Music Technology UK adds ClicknClear's Chantal Epp and SoundPatrol's Will Hughes to its board

Music Technology UK (MTUK) just took its Board from 5 directors to 7. On September 28, 2026, the trade association for the UK’s music-tech sector named Chantal Epp, founder of ClicknClear, and Will Hughes, Chief Revenue Officer at SoundPatrol, as its 2 new directors.

Both of them work on the rights side of music tech. ClicknClear licenses music for sports and performance, and SoundPatrol builds AI detection that finds copies and AI reworks of songs for rights holders.

The Board is MTUK’s main decision-making body, so the 2 of them now help set strategy for an association with more than 340 members. MTUK opened the nomination process for the new seats earlier this summer.

Chantal Epp’s ClicknClear licenses music from all 3 majors

ClicknClear is a micro-licensing and compliance platform. It clears music for cheerleading teams and other sports and performing-arts groups, who need a track for a routine and would otherwise risk an infringement claim. The company has blanket licensing deals with Universal, Sony and Warner, and the Olympics uses its compliance tech.

In 2025, ClicknClear won a WIPO Global Award from the UN’s intellectual property agency, and Epp took the Entrepreneur Award at Music Week’s Women in Music Awards.

“Music has been undervalued and undermonetised for far too long despite its global cultural significance,” Epp said in MTUK’s announcement. She wants to help “bridge the gap between music tech companies, investors, and strategic opportunities.”

Will Hughes’s SoundPatrol runs AI copyright detection for Universal and Sony

SoundPatrol, founded by Michael Ovitz and Walter De Brouwer, builds neural fingerprinting that spots when a song gets copied or reworked, including by AI. It has announced partnerships with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Traxsource, and in September 2026 it introduced an AI takedown agent.

Hughes runs SoundPatrol’s commercial strategy, product and industry liaison. He has spent more than a decade in label management, global music licensing and rights technology, including senior roles at Audible Magic and an early role at Songtradr.

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The UK's music tech sector has world leading strengths in rights technology and AI, and there is a real opportunity to strengthen the funding routes, go to market support and wider ecosystem available to companies across the sector.

Funding is the sore spot he’s pointing at. MTUK’s own Sound Investments report found UK music-tech funding fell from £183m in 2021 to £68.8m in 2025.

Epp and Hughes join Chair Cliff Fluet, Chief Executive Matt Cartmell, Helen Sartory of Beatport, Gareth Deakin of Sonorous Global Consulting and Claire Mas of CriticalMas on the 7-person Board.