Faced with multiple offers from labels—and after co-writing a song that landed on John Legend’s Grammy-winning 2020 album—why did singer-songwriter Chance Peña sign with ONErpm? And for that matter, what the heck is ONErpm?

After launching in 2010 as a distro venture for indie artists, the Emmanuel Zunz-led firm has blossomed into what Zunz described in a Forbes profile as a technology-driven “modern-day music company” with a fleet of services and serious global reach, notably in Brazil and Latin America. As independent companies grow their share of the biz pie, ONErpm believes it offers a unique value proposition to creators.

Peña, a 23-year-old Texas native who first got noticed as a teen contestant on The Voice (and whose latest single, “In My Room,” has amassed 61m+ Spotify streams) agrees. “As an artist and business owner, I want complete control—from a creative, marketing and financial standpoint—over my music,” he says. “Most major record labels just don’t offer that, particularly to newly signed acts. ONErpm is different, and that difference made my decision an easy one.”

“The folks at ONErpm have already shown their ability to move a project forward with total respect for the artist’s vision,” adds Lynn Grossman, founder of Pena’s publisher, Secret Road.

As the Forbes piece explains, artists pay commissions to ONErpm based on how much they avail themselves of its services. "Commissions can be as low as 10% to as high as 50% to 60%, depending on how much we’re doing, and how much they’re making," reads a quote from NYC-based Zunz (whose previous venture was Verge Records) in the article.

Can ONErpm’s model produce a big artist breakthrough, as has been happening elsewhere in the indie sector? Will Peña take it to the next level? Will both artist and company execs manage to preserve their sanity by steering clear of us? Stay tuned.