Notes.fm raises $5m to chase unclaimed music royalties
Music royalty platform Notes.fm has raised $5 million to expand its work tracking down unpaid royalties for artists and songwriters. The funding was confirmed on 17 September 2026, with artists and music executives backing the round, Billboard reported.
The company was started by Stem co-founder Tim Luckow and launched in 2024. It focuses on a persistent problem in streaming: money that goes uncollected because credits are missing or incorrect.
Notes.fm reviews catalogues across streaming services and collection societies to find those gaps. That includes the Mechanical Licensing Collective, the US body that collects streaming mechanical royalties for songwriters, and SoundExchange, which collects digital performance royalties for recordings and performers.
The approach has recovered more than $10 million in previously unclaimed royalties. The company said the money covered songs performed by James Blake, Zach Bryan, Mt. Joy and Girl In Red.
The $5 million round included songwriter and producer Benny Blanco, Zach Bryan, Endeavor chief executive Ari Emanuel, manager Sam Hendel and former Atlantic Records executive Julie Greenwald. Producer Tainy, Mt. Joy frontman Matt Quinn, Foundations Artist Management, Mick Management and Twenty One Management also joined.
What makes this stand out is who is paying in. Artists are backing a tool built to audit the system that pays them.
Notes.fm runs two main offerings. Credits is a free music credits database with more than 150 million song codes and credits. Releases combines music distribution, publishing administration — the service that registers songs and collects songwriting royalties — and financial management for a subscription fee of around $5 a month.
The company partners with Stripe for financial accounts to help artists collect and manage money. It has around 10 full-time and contract employees.
For artists, this means less chasing across separate portals. Notes.fm says it registers and reconciles songwriting royalties through The MLC and the user’s performing rights organisation, the body that collects royalties for radio play and live and public performance, and delivers music and credits to more than 50 platforms, according to Notes.fm.
The company states that more than $1 billion in royalties goes unclaimed each year. If that figure holds, a $10 million recovery is small against the total. It is also rent paid.
