Let me start this off by saying, I take pride in knowing how to properly register music everywhere.
I literally have a chapter in my book on just this. And have taught multiple courses on registration and royalties. I work closely with orgs like the MLC, SoundExchange, ASCAP, BMI, all the major DIY distribution companies like DistroKid, Symphonic, Amuse, Landr, TuneCore, and many others.
This isn’t meant to be a (not so) humble brag. This is meant to highlight that when I discovered that one of the artists I manage with just a couple million total streams was missing $759 in royalties I nearly spiraled into a full on existential crisis. Do I actually know what I’m doing? How could this be? What have I done with my life?
Upon further digging I discovered that even though I registered everything correctly in all the proper places (phew!), some stuff still fell through the cracks!
This, unfortunately, in our industry is extremely common. The music industry is arguably the most confusing, convoluted, upside down, backwards industry on the planet. Not even to mention how challenging it is to actually make a living even if you have put in your 10,000 hours and are objectively great. And while it’s easier than ever to get music out, it’s more difficult than ever to break through.
+How Do Producer and Songwriter Splits Work (What Are Points)
So once you do actually break through all the AI slop, nepo babies and psyops flooding the public’s consciousness, there’s still a good chance you still won’t make a living. Because, once again, the music industry doesn’t make it easy.
Fortunately, it has now become exponentially easier to get paid thanks to the new royalty collection platform Mogul.
I learned about Mogul because I’ve known its founder Jeff Ponchick for years. He started the distributor Repost Network way back in the day which SoundCloud acquired and used to initially power their distribution service. We stayed in touch and over the past year since he launched Mogul I’d been testing it out.
Having now done a deep dive, auditing multiple artist accounts and looking deep under the hood, I can confidently say that Mogul is a desperately needed resource in our industry. And I’m very grateful it exists.
Basically, how Mogul works is, you sign up, add an Artist, connect whatever royalty sources you currently have registered (like your distributor, PRO, etc) and Mogul will audit your catalog and let you know how much money you may be missing.
+SCAN AND AUDIT YOUR CATALOG FOR FREE HERE
Mogul also does a great job of pointing you in the right direction of where you need to be registered so they can find money for you.
And that’s the other thing, instead of sending you off on a wild goose chase to navigate the complicated web that is music royalties, once you connect your artist account, Mogul will actually go hunt down your royalties on your behalf with a “Fix” button.
Mogul has direct integration with a large number of labels, distributors, PROs, CMOs, Neighboring Rights organizations, publishing administrators where you can simply log in directly within Mogul and Mogul will sync all the data and make sure everything is registered and set up properly.
And if they don’t have the connection (or you don’t want to log in via Mogul), you can upload your data manually.
Mogul Publishing Administration
If you don’t have an admin publishing company, you can use Mogul Pub Admin and it will act on your behalf to collect all of your publishing royalties worldwide for 0% commission.
In the US and Canada, Mogul collects directly from the orgs like ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, MLC, MRI, HFA, CMRRA, SOCAN, and outside the US Mogul uses Mint to collect on its behalf. Mogul doesn’t take a commission like most of the other admin publishers out there. Jeff told me that Mint takes “under 10%” commission for what they collect.
Mogul Distribution
Mogul also has a distribution service. So, if you don’t have a distributor, you could theoretically use Mogul to get your music distributed to the DSPs (Spotify, Apple Music, etc). However, there are some key, deal-breaking features that Mogul Distribution does not have, like Lyrics Distribution, Spotify Discovery Mode, Payment Splitting, and TikTok sound timestamps. Like their pub admin offering, Mogul does not take a commission. Mogul uses Audiosalad for the distribution pipes.
+It’s Time To Normalize Cutting Session Musicians Into Master Royalties (Points)
It is a little surprising that Mogul’s core business is royalty management and collections and doesn’t handle royalty payment splitting for the tracks it distributes.
As it stands, I wouldn’t use Mogul Distribution since there are so many key features that other distributors handle.
Mogul actually has a free tier to its platform which offers distribution to Spotify and Apple Music (only) for free + 0% commission. I can’t imagine that this will last long. Every distributor eventually realizes that offering distribution for free is not sustainable once the scammers, spammers and AI prompters jump in and overwhelm the infrastructure and support teams.
+AI Music Is An Abomination, It’s Time We Stop Normalizing It
I did a much more comprehensive review (and included them on my distro chart comparison) here.
Is Mogul Worth It?
Mogul costs $18/month (or $150/year) per artist for the full suite of services.
You can actually check your catalog (for free) to see how much money Mogul estimates you’re leaving on the table and to see if this would be worth it to you HERE
And if you are managing a large catalog and need a concierge service, Mogul offers that for $200/month (or $1,500/year). At this tier you’ll get catalog valuation, more advanced royalty recovery services and deal analysis (if you’re thinking of selling your catalog or going for a big label deal). They say this plan is more suitable for those managing a large catalog that may have been mismanaged. You can essentially engage Mogul as your de facto business manager to clean up your catalog and track down all your missing royalties. Business managers generally charge $1,000+/mo (or 5% of your gross revenue). So until you’re ready for this, Mogul Concierge may be a good stepping stone.
I wished Mogul offered a Manager tier for the Artist (or Business) Managers out there to be able to keep track of all their clients’ royalties for one price. At the $200/month level I would expect to be able to manage all of my artist catalogs. Managers sometimes have clients with 5 albums earning 6-7 figures a year, and emerging clients with just a handful of songs released, earning 3-4 figures a year. It would be nice to be able to integrate Mogul into the workflow for every artist, every release. As of now, most managers wouldn’t be able to justify a $18/mo account for artists who aren’t earning enough where a manager’s commission would even cover these costs. And couldn’t justify billing these costs back to their artists.
Catalog Valuation
If you are managing a large catalog or earning a significant amount in royalties (where the $1,500/year plan ain’t no thing to you), Mogul has a catalog valuation service to help you figure out what your catalog is worth if you want to sell it outright or are negotiating label deals and want to know what advance you can expect.
Final Thoughts
For over a decade I have been waiting for the company that was going to be the one stop shop for indie musicians, handling everything from distribution, pub admin, and full royalty collection and audits. Although many companies out there have gotten close, no one checks off all the boxes.
Mogul is now the closest solution to the one stop shop for artists and managers. And if Mogul can get its distribution service up to top-tier, label standards – offering everything a working Artist requires – then Mogul may become that all-in-one platform.
Mogul, however, is still a very new company and during the process of writing this review, the UI of the platform changed a few times (sometimes because of my questions and suggestions – thank you!). There are still some kinks they’re working out. But, as of today, I feel fully confident in recommending them to handle your royalty accounting and collection.
Full transparency, because I really believe in what Mogul is doing, after an extensive vetting process, I decided to officially partner with them. But as long time readers know, I only partner with companies that I stand behind. And as I tell every partner company, it doesn’t change my review of them. And I actually hold them to a higher standard.
You can use the code ARISTAKE for 20% off your first year’s subscription. Learn more, see what money you’re leaving on the table and sign up HERE.
