How much is my song worth?

The short version

Music rights are usually priced as a multiple of a year's earnings. A multiple is shorthand for a longer calculation: how much the music will earn each year from now on, how fast that falls, and how risky it is, all brought back to a value today.

Industry guides put typical independent catalogue deals somewhere around 8 to 14 times a year's net income, with young or small catalogues lower and long-proven earners higher. Your own number depends on the factors below.

What moves the number

Each of these is shown with your result, so you can see why it came out where it did.

• Earnings: what the rights paid you over the last 12 months. Statements beat estimates
• Decay: how quickly income is falling. New releases often drop fast in their first years; older songs settle
• Age: music that has earned steadily for years is worth more per pound than a new hit
• Breakouts: a sudden jump is valued as a new hit that will probably fall back, not as a trend
• Concentration: a catalogue that leans on one song is riskier than one spread across many
• Rights: masters and publishing are valued separately. Publishing usually falls more slowly
• Share: a minority stake without control is worth less per percent
• Size and data: small deals and thin data carry more risk, which lowers the multiple

Unreleased sounds

A sound that isn't out yet has no earnings, so its value comes from momentum: how many TikTok videos use it and how fast that's growing, turned into a likely first year of streams if it's released. The range is wide, because a lot can happen between a trend and a release.

Make your valuation more accurate

Upload your statements. CSV exports from DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby, Amuse and UnitedMasters work, as do label and publisher statements and society statements such as STIM's, including its yearly summary PDF. Twelve months or more of monthly data gives the narrowest range.

Questions