head start most artists spend a decade trying to build alone.
Built-in audience
Instagram following across the Newtral Groundz network, with 40M+ social views behind it.
Monthly listeners
As reported by OffBeat Magazine — streaming momentum built inside the Jazz Bounce® ecosystem.
Sold-out stages
Jazz Bounce® Lounge and Brunch — real rooms, real audiences, and performance slots for developing artists.
A registered genre
Jazz Bounce® is a federally registered trademark — a protected cultural movement you build with, not under.
Streaming track record
Music streams across the catalog, with owned playlists like I Love NOLA and Jazz Bounce Essentials.
The city itself
New Orleans is the birthplace of American music. Your story starts inside its culture, not outside looking in.
The Program
What is Upstream?
Upstream is the artist development program from Newtral Groundz Music, designed for artists who are ready to build more than a song, show, or social media moment.
Instead of giving artists a traditional upfront advance, we invest directly into approved services — recording support, A&R, rollout strategy, content planning, marketing, distribution support, and business-development education.
Traditional deals fund chaos. Upstream builds the structure around the artist — structured support, workshops, deliverables, release planning, and business education, so every participant understands the business behind the music.
The goal is simple: help artists become owners, operators, and long-term music businesses.
Proof of Work
The playbook we already run.
Upstream is based on work Newtral Groundz Music is already doing with artists inside the Jazz Bounce ecosystem — recording, releasing, booking, promoting, and growing artists from early visibility into real traction.
Jr. Wilson
First EP recorded, produced & promoted by NGZ. Playlist placements. Booked across multiple shows.
Quentin Alexander
Featured Jazz Bounce performances and singles with full release support.
Mecca Notes
Developed as a featured vocalist, host, and performer across the live experience.
Thee Magnolias
Recruited and developed from vocal group into a featured act with original music.
Through this work, artists have recorded and released original music, grown to 3,000+ monthly active listeners, accessed NGZ playlisting and promotion, performed at Jazz Bounce live shows, and connected their music to a bigger New Orleans cultural movement. Upstream turns that playbook into a structured program.
Inside the Program
What artists get.
Where Upstream Takes You
You get placed on an imprint.
Upstream isn't a course that ends with a certificate. Artists who complete development are placed on one of our imprints — releasing music under a real label name, into a real catalog, with the group's stages, playlists, and press behind it.
Jazz Bounce Records®
The federally registered genre born in New Orleans — the soul of jazz fused with the movement of bounce. Original catalog, vinyl pressings, owned playlists, and sold-out live residencies.
Bunny Records
A dedicated home for New Orleans bounce — the heartbeat of the city, signed and developed on its own terms.
Sunday Sound
Mardi Gras Indian soul music — one of the deepest cultural traditions in America, given a catalog of its own.
Second Line Records
Brass band music — the sound of the streets of New Orleans, recorded, protected, and paid.
The Terms
How the agreement works.
The Upstream Agreement is built around services, not unrestricted cash.
If an artist reaches a defined level of annual revenue, they pay NGZ 20% of gross music-related revenue until either the agreed program fee is met or the term ends — currently planned around three years.
Artists keep writer credits, producer credits, publishing, and other contribution-based rights when they contribute to the underlying work.
In plain language: if you write, you can own your publishing. If you produce, you can receive producer credit.
Model It Yourself
UAD Deal Calculator.
See how the revenue trigger, baseline, fee cap, and 20% participation actually play out over time — and how much of the program's service value NGZ recovers versus what an artist keeps.
| Year | Revenue | Status | To NGZ | Artist Keeps | Cumulative |
|---|
What if a label buys out NGZ's participation?
Under §17.9, if a third party offers a qualifying deal with an advance, they or the artist may buy out NGZ's remaining participation. A buyout only applies while that participation is live — trigger fired, window still open, cap not yet met. Once the window closes or the cap is met, the deal is over: any unrecouped balance is written off and nothing follows the artist into a new deal. This models a fair starting range from the four factors the agreement names.
Masters, group brands, and other NGZ-owned assets are valued separately and are not included in this range. NGZ isn't required to accept a buyout unless terms are commercially reasonable and documented in writing. And the cliff cuts both ways: after the window, artists owe nothing further — no carried balance, no surprise recoupment on a future deal.
Recoupment begins the first year gross revenue minus baseline meets the trigger, then runs at the participation rate on gross music revenue until the fee cap is met or the window closes — whichever comes first (§4). Planning tool only, not legal or financial advice.
The Honest Ledger
What NGZ carries. What you keep.
What NGZ carries
What you keep
One Song, Both Pipes
Split Sheet Calculator.
Publishing follows the pen — the beat side and the lyric side share the song. The master pool follows the voices on the record. Set it once on the split sheet, and the software pays everyone forever.
| Each Person | Publishing | Pub $ (est.) | Master | Master $ |
|---|
If one person plays two roles — wrote and performed, or made the beat and wrote — they collect in each column they're in; their total is their rows added together. An instrumental gives the beat side all the publishing; an a cappella gives it all to the writers. Pub dollars are a rough estimate — actual publishing is paid by your PRO and the MLC on registration. Master splits are set at upload and paid at the source. Any table everyone signs beats the default. Not legal or financial advice.
Accountability
Show up. Do the work.
Program requirements
You may be a fit if you…
From artist to mentor
Upstream isn't only about developing artists — it's about developing future music-business leaders. Artists who prove they understand A&R, distribution, marketing, content, sales, and monetization may become eligible to mentor other artists and get paid to help others build stronger music businesses.
Applications Open
Ready to build your music business?
Apply for NGM Upstream and take the next step toward becoming more than an artist — become an owner.
Apply Now