Record Label & Song Catalog Due Diligence

Royalty Review Council assists potential buyers in assessing acquisition opportunities by providing financial consulting on master catalogs and song catalogs available for sale. Before acquiring a catalog, it is vital that you assess the gross and net income figures received and retained being represented by the seller. Royalty Review Council has advised on master and song catalog acquisitions that exceed over $5 billion in aggregate value.

Some of our due diligence procedures include:

  • Financial due diligence procedures in connection with publishing and administration catalog acquisitions, including review of the accuracy of representation of Net Publisher’s Share
  • Financial due diligence procedures in connection with record label and/or sound recording rights acquisitions to assess the accuracy of the Net Label Share
  • Creation of sales books (including financial schedules) for the sale of music assets and the management of data rooms between buyers and sellers of catalogs.
  • Research in connection with musical compositions and/or sound recordings to determine uses that may be unknown to a rights holder. This type of research may disclose illegal and/or unreported uses of copyrighted material
  • Research to determine unknown song publishers and/or unknown song ownership shares in connection with the licensing of musical compositions

 

Strategic Financial Consulting Services

Royalty Review Council is known in the entertainment and new media industries for our financial skill and knowledge in complex matters related to accounting, reporting, copyrights, and licensing of creative works (e.g. music copyrights, record masters, films, merchandise licenses, etc.). In addition to our main services (Royalty Audits, Royalty Accounting, and Master & Song Catalog Due Diligence), we offer a valuable mix of strategic consulting services:

Litigation Support and Expert Testimony

We act as expert witnesses and litigation consultants to assist clients and attorneys

Distribution Rights

Analysis of the distribution rights of existing licenses for new business models and acquisitions

Distribution Licenses

Assistance to obtain required licenses for the distribution or transmission of creative works

Royalty Reporting Requirements

The review and/or identification of the data collection and royalty reporting requirements to licensors associated with the exploitation of licensed sound recordings and licensed musical compositions by methods of distribution such as apps

Operating Scenario Modeling

Spreadsheet modeling as it relates to traditional music industry royalty accounting and/or your particular business model to enable you to project various operating scenarios from the sale of creative works

Audit Report Review

Review and response to audit reports submitted to records labels and publishers to determine the accuracy of the claims and the amount payable