CARM
Africa's first credit-rating standard for creative IP

The standard banks can underwrite against

CARM is a standardised credit-rating framework for music and creative IP — the methodology a bank's credit committee can cite, audit, and lend against. Licensed to financial institutions, development-finance bodies, and governments, powered by the MLT Method.
Versioned methodologyAuditable & defensibleBuilt for institutions
Read the methodologyRequest a briefing

Evaluating a single catalogue? Run a free indicative CARM score →

CARM ratingWorked example

57

CARM score / 100

CARM-C · Developing

Appraised value

$93,754

Confidence

±28%

Net facility

$24,690

Discount rate

9.4%

Powered by the MLT MethodWIPO-Certified IP TrainerPatent-pending methodologyAn Intangible Africa standard300+ engagements since 2017
The opportunity

A proven global asset class — priced at a fraction in Africa

Music IP is now an institutional asset class. The gap isn't value; it's legibility — and that gap is a measurable discount CARM closes.

$6.8B

Global music-catalogue finance market in 2024, on track to ~$15.8B by 2033.

$4.4B

Music-backed debt raised in 2025 alone by funds like Blackstone & Carlyle.

$0

What an African artist with consistent streaming income can typically borrow against it today.

BlackRock
Blackstone
KKR

Global institutions now treat catalogues as a durable, yield-bearing asset.

12–20×

Annual royalties — what global catalogues trade at

vs

2–4×

Annual royalties — where African catalogues sit today

Same music. Same streams. A fraction of the value — because the framework is missing, not the merit. CARM is that framework.

The gap

Lenders recognise the value. They just can't underwrite it.

There's no standardised, defensible methodology a credit committee can reference when an African artist presents a catalogue as collateral. The result: significant creative wealth locked out of the formal financial system.

Without a rating standard

Creative income is real but illegible to capital.

  • No methodology a credit committee can cite
  • Valuations bespoke, slow, and unrepeatable
  • Western models ignore diaspora & cultural value
  • No comparative data to contextualise a catalogue

With CARM

A common, auditable language for creative-asset risk.

  • A 0–100 score & band a credit committee can defend
  • A repeatable rating with a full audit trail
  • Africa-calibrated multiples & a Cultural Impact Adjustment
  • A growing benchmark of comparable catalogues
How it works

From catalogue data to a credit-committee-ready rating

1
Ingest
Streaming, royalties, territory, ISRC, copyright, and PRO status populate the catalogue profile — automatically wherever the data is machine-readable.
2
Rate
The MLT Method scores Market, Legal, and Technology into one 0–100 CARM score, band, implied discount rate, and LTV — with a transparent breakdown.
3
Certify
The output is a signed, white-label, lender-ready report with a confidence band and a full input/output audit log for credit-committee review.

Market

50%

+

Legal

25%

+

Technology

25%

=

CARM

0–100 score

The rating scale

Four bands. One standard.

CARM-A · 80–100

Prime

Strong catalogue, clean title, low risk.

LTV 55–65%

CARM-B · 65–79

Standard

Growing catalogue, moderate risk.

LTV 40–54%

CARM-C · 50–64

Developing

Limited track record, elevated risk.

LTV 25–39%

CARM-D · <50

Speculative

Insufficient data; not collateral-ready.

LTV n/a

Behind the standard

Institutions license from recognised experts — not anonymous fintechs

AF

Akeem Omobolaji Famuyiwa, FIAM

Creator of CARM & the MLT Method · Founder, Fractional IP Consulting

  • WIPO-Certified IP Trainer
  • COSTECH Technical Facilitator · NM-AIST Lead IP Trainer
  • Top 25 Emerging IP Player
  • Pioneer of Fractional Intangible Asset Management (FIAM)
  • Author of Trademark Economy
  • 300+ IP engagements across Africa & beyond since 2017

300+

IP engagements

WIPO

Certified trainer

2017

Practising since

A credit-rating methodology only has value once institutions trust it. CARM enters markets through relationships built over a decade of IP commercialisation work — and through a founder whose credentials open credit-committee and development-finance doors.

CARM is to music IP what credit-rating agencies are to corporate debt — turning subjective assessment into a standardised, auditable, bankable score.

Built on the MLT Method (Market · Legal · Technology) — patent-pending and calibrated to African realities Western models miss: diaspora streaming, cultural multipliers, mobile-money royalty flows, and fragmented PRO coverage.

License the standard

Three layers. Adopt one, two, or all three.

CARM is licensed to institutions across three layers — from the methodology itself, to the rating engine, to the comparative benchmark that grows more valuable with every catalogue rated.

Layer 1

Methodology licence

$8–18k/yr banks · $15–40k/yr DFI & gov

For lenders & DFIs adopting CARM into credit policy

  • Full CARM Methodology Manual
  • MLT scoring templates for credit workflows
  • Discount-rate calibration tables by jurisdiction
  • Annual methodology updates
License the methodology

★ Layer 2

Rating engine

$150–500 per rating · API

For platforms & institutions issuing ratings at volume

  • REST API — catalogue data in, CARM score out
  • M·L·T subscores, discount rate, LTV, confidence band
  • White-label, co-branded lender-ready reports
  • Full audit trail on every rating
Get engine access

Layer 3

Benchmark database

$5–12k/yr · from 200+ rated catalogues

For investors & institutions needing comparables

  • Comparative data across the rated universe
  • “How does this catalogue compare to East Africa?”
  • The reference dataset for creative IP
  • Available as the dataset reaches critical mass
Join the waitlist

Evaluating before you license? Run a single catalogue through the engine for a free indicative CARM score.

Launch the engine

Indicative pricing for planning purposes; institutional licences are scoped per engagement and jurisdiction.

Who it's for

Adopted by institutions. Built for the whole market.

Tier 1
DFIs & development bodies
Underpin creative-economy financing programmes with a defensible, standardised rating framework.
Tier 2
Governments & agencies
Adopt CARM as national infrastructure for creative-asset finance and IP policy.
Tier 3
Commercial banks
Price and collateralise creative-IP loans with a rating and LTV your credit committee can defend.
Tier 4
Distributors & platforms
White-label the engine to rate your roster — a new financeability service line.
Investors
Funds & investors
Screen and compare catalogues on a common scale, with benchmarked, auditable valuations.
Supply
Artists & rights holders
Prove what your catalogue is worth — and raise against it without losing your rights.
Worked example

A real catalogue, rated end-to-end

57

CARM score / 100

CARM-C · Developing

CARM score

57 · C

Appraised value

$93.8K

Net facility

$24.7K

Data ingested

21 mo.

36 tracks. 21 months of data. One certificate.

A Tanzanian gospel catalogue — most of its streams from outside its home market — was rated directly from its distribution statements. CARM auto-populated the Market and Technology dimensions, flagged an outstanding distributor advance as a prior claim, and produced an appraised value, a confidence band, and a net financeable facility.

Home market 12%Diaspora & export 88%

It rates CARM-C today — and climbs a full band the moment its copyright and PRO documentation is verified.

Make CARM your creative-IP credit standard

Request the Methodology White Paper and an institutional briefing. Tell us who you are and we'll route you to the right layer — methodology licence, rating engine, or benchmark access.
Request a briefingLaunch the rating engine

CARM is an indicative credit and investment assessment tool. It is not a guarantee of value, an offer of finance, or financial advice.