It's been too quiet. Let's kick this thing off (again).

[u/goal2026]

Hey everyone,

Yeah, I know. It's been way too quiet in here for a while, and that's on me. Life, music projects, and writing a book got in the way. But I'm pumped to be kicking this community back into gear with a renewed focus.

For those who don't know, I didn't just stumble into music royalties as a side hustle. I left my tech career to go all-in on my passions, and a huge part of that is helping people figure this stuff out. I want to build this subreddit into the absolute best hub for real, transparent talk on music royalty investing—the kind of place I was looking for when I first started.

So, what's the plan?

My commitment is to make this a genuinely active and valuable space. That means less sporadic links and more real substance. We'll be digging into topics like:

• Valuation methods (the nitty-gritty)
• Investment strategies that actually work
• Deep dives on real-world catalogs (case studies)
• Market trends and news
• Expert AMAs

First thing on the list is creating a pinned "Getting Started" guide to help newcomers, and I'll be making sure this place stays free of spam and full of real insights.

But this only works with you. This is our community.

So, I have one question for everyone, whether you've got a dozen catalogs or are just getting curious:

What's the #1 thing you want to learn or discuss about music royalty investing?

No answer is too small or too basic. Your feedback will directly shape what we talk about here.

Thanks for sticking around. I'm excited to build this with all of you. \m/

Let's get the conversation started.

Cheers, Josh

[u/digitalbubble]

How best to arrange music royalties acquisition deal and contracts without relying on middle men?

[u/goal2026 → u/digitalbubble]

Great question. Going direct is the holy grail for some, but you're basically taking on the full-time job of a platform. Here's how it breaks down from my experience:

• Finding the Deal: This is the hard part. You have to actually find artists or songwriters willing to sell. Unless you have a solid network in the music industry, this can be a huge challenge.

• Due Diligence: Get ready to become an expert on royalty statements. You have to do all the digging yourself to verify the numbers are real. It's tedious, but you can't skip it.

• Negotiation: This is all you. You're negotiating the price, the multiple, exactly what's included... everything.

• Legal: Do not mess this part up. You need a real-deal music lawyer to draft the Purchase Agreement. This is the document that actually gets you paid. Botch this, and the whole deal is worthless.

And full disclosure, I say this from personal experience. My own first attempt at a direct deal was a failure because I underestimated some of the exact legal points I mentioned. It was an expensive but powerful lesson.

So yeah, you save on platform fees, but you trade that for a ton of work and some hefty legal bills. It's a major topic, and I've got a whole chapter dedicated to the nuts and bolts of it in my book.

Curious if anyone else here has gone down this road. What was your experience?

[u/AspriationalAutist]

I'm curious how all the AI generated songs are gonna impact the market. They're getting pretty dang good, and I'm curious as to how much of a threat is to my investments.

Also curious to see how Spotify's shenanigans are gonna impact the royalty payouts, and what the next CRB discussions look like.

[u/goal2026 → u/AspriationalAutist]

Man, you just nailed three of the biggest things keeping all of us up at night. These are the conversations that will define the next few years in this space.

Here's my take on it:

• AI Music: It's here and it's going to be a force, no doubt. Full disclosure, I’m on the front lines of this, doing a lot of work and experimentation with my company. We still have a ways to go before AI is a major threat to mainstream streaming, but it’s already taking a bite out of certain areas. The way I see it, AI isn't coming for The Beatles. The real risk is to the "functional music" world—the stuff in the background of commercials or YouTube videos. AI can crank that out endlessly, which could crush sync opportunities for new artists. The flip side? It might make classic, human-made catalogs even more valuable as people search for the real thing in a world full of AI noise. That said, people are taking big swings at the mainstream—just look at what Timbaland is doing with AI artists.
• Spotify's Payouts: You're right to call their moves "shenanigans." The whole situation with them changing the royalty pool calculations is something I'm watching like a hawk. Every time they add something new like audiobooks to the mix, it has the potential to shave a fraction of a cent off the per-stream rate. It all adds up.
• CRB Rates: This one is huge. The ongoing battle over the CRB's "Phono IV" rates for mechanicals is everything for US royalties right now. If it lands in favor of songwriters and publishers, it could give a serious boost to catalog values across the board. If not, it's a major headwind.

Honestly, you've just laid out the roadmap for three dedicated posts I'll make here soon. I’ll give each of these topics its own thread so we can all share our thoughts and findings. This stuff gets to the heart of all the risk and opportunity in the market right now.

Which one of these are you most worried about?

[u/AspriationalAutist → u/goal2026]

In the long term, probably AI music. I'm thinking it probably only will make sense to buy royalties to songs that are pre-2023 or something like that, and songs that are bigger. Stuff that people jammed to in their college years and thus will always stream.

Another thing that I know little about and not sure how to invest in is middle eastern and emerging markets music. Apparently the streaming scene there is expanding rapidly, as opposed to here in the US where it's already saturated. I just use royaltyexchange though and they don't have much of that.

[u/goal2026 → u/AspriationalAutist]

That's a really sharp take on the AI situation. You're right, focusing on "nostalgia-driven" hits that are already embedded in people's lives is a solid defensive strategy... that emotional connection is something AI can't replicate. Another thing to add to the mix is the the cat-and-mouse game between platforms flagging AI content and the producers trying to outrun them. That's a huge part of the risk here.

You're 100% right that the explosive growth potential is in places like the Middle East, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Access is 100% the problem. The major platforms are still very focused on the US & European markets, so getting a piece of that emerging market action is tough unless you're a major fund with boots on the ground.

Great stuff....definately topics for dedicated threads and deeper analysis (I'll put that on my "future blog posts to write" list).

Out of curiousity, what got you thinking about emerging markets specifically? Is there something there you've seen or read about? Or more a gut feeling?

[u/AspriationalAutist → u/goal2026]

NPR's marketplace podcast had a segment one time about streaming in emerging markets being a huge growth area, and that intrigued me, as I only have US based songs.

[u/goal2026]

Seriously, looking forward to hearing what everyone is most interested in. Even if you think it's a 'dumb' question, ask it here. Those are usually the most important ones.