Fehlende oder falsch berechnete Produzentenbeteiligungen (Royalty Underpayment)

Definition

Specialist Australian royalty auditors emphasise that examining, analysing and monitoring royalty statements often uncovers material underpayments on behalf of artists, writers and producers, caused by incorrect application of contract royalty provisions and manual errors in royalty administration.[2] These underpayments represent direct revenue leakage for producers and other backend participants who rely on accurate producer point accounting. In practice, errors such as omitted tracks, misapplied royalty rates, incorrect recoupment of advances, and unreported exploitations across territories and platforms can easily amount to 5–20% of royalties otherwise payable over time. Given that Australian and international recording and publishing companies administer large and complex catalogues, even a conservative 5–10% rate of under-accounted royalties on producer participations can translate into tens of thousands of AUD per project over several years. The existence of specialist royalty accounting firms dedicated to examining, producing and auditing royalty statements, and to collecting royalty income on behalf of artists, writers and producers, is strong evidence that such leakage is both frequent and financially material.[2]

Why This Matters

The Pitch: Sound recording businesses in Australia 🇦🇺 waste AUD 10,000–50,000 per catalogue title over a few years on mis‑calculated producer points and unclaimed backend royalties. Automation of royalty tracking, contract term ingestion, and statement reconciliation eliminates this risk.

Affected Stakeholders

Record producers (independent and in‑house), Recording artists with producer or participation points, Small and mid‑size record labels, Independent production companies, Artist and producer managers, Royalty accountants and finance teams

Related Business Risks