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Dae Bogan’s Introduction to Royalty Forensics Workshop Now FREE On YouTube

Today, I made available for FREE the recording of my 2019 workshop on music royalties forensics:

Introduction to Music Royalties Forensics – A Beginner’s Workshop for Uncovering Unpaid Music Royalties in North America (USA and CAN)

Make sure to expand the video description to see links to related resources, such as my free ebook “The DIY Musician’s Starter Guide to Being Your Own Label and Publisher” and a list of US and Canada “black boxes” of unclaimed royalties, and much more.

Watch Here: https://youtu.be/yDYJbFPuO68?si=BPRBrPd8ja431VuS.

Infinite Licensing in Gen-AI Music Ecosystems will Create Fairer Music Value Calculations for Artists and Rightsholders

Dae Bogan excerpt from the webinar “The Permission Layer for AI Music: Consent, Attribution, and Getting Artists Paid” hosted by Abbi Press for The Double Helix on November 12, 2025

Infinite licensing (IL) will be the most effective and fair system of music rights licensing and remuneration in the gen-AI music era.

I believe we will see clear elements of it by 2030.

I appreciate Abbi Press’s perspective on the human element of music licensing. As a professional in the licensing space, she raises a number of important issues that would have to be acknowledged—then solved? ignored? or avoided?—for any compelling infinite licensing (IL) system to become widely adopted.

This is why I predict that we will not see a system close to my vision of IL until around 2030.

I believe that this is an important conversation, because at the core of it, the question is “Do current licensing frameworks benefit music creators?”

Even so-called ethically-sourced and ethically-trained AI music ecosystems do not fairly compensate the music creators whose music is contributing to gen-AI music.

IL will enable dynamic market-value calculations that smart contracts, opt-ins, royalty pools, and settlements cannot and have never fully captured.

Also watch:

Dae Bogan excerpt on the panel “Revolutionizing Rights Management for Artists“ at ASCAP Expo 2018

Dae Bogan to Speak at Trends Brasil Conference

I will be speaking at Trends Brasil Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil @trendsbrasilconference

“ROYALTY MANAGEMENT AROUND THE WORLD”

🗓️ Tuesday, December 2, 2025
⏰ 4pm-4:55pm
🚪 Legal Stage
📍 ExpoRio Cidade Nova

Speakers:

• Dae Bogan (MLC)

• Lucas Zew (BackOffice)

• Gustavo Gonzalez (Abramus Digital, moderator)

The Socioeconomics of Globalization vs. Glocalization and Why Indie Artists in the Global South Have It Harder

I have been having this very candid conversation about the digital music ecosystem and the socioeconomics (and sociocultural) factors at play in “globalization vs. glocalization” for years now.

Ever since I began exploring the “global south” in 2021, from South America to Southeast Asia to South Africa, and then subsequently moved to Latin America, I’ve observed challenges for local music creators and opportunities for Western music creators.

Artist earnings, in the digital space, are a factor of the socioeconomic health of the region in which artists receive most of their consumption. Two artists from two different countries with the same number of monthly listeners within their own country (glocalization) may not earn the same income due to the differences in the socioeconomic health of their respective countries.

The issue of socioeconomic health is exacerbated by poor copyright compliance and broken or insufficient licensing and royalty collection infrastructure.

Independent artists in lower socioeconomic markets could attempt to look for international collaborations with artists that can introduce them to listeners in more developed markets and they could leverage opportunities to exploit their music in ways that create discovery in new markets (e.g. synch, playlists, etc.). This will aid in exposing the music and eventually earning consumption in other foreign markets (globalization), possibly with better socioeconomic health (or at least higher royalty rates).

Additionally, indie artists should leverage communities like Vampr and BandLab Technologies and other such companies to connect and collaborate with artists, songwriters, and music producers to strive for cross-border appeal and opportunity.

From Idea to Impact: Five Years Later the DURP Expands to 100 Distributors and Pays Millions to DIY Artists

DURP Artist Kyle Hume with Dae Bogan at The MLC Nashville

I am thrilled to announce having reached a new milestone in The Mechanical Licensing Collective’s DURP initiative, which I develop and lead to engage music distributors in our efforts to track down and pay unclaimed royalties to independent songwriters — the Distributor Unmatched Recordings Portal (DURP). 

As of today, my team has onboarded over 100 independent music distributors in 20 countries to help us find and pay out millions of dollars in unclaimed U.S. digital audio mechanical royalties to independent songwriters around the world. 

I am incredibly proud of the impact the DURP initiative has had on the livelihoods of independent artists who did not know these royalties existed. Many of whom I have had the opportunity to speak with directly and to guide them in the process of becoming MLC members. 

This announcement comes on a special day – December 6th. Five years ago, on December 6th, 2019, I was invited by the United States Copyright Office to Washington, D.C. to speak at its Unclaimed Royalties Study Kickoff Symposium at the Library of Congress. It was at this symposium where I offered my insights on the DIY music rights administration space and strategic recommendations on how the forthcoming mechanical licensing collective ought to go about developing innovative data and partnership initiatives to reach the DIY artist and small independent rightsholders sector of the global music industry in furtherance of its mandate of the Music Modernization Act of 2018. The next year, in 2020, I joined The MLC as its Head of Third-Party Partnerships and began the research and development on what has become the Distributor Unmatched Recording Portal (DURP), which is both a data insights and technical solution, and a global network of strategic partnerships. 

Dae Bogan speaking at The Library of Congress

Today, the DURP has made it possible for many DIY independent artists and self-published songwriters to finally receive the royalties they’ve been owed for many years. I am beyond grateful to be in a role where my continued advocacy and support of independent artists can be put into action to effect real change and opportunities in the global music industry. 

Here’s to the DURP. 🥂 

Dae Bogan to Conduct Workshop ‘From Beat to Bank: Dissecting the Flow of Digital Music Royalties in Rap and Hip-Hop’

I am thrilled to announce the first of a series of in-person music rights and royalties workshops that I will be conducting in Nashville, Miami, and New York this year:

From Beat to Bank: Dissecting the Flow of Digital Music Royalties in Rap and Hip-Hop

🗓️ June 22nd • 4pm-6pm
📍 The Mechanical Licensing Collective in Nashville, TN
🎫 Free with Registration

Description:

“From Beat to Bank: Dissecting the Flow of Digital Music Royalties in Rap and Hip-Hop” is an interactive workshop specifically designed for aspiring Hip-Hop and R&B music creators.

Presented by The MLC and Nashville is Not Just Country Music and led by Dae Bogan, Head of Third-Party Partnerships at The MLC, the workshop will take creators through a crash course demystifying the intricate world of music rights, income entitlements, publishing administration and the distribution of U.S. digital music royalties.

Through a series of individual and group simulations, participants will delve into various facets of the industry including contribution and credit tracking, negotiation of splits, the impact of samples on copyrights and royalties, work registrations and the process of claiming royalty shares.

Participants will gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of how song and recording contributions translate into royalty payments from The MLC and other organizations.

The workshop will take place at The MLC’s office in Nashville on June 22 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. CT. Tune in by registering at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-mlc-ninjcm-present-from-beat-to-bank-workshop-tickets-637622174087

Happy New Year Songwriters! You’ve Got New Royalties

Happy New Year Songwriters & Music Publishers!

Take note of the new mechanical royalty rates that are now in effect for the use of your songs in the United States:

As of January 1, 2023, royalty rates are as follows:

• Physical / Permeant Download: 12¢ per minute or 2.31¢ per minute or fraction thereof, whichever amount is greater

• Interactive Streaming / Limited Downloads / Locker Services / Other Digital Deliveries: 15.1% of Service Revenue or Total Content Cost Prong Calculation, whichever amount is greater by offering.

As a reminder, if you own the publishing in your songs, you may be eligible to join The Mechanical Licensing Collective to get paid directly 100% of your digital audio mechanical royalties. This is a separate royalty stream, which your PRO (ASCAP / BMI / SESAC) does not collect or pay out. You earn two songwriter royalties when your songs are streamed on Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and other digital music services. You earn a performance royalty (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC) and a mechanical royalty (The MLC).

Learn more about The MLC at http://www.themlc.com and join for free today!

About The MLC in 60 Seconds:

Understanding the New United States’ Mechanical Royalty Rates

🚨Attention Music Creators & Indie Music Publishers🚨

Understand the New United States’ Mechanical Royalty 💸 Rates

📱Streaming: 15.1% of DSP revenue
💿Physical: 12 cents per media (e.g. CD, Vinyl)
🎧Downloads: 12 cents per download

Previously, streaming was 10.5% of DSP revenue and physical media and downloads were 9.1 cents.

Looking ahead to 2023, songwriters will see a 32%-44% increase in mechanical royalty income.

It is more important than ever before to make sure that your songs are registered at The Mechanical Licensing Collective.

Check out this explainer video that I helped to create on how song metadata influences your money:
https://youtu.be/BprSCHUAIcw

(Side Note: Before you sign a recording contract, understand how a “controlled composition clause” may reduce your income as a songwriter and how your obligation to pay collaborators the full statutory royalty rates, while you’re being paid less than the full statutory rate, will impact your overall net income as an artist.)