Yes - and it's encouraged. You can reach the Xpandr team by email at hello@xpandr.co, by phone at +44 (0)207 078 4022, by WhatsApp, or by scheduling a free video call directly from the site. Control Room™ is a real financial and time commitment, and the team wants you to be confident it's the right fit before you enrol. There's no sales pressure - just a straightforward conversation about where you are in your career and whether the programme matches what you need. Book a call via the Contact page. 

The current programme fee is £649, including VAT for UK customers. International students pay the ex-VAT price at checkout, with local taxes applied where applicable. This fee covers all four live sessions, all session replays, the full Control Room™ Toolkit (budgeting tools, promo templates, and strategy guides), ongoing mentor support during the programme, and your personal one-to-one career strategy session. Payment by instalment is available via Klarna and Clearpay - choose this option at checkout.

Control Room™ runs for 4 weeks, with one 2-hour live session per week - 8 hours of structured learning in total. You may want to set aside an additional 1-2 hours per week for self-guided work: reviewing your toolkit materials, applying what you've covered, and preparing for your one-to-one session. The programme is designed to fit around a working schedule - not require you to clear your calendar. Flexible session times (afternoon, evening, and weekend options) are available to suit different time zones and commitments.

By the end of Control Room™, you'll have a professional business setup tailored to your specific goals as an artist - not a generic template. That means: a clear system for managing income, rights, and creative admin; confidence with royalties, splits, and contracts; a smart release and distribution plan; a growth strategy covering funding, partnerships, and sustainability; the tools to build and manage your artist team; and a personalised plan from your one-to-one session. Students have used these foundations to negotiate Sony Publishing deals, secure BPI funding, and build sold-out touring careers.

Both. Control Room™ includes live group sessions with up to 20 participants - small enough to be interactive, with genuine back-and-forth between artists and your mentor. You also get a dedicated one-to-one strategy session with Matt, tailored to your specific situation, goals, and career stage. During the programme weeks, ongoing mentor support is available for questions that arise between sessions. The group dynamic is a deliberate part of the programme - artists in the same cohort often collaborate, share contacts, and continue working together after the programme ends.

Control Room™ is backed by a 100% Confidence Guarantee. If you attend the first session and decide the programme isn't right for you, notify the team within 7 days and receive a full refund - no questions asked, no small print. The guarantee exists because the programme's value depends on it being the right fit. If it's not, Xpandr would rather refund you than keep your money for a programme that isn't serving you. You can review the full terms in the Booking Terms and Conditions linked in the site footer.

Control Room™ is primarily designed for independent artists managing their own careers - but signed artists consistently find value in it, particularly around rights, income management, and team dynamics. Understanding how royalties are structured, what a publishing deal actually means, and how to manage professional relationships is relevant regardless of whether you're signed. Artists who come into Control Room™ with a label deal often discover they've been leaving income uncollected or misunderstanding their own contract terms. The programme gives you the knowledge to have more informed conversations with everyone on your team.

Xpandr occasionally offers brand-funded places and scholarship spots for artists who demonstrate financial need or exceptional commitment to their career. These are not always publicly advertised - the best way to be notified when they open is to join the waitlist or send a message directly to hello@xpandr.co. If you're in a position where the fee is a genuine barrier, get in touch before assuming the door is closed. The instalment payment option via Klarna and Clearpay is also worth exploring if upfront cost is the main concern.

A music career self-management program teaches independent artists the practical skills to run their own career professionally - without needing a manager, a label, or an agent to make decisions for them. It covers the operational side of a music career: rights registration, royalty collection, release planning, distribution, team building, and income management. Control Room™ at Xpandr is a 4-week, mentor-led version of this program, designed specifically for independent artists who are already making music and need the professional infrastructure to match their creative output.

Independent artists in the UK collect royalties through three main organisations: PRS for Music (performance royalties from public performance, broadcasting, and streaming), PPL (neighbouring rights income from public performance of recordings), and MCPS (mechanical royalties from physical and digital reproduction - administered under the PRS for Music umbrella, so artists register for both through the same platform). Whilst PRS for Music do not publicly share how much revenue goes unclaimed due to errors in this registration process, The Guardian reported in the amount to be £2.7 million in 2019 alone. Despite this, revenues paid out by PRS for Music to rights holders in 2024 amounted to a massive £1.02 billion. Control Room's rights and royalties module covers the full registration process for all three bodies, songwriter splits, publishing shares, and metadata - the practical steps that turn songs into income.

A music career management program covers the operational and strategic side of running an independent music career. Core topics typically include: intellectual property and rights registration (PRS, PPL, MCPS), music publishing and royalty structures, record deal and distribution models, release planning and marketing strategy, team building (managers, agents, lawyers, publicists), income diversification (sync, live, brand partnerships, funding), and long-term career planning. Control Room™ at Xpandr covers all of these across four weekly sessions, structured around the real decisions independent artists face - from their first release to actively building momentum in the music industry.

Independent artists in the UK can access funding through Arts Council England's Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP) grants, the BPI's Music Export Growth Scheme (MEGS) for international touring, the Musicians' Union's development funds , and a range of regional music development organisations. According to Arts Council England data, only 21% of DYCP applications were successful - meaning a well-written application is a direct competitive advantage. Control Room™'s funding module covers the main UK grant sources, what strong applications contain, and how to approach crowdfunding and brand partnerships as supplementary income streams alongside grant funding.

PRS for Music, PPL, and MCPS are three separate UK organisations that collect different types of royalties for music creators. PRS for Music collects performance royalties when music is performed live, broadcast on radio or TV, streamed on digital platforms, or played in public venues - and distributes these to songwriters and publishers. PPL collects neighbouring rights income when recorded music is broadcast or played publicly, distributing to recording rights holders (artists and labels). MCPS collects mechanical royalties when music is reproduced physically or digitally - including streams - and is administered under the PRS for Music umbrella, meaning artists can register for MCPS and PRS through the same platform. Independent artists need to register with all three to collect their full entitlement.

Sync licensing is the process of placing music in TV shows, films, advertisements, video games, or online content in exchange for an upfront sync fee and ongoing royalties. Independent artists can access sync licensing without a traditional sync agent by building a cleared catalogue - music where all master and publishing rights are confirmed - and pitching directly to sync libraries, music supervisors, or via non-exclusive sync agents who work on a placement-by-placement basis. Control Room™'s Module 2 covers sync licensing basics: what makes music syncable, how rights clearance works, and the practical steps for getting your catalogue into the sync market.

Record label deals in 2026 range from traditional 360-degree deals (where the label takes a share of all income streams including live and merchandise) to licensing deals (where the artist licenses recordings for a set period, then reclaims ownership), distribution deals, and joint venture arrangements. The terms vary significantly, and the advance - the upfront payment from the label - is recouped before the artist receives royalties. Control Room™'s Module 3 covers how record labels are structured internally, what different deal types mean in practice, what A&Rs are looking for when they consider signing an artist, and how to read a basic label contract.

Setting up a professional business structure as an independent artist typically takes 1-2 weeks for the foundational steps: registering as a sole trader or limited company with HMRC, opening a dedicated business bank account, and registering with PRS for Music, PPL, and MCPS for royalty collection. The administrative setup is straightforward - the bigger challenge is understanding which structure fits your specific career model and goals. Control Room™'s first module covers the setup process in full, including the difference between sole trader and limited company status, what a business bank account requires, and how to stay organised for grants, taxes, and professional partnerships.