10) Royalties as accounting: why “money” and “information” are inseparable
People often focus on royalties as cash. But royalties are equally an accounting system.
To pay a royalty correctly, someone must be able to answer:
- Which asset was used?
- Which version of the asset was used?
- Who owns it?
- In what percentages?
- What kind of use occurred?
- Over what time period?
- Under what terms?
This is why the business side of music is so documentation-heavy. You cannot distribute money fairly without reliable attribution and ownership information.
Conceptual insight:
Royalties are not only about creative fairness; they are about transactional clarity. The system is built to turn art into trackable usage and then trackable payments.
If you ever wonder why the industry cares about credits, splits, and documentation, the simplest answer is:
Because money cannot flow accurately without them.