Onome Amuge
A new wave of innovation is transforming how finance and technology intersect in the global music industry, as startups move to tackle unclaimed royalties, one of its most persistent problems. For decades, billions of dollars in musicians’ earnings have remained trapped in what the industry calls the “black box,” a result of outdated data systems and fragmented accounting records.
Stepping in to address this challenge is Notes.fm, a new platform co-founded by Tim Luckow, one of the early architects of the independent music economy. Officially launched this week, Notes.fm leverages automation and advanced data analytics to track, verify, and recover unpaid royalties.
The company says it can track, fix, and recover unclaimed royalties using a simple, automated system that scans across multiple registries and collection societies. It requires little more than an artist’s name to begin identifying lost income and, crucially, to ensure future royalties are correctly routed.
In an industry increasingly defined by technology, royalty management remains one of its most analog corners. The same streaming platforms that can pinpoint where a listener presses pause on a track still struggle to pay the right person for writing or recording it.
Luckow describes the issue as “a data crisis, not a musical one.” Each song generates dozens of data points across performance rights, publishing, and recording registries; systems that rarely communicate with one another. A missing code or inconsistent metadata entry can prevent an artist from receiving payments that could otherwise sustain a career.
“Complexity is the enemy,” Luckow said during the launch. “For over a century, musicians have struggled to get paid because of disconnected systems that weren’t designed for the digital streaming era. Notes.fm fixes that — we handle the complexity so artists can focus on their craft.”
In its year-long private beta, Notes.fm worked with more than 400 artists, ranging from global names such as James Blake, Mt. Joy, and Girl in Red to estates like Howlin’ Wolf and independent newcomers like Adam Melchor. Across that pilot, the platform identified over $10 million in unclaimed royalties linked to songs representing more than 50 billion streams.
On average, participating artists recovered $15,500 each, a meaningful sum in an industry where revenue from streaming alone often yields only fractions of a cent per play.
Luckow is no stranger to innovation in music tech. As co-founder of Stem, the Los Angeles–based platform that streamlined music distribution for independent artists and labels, he helped artists bypass traditional gatekeepers. Stem’s acquisition by Concord earlier this year signalled growing appetite among established music companies for technology that empowers creators directly.
“Stem helped artists easily release their music. Notes.fm helps them easily claim 100 per cent of their money,” Luckow said.
Where Stem simplified distribution, Notes.fm aspires to build what Luckow calls a “unifying financial framework” for music, connecting the fractured worlds of recording, publishing, and performance royalties in one digital workflow.
The platform functions much like a fintech product rather than a traditional music service. Instead of taking a cut of artists’ earnings, Notes.fm uses a subscription model, starting at $5 per month, making it accessible to both emerging artists and established acts managing large catalogues.
The launch comes at a particularly sensitive moment for the global music business. The U.S. Copyright Office is preparing to redistribute more than $100 million in unmatched royalties through the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) over the next year. Without proper claims or data corrections, much of that money will likely be reassigned to large rights holders based on market share, effectively rewarding scale, not accuracy.
Notes.fm aims to prevent that outcome by giving artists, estates, and managers a tool to identify what’s theirs before it’s too late.
“Notes.fm moves users from insight to action. It’s not just about showing you what’s missing — it enables you to fix errors, claim what’s yours, and secure future payments. That’s a major shift in rights management,”said Steve Bursky, founder of Foundations and an early investor in the company.
The company’s early success stories showcase how technology can reverse years of financial leakage. Indie-rock band Mt. Joy used the platform to collect six figures in royalties from both historical and new registrations. Their single ‘Highway Queen’ became the first song to achieve 100 per cent royalty registration through Notes.fm upon release, and has since racked up over 30 million streams.
Similarly, British artist James Blake discovered that nearly a quarter of his catalogue contained incomplete data, resulting in unclaimed income across multiple releases. By reconciling those records through Notes.fm, those funds could finally be redirected to his account.
