Too Lost CEO and co-founder Gregory Hirschhorn argues that publishing performance data is an advantage for music companies, not a risk. In a guest article, he explains why the New York City-based company, in the United States, released its operational figures and how early-stage music companies can follow suit.
Why the trust gap matters#
Music startups often tell artists, labels and fans that they can be trusted with catalogues, royalties and data. Few explain how that trust is earned or how outsiders can check whether it has been. Hirschhorn says the gap matters more in music than in most industries, because many newer firms, including distributors, rights platforms, AI (artificial intelligence) tools and fan products, sit between creators and their income.
When something goes wrong, the effect is concrete: a delayed payout, a release that misses its release date, or a support ticket left unanswered while a campaign stalls.
What Too Lost publishes#
In October, Too Lost launched its Transparency Initiative, a public report drawn directly from its admin systems. It covers daily, rolling 30-day, monthly and 12-month views and includes:
- support enquiries handled and how quickly they are resolved
- chatbot success rates
- releases delivered
- catalogue onboarding requests
- client retention
- average payout acceptance times
- API (application programming interface) adoption
- product updates shipped
Hirschhorn says the company is growing quickly, opening offices, acquiring companies and moving into publishing, rights management and financing. He argues that growth makes measuring its core service more important, not less.
He also notes that a distributor serving hundreds of thousands of artists will always have some clients with strong experiences and others who face support, delivery or payment problems. Individual cases do not show how a platform performs overall, he says, and artists deserve more than anecdotes when choosing whom to trust.
Identity checks and fraud prevention#
Too Lost began expanding its KYC (know your customer) and anti-fraud safeguards in 2022. Identity verification, including government ID and photo checks, is now a required part of onboarding.
Hirschhorn links this work to generative AI. He says the technology creates licensing opportunities for artists but also makes it easier to manufacture content, imitate voices and likenesses, and commit fraud at scale. Too Lost is a founding member of the Music Fights Fraud Alliance and has joined the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) Streaming Integrity Initiative, which sets baseline expectations for distributors on identity verification, content vetting and AI-related risk.
He says these expectations are arriving whether or not startups plan for them, and that building them in at the outset is far easier than adding them under pressure later.
Steps for early-stage companies#
Hirschhorn says a startup does not need Too Lost’s scale to begin. He suggests the following:
- Choose customer-facing metrics: measure response times, delivery reliability and how long it takes to get paid, rather than vanity figures such as total sign-ups.
- Measure from day one: metrics that cannot be measured internally cannot be published or improved, so reporting should be built into the technology stack early.
- Publish weaker periods: a report that shows only growth is not a transparency report. Credibility comes from showing declines and explaining the response.
- Use the same numbers internally: Too Lost’s team reviews the same data its clients see, which he says narrows the gap between public statements and internal priorities.
- Verify customers early: identity and rights verification are becoming baseline expectations, particularly for companies involved in distribution or AI.
- Treat reporting as unfinished: Too Lost plans to add operational, commercial, audience and compliance data as it finds better ways to measure service quality, and will publish an annual Transparency Report after each calendar year.
Transparency as an industry norm#
Hirschhorn acknowledges the instinct to keep performance data private, since publishing it exposes shortfalls. He argues, however, that transparency should become an industry expectation rather than a competitive disadvantage. Startups that show their performance early and honestly, he says, will earn trust faster than those that simply ask for it.
Too Lost has asked its clients to hold it accountable and has asked its own team to do the same. The live Too Lost Transparency Report is available at toolost.com/transparency.
About Too Lost#
Too Lost is a music and technology company that provides SaaS (software as a service) solutions for independent music rights holders. Its distribution and publishing services deliver, monetize and protect songs worldwide for more than 250,000 musicians, record labels, studios, brands, investors and platforms. The company is a member of the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) and MERLIN. It is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Los Angeles, Barcelona and Reykjavík.
