about us

We fight for artists’ rights—plain and simple.

Our mission is to create a fairer, more transparent music industry where artists receive the full value of their work. From royalty audits to contract advice, everything we do is geared toward empowering creators and ensuring they are properly compensated for their talent and contribution.

Integrity, excellence, and accountability.

The commitment to these values is at the heart of our business. We lead with passion and act with purpose – whether we’re negotiating on behalf of a client or building long-term partnerships. We believe in doing the right thing, even when it’s not the easy thing. Above all, we never lose sight of the fact that behind every royalty statement is a person—and their art.

30+ years of knowledge across the globe.

We bring years of industry knowledge, an international reach, and a human touch to every relationship. With nearly 30 years of experience and offices in London, Sweden, and Los Angeles, we combine international expertise with local insight. Our exclusive partnership with Y Royalties, formerly the royalty department at CC Young, gives us access to best-in-class royalty dashboards, enabling our team to deliver data-driven, artist-focused solutions.

Why CC Young?

We’re more than accountants—we’re advocates.

We’ve advised on industry policy, contributed to parliamentary hearings, and helped shape conversations around fairer streaming royalties. Our clients trust us not only for our precision and expertise but for our unwavering commitment to their success. When you work with us, you gain more than a service—you gain a partner who genuinely cares.

Our History

At CC Young, we've played an active role in driving change within the ever-evolving music industry, from challenging outdated practices, securing deals that better serve our clients, to pushing for fairer streaming laws. As digital music transformed the landscape, we invested heavily in technology and data systems to strengthen our royalty services, which in turn enhance and complement every department across CC Young.

Our timeline highlights the key moments where we’ve taken action and made impact, alongside some of music’s most defining milestones.

1998

CCY Young Founded

CC Young Founded CC Young, operating from its offices in Regent Street, London. Colin employs his first accountant.

Brit-Pop

In the 1990s, Britpop emerged as a defining cultural movement in the UK. By 1998, the phenomenon had reached a commercial and cultural peak, dominating charts, headlines, and shaping youth culture. The scene captured the energy of a generation and left a lasting mark on both British pop culture and the global music landscape.

1999 – 2001

Napster

Napster allowed users to share and download digital music directly from each others' computers, refining how people consumed music, quickly amassing over 80 million users.

It posed a major disruption to the traditional music industry model, which was built around physical media and centralised distribution. Napster was forced to shut down its service in 2001.

iPod

Apple launches of the first ipod, setting the stage for legal digital downloads. Portable digital music consumption becomes mainstream.

2002

MCPS & PRS

The MCPS-PRS Alliance develops the joint online licence - the first dual licensing system for mechanical and performing rights aimed at encouraging the growth of legitimate online music services.

2003

iTunes Store launches

Legal digital downloads become popular, shifting revenue models.

The 360 Deal

As the music industry faced major revenue losses from digital piracy and declining CD sales, labels sought new ways to recover investments by adopting 360 deals, allowing them to profit from all artist income streams—including recording, publishing, and live performances. Major labels like Universal, Sony, Warner, and EMI made these deals standard for new signings, making it hard for emerging artists to secure contracts without accepting such terms. Viewing 360 deals as exploitative, CC Young introduced the 270 deal, excluding publishing rights to protect songwriters and the value of their songs. This marked a pivotal moment in CC Young’s history, challenging industry norms and advocating for artist rights.

2004

We expanded and moved to Poland Street, Soho, increasing our staff to 10.

2006

Spotify founded in Sweden: The groundwork for subscription-based streaming is laid.

2007

Digital Music Consumption

iPhone released: Smartphones become a central hub for music consumption.

Transition to digital sales requires new royalty tracking systems.

Growth of YouTube changes exposure and revenue for artists.

2008

Spotify

Launches in Europe: Streaming begins to take hold.

2009

SoundCloud

Launches globally: Independent musicians gain a major platform.

2010 - 2011

Streaming

The streaming market expands with the emerge of Apple Music and others, solidify the “Streaming Revolution”.

Spotify launches in the U.S.: Streaming becomes a legitimate revenue stream.

Moved to Margaret Street, expanded, now 30 staff.

2012

Streaming Chart

Introduction of the UK’s first official streaming chart in May 2012 further solidified the impact of streaming, ranking audio streams from various services. Carly Rae Jepsen was the first artist to reach number one on the UK Digital Chart with her hit single ‘Call Me Maybe’.

YouTube

YouTube becomes top music discovery platform; major record labels shift their marketing strategies to focus more on social media platforms — Social media is now used to promote artists, connect with fans, share music videos, and create viral campaigns.

New income streams from streaming and social require restructured financial models and reporting for artists, labels, and publishers.

2015

Company Growth

Chancery House, new office, increased to 50 staff.

2016

Vinyl resurgence

In 2016, vinyl record sales in the UK reached a 25-year high, with over 3.2 million albums sold, a 53% increase compared to the previous year. This surge in popularity marked the ninth consecutive year of growth for vinyl sales. The trend was so strong that vinyl sales even surpassed digital download sales for a period.

2017

The Power of Digital Release

‘Chance the Rapper’ wins Grammy without a record deal: Shows power of digital-only releases and independent success.

Spotify

Spotify hits 60M subscribers: The industry shifts from ownership to access.

Royalty tracking becomes more complex due to micro-payments per stream; surge in self-releasing artists changes bookkeeping and rights management.

2018

Karen made Associate Director.

2019

TikTok

TikTok explodes in popularity: Short-form video reshapes how hits are made.

2020

Active / Passive Model

In January 2020, Colin presented his lecture at Berklee College of Music in Valencia, Spain. His 2019 research led to his 2020 “Active/Passive” model, which was later used that year as evidence for the DCMS committee, aligning closely with the mission and views of Crispin Hunt and Thom Gray’s ‘Broken Record’ campaign.

COVID-19

COVID-19 pandemic: Live music halts, artists turn to livestreaming and digital merch for income.

DCMS Committee

In 2020, Colin Young was asked by the DCMS (Department for Digital Culture Media & Sport.) to provide expert evidence on how a fairer split for the artist can be achieved for the ‘Economics of Music streaming’ hearing.

On 13 November 2020, Colin submitted written evidence to the DCMS.

Colin was then asked to attend the DCMS hearing in person on 24 November 2020, notably the only accountant from within the music industry. Reflecting our ongoing commitment for fair and transparent artist compensation in the digital age.

2021

DCMS

DCMS Report on The Economics of Music Streaming is published on 15th July 2021, Colin’s workings were referenced throughout the report.

Company Achievements 2020-2021

In 2020 Åsa Sandberg appointed as Director and launches CCY Sweden in partnership with Colin Young.

Karen made Director February 2020.

Winners of Music Week Awards 2020 and 2021.

CC Young listed in Billboards Top Business Managers 2020 and 2021.

Grew royalty Audit division, invested in tech and building a data warehouse to provide our artists with other streams of revenue during covid.

2022

Live Music

July 2021 sees the return of live music with our first indoor client gig. Touring ramps up, clients are back on world tours, the appetite for live music is huge.

CC Young listed in Billboard’s Top Business Managers 2022.

CMA / IPO

Colin is actively involved in the CMA market study and the IPO Transparency Technical Discussion Group, helping shape recommendations to improve transparency for artists auditing record labels and publishers. His earlier work with the DCMS committee was cited in the IPO’s report Music Creators’ Earnings in the Digital Era, but Colin later found the report’s recommendations prohibitive and inconclusive. He requested his association with the document be removed and made it clear he did not endorse its conclusions.

Essential Data

Whilst on the IPO committee, Colin created and defined the concept of Essential Data and recommended to the IPO that this be included in all contracts going forward to ensure royalty audits can take place unencumbered.

2023

Colin officially launched Y Royalties due to the growth of CC Young’s Royalty Division and scope of work, now big enough to stand on its own two feet.

CC Young Listed in Billboard’s Top Business Managers 2023.

2024

CC Young listed in Billboard Top Business Managers of 2024.

Company Achievements

Moved to Holborn, with offices for CC Young & Y Royalties

CCY celebrates 25 years.

Increased to 100 staff.

2025

CC Young listed in Billboard Top Business Managers of 2025, for the fifth successive year

CC Young open LA Office, headed up by Asa.

We continue our fight for fairer artist rights.

In 2025 we have the highest calibre of staff – over 110 employees – supporting some of the most celebrated creative clients in the world.

Y Royalties was established in 2023 by Colin Young, Ben Marlow and Gary Groutage, offering services in Royalty Data, Rights Management, Audit and Transaction Services.

Y Royalties grew from our Royalties division at CC Young. The success of this division, along with our knowledge and experience gained over the years, has enabled the birth of Y Royalties.

Our commitment to innovation led us to invest significantly in our data infrastructure in 2020.

Our data warehouse now sits at the heart of all our services, enabling us to analyse royalties at the most granular level, highlighting trends, anomalies and opportunities in our client’s royalty income.

The data warehouse is the driving force behind our catalogue valuations and due diligence, supported by a wealth of music industry and transaction experience, offering the best-in-class services to our clients across both CC Young and Y Royalties.