[Keeping Tempo With Music Biz] — The Music Royalty Co.’s First 10 Years: Interview with MRC’s Ali Rigby
The Music Royalty Co. was founded in 2014 after identifying opportunities to modernize royalty calculations in the face of music data’s exponential explosion as streaming began to take off. A decade later, and the company has evolved to fully support the royalty and accountancy needs of its clients, becoming part of the their day-to-day financial operations while allowing them to focus on creating & selling their music. This month we talk to Ali Rigby, the company’s newly appointed CEO, about MRC’s path over its first decade, how it has evolved alongside the music industry, its focus on collaboration & inclusivity, and much more!
Music Biz: The Music Royalty Co. (MRC) was first established in 2014 to provide labels, distributors and publishers with backend services to support their royalty processing, administration and accountancy needs. How has that mission unfolded and evolved in its first decade?
Ali Rigby: We’ve certainly come a long way from a small team in a small office in London Bridge to where we are now! When Ray (Bush) founded MRC in 2014, it was because he’d spotted a gap in the market: labels either don’t want to handle royalties or can’t find experienced staff to do so. It became clear that tying those royalty processing services into an accountancy service made sense, as they are so intrinsically linked. So alongside developing our Royalties team, we have also steadily increased our business’ accountancy offerings.
The pandemic, like for many others, was the driving force behind us moving to fully remote working. We were no longer solely tied to taking on people living in commutable distance to London. This shift allowed us to hire really talented people across the UK that we would otherwise have missed out on.
For many of our clients today, we’re an extension of their company and function as their full backend service. We’ve evolved from being just a service provider to a strategic partner, helping them to understand their business better than ever.
Music Biz: The company’s founding came at a pivotal time in our industry: streaming began to make its mark on music consumption habits, and the need to process microtransactions along the royalty chain exponentially grew. Was the company’s mission in the early days to tackle these budding issues head-on
AR: Absolutely. The increase in streaming created a big demand for handling massive amounts of data while also producing accurate and efficient royalty reporting. We knew that we could provide a solution for those short on time, struggling to find experienced staff, or those who just didn’t want to do it themselves!
Our main goal was to handle the complex financial processes so our clients could focus on the music and creativity. And this is still the case today.
Music Biz: You were appointed as the company’s CEO last year — can you give us some insight about your first few months at the helm of the organization?
AR: Before entering the CEO role, I was MRC’s Financial Director, but I’ve always been pretty curious (or nosy) and found myself diving into business ops, staff management, and strategy. Having been with MRC for five years and working closely alongside Ray from day one, I felt ready to hit the ground running when I moved to CEO.
The first few months were spent fine-tuning our processes, gaining a thorough understanding of our operations, and getting feedback from both the team and our clients to see where we can improve or streamline to achieve higher efficiency.
In our fully remote setup, it’s important that my team feel like they can bring any ideas or concerns to us as managers. I’ve focused a lot on creating a collaborative and inclusive company culture. I’m also proud that MRC have always been committed to having women representing at all levels — which is not always the case in the worlds of music and finance — and it’s something that truly sets us apart.
Music Biz: With MRC celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, tell us about your vision for the company in the near and far future. Do you see it expanding outside of its current core competencies to further support the music industry ecosystem?
AR: Even though we are 10 years into the MRC journey, there’s still plenty of work to do! People aren’t always fully aware of the range of services we offer or that everything is available in one place.
The plan is to always be updating and refining our offerings to stay on top of the music industry’s evolving needs. By using the latest tech, streamlining our processes, and coming up with new ideas, we ensure we’re always providing the best support.
Even though we’re a bit niche in some ways, this focus has helped us excel in what we do best: delivering a service we know inside and out so well that we could probably do it in our sleep!
We’re planning to get more involved in conferences and industry events around the world. Attending our first Music Biz Conference in Nashville this year was a huge boost for us and really sparked our enthusiasm for connecting with others in the industry. And I suppose this connection is a key part of our larger vision.
Music Biz: Our industry is one that transforms substantially year after year. To that point, what have your partners said about how their needs have changed over the last decade? And do you feel that the company is, or has been, well-positioned to meet those changing needs?
AR: Yes — the industry has seen some big economic shifts lately, with rising costs and tighter budgets becoming the norm. Saving time and money is more important than ever.
Staffing costs have also gone up, making it tougher for businesses to find the right team to cover all their accountancy and royalty needs. By outsourcing these functions to MRC, clients gain access to our expertise and reliability without the multitude of considerations when employing. They benefit from a wide range of skills and experience without the hassle of hiring multiple people.
In financially challenging times, accurate reporting is vital. Our finance team is experienced in cash forecasting, management reporting, producing budgets and monitoring performance. We provide clear, easy-to-understand reports. While some clients can find all the finance stuff a bit daunting, our team is on hand to make it all as painless as possible!
Music Biz: MRC’s ethos leans into supporting the needs of humans in our industry, streamlining complex financial and data-driven tasks so that music pros can work on creating and releasing their next work. This is further shown in your Staff Shoutout posts on the company’s blog. Tell us why you view it important to highlight the humans of our business as more and more tasks are moving to AI and tech-driven solutions.
AR: Our people are our greatest asset. Sure, AI used in the right way can be a great thing, but it’s not a replacement for a human connection.
As a business owner, you need to discuss your accounts, or get advice on the interpretation of a contract clause. You need someone who not only gets the complexities of your finances but also provides clear, straightforward answers. That’s where our team really shines. We’re approachable and offer a personalized touch that tech simply can’t provide.
It’s this personal touch and genuine understanding that make our Staff Shoutout such a meaningful part of our culture. It also helps our team see just how important they are to both us and the industry as a whole. When working behind the scenes, it’s easy to forget that there’s a whole team making sure artists and songwriters get paid. Realizing that their work is a key part of the industry helps them see just how crucial their role is.
Music Biz: MRC hails itself as flexible as far as tailoring its services to music companies of all sizes. For some smaller operations, bringing in outside services can either conflict with existing company culture or potentially be too expensive long-term. What would you say to a company looking for the kind of support that MRC offers but who are apprehensive about bringing in an outside team?
AR: We absolutely understand the concern companies may have in moving such vital businesses operations, and we take the trust placed in us very seriously. Our services are both flexible and transparent, creating collaborative relationships where we become an extension of their business.
For smaller businesses, teaming up with us can be a game-changer, saving time and resources in the long run. They might not have in-house experts with years of music industry experience — that’s where we come in. This allows them to focus on what they do best while we take care of the rest.
Our goal is to build strong, long-term partnerships and deliver real value. By doing what we do best, we help our clients succeed while maintaining their unique vibe and focus.
Music Biz: We’ve already discussed your vision for the future of MRC, but as we close, can you give us your thoughts on where our global industry is headed in the short and long term?
AR: Looking at the global industry, there’s a real shift towards transparency, but not just in the usual way of making sure artists and songwriters are fairly paid. The real focus is increasingly on helping businesses, such as label owners, achieve their own level of transparency. This means understanding the finer details of their contracts, and fully grasping their business needs.
Our goal is to provide the clarity, tools and insight necessary for businesses to make informed decisions and confidently navigate their industry. Over the long term, we believe that focusing on this will help us provide the infrastructure our clients need to set themselves up for success and effectively run their businesses.
You can read past “Keeping Tempo” articles via the portal linked here. And, stay tuned for more insightful discussions from our members and partners from across the industry!
