Orfium is a global technology company. It helps the music industry manage digital rights. It tracks music use on YouTube and other platforms and helps artists, labels, and publishers collect their earnings.

My Connection with Orfium

I started working with Orfium in its early days. I provided consulting on record label workflows and YouTube products.

Later, I joined the team and helped develop audio-visual strategies with a focus of YouTube

The Founding Story

Orfium was founded in 2015 by Chris Mahoney and Drew Delis. They first wanted to build a platform for independent artists.

With Michael Petychakis joining as CTO, they changed direction, building technology to track and manage music rights on YouTube.

Key Leaders Behind Orfium

Orfium has a strong leadership team who have made it one of the strongest music tech companies in the world.

Rob Wells is the CEO. Rob worked at Universal Music Group and helped sign major streaming deals, including the infamous Spotify agreement.

Richard Constant acts as Chairman. Richard held senior roles at Universal Music Group for decades. And Francis Keeling who previously held key roles at Universal Music and later at Spotify.

Solving Big Problems in Music Rights

Digital platforms see hundreds of millions of videos being uploaded daily. Tracking music ownership and payments is a nightmare.

Orfium helps it's clients claim music in user videos. They help manage large catalogs and fix ownership issues quickly.

Major Impact on Global Music Revenue

Key results include:

• Average revenue increase of +56% for clients.
• Hundreds of millions of extra dollars for rights holders.
• Goal to create $1 billion in new revenue.
• Over 2 million claims processed.
• 47 million+ licenses handled.

For example, Orfium helped Cavendish Music increase its YouTube revenue by 500%+.

Notable Customers and Partners

Orfium works with many leading companies. These include:

• Wise Music Group
• Sony
• Warner Music Group
• Avex
• Pony Canyon
• PRS for Music
• Audio Network
• Audiosocket

Orfium used to own Soundmouse. In May 2026, BMI acquired Soundmouse.

Personal Reflection

Working closely with Chris Mahoney, Michael Petychakis, and Dominik Thumfart (of VELVONT) was a pivotal moment in my career. It marked my serious transition into music technology.

This experience showed me how powerful the right technology can be. It can make the music industry fairer, more efficient, and more successful for everyone involved.

That lesson still guides my work today with Indiy.com and The Factory Music Group. I remain focused on building better tools and systems for artists and rightsholders.