Case Study: Royalty Tracker™ and Sales Aggregator Scale Up Painlessly

Revolutionizing Royalty Processing for John Marshall Media and Lantern Audio Distribution

The largest private audiobook production company in the US radically upgraded its royalty management process using MetaComet® software.

The company faced significant challenges managing the increasing complexity of royalty calculations for its growing catalog of self-published and independent audiobooks. After integrating MetaComet’s royalty management tools—Royalty Tracker™ and Sales Aggregator—they saved multiple days of work per quarter, eliminated errors in calculations, and streamlined the payment process. Thanks to MetaComet’s powerful features and exceptional customer support, John Marshall Media and Lantern Audio Distribution are scaling their royalty operations with ease while reducing the manual effort and stress that previously bogged down their team.

Customer Overview: A Leader in Audio Production and Distribution

John Marshall Media is renowned for its audiobook production services. With over 30 years of industry experience, the company has expanded its offerings to include museum audio tours, custom audio projects, and a thriving self-publishing division.

Kevin Stillwell became the head of indie publishing and distribution when John Marshall acquired Lantern Audio in 2023. He oversees a rapidly growing portfolio that has expanded from 125 to over 600 titles in just three years, and he is targeting 1000 titles by the end of 2025.

With that pace of growth, the company was struggling to process an increasing number of sales reports and manage royalty payments for a growing roster of authors. Initially, royalties were processed manually, but as the business grew, it became clear that this approach was no longer sustainable.

Challenges: Manual Processes Conflicting with Growth

Before adopting MetaComet, Lantern Audio faced several challenges:

1. Manual Processes: The company received over 30 regular sales reports and had to manually reconcile these reports, which was a time-consuming and error-prone task.
2. Data Disparity: There was frequent discrepancy between the reported sales and the actual payments due to errors in the manual processing of data.
3. Scaling Issues: With the rapid growth of the catalog from 125 to 600 titles, and 25 to 113 distribution platforms on 5 different continents, the need for automation and accuracy became critical.
4. Time Pressure: Processing these reports consumed Kevin’s valuable time, impacting other crucial areas such as sales, business development, and even production.

The MetaComet Solution: Efficiency Through Automation

After experimenting with other royalty management solutions that failed to meet their needs, Lantern Audio was skeptical of MetaComet’s potential value. “Other companies just couldn’t do it the way we needed it to be done,” says Kevin, “to minimize the amount of time and effort and headaches that go along with pulling all that data from these different distribution platforms.”

The team was reassured after meeting with MetaComet’s COO, Khalid Elkalai. Khalid took the time to understand Lantern Audio’s unique requirements, clarify costs, and ensure the solution would be customized to meet their growing needs.

Kevin knew they had made the right choice, “The first time we did a test run. We had the reports [a previous vendor] had generated and every one of them was wrong. And then we did a test run with those same reports [with MetaComet]. The comparison was kind of an ‘aha!’ moment. The level of accuracy using MetaComet versus how wrong the other one was, was really, really obvious to us.”

MetaComet’s Royalty Tracker and Sales Aggregator became the key tools in Lantern Audio’s transition to a more efficient, automated system. These products provided the ability to seamlessly aggregate sales data, reconcile reports, and track royalties across multiple platforms, saving the team significant time and reducing the stress involved in manual calculations.

Impactful Results: Time Savings, Improved Accuracy, and Scalability

The transition to MetaComet has had a significant positive impact on Lantern Audio’s operations:

1. Time Savings: By automating sales report aggregation and reconciliation, Kevin estimates that his team now saves at least five full days of work per quarter—time that can now be better spent focusing on developing new titles, expanding distribution, and other key areas of growth.
2. Increased Accuracy: MetaComet’s Royalty Tracker allowed Lantern Audio to accurately reconcile sales data with the correct royalty payments, eliminating the discrepancies that used to occur with manual processing.
3. Integration with Tipalti: MetaComet’s integration with the Tipalti finance automation system has simplified the payment process. Once sales data is entered and reconciled, the royalty payments are automatically processed and sent to authors via Tipalti, cutting out the need for manually printing and mailing hundreds of checks. This streamlined process reduced the burden on the accounting team and improved the overall efficiency of royalty disbursements.
4. Scalability: As Lantern Audio continues to add new titles and expand into new markets and distribution platforms, their royalty management process can scale up without additional manual overhead.
5. Customer Support: The personalized, hands-on approach of MetaComet’s customer support team has been invaluable. Their responsiveness and attention to detail helped Lantern Audio overcome initial hurdles and maximize the value of the software.
6. Stress Reduction: The automation of time-consuming tasks has relieved pressure on Kevin and his team, allowing them to focus on high-value activities like producing new audiobooks and managing client relationships.

Conclusion: A Partnership for Growth

MetaComet’s royalty management solutions have become indispensable for John Marshall Media’s operations. With the help of Royalty Tracker and Sales Aggregator, they have saved valuable time, eliminated errors, and significantly reduced the stress associated with royalty management. By providing robust, accurate, and time-saving royalty management tools, MetaComet has positioned itself as a crucial partner in John Marshall Media’s continued growth and success in the audiobook industry.

Key Takeaways:

• MetaComet’s royalty management tools save Lantern Audio multiple days of work each quarter.
• The integration with Tipalti streamlined the royalty payment process, eliminating manual check writing and distribution.
• The software’s customizable features allowed Lantern Audio to handle complex sales reports with ease.
• Personalized customer support helped the team navigate initial challenges and maximize the benefits of the system.

Learn how MetaComet can save you time, create efficiency, and reduce stress while scaling with your business. Request a free consultation with us today.