In the fast-paced world of Afrobeat, Amapiano, and Gengetone, African music has never been more global. However, behind the billions of streams lies a quiet crisis: a massive “black hole” of unclaimed royalties.
Recent reports from Music In Africa have spotlighted a major breakthrough for independent creators. Mogul, a US-based royalty management platform founded by former SoundCloud executives Jeff Ponchick and Joey Mason, recently secured $5 million in funding led by the Yamaha Music Innovations Fund.
With a track record of helping artists track more than $1.5 billion in lost royalties since its launch, Mogul is becoming an essential tool for African artists seeking financial transparency. Here is everything you need to know about the platform and how to protect your earnings.
The Problem: Why Royalties Go Missing
For many African artists, the journey of a royalty payment is long and fragmented. Between the artist and their money are distributors, Performance Rights Organizations (PROs) like SAMRO or MCSK, and international entities like SoundExchange.
Money often gets “lost” due to:
- Poor Metadata: Misspelled names or missing ISRC codes.
- Unlinked Accounts: Digital platforms and collection societies not “talking” to each other.
- International Borders: US-based royalties (like SiriusXM or Pandora) often sit unclaimed because the artist hasn’t registered with the right US entity.
What is Mogul?
Mogul is not a distributor or a label; it is a data-driven audit tool. Think of it as a financial “health check” for your music career. Instead of trying to manually check every platform, Mogul aggregates data from hundreds of sources into a single dashboard.
Key Features Every Artist Should Use:
- The Catalog Valuation Center: This new tool estimates the total value of your music catalog. This is vital for artists looking to secure advances, loans, or sell a portion of their publishing.
- Automated Auditing: Mogul scans the “fragmented metadata” across the web to find where you are being played but not paid.
- SoundExchange Integration: This is huge for African artists. If your music is played on US digital radio (like SiriusXM), Mogul can identify missing songs and even complete the registrations for you.
- Bulk Registration: Instead of registering songs one by one, artists can upload data in mass to fix errors across multiple platforms at once.
The African Connection: Why This Matters Now
Perhaps the most significant development for the continent is Mogul’s partnership with Audiomack.
Audiomack is a primary gateway for African music, and through its “Audiomack Monetization Program” (AMP), artists can now link their accounts directly to Mogul. This integration allows independent creators in Lagos, Nairobi, and Johannesburg to see exactly how their streams are converting into revenue—and where that revenue might be stuck.
According to CEO Jeff Ponchick, artists using the platform have seen an average 20% increase in royalty revenues simply by fixing their data and claiming what was already theirs.
3 Steps for African Artists to Take Today
If you are an independent artist, manager, or label owner, here is how to use this technology to your advantage:
1. Centralize Your Data
Don’t rely on separate logins for your distributor and your PRO. Use a platform like Mogul to link your SoundExchange, PRO, and distribution accounts. This “unified view” is the only way to spot discrepancies in your payouts.
2. Audit Your Metadata
Ensure your “boring” paperwork is perfect. Every song needs a clear ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) and ISWC (International Standard Musical Work Code). If these don’t match across platforms, your money will sit in “black box” accounts indefinitely.
3. Check for “Lost” US Royalties
If your music has any traction in the US market, you likely have unclaimed digital performance royalties. Use Mogul’s tools to check if your SoundExchange account is fully optimized.
The Bottom Line
The music industry is moving away from “top-down” control toward artist self-reliance. With $5 million in new backing, Mogul is scaling its mission to ensure that data—not labels—determines who gets paid. For African artists, this is an invitation to move from just “being heard” to being fully compensated on the global stage.
For more information on tracking your royalties, visit www.musicinafrica.net or explore the platform at www.usemogul.com.
