Macro Sound is my dream business, and I strive to run it as ethically as possible. Between the pressures of daily life and running a business, it can be easy or convenient to overlook minor consumption or structural decisions in the name of productivity and profit. Depsite that, I am continually taking small steps towards shaping a more ethical studio. I believe in transparency, and modeling action – if we talk about the small changes we make in our lives, others know that change is within reach, and that they themselves can take steps towards the collective future we hope to create. With all that in mind, here are some of the small steps that the studio is proudly taking:
Divesting from Waves Audio
Waves Audio is one of the largest audio software companies. They are also headquartered on occupied Palestinian land, and are on an official boycott list. As of 2025, Macro has proudly divested from Waves Audio and urges other studios to do the same.
Divesting from Spotify
As of 2025, Macro has divested from Spotify. While none of the major streaming services currently provide truly equitable platforms, Spotify’s business practices – from engaging in forms of payola with major labels (article 1, article 2); to paying artists the lowest wages out of any streaming service (Union of Musicians and Allied Workers campaign) and demonetizing 60% of the music on the platform (article); to hiring “ghost artists” to write library music for popular playlists that shunt additional streaming revenue away from artists and towards the company (article) – are well-documented as among the worst in the industry. In addition, CEO Daniel Ek has invested over 600 million dollars of his personal wealth extracted from artists into AI military company Helsing (article, excellent statement by Deerhoof on the implications). The company has also recently been the target of pressure campaigns for running ICE ads. We will no longer be complicit in funding these practices. For those looking for further in-depth documentation of Spotify’s business practices, Liz Pelly’s excellent book offers a great slice of media literacy around the platform.
Pro Bono Work
One of the most generous things that artists consistently do is share their art in exchange for donations, awareness, or other support to meaningful organizations. For musicians, this often takes the shape of benefit releases or compilations. To help artists realize these goals, one calendar slot per month is reserved for no-cost work done on benefit releases. Please reach out to have us work on your compilation, EP, single or other release benefiting a meaningful organization.
Some of the music that we’ve worked on for benefits includes:
Buying Music
A core tenet of being a part of a sustainable music economy involves investing as directly as possible in artists. We do this by regularly using the studio’s revenues to purchase music on Bandcamp. For the curious, my personal Bandcamp collection can be found here.
Investing in and Promoting Local Culture
In the past, I have promoted the local music scene in the Bay Area through efforts aggregating and curating concert listings, previously in the “Offline: Shows” showpaper. You can read a bit about that effort here. Currently, those show listings are a part of a larger, monthly mini-magazine showcasing local writing, film screenings, concerts, and events, all put together by the incredible Bathers Library. The studio additionally supports the underground organizing newspaper The Approach, and local non-profit news outlet The Oaklandside.
Energy Efficiency
Our energy supplier is Ava Community Energy, an organization devoted to decarbonised and renewable energy sources. The studio’s AC thermostat is set to 74°F, all light bulbs are LEDs, and no electronics are left on overnight.
Rate Structures
I am a believer that studios should not be a financial barrier to art-making. From 2016-2024, I offered sliding-scale, pay-what-you-want, pay-what-you-can rates for mastering. As the studio grows, I want to guarantee a fair wage to occasional freelancers for QC, website and administrative work, so rates are now fixed, but often still flexible to accommodate budgets as needed.
Thank you for taking the time to read and for choosing to do business with us,
– Amar
