Mogul Uncovers $1.5 Billion in Lost Artist Royalties, Secures $5 Million for Expansion

For musicians, chasing down royalties is often a full-time job that distracts from the creative work. A startup called Mogul, founded by former SoundCloud executives Jeff Ponchick and Joey Mason, is trying to change that. The company announced this week that its platform has identified a staggering $1.5 billion in previously lost or unclaimed royalties for artists since its 2025 launch.

The news coincides with a $5 million investment round led by the Yamaha Music Innovations Fund, with support from Urban Innovation Fund, Mindset Ventures, and others. Total funding now exceeds $6.3 million. Mogul plans to expand its six-person team with the new capital.

Andrew Kahn of Yamaha's fund pointed to Mogul's data infrastructure as its key advantage. "Mogul has built the most comprehensive, first-party data pipeline for residual income earners," Kahn told TechCrunch. He explained that many competitors lack direct connections to payers, whereas Mogul's system is built for both accuracy and speed.

The platform has evolved from offering simple recommendations to providing direct, actionable fixes. It can now spot discrepancies—like songs distributed to Spotify but missing from a SoundExchange account—and help artists complete registrations in bulk. Ponchick says users see, on average, a 20% increase in royalty income.

New tools include a catalog valuation feature, breaking down an artist's worth by track and revenue source. Mogul has also discontinued its free tier to focus on serving professional artists more effectively.

Looking ahead, the company is monitoring the emerging world of AI-generated music, which presents new challenges for royalty tracking due to volume and ownership questions. "The current infrastructure was built for a human creator ecosystem," Kahn noted. While awaiting regulatory clarity, Mogul believes its system is adaptable. It operates in a competitive space that includes Notes.fm and Claimity, amid broader industry shifts like AllTrack's 2024 consolidation of royalty collection.