South African music intelligence platform MAUS (Music Audit Usage System) has officially launched, offering artists, songwriters, publishers and record labels an independent way to track and estimate royalties generated by radio airplay. The platform uses South African broadcast data to provide performing rights and neighbouring rights royalty estimates, both retrospectively and in near real time, giving copyright owners greater visibility into the usage underpinning their earnings.
Developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, MAUS was created in response to a growing information gap in the music industry, where royalty statements can arrive months after the fact with limited access to the usage data behind them. Rather than replacing existing Collective Management Organisations (CMOs), the platform is designed to provide an additional layer of independent intelligence, allowing creators to compare royalty statements against recorded radio activity, analyse historical airplay and generate reporting that can support conversations with CMOs, business managers, accountants and rights administrators.
Backed by Gresham Rights Management, Audlytics and South African DJ Mark Stent, MAUS aims to make the kind of royalty intelligence traditionally available to major labels and publishers more accessible to independent creators. The platform allows users to monitor catalogue performance across South African radio stations and better understand the potential value of their airplay. MAUS says its estimates are independent calculations based on monitored broadcast usage and rights information, and do not constitute official royalty statements from CMOs, broadcasters or other third parties. The platform is now available at MAUStrack.co.za.
