Running an independent record label is an exciting and rewarding venture, but it comes with its fair share of challenges—especially when it comes to managing royalties. As your label grows, the complexity of royalty accounting increases, making it difficult to keep track of everything while ensuring your artists are paid fairly and on time.
Let’s look at the top 5 royalty management challenges faced by growing indie labels and how partnering with a professional service like Royalty Solutions can help you overcome them.
1. Tracking Income from Multiple Revenue Streams
For indie labels, revenue comes from a variety of sources: streaming platforms, digital downloads, physical sales, sync placements, and live performances. Each of these has different payment schedules, rates, and platforms, making it hard to track all incoming royalties accurately.
Our Solution: Royalty Solutions consolidates all of these revenue streams into one comprehensive system. We track every penny owed from each platform and ensure that all income sources—whether from streaming on Spotify or sync placements in film—are accounted for, giving you and your artists the full picture.
2. Keeping Royalty Payments Accurate
The more artists you sign, the more complicated royalty payments become. With different deals for each artist—like 50/50 net profit splits, recoupable expenses, or advances—managing accurate royalty payments can quickly become overwhelming.
Our Solution: We will handle the complex royalty calculations for you. Whether it’s recouping advances or calculating net profit splits, we ensure that each artist’s contract is accounted for correctly and payments are made accurately.
3. Delays in Royalty Statements
Artists rely on timely royalty statements to track their earnings, but many indie labels struggle with producing these reports on time. Without the right systems in place, delays in royalty reporting can lead to frustration and strained relationships with your artists.
Our Solution: Royalty Solutions generates and distributes royalty statements on a regular schedule, ensuring that your artists always know when to expect their statements. With clear, transparent reports, your artists will appreciate the consistency and professionalism you provide.
4. Handling Data from Multiple Distributors
Many indie labels work with several distributors to get their music onto various platforms. While this helps expand reach, it creates a challenge when it comes to royalty management. Each distributor reports earnings differently, often with varied formats and schedules, making it hard to consolidate and accurately process royalties for your artists.
Our Solution: We consolidate and standardize the royalty reports from all your distributors—whether you use platforms like DistroKid, CD Baby, The Orchard, or others—ensuring that all income is accurately captured, tracked, and processed. This allows you to focus on growing your label without getting bogged down by the complexities of multiple data sources.
5. Administrative Overload
As your label scales, the administrative burden of royalty management increases, leaving you with less time to focus on artist development, promotion, and growing your business. Handling royalty payments, tracking income, and preparing statements can take up more time than you have available.
Our Solution: Outsourcing your royalty processing to a professional service allows you to offload these time-consuming tasks. We handle everything from income tracking to payment processing, freeing you up to focus on building your label and supporting your artists.
In Conclusion
Managing royalties for an indie label can be challenging, but it doesn’t have to slow down your growth. By partnering with us, you can streamline your royalty management, ensure your artists are paid accurately and on time, and focus on the creative side of running your label.
Ready to take the next step? Contact Royalty Solutions today to learn more about how we can help you simplify royalty management and grow your business. Request a free quote!