The Future of What

Ray Bush founded The Music Royalty Co. (MRC) in 2014 after identifying opportunities to modernize royalty calculations in the face of music data’s exponential explosion as streaming began to take off. A decade later and the company has remained an expert in complex royalty calculations for labels, publishers and distributors, while also evolving to meet the accountancy needs of music companies. In our latest podcast, we speak to Bush about the company’s first decade, how the global music industry has financially grown in that same time, the impact of having a dedicated royalty service, and much more!

The events of the last few years, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic, have had a major effect on how people across the globe view work-life balance and traditional ways of working. In our latest episode, we discuss how to best support today’s workforce with two experts in the avenues of HR and workers’ rights. First off, we speak with WorkFour Director, Jackson Kerchis about how his organization is raising awareness in the U.S. about reduced work-time initiatives and how they stand to benefit both employees & employers. Then, we discuss how companies can best support their employees and answer their questions around wellness, as they either navigate their new work-life balance or return to the office, with Natoya Brown, SVP of People Inclusion & Culture for Universal Music Group.

The complex web of unique identifiers associated with an artist and their body of work can make it extremely difficult for them to interact with publishers, sync officers, and other parties they work with. Switchchord aims to eliminate this friction by allowing artists to document ownership of their music and map out the legal & business relationships they engage in via legally verifiable, decentralized digital identities. We spoke with company founder and CEO, Cole Davis about how the technology works and what opportunities it opens up for artists!

The Digital Media Association (DiMA) represents the world’s leading audio streaming companies and streaming innovators, providing community, resources and advocacy for its member companies. This month, we spoke with newly appointed DiMA President and CEO, Graham Davies about DiMA’s mission, his first few months at the helm of the organization, and what the Association is working towards through the rest of 2024!

The music industry has proven time and time again that inclusive practices lead to better productivity and a higher quality of work in all business segments. That’s why Ralph Torrefranca of Angry Mob Music has sought for more diversity in high-level songwriting rooms by starting the New Normal Writing Camp in 2023, which featured 70% female artists & writers and 50% women producers from more than 12 cultural backgrounds in its inaugural edition. In our latest podcast, we spoke with Torrefranca about his op-ed, “Why Diverse Writing Rooms Must Become An Industry Standard,” what led him to start the writing camp, and his plans to further support diverse writers going forward!

The fight against all forms of music fraud has been a major watershed moment for intra-industry collaboration, as was seen in the Music Business Association’s establishment of its Spin Fraud Task Force and its hosting of the Trust & Safety Symposium in January 2024. Now a few months away from that event, our latest The Future of What podcast explores how music professionals & companies are developing internal tools & best practices to fight fraud, while also learning lessons from others who have dealt with bad actors in the finance, film, game industries and beyond. Be sure to listen for insights from Symphonic Distribution CEO, Jorge Brea and Ethixbase360 consultant, Virna Di Palma!

Merch sales is one of, if not the primary, revenue generator for artists at certain levels of their careers. Tie this into the fact that merch proudly worn or displayed by their fans helps spread the word about their music, and it becomes all too essential for today’s artists to have a strong merch strategy. This important need is what led Vanessa Ferrer to found Merch Cat, a POS & inventory management tool that helps artists track what merch they sell each night on tour, easily identify what merch items & types of products are most popular among their fans, and unify sales across the merch table and a fan-centric shopping app. We spoke with Ferrer about Merch Cat’s story, the importance of using sales metrics to understand your fanbase, why every artist should have a holistic approach to merch sales, and beyond!

With almost a decade of experience securing copyrights for artists & rightsholders, Cosynd identified that music producers were being potentially priced out of registering their backlog of work with the U.S. Copyright Office. This led them to develop a new group registration service, allowing producers to save time & money by registering groups of beats and other musical elements instead of individually registering each element. We spoke with Cosynd CEO, Jessica Sobhraj about this new initiative, the company’s mission of supporting creators’ legal protections, the importance of registering music with the Copyright Office, and much more!

While looking into higher-ed music business programs, David Fritz and Steven Ship found that the segmented approach to curriculums was helpful for new students, but it did not help artists and songwriters who needed to know the ins-and-outs of how the industry works for their already established careers. This led them to start Creative Intell, which offers practical classes that give students insights and step-by-step guides on everything from recording and releasing a cover song to tracking all of their income streams. In our latest podcast, we discuss the platform’s founding, the feedback from early users, future plans for expansion and updates, and more!

With more artists creating and releasing more music now than ever, there is a major need for new revenue streams and funding options to help artists take their careers to the next level. This month on The Future of What, we speak with two representatives from companies that do just that: Nick Struzenski of Vault, a bespoke catalog brokerage & artist funding service, and Matthew Tilley of beatBread, which provides funding for artists & labels alike powered by data science. Tune in for conversations about their companies’ offerings, why the need for funding is so prevalent right now, how new technologies like machine learning are making it easier to provide funding, and more!