Start: Why this catalog matters right now

• Tell me briefly, what prompted your team to request a catalog audit at this moment?
• Walk me through the most recent time your team discovered a material block of unmatched plays, who noticed it, and what the immediate consequence was
• How many recordings and unique composition entries would you include in the sample catalog for a first audit? Options: Under 5,000, 5,000 to 25,000, 25,000 to 100,000, Over 100,000
• Which stakeholders outside royalties and finance need visibility during the audit and why Options: CFO office, Licensing team, Head of A&R, Legal/compliance, Investor relations, Other
• What timeline pressure is driving this review, for example a valuation, acquisition due diligence, or next quarter close Options: Within 2 weeks, 2 to 6 weeks, 6 to 12 weeks, Longer than 12 weeks
• Name the person or team who would be the primary contact for day-to-day data delivery and sign-off

Where the current system actually breaks

• If a typical quarter shows 15 to 25 percent unmatched plays, how quickly does that gap create material financial or valuation risk for your organization Options: Immediate risk this quarter, Risk within 2 quarters, Risk within 4 quarters, Longer term impact
• Describe how your current matching engine treats misspellings, alternate recordings, and cross-territory society mappings Options: Phonetic + enrichment, Metadata-only exact match, Hybrid with manual review, Unknown
• When you ran a like-for-like comparison last time, which mismatch type created the most manual reconciliation work Options: Metadata errors (titles/artists), Alternate ISRCs/recordings, Missing publisher IDs, Society mapping issues, Other
• How often does your team produce a finished royalty statement from raw play logs today Options: Same day, Within a week, 2 to 4 weeks, Longer than a month
• What downstream processes fail when a recording lacks transaction-level visibility in your reporting portal Options: Artist payments delayed, Composer disputes increase, Valuation uncertainty, Audit exceptions spike, Other
• Point to the single metric your CFO watches that would make them escalate an unmatched-play problem immediately Options: Quarterly revenue shortfall %, Number of unresolved disputes, Time-to-statement, Valuation impact, Other

How much this actually costs you

• What single reconciliation failure in your current process would cause your CFO to demand an external audit right away
• Which revenue lines or territories produce the most uncollected income in your view Options: Streaming (global), Mechanical collections, Performance royalties (territorial), Sync/other
• Tell me about the last time a songwriter or publisher disputed a payment, how long did it take to resolve and what was the impact
• How long does it take your team to issue a corrected statement once an error is discovered Options: Same week, 2 to 4 weeks, 1 to 3 months, Longer than 3 months
• Name the internal approvals or signoffs that must occur before you can cut off the legacy process after a migration Options: CFO approval, Head of Royalties sign-off, Legal/compliance sign-off, Board/investor approval, Other
• If we reduced dispute volume by half, estimate the annual staff hours or cost savings you would expect Options: Under 200 hours, 200–1,000 hours, 1,000–5,000 hours, Over 5,000 hours

Is your data actually ready to move

• List the source systems and file types that would be used for an initial catalog ingest
• Name the person or team who controls API keys, SFTP credentials, or export access for each listed source
• How clean is your catalog metadata, for example what approximate percentage of tracks lack composer or publisher identifiers Options: Under 5%, 5% to 15%, 15% to 30%, Over 30%
• Do you have a canonical ownership file, a source of truth for splits and writer shares, and how often is it updated Options: Yes, single source updated weekly, Yes, single source updated monthly, Multiple sources, manual reconciliation, No canonical file
• Is there any regulatory, contractual, or internal approval that would block an audit starting within your target timeline Options: No blockers, Pending legal approval, Data sharing agreement needed, Third-party consent required, Other
• Point to the single technical dependency whose absence would stop an audit from delivering useful match-rate results

What's getting in the way of a smooth migration

• Identify the stakeholders who have resisted past system changes and briefly say why
• Describe the worst integration delay you have experienced with a collection society or third-party platform, how long it lasted, and how your team coped
• How many full-time equivalents currently work on reconciliation and ongoing dispute resolution Options: 0–2, 3–5, 6–10, More than 10
• List your top three data quality issues that most reduce match rates
• In the event a misconfigured split rule caused payments to go out incorrectly, identify who would own remediation and the maximum acceptable time to correct it Options: Royalties team, Finance team, Legal, Third-party vendor, Other
• Point to the single unresolved constraint that would force you to delay or cancel a migration in the next 3 months Options: Data readiness, Access to source systems, Internal approvals, Budget constraints, Other

Other paths on your table

• Name the suppliers, vendors, or internal options your team is actively considering instead of engaging an external audit and migration partner
• Outline the specific evidence or outcomes that would convince your team to stay with the incumbent approach rather than change
• Has anyone proposed solving matching and reconciliation internally, and if so what headcount or timeline was suggested Options: No internal proposal, Low headcount, long timeline, Significant hire plan, Outsourcing to another vendor
• Assuming a proof-of-match validates the recovery numbers, name the internal approval or decision that would enable sign-off within 2 weeks Options: CFO signature, Head of Royalties approval, Procurement PO, Legal clearance, Other
• What would have to be true about your current approach for you to keep it instead of switching to a new platform Options: Equal match rates, Faster processing time, Same reporting granularity, Lower total cost, Other

How we'll measure success together

• Would a sample ingest that shows a 5% or greater lift in recovered revenue versus your current system meet your pilot success threshold Options: Yes, Maybe, depending on quality, No
• List the exact match-rate, processing time, and reporting fields your finance team requires to approve migration
• Which acceptance tests would cause your team to reject a migration result Options: Mismatch > threshold, Missing transaction-level detail, Processing time exceeds target, Incorrect split calculations, Other
• If the pilot proves the recovery number, what internal or contractual steps would still prevent you from signing in the same quarter Options: Budget cycle delay, Legal review, Executive signoff pending, Integration sequencing, Other
• Point to the single metric you want on the first report that would make you confident to proceed to full migration Options: Match rate lift %, Recovered revenue $, Time-to-statement, Dispute reduction %, Other

Practical next steps and timeline blockers

• Who on your side will be authorized to sign data access agreements and share credentials for the pilot
• Which systems must be integrated during pre-deployment and do those systems provide APIs or file-based exports Options: APIs available, SFTP or file exports only, Proprietary format, needs mapping, Unknown
• How soon could your team deliver a sanitized sample catalog and one quarter of raw play logs for a proof-of-match Options: Within 1 week, 1 to 2 weeks, 2 to 4 weeks, Longer than 4 weeks
• Are there budget approvals or procurement steps that must complete before a pilot can start Options: No approvals needed, Budget committee approval, Procurement PO required, Legal contract needed
• If the pilot validates the recovery and reporting, what is the fastest realistic timeline your organization could commit to for full migration Options: Immediate (within 4 weeks), 1 to 3 months, 3 to 6 months, Longer than 6 months
• Finally, what would make you say yes to a pilot this week, and what would make you pause

• Proof of Match & Recovery — Sample Catalog Walkthrough

• Confirm the current state and its cost
• You confirm the demonstrated match-rate improvement and the recovered revenue calculation provide the evidence finance needs for valuation and audit.
• Provide the sample catalog file for the chosen quarter, including any known metadata exceptions and a list of priority tracks to validate.
• Ingest the sample catalog and show processing timeline
• You confirm the processing speed from raw plays to finished statement meets your stated timeline target for decision-making.
• Run a full-quarter comparative match-rate and recovered-revenue report against your current system and deliver the reconciliation report before the follow-up session.
• Walk through match-rate results and recovered revenue
• Identify and confirm the acceptance thresholds you will use to judge success, including minimum recovered revenue and maximum processing time.
• You confirm the transaction-level reporting format supplies the transparency your royalties team needs to reduce songwriter disputes and support volume.
• Deliver a transaction-level CSV of recovered plays and any metadata anomalies discovered during the ingest for mapping in the next technical detailed review.
• Side-by-side comparison to your current process
• Confirm acceptance criteria for decision
• Validation checkpoint

• Proof of Match & Recovery — Sample Catalog Walkthrough
• Proof of Match & Recovery Deck
• Proof of Match & Recovery Brief

• meeting
• slides
• document

• Ingest and normalize streaming and broadcast play feeds
• Import and normalize catalog metadata
• Ownership mapping and royalty split configuration
• Phonetic fingerprinting and fuzzy metadata enrichment
• Match plays to composition and recording records
• Calculate royalties and produce allocation batches
• Generate transaction-level royalty statements
• Distribute payments and remittances to rights holders
• Provision self-service portal for creators and publishers
• Ingest and reconcile collection society statements
• Run parallel reconciliation with legacy accounting system
• Ongoing unmatched-play resolution and claims submission

Ingest and normalize streaming and broadcast play feeds

• What streaming platforms and broadcast sources produce the raw play feeds you want ingested (use category names, e.g. major DSPs, internet radio networks, terrestrial broadcast capture providers)? Options: Major DSPs, Independent DSPs, Internet radio networks, Terrestrial broadcast capture providers, Other
• Which file delivery methods do you currently receive play data on for each source (select all that apply)? Options: SFTP, AWS S3 / object storage, HTTPS/REST API, Proprietary file share, Email attachments, Other
• Identify the typical schema or columns present in your raw play events (examples: timestamp, ISRC, stream_duration, device_id, territory_code).
• Specify your required ingestion cadence for production data (examples: near-real-time, hourly, daily, weekly). Options: Near-real-time, Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Other
• Provide the expected monthly volume of raw play events we should plan for (estimate number of events or GB per month).
• Outline any source-side data quality issues we must normalize during ingest (examples: missing ISRCs, timezone inconsistencies, truncated titles).
• Describe your retention and archival requirement for raw play feeds (how many months of raw events must be retained accessible for reconciliation?). Options: 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months, Custom

Import and normalize catalog metadata

• How many unique catalog records need importing (provide approximate counts for recordings and compositions separately)?
• Which identifiers are present in your catalog exports (select all that apply): ISRC, ISWC, UPC, internal catalog ID, publisher account ID? Options: ISRC, ISWC, UPC, Internal catalog ID, Publisher account ID, Other
• What file formats do your catalog extracts use (select all that apply: CSV, XML, XLSX, JSON, proprietary fixed-width)? Options: CSV, XML, XLSX, JSON, Proprietary fixed-width, Other
• Where are the primary metadata quality gaps you expect (examples: missing writer shares, inconsistent artist name spellings, no ISRC assigned)?
• Who in your team will be the owner for catalog-record clarifications and who can approve corrected metadata (provide role titles and contact method)?
• State the acceptable completeness threshold for imported catalog records before migration can proceed (example: X% of recordings must include ISRC and at least one ownership link). Options: 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, Other
• List any third-party rights sources we must reconcile against during import (examples: performance rights organization exports, neighboring rights feeds, distributor catalogs).

Ownership mapping and royalty split configuration

• Who will provide definitive split documentation for each work (examples: signed split sheets, PRO splits, distributor agreements)?
• Which identifier will you use as the authoritative key for ownership mapping (select one): ISWC, internal composition ID, PRO work ID, other? Options: ISWC, Internal composition ID, PRO work ID, Other
• Describe how mechanical and performance shares differ in your catalog and whether they require separate mapping rules (examples: composer vs publisher splits, admin publisher deductions).
• Specify any standard split rules we should apply automatically (examples: equal shares among listed writers, publisher retained percentage, territory-based overrides).
• Indicate whether you require a configurable approval workflow for proposed split changes before they go live (options). Options: Yes - manual approval required, No - auto-apply changes, Conditional - only for >X% change
• Identify the maximum number of different payees per recording/composition we should support for split configuration without custom engineering. Options: Up to 5 payees, 6-10 payees, 11-20 payees, More than 20 (requires custom work)

Phonetic fingerprinting and fuzzy metadata enrichment

• Which metadata fields should phonetic matching prioritize when resolving near-miss titles and artist names (examples: track title, featured artist, release title)? Options: Track title, Primary artist, Featured artists, Release title, Other
• Provide examples of common metadata variants we see (examples: alternate spellings, diacritics removed, transliterations) that the enrichment must handle.
• Select the acceptable false-positive rate threshold for fuzzy matches that will require manual analyst review (examples: 0.5%, 1%, 2%). Options: 0.5%, 1%, 2%, Custom
• Explain whether you have existing phonetic or fingerprint assets we should ingest (examples: audio fingerprints, prior matching tables, curated alias lists). Options: Audio fingerprints available, Alias lists available, No existing assets, Other
• Where should the platform log proposed fuzzy-match candidates for review (options for integration into your workflow)? Options: Analyst dashboard, CSV export, API webhook to your system, Email digest, Other
• Describe any territory- or language-specific phonetic rules that must be applied (examples: CJK transliteration handling, diacritic normalization for European languages).

Match plays to composition and recording records

• What baseline match-rate on the sample quarter must we demonstrate during Proof of Match to qualify this migration (state percentage point improvement over your current system)? Options: +2 percentage points, +5 percentage points, +10 percentage points, Custom
• Which play-event attributes should be used as primary match keys in order of priority (examples: ISRC, timestamp+title fingerprint, performer normalized name)?
• Identify which territories or collection societies drive the highest volume of unmatched plays today (examples: Territory codes or PRO names).
• Specify whether venue or device-level qualifiers must be preserved in matched records for reporting downstream (examples: radio station ID, platform device type). Options: Yes - preserve qualifiers, No - discard qualifiers, Only for certain sources
• State the allowable match-ambiguity threshold where the platform should create a tentative match and queue for human adjudication (examples: confidence score < X). Options: Confidence < 0.6, Confidence < 0.7, Confidence < 0.8, Custom
• List the reporting outputs you need for matched vs unmatched plays (examples: CSV of unmatched events by ISRC, daily aggregate by territory, transaction-level provenance).

Calculate royalties and produce allocation batches

• Confirm the processing SLA for calculating royalties from finalized play feeds to allocation batches (examples: within 24 hours, 72 hours, 7 days). Options: Within 24 hours, Within 72 hours, Within 7 days, Other
• Which royalty types must be calculated separately in allocation batches (select all that apply): streaming mechanical, streaming performance, synchronization, neighboring rights, radio mechanical? Options: Streaming mechanical, Streaming performance, Synchronization (sync), Neighboring rights, Radio mechanical, Other
• Specify the accuracy threshold for allocation calculations that must be met for acceptance (examples: 99.5% of line-item sums reconcile to source). Options: 98%, 99%, 99.5%, 99.9%
• Describe any territory-specific rounding or minimum payment rules we must apply when building allocation batches (examples: round to 2 decimal places, minimum remittance threshold per payee).
• Who will own sign-off on allocation batches before distribution and what evidence will they require (examples: reconciliation report, sample transaction drill-down)?
• Identify how allocation batches should be exported to your downstream payment system (examples: CSV with payee ID, ACH-ready file, API payload). Options: CSV export, ACH-ready file, API payload, Other

Generate transaction-level royalty statements

• Which statement formats do recipients expect for transaction-level detail (examples: CSV, PDF summary + CSV detail, standardized statement XML)? Options: CSV, PDF + CSV, Statement XML, Other
• Provide the minimum columns required on a transaction-level statement from your rights holders (examples: play timestamp, platform, ISRC, territory, calculated amount, royalty split).
• State the acceptance criteria that will validate statements as fit-for-purpose (examples: reconciliation agrees within X% to source, all ISRCs present, no missing payees). Options: Reconcile within 0.5%, Reconcile within 1%, All ISRCs present and payee list complete, Custom
• Indicate whether you require localized statements per territory/PRO with specific column mappings for each collection society. Options: Yes - localized per territory/PRO, No - unified global statement, Partial - only for specified territories
• Describe required delivery cadence and distribution channels for statements to rights holders (examples: monthly SFTP drop, portal notification + download, email attachments). Options: Monthly SFTP drop, Portal download with notification, Email attachment, Other
• List any regulatory or tax fields that must appear on statements for specific territories (examples: VAT, withholding tax code, payee tax ID).

Distribute payments and remittances to rights holders

• Which payment rails must we support for remittances (select all that apply): ACH/local bank transfer, SEPA, wire transfers, prepaid settlement, third-party payout network? Options: ACH / local bank transfer, SEPA, Wire transfer, Prepaid settlement, Third-party payout network, Other
• What minimum remittance threshold should be applied per payee to avoid micro-payments (examples: $5, $10, $20)? Options: $5, $10, $20, No threshold
• Identify required remittance file formats and fields for your finance system (examples: payee bank IBAN, payee ID, payment amount, statement reference).
• Who will be the finance owner for payment exceptions and chargebacks, and how should the platform notify them (examples: ticket created, email alert, daily exception report)? Options: Create ticket, Email alert, Daily exception report, API callback
• Specify SLA targets for payment processing and confirmation (examples: payments initiated within X days of batch sign-off, confirmation within Y days). Options: Initiate within 3 business days, Initiate within 7 business days, Initiate within 14 business days, Custom
• Describe any tax or compliance rules to apply by territory before distribution (examples: withholding tax, VAT gross-up, tax treaty handling).

Provision self-service portal for creators and publishers

• Which user roles must be supported in the portal and what permissions should each role have (examples: administrator, publisher, songwriter, analyst)? Options: Administrator, Publisher, Songwriter/creator, Analyst, Other
• How will users authenticate to the portal (select all that apply): single sign-on, email/password, two-factor authentication, SSO via identity provider? Options: Single sign-on (SSO), Email/password, Two-factor authentication (2FA), SSO via identity provider, Other
• Estimate how many unique portal users will need access initially and on an ongoing monthly basis. Options: <100, 100-500, 500-2,000, 2,000+
• What transaction-level views do you require creators to see (examples: per-play detail, aggregated earnings per period, historic remittance files)?
• Specify any branding or localization requirements for the portal (examples: custom logo, localized date formats, multi-language support).
• Clarify whether user provisioning will be managed by your team or via automated directory sync and which method you prefer. Options: We manage provisioning, Automated directory sync required, Hybrid

Ingest and reconcile collection society statements

• Which collection societies' statement formats must be ingested and reconciled (use categories like major PROs, neighboring rights societies, mechanical societies)? Options: Major performing rights organizations, Neighboring rights societies, Mechanical rights societies, Other
• What file formats are typical from those societies (examples: EDI, CSV, XML, proprietary flat file)? Options: EDI, CSV, XML, Proprietary flat file, Other
• Provide the reconciliation tolerance you will accept between society statements and our calculated allocations (examples: amount variance %, missing ISRC count). Options: Amount variance <= 0.5%, Amount variance <= 1%, Allow variance and log exceptions, Custom
• Identify the typical lag between performance date and society statement delivery for the societies you use (examples: 30 days, 60 days, 90+ days). Options: 30 days, 60 days, 90+ days, Varies by society

• Master Services Agreement (MSA)
• Statement of Work (SOW)
• Order Form / Subscription Agreement
• Service Level Agreement (SLA)
• Data Processing Agreement (DPA)
• Data Access Authorization
• Go/No-Go & Cutover Acceptance Criteria
• Change Order Agreement
• Security & Compliance Addendum
• Termination and Transition Assistance Agreement

• Go-live Health Check (week 1-4)
• First Measurement Review (weeks 4-10)
• Acceptance Gate Review (around day 90)
• Ongoing Quarterly Success Review

• Publish the quarterly performance summary and updated backlog with target completion dates to the shared workspace.
• Restate acceptance criteria and numeric targets
• Record a formal acceptance decision with a named buyer signatory or documented owner decision as appropriate to the deal type.
• Confirm incumbent system is decommissioned or formally retained-read-only and agree the archival or retention plan.
• Agree remediation items for any conditional criteria and set firm resolution timelines, including verification steps.
• Publish the acceptance decision record, including the signatory or buyer owner statement, to the shared workspace immediately after the meeting.
• Execute the incumbent wind-down or retention plan and complete archival of legacy data within 30 calendar days or as agreed.
• Close all high-priority defects and confirm re-test results before final acceptance is marked complete.
• Trend review for key metrics
• Ensure statement accuracy rate is sustained at or above the target recorded in Solution Scope or agree corrective actions if not.
• Reduce or stabilize monthly support ticket volume and maintain SLA response and resolution times.
• Agree the enhancement priorities and reconciliation tasks for the next quarter with timelines for delivery and verification.
• Schedule and deliver fixes for medium-priority tickets during the quarter and confirm verification steps.
• Implement one agreed reconciliation automation improvement and report its impact on match rate or processing time.
• Re-confirm success criteria and owners
• Confirm deployment status is operational or document a prioritized remediation list with owners and target dates.
• Validate that initial ingestion and sample statements are present and accessible to named users.
• Create a short remediation plan for critical blockers to be resolved within the hypercare window.
• Publish the deployment validation checklist and remediation list to the shared workspace within 24 hours.
• Run an enriched ingest of the next sample batch and produce updated sample statements within 5 business days.
• Document any access or onboarding gaps and schedule targeted user training sessions where needed.
• Present first measurement data
• Determine whether catalog match rate and recovered revenue are on track to meet the numeric targets recorded in Solution Scope.
• Identify the top root causes for any shortfall in match rate or recovered revenue and record remediation actions with target dates.
• Agree a clear timeline and checkpoints for the work needed before the Acceptance Gate meeting.
• Produce a remediation plan for the top three match-failure causes with deadlines and required artifacts.
• Reprocess affected batches and deliver updated statements for audit within the agreed timeline.
• Prepare a concise measurement pack for the Acceptance Gate showing metric trends and sample reconciliations.
• Deployment and ingestion validation
• Open ticket and SLA burn-down
• Sample transaction-level verification
• Present outcome data against each criterion
• Root-cause diagnosis for any gaps
• Document pass/fail and record formal acceptance decision
• Enhancement and reconciliation backlog review
• User access and onboarding signals
• Agree corrective actions and timeline to Acceptance Gate
• Early data and statement sanity checks
• Incumbent system wind-down and data archival checklist
• Agreed operational actions and checkpoints
• Agree remediation items and resolution timeline
• Open issues and immediate remediation actions