PKS Paul K Saunders · Calculators
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Find out what you're
leaving on the table.

Most artists are underpaid in ways nobody ever showed them — the merch margin that isn't there, the commission on money you never see, the tour that loses money before it starts. Eighteen free calculators. Ten minutes. Real numbers about your career.

TrueFans REVENUE

Analyse your streams, followers and income to see exactly where you're undermonetising — and by how much a month.

Run the check →

TrueFans MERCH

Your true margins after production, packaging, shipping, platform fees, ads and overhead. Plus your real break-even.

Work out my margins →
%

TrueFans TEAM

What you actually take home after manager, agent, business manager and lawyer — plus expenses, splits and tax.

See my take-home →

TrueFans RELEASE

A dated campaign built backwards from your release date, with a budget split, a capacity check and honest reality flags.

Build my plan →

TrueFans ROYALTY

What your streams pay across Spotify, Apple, Amazon, YouTube, Tidal and more — after distributor cuts and splits.

Estimate my royalties →

TrueFans FAN

What one real fan is worth to your career — annually and over a lifetime — and what that makes each follower worth.

Value my fans →

TrueFans TOUR

Whether a tour makes money before you book a date. Guarantees, door deals, merch, commissions and the cost of your time.

Model my tour →

TrueFans AUDIENCE

Turn growth into money. Project your audience forward and see what it has to become for your career to be sustainable.

Convert my growth →

TrueFans SPLITS

Settle the ownership before it settles you. Work out every writer and producer's share, see what each person earns, and print a split sheet to sign.

Split it properly →

TrueFans PHYSICAL

Before you place the pressing order. Real profit per unit by channel, the sell-through you need, and how long your money is tied up in boxes.

Cost my pressing →

TrueFans SOCIAL

Build your brand-deal rate card. What each platform is worth per sponsored post at your real engagement — not your follower count.

Price my audience →

TrueFans EMAIL

The channel nobody can take from you. Revenue per send, value per subscriber, and what one point of open rate is actually worth.

Value my list →

TrueFans MEMBERS

Model a membership month by month across three tiers. See where churn eats your growth and what a subscriber is worth over their lifetime.

Model my membership →

TrueFans SYNC

Estimate the fee for film, TV, ads and games — by placement, usage, duration and territory — and what you keep given what you own.

Estimate the fee →

TrueFans GIG

Three numbers before you answer the booker: the fee you must not go below, the fee you should ask for, and the one worth pushing for.

Price my show →

TrueFans ROI

Everything you spend on a release against everything it earns. Months to break even, first-year return, and the streams it takes to get square.

Check my ROI →
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TrueFans TAX

Self-employment tax, federal, state and your quarterly payments. The bill nobody warns you about until January.

Work out my tax →

TrueFans DEDUCT

Home studio, gear, mileage, travel and fees. Every deduction cuts income tax and self-employment tax — which is why they are worth more than you think.

Total my deductions →

Where to start

Eighteen is a lot. These three, in this order, tell you most of what you need.

TrueFans FANFirst
  • The number every other calculator depends on: what one real fan is worth to you in a year. Almost nobody knows theirs.
TrueFans REVENUESecond
  • Put that number against your actual audience and see the gap between what you earn and what your audience already supports. It is usually wider than the growth you are chasing.
TrueFans AUDIENCEThird
  • Then project forward, and see which lever — growth, conversion or fan value — actually gets you to a living.
And before you release anything, TrueFans SPLITSAlways
  • Five minutes now, signed by everyone, saves the argument that ends bands. It is the only one here to run before the money exists.

Your talent was never the problem.

Forty years behind the scenes and hundreds of artists advised. If something on this page confirmed a suspicion — or contradicted one — bring your figures and let's go through them properly.

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First call free · regular rate $250/hour