Behind every copyright is a human being: a publisher's case against the catalog-first mindset
Marc Caruso, CEO and co-founder of Los Angeles publisher Angry Mob Music, published an op-ed on Hypebot on June 8, 2026 with a simple argument: the music business keeps talking about copyrights, catalogs, and platform economics, and that language hides the person behind every song. Publishing, he writes, is the business of managing trust.
Marc Caruso’s test: does this help a songwriter make a living?
Caruso’s point is that the vocabulary of the industry does work. Words like assets, catalog, scale, and market share explain the mechanics, but they also create distance, and distance changes how decisions get made. When the song is a line item, the songwriter behind it gets easy to forget.
So he offers one test to close the gap. In every negotiation, every licensing decision, every policy conversation, ask whether the choice makes it easier or harder for a songwriter to make a living.
Does this make it easier or harder for a songwriter to make a living? If you can't answer that question, you're not ready to make the decision.
Why the catalog-first mindset misses the AI fight
The timing matters. The biggest deals in music right now are AI licensing deals, and they are being valued the way catalogs are valued, by scale and revenue. Caruso’s test is the part that keeps falling out of those rooms. The American Federation of Musicians suit against Universal and Warner is the same complaint in legal form: a deal got valued and signed, and the humans on the recordings were treated as a footnote.
This is why “is AI good or bad for music” is the wrong frame. The better question is the one Caruso names. A licensed AI tool that pays songwriters can pass his test. An unlicensed one that scrapes them fails it. So does a label deal that books the revenue and skips the people. Plenty of voices are telling the industry to stop panicking about AI; Caruso is asking it to stay honest about who gets paid.
Frequently asked questions
What did Marc Caruso argue in his Hypebot op-ed?
Marc Caruso, CEO and co-founder of Angry Mob Music, argued that music publishing is in the business of managing trust, not just copyrights. He wrote that the industry's focus on catalogs, scale, and platform economics distances decision-makers from the songwriters whose work they sell.
What test does Marc Caruso propose for music industry decisions?
Caruso proposes asking one question in every negotiation, licensing decision, and policy conversation, does this make it easier or harder for a songwriter to make a living. If you can't answer it, he writes, you're not ready to make the decision.
Who is Marc Caruso of Angry Mob Music?
Marc Caruso is the CEO and co-founder of Angry Mob Music, a Los Angeles-based independent music publisher. He has more than 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, composer, producer, and Emmy-nominated music editor.
About the author
Covering AI music tools, industry shifts, and news for music creators and professionals. Twice-weekly newsletter at aimusicpreneur.com.
