The Music Royalty Co

Company Structure & Services

The Music Royalty Co functions as backend infrastructure for music industry entities requiring professional royalty administration and accounting services. The company provides integrated solutions spanning royalty statement generation, copyright registration, global catalogue administration, mechanical processing, and complete financial services including bookkeeping, accounts preparation, and virtual CFO functions. Client testimonials highlight operational strengths, with NBC Universal’s Robyn Fujino noting the company “consistently demonstrated professionalism and dedication to quality service” with “strong grasp of music royalty processing intricacies” and assistance with “accurate on-time monthly reporting.”

Services extend beyond royalty processing to comprehensive financial management including company and artist budgeting, AP1 production and submissions, analytics solutions, and business management consulting. The operational model positions MRC as an extension of client organizations rather than transactional vendor relationships. Cooking Vinyl Australia’s Leigh Gruppetta described the relationship as enabling the label to “proceed confidently with what we do best – finding and working with world-class acts.” Loose Music’s Tom Bridgewater emphasized MRC’s understanding of their business while “streamlining royalty processing and accounting, providing a solution that is second to none.”

The company maintains fully remote operations across the UK, enabling talent recruitment beyond traditional geographic constraints. Leadership includes CEO Ali Rigby, who previously served as Financial Director for five years before appointment, bringing operational expertise and emphasis on collaborative company culture. Founder Ray Bush maintains chairman role while pursuing parallel ventures including production music company Anchorage Music Ltd.

Technology & Processing Infrastructure

The company utilizes Counterpoint royalty accounting software combined with proprietary workflows enabling on-demand royalty processing capabilities. Processing turnaround reaches 2-3 hours compared to traditional industry timelines of 1-2 weeks, representing significant operational efficiency improvements. Cloud-based architecture supports real-time data aggregation from multiple revenue sources including digital service providers, performance rights organizations, mechanical licensing entities, and international collection societies.

Infrastructure handles complex contract administration managing varied royalty payout structures between labels, publishers, and their contracted artists or songwriters. The system processes diverse data formats from payment partners into standardized financial statements with detailed breakdowns. Founder Ray Bush co-founded Curve Royalty Systems, which processed nearly $4 billion in revenue and handled 2.3 billion lines of data in 2022 alone before Downtown Music Holdings acquisition, demonstrating technical capability at enterprise scale.

Technology implementation focuses on transparency and accessibility for client organizations. Systems provide unified reporting consolidating payments from PROs, CMOs, DSPs, and other collection entities into comprehensive statements. The platform supports analytics and sales solutions enabling client companies to track performance metrics and inform business decisions. Manchester-based client Scruff of the Neck emphasized in case studies that MRC “know our business, care about our business and will go to bat for it every time,” highlighting relationship-focused technology implementation beyond pure software delivery.

Client Relationships & Operational Performance

Client satisfaction metrics from 2025 surveys demonstrate strong operational execution with 98% overall service satisfaction, 97% communication satisfaction, and 99% client manager satisfaction ratings. Named client relationships include major media companies, established independent labels, and music distribution entities. NBC Universal, Cooking Vinyl Australia, Believe, Back Lot Music, and multiple independent labels maintain documented partnerships with public testimonials affirming service quality.

TH3RD BRAIN, a Los Angeles-based independent label, utilizes MRC services for managing dozens of revenue streams and royalty processing supporting growth-stage operations. Kartel Music Group implements MRC systems for enhanced royalty accounting integrated with release activity tracking. Rubicon Classics adopted integrated royalty and accounting solutions improving operational efficiency. Case studies emphasize customization to client-specific contract structures and business requirements rather than standardized implementations.

The business model serves corporate music entities requiring professional backend infrastructure without building internal capabilities. Target clients include independent record labels managing 50-500+ artist rosters, music distributors aggregating content from thousands of independent artists, music publishers administering publishing catalogs, and production companies with diverse music-related revenue streams. Long-term client retention patterns suggest sustained satisfaction beyond initial implementation phases, with testimonials referencing multi-year relationships.

Industry Recognition & Leadership Background

Founder Ray Bush maintains 25+ years music industry finance experience spanning roles at Everyman Media Group, Curzon Ltd, Cooking Vinyl Records, Essential Music & Marketing, and FatCat Records. Experience encompasses financial management, royalty administration, and operational leadership across diverse music business contexts from independent labels to production entities. Current parallel roles include Finance Director at FatCat Records and Board Member at Ginkgo Music alongside MRC chairman duties.

Music Biz publication featured comprehensive interview with CEO Ali Rigby discussing the company’s 10-year evolution, modernization of royalty calculations responding to streaming data growth, and future industry positioning. Industry media coverage includes Music Week features on royalty statement transparency and reporting improvements. Ray Bush participates in industry education through appearances on Future of What podcast discussing modern music royalties processing and panel discussions on best practices for financial reporting.

The co-founding of Curve Royalty Systems with former ADA/Warner digital strategy director Richard Leach and Essential Music technology leader Tom Allen demonstrates technical leadership beyond service provision. Downtown Music Holdings’ acquisition of Curve validates market positioning, with Downtown noting “accuracy, precision, timeliness and innovation in royalty services are core to Downtown’s mission.” This background establishes credibility in both service delivery and technology development for music industry financial infrastructure.