The InterSpace Group has partnered with Masterchannel, the Oslo-based mastering company, to put professional mastering inside the dashboard artists already use to release their music. The partnership was announced on Tuesday, November 3.
The tool is live on InterSpace Distribution, the group’s direct-to-artist service, and on ToneGrid, the white-label platform that labels and distributors use to run their own branded distribution businesses. The Mastering page has been in both dashboards since late October, so artists can use it today.
How it works
Mastering is the last step between a finished mix and a release. It balances a track’s tonality, dynamics and loudness so the song holds up on every streaming service and every speaker, from earbuds and car stereos to club systems.
For many independent artists, that step has meant paying for studio time or releasing without it. Inside the dashboard, the flow is short:
- Open Mastering from the dashboard menu and upload a mix.
- A mastered version comes back within minutes.
- A free full-length preview plays against the original mix, with loudness-matched playback so the comparison is fair.
- Artists pay only if they download the final master. There is no subscription, and nothing is charged automatically.
- Payments go to Masterchannel and appear under its name on the bank statement.
Why the ToneGrid side matters
Most tools a distributor adds stop at its own customers. This one ships at the platform layer.
Because the integration is built into ToneGrid, every label and distributor on the platform can offer the same mastering tool to its own artists, inside its own branded dashboard, with no integration work on its side. More than two dozen companies run their own distribution businesses on ToneGrid.
It follows the structure of InterSpace’s Rotor Videos partnership in August: the tool attaches to the layer underneath the brands, so it reaches every business built on top of it. For a small label, mastering becomes a menu item its artists already have, not a vendor deal it would have to negotiate alone.
Who Masterchannel is
The Oslo-based company was founded by a mastering engineer, an independent artist and a producer. Its software analyses the sonic character of an uploaded mix and calculates precise adjustments to tonality, dynamics and loudness. Masterchannel says it gives artists the sound profile of engineers such as Simon Hestermann and Wez Clarke.
The company is specific about what the tool does not do. It does not generate or alter musical content, it was not trained on copyrighted recordings, and every master remains entirely the artist’s own.
What the two companies said
“A great release starts with a great master, and for too many independent artists that last step has meant expensive studio time or guesswork,” said Eric Okechukwu, Founder & CEO of The InterSpace Group. “With Masterchannel built into the dashboard, an artist can get a professional master in minutes, hear the whole track before paying anything, and release with confidence. Because it ships on ToneGrid as well, every label and distributor on our platform can now give the same tool to their own artists, under their own brand.”
“Our partnership with InterSpace stems from a shared commitment to empowering independent artists,” said Christian Ringstad Schultz, CEO & Co-Founder of Masterchannel. “As musicians ourselves, we at Masterchannel understand the dedication required to produce great work, and we’re proud to make high-quality sound accessible and affordable for all InterSpace’s artists.”
Before you pay for a master
A free preview only helps if you listen to it properly. Five checks:
- Master the final mix. Mastering polishes a mix. It cannot fix a vocal that sits too low or a bass line that is too loud.
- Play the whole track. The preview is full length, so check the loudest chorus and the quietest verse, not just the first 30 seconds.
- Judge tone, not volume. Louder almost always sounds better at first. Loudness-matched playback removes that trick, so listen for clarity and punch.
- Don’t chase loudness. LUFS (loudness units relative to full scale) is how streaming services measure loudness. Spotify adjusts tracks to -14 LUFS by default, so a master pushed far louder is turned down on playback anyway.
- Test on real speakers. A phone speaker, earbuds and a car stereo are where most listeners will hear it.
Availability
Mastering is available now from the Mastering page of the InterSpace Distribution dashboard, and to the artists of every label and distributor on ToneGrid. The full announcement is on the InterSpace newsroom and ToneGrid’s newsroom. Masterchannel’s own site is master.channel.
