Free tool
What would you like to estimate?
Full buyout
Sell your rights for a one-time price.
- Average monthly net income (last 12 months)
- What you actually keep each month after distributor fees, splits and recoupment. Use the average of the last 12 months.
- Currency
- Rights you own
- Age of the songs that earn most
- Income trend over the last 3 years
- Share of income from your top song
- Documentation (contracts, splits, registrations)
This is an illustration of how buyers reason, not a valuation or an offer. Real offers depend on your statements, contracts, the rights included and how many qualified buyers compete. Masters and publishing are priced differently, and institutional deals for iconic catalogs can go beyond these ranges.
Distribution licence advance
Get paid up front, keep ownership. Rights return at the end of the term.
- Average monthly net income (last 12 months)
- Licence term: 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years
You keep ownership of your recordings. During the term the partner collects the income from the licensed catalog, and the rights return to you at the end. This is an illustration, not an offer: real offers depend on your statements, income trend, concentration, contracts and the partner.
How this calculator works
Buyers usually start from a catalog's normalized annual net income and apply a multiple, then check it with a cash flow forecast. The multiple depends mostly on how long the songs have been earning, whether income is growing or falling, how much depends on one song, and how clean the paperwork is. This calculator applies those same factors to the indicative ranges in our valuation guide.
How the licence advance estimate works
A distribution licence advance is sized from your average monthly net income and the length of the licence. A longer term lets the partner recover its money over more years, so it can pay more up front, but your recordings stay committed for longer. The estimate multiplies your average monthly net income by a number of months that grows with the term.
What it cannot see
It does not read your statements or contracts. Rights term, reversion clauses, territories, data quality and the number of competing buyers can move a real offer above or below this range. For a firm view, a buyer or advisor needs at least three years of statements.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a valuation of my catalog?
No. It is an indicative range that shows how buyers reason. A real valuation needs your royalty statements, contracts and rights details, and offers depend on how many qualified buyers compete.
What income should I enter?
Your average monthly net income over the last 12 months: what you actually received after distributor fees, co-writer or producer splits and any recoupment, divided by 12. Gross streaming revenue will overstate the result.
Do you store what I enter?
No. The calculation runs in your browser. We only receive your details if you choose to send the optional review form.
Should I sell or take a licence advance?
A sale pays more up front but you give up the rights for good. A licence advance pays less, but you keep ownership and the rights return to you when the term ends. Compare the net amount, the term and what you give up in each case; we can run both options for your catalog.