True North

Problem

Artists and labels apply to a music distribution service, pay, and get an account with the distribution provider. After that they submit pitches, uploads and rights requests. The operations team reviews applications and answers support questions.

Constraints

• Payment happens in Stripe and account creation happens at Revelator, an external provider. A provider failure doesn't mean the payment never happened.
• Stripe webhook events have to be verified before they change any account.

What I owned

• Most of the frontend and backend.
• Customer and admin screens for applications and onboarding.
• Stripe webhooks linked to Revelator account provisioning, and the database changes that go with it.
• Email provider integration and account emails.
• Support forms and the helpdesk, including server-side article pagination.

Hardest problem

Creating distribution accounts after payment

When a checkout completes, the Stripe webhook links the payment to the artist's application and creates their Revelator distribution account without holding up the response. A Revelator failure is stored as a failed setup status instead of undoing the payment, and the success page polls until setup finishes or fails.