STL Tones is expanding its ecosystem in a way that directly targets one of the biggest shifts in modern music production: the rise of income streams built around sound design and presets. The company behind ToneHub and ControlHub has launched a broader STL Artists initiative that allows users to publish their own tone captures and receive recurring royalties when other musicians use them.
Instead of tone packs being limited to a curated roster of high-profile contributors, users can now capture their own amps, rigs, and mix chains, upload them to their profile, and earn money whenever those sounds are used inside STL’s growing subscription ecosystem.
STL says more than $2.5 million has already been paid out in royalties across the platform so far, driven by established contributors including producers associated with Bring Me The Horizon, Converge, and Spiritbox producer Daniel Braunstein.
From preset browsing to creator economy
Until now, ToneHub and ControlHub have functioned primarily as libraries of professionally captured tones and processing chains. The expansion into user monetization pushes the platform closer to a creator marketplace model, where individual users can effectively turn their own rigs and processing workflows into licensable audio products.
STL positions this as part of a wider industry shift toward diversified income streams for musicians and producers. In practice, it means a guitarist dialing in a standout amp tone or a producer building a distinctive mixing chain can now publish that setup and potentially earn ongoing revenue whenever it is used by subscribers.
Users retain ownership of their captures, with earnings tracked through a dashboard and paid out on a quarterly basis. STL emphasizes transparency, with usage analytics showing how often each tone or chain is being used across the platform.
How it works in practice
The workflow is built directly into ToneHub and ControlHub. Users create a capture of their gear or processing chain, upload it to their artist profile, and publish it to the platform. Once live, it becomes available to the wider subscriber base, where every use is tracked and contributes to royalty payouts.
STL’s subscription model remains unchanged at $14.99 per month, with access to thousands of tones already in the library. The new system simply layers monetization on top, allowing subscribers to opt into publishing their own content without additional fees beyond an active subscription.
