A music startup called Mogul which aims to let artists and managers track and identify missing royalties has raised $1.9 million in a new funding round.
Founded by Jeff Ponchick and Joey Mason, Mogul claims to tie “together dozens of inputs and income streams to let artists see their entire career and business in one place”.
Mogul says that it has found more than $3.5 million in previously unidentified revenue while tracking more than $30 million “before the service has even launched”.
The company has attracted investment from a number of prominent music and entertainment companies.
It has raised a $1.9 million round from Wonder Ventures, United Talent Agency, Amplify.LA, and former SoundCloud CEO Kerry Trainor’s Creator Partners.
The service currently offers a free tier that allows any artist to connect their accounts and then charges a flat subscription for those needing help to claim lost royalties.
It also offers a $20-per-month Pro tier.
Mogul claims that all fees are “presented transparently” and that it “will continue to expand its tools and offerings in the near future”.
Ponchick co-founded and previously served as the CEO of subscription-based artist services platform Repost Network, which SoundCloud acquired in May 2019 for around $15 million.
Following the acquisition of Repost, in April 2020, SoundCloud launched its Repost by SoundCloud marketing and distribution platform, aimed at “serious artists who want to take their career to the next level”.
Ponchick served as Vice President, Head of Repost until late 2021, and was then promoted to Vice President, Head of Creator at SoundCloud. He exited the company in August 2022.
While bigger artists may have a royalty department, lawyer, or savvy business manager on their side, others face a fragmented and tangled set of platforms, logins, payouts, and reports with little support.”
Jeff Ponchick
“We want to build a source of truth in the music industry, a utility where musicians can gain the confidence in whether or not their business is tight,” said Mogul co-founder and CEO Jeff Ponchick.
“We’re building out support for hundreds of different companies needed to connect all the statements and data across the industry, just like Mint does for personal finances or Plaid does in the finance world.
“Once we have the data centralized, we can cross reference it and let artists know how much money should be getting made. Then they can see if they’re collecting it.”
He added: “When we interviewed hundreds of artists and managers, we heard the same thing. No one thinks they have it all figured out and no one trusts the reports they see.
“For mid-tier and ambitious emerging artists, this can’t be easily solved. While bigger artists may have a royalty department, lawyer, or savvy business manager on their side, others face a fragmented and tangled set of platforms, logins, payouts, and reports with little support.”
“What we see as a gap in the industry. If you’re an artist who makes less than $500,000 a year, there’s little tech to help you understand your income streams or whether your music is registered correctly and to see what you are doing right or wrong.”
Joey Mason, Mogul
Mogul co-founder and co-CEO Joey Mason, added: “What we see as a gap in the industry. If you’re an artist who makes less than $500,000 a year, there’s little tech to help you understand your income streams or whether your music is registered correctly and to see what you are doing right or wrong.
“You have publishers over here, labels over there, PROs and CMOs, all these pieces of the puzzle and no one who is putting it together for you in an easy-to-understand way.”
Music Business Worldwide