Forensic royalty auditing is a highly specialist area that can bring major financial benefits to an author. Our forensic accountants use advanced IT techniques and apply a detailed approach to ensure that all sales have been reported by the publisher and that the terms of your contract have been followed. Any unpaid royalties recovered are returned to you, via a routine, non-adversarial process that maintains relationships with the publishers. We are specialists in performing worldwide music royalty audits for recording, publishing, and distribution deals. Our clients have included the world’s biggest bands, individual recording artists, songwriters, record companies and music publishers.
- This role is suitable for someone with Royalties / Finance and Accounting or Data experience from within the music industry.
- If you’d like more information about this service specialism or have a particular financial issue to discuss, please do get in touch.
- From negotiating the best contract with clubs, agents or merchandising organisations, to making sure you don’t pay more tax than necessary, our specialist team is here to help.
- You can then allocate the royalties to the correct period using those statements.
- At HW Fisher, we have industry experience spanning decades and we understand the changes in the music industry over time.
It’s your job, and getting paid fairly for your hard work is as important as it is to anyone else. We have longstanding relationships with societies around the globe and we understand the nuances each of them has. Leaving the details to us allows you to focus on being an artist whilst giving you the confidence that you’re getting everything you’re owed. Your royalty scenario is as individual as your music – that’s why we have the tools to deal with any type of royalty arrangement that you have entered into. Hard-won experience shows us it’s best to treat every settlement as a mini forensic audit.
Music
One of the key benefits of valuing music catalogues is that clients can raise finance leveraged against the value of music copyrights. We conduct desk top as well as full blown audits of record company agreements on behalf of major producers and have done this now for over 25 years. We value highly the enduring and successful relationships we have had with many top selling producers based in UK and USA. We conduct desk top as well as full blown audits of record company agreements on behalf of both major and up and coming UK and overseas based artists and have done this now for over 25 years. We value highly the enduring and successful relationships we have had with many top selling artists based in UK, USA, Europe and Australia. Auditing TV participation revenue for writers, performers or programme creators can be extremely complex.
From session musicians to contracted artists, we will take care of your recorded performance income. When a huge range of products are involved, under-reporting of royalties by error can be widespread. With multi-lingual, multi-cultural staff, we remove the natural barriers that would otherwise impede the audit process, and recover significant royalties for our clients. By licensing out the manufacture and distribution of branded drugs globally, pharma companies enter a number of standalone and interlocking agreements with third parties. This is a complex area where errors are common, so it’s important that you audit your trading partners as standard practice.
Who does a Royalties Assistant work with?
From negotiating the best contract with clubs, agents or merchandising organisations, to making sure you don’t pay more tax than necessary, our specialist team is here to help. Social media stars are a brand-new kind of celebrity – young and sometimes unprepared for the financial implications of a successful online career. Mgr understands how to work with that creative buzz having chalked up 40 years experience in this fast-moving industry. We can manage your tax returns or self-assessments, keep you compliant with HMRC, as well as providing you with advice and support day-to-day or during investigations. All the while, you’ll be covered by our insurance if any tax investigations are opened. Meaning your professional costs with us will be covered while HMRC is investigating.
We are well-placed to carry out the audits for you on a global basis, providing one line of communication to manage the process seamlessly and focus on areas likely to lead to quantified findings. Our reports are concise and clearly set out the basis of claims, together with supporting spreadsheets and calculations. I specialise in the analysis of music agreements and contractual clauses to maintain royalty obligations for the client.
How to calculate royalties on digital music
If you’re a rights owner, we can advise on how to draft the most effective key clauses in your licence agreements. We also advise on building in nuanced requirements to cater for the commercial realities of trading relationships. This is why a royalty audit not only generates revenues, but also shows you how your intellectual property is being exploited on your behalf. Our impressive client list includes global brands, bestselling authors, premier football clubs, international fashion houses and luxury car brands. The depth of experience and expertise we have accumulated during our extensive work have made us a world leader in royalty auditing.
The more precise the wording, the less room there is for multiple interpretations. An audit provides an opportunity for professional transparency and minimises the potential grey areas. Through detailed reporting and meticulous research we focus on achieving a favourable conclusion for both licensor and licensee. The team we’ve built at HW Fisher Forensic combines high-level technical forensic accounting skills with an in-depth knowledge of the IP sector that comes only through specialisation. We provide the function of a royalties department for independent rightsholders to meet their compliance obligations in respect of accounting to artists, writers and all third parties.
Our royalty audits ensure any errors or grey areas are clarified so that you can maximise the value of your brand. From songwriters, artists, independent record labels and publishers to actors and producers, we have vast experience of managing a multitude of complex royalty revenue streams for clients across the UK and internationally. It’s particularly rewarding to help our lesser known clients grow their careers and have their work recognised as something special. We offer a highly personalised service which puts our creative artists and music businesses at the very centre, from tour accounting, business management and withholding taxes, to niche industry areas and specialist advice.
The second option is for the fee to be a percentage of the findings of the royalty audit. An Evelyn Partners royalty audit will confirm whether any deductions being applied are within reason. We’ll let you know if there are indications of under-reporting – and what the financial impact is.
What benefits does a royalty audit provide?
This will enable University Campaign totals to be updated in DARS and, if greater than £10,000 they can be reviewed by the Development Office staff to check that the gifts do not have to be returned to the donor. All donations should be processed according to the requirements set out in the Cash Handling and Banking Process. Please visit the donations page for further information regarding identifying and accounting donations.
Is royalty an expense or asset?
The person making payments to the owner is referred to as the lessee, while that person who is the proprietor of the asset is referred to as the lessor. Royalty is an expense of a business paid out and transferred to a profit or loss account.
Another common misconception about the digital music industry is that streaming services pay out based on the amount of streams a song gets. That’s not the case, though it can be a helpful way of working out how much you can expect (try out this industry-wide trusted calculator). So music artists don’t get paid by Apple Music or Spotify directly, but royalties are instead divided between rightsholders and artists, according to a prearranged bookkeeping for startups agreement. This means it’s vital you get the best possible deal with your rightsholders over the percentage of royalties you get – before they go to a streaming service to get your music to audiences. Instead, at least in the case of recording royalties, they’ll pay the rightsholder who licensed an artist’s music. Direct membership allows us to investigate and lobby the societies to make sure you are properly remunerated.
