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Job of the Month #5: Royalties Manager

by IDOL

Check out the latest episode of our Job of the Month series looking into the many roles within the music industry. This month, Clara François talks about her job as a Royalties Manager for IDOL.

Each month, IDOL presents a different job in the music industry. Actually, more than a job, a person! Because behind the same job title, different individuals bring their role to life in unique ways according to their qualities, and the scope of their position in the company. For our fifth session, meet Clara François, Royalties Manager for IDOL, who tells us about her daily life where she handles the redistribution of revenues to the labels within IDOL’s catalog.

What does a royalties manager do?

A royalties manager is making sure that the royalties are correctly allocated to the artists. The royalties correspond to all the revenues generated by physical or digital sales, including streams, which go to the rights holders.
Every month, we receive the revenues generated either via the different streaming or downloading platforms with which we collaborate, or via physical sales made through our distributors. These revenues are then integrated into the internal information system and analyzed to be redistributed to the labels.
The royalties manager is the direct contact for labels, platforms and physical distributors for all questions related to royalties.

What are the qualities required for your position?

I think that the two essential qualities for this job are to be conscientious and rigorous. You have to process reports with a lot of data and be very precise because one mistake can lead to many others. It is obviously also important to be at ease with numbers, to have a good sense of analysis and above all to master Excel!

Can you tell us a little about your career path?

I was hired at IDOL after my university studies. First, I got a master’s degree in Accounting and Auditing as part of a work-study program with an audiovisual communication agency for two years. Then a one-year work-study course with M6 Group’s musical editions during my MBA of Music Industry Management at the EMIC school. That allowed me to specialize in this industry and to obtain my first permanent contract at IDOL, over a year and a half ago.

What would be a typical day for you?

I would say that there is no typical day but rather a typical month. My whole month is punctuated by the closing of digital and physical sales. For each closing, there are well-defined steps and a time frame to respect.
Otherwise, on a typical day, I start by dealing with my emails and answering the different labels’ problems. For this, I mainly use Labelcamp, our internal tool that allows us to have a global view of the labels’ revenues in order to analyze them precisely and to produce their royalty statements if necessary. Then I process the reports sent by the platforms and I reconcile the payments received with the billing established beforehand. In the middle of the month, I start checking the closing of physical sales, and at the end of the month, digital sales.

What do you like about your job?

There are several aspects of my job that I enjoy. First of all, the essence of the job, which is working with numbers. I like the fact that numbers don’t lie and that there is no “guesswork”.
Another aspect I really like is the exchange with the labels to help them better understand their royalties. I make myself as available as possible to answer their questions and thus maintain good relations with them.
And finally, I like to see IDOL and its labels evolving over the years.

Why did you choose to work for IDOL?

I chose to work for IDOL because its values resonate with me. I like working for an independent company that is at the service of structures, labels and independent artists. It is pleasant to be in a company where everything can be managed directly internally, that allows us to be more effective and reactive, especially since all the collaborators are always available and benevolent.

Clara's playlist

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