FAQ's: Finn Moray: 19 Questions, Answered As Honestly As Possible

1. What is Finn Moray in simple terms?

Finn Moray is a music and social impact project. It uses songs rooted in real people and places to generate income, then shares half of the net profit with communities and uses the other half to keep the project alive, pay people fairly and make more work.

2. Who is behind Finn Moray?

Finn Moray is created and led by David Sheret and owned by SEO. David writes and arranges the songs and shapes the strategy. SEO is responsible for honouring the promises in the Social Compact. Finn is the project name and character that gives David and other artists a fair platform to share their work while supporting good causes.

3. Why use a project name instead of David’s own name?

The Finn Moray name lets the work sit slightly apart from one individual while still being open about who is responsible. It makes it easier to invite other singers, musicians and creators into the story without everything feeling like a personal vanity project. The aim is a platform and a movement, not a solo career.

4. What is Aon?

Aon is the debut Finn Moray album and the first full test of the Social Compact in action. It will be released in two connected parts:

Aon: The Call This is Finn’s own artistic blueprint for the album. Each track starts with Finn’s lyrics, melodies and an acoustic performance on his Freshman guitar. Carefully crafted digital voices, created openly using AI, are shaped to express how Finn hears each song in his head. Aon: The Call also acts as an invitation for yet-to-be-discovered Scottish singers who feel aligned with the project’s values to come forward, respond to the songs and audition to take part in Aon: The Gathering. The percentage split at this point is 50% of net profit to the Finn Moray social compact and 50% to regional good causes.

Aon: The Gathering This is where selected Scottish singers create their own versions of Aon songs as featured artists. These recordings are genuine shared interpretations, not background session work. Each Gathering singer brings their own heart, voice and phrasing to the track while honouring the place and feeling behind the song. Singers receive an equal share of the 25% net profit royalties pot for their recorded version. Finn dilutes to 25%, and 50% flows to the relevant communities under the Social Compact.

Together, The Call and The Gathering form the complete AON project.

5. Why start in Scotland?

Scotland is where David grew up, worked and grieved. The places in Aon are ones he has walked, lived in or loved. Starting in Scotland means the project begins from lived experience and responsibility, not from abstract ideas about the world. It also recognises that many Scottish towns are culturally rich but under-represented in global storytelling.

6. What is the Finn Moray Social Compact?

The Social Compact is a written pledge about how money, power and responsibility work in the Finn Moray project. It states that half of the net profits going to community and cultural initiatives, and half stays with the project to remain sustainable and fair for the people who work on it. It explains how songs link to places, how collaborations are treated and how transparency works.

7. Why share fifty per cent of net profit?

Fifty per cent is a deliberate choice. It is large enough to be meaningful for communities but leaves enough for the project to grow, remain independent and pay people fairly. It is simple to understand. If there is net profit, half is for communities and half is for the project, without hidden categories or vague language.

8. How is net profit actually calculated?

Net profit is what is left after real and necessary costs are paid. That includes recording, production, live work, fulfilment, marketing, digital tools, professional services and tax. The Social Compact commits to defining costs clearly, keeping proper records and reporting in a way that lets people see patterns and ask questions.

9. Which revenues are included in the Social Compact?

All core project revenues are in scope. That includes digital streams, downloads, physical sales, merchandise linked to the music, ticket income for Finn Moray shows and relevant licensing income. If the Finn Moray name, songs or story are helping generate the revenue, the Social Compact applies.

10. How can listeners see where the money has gone?

The Social Compact commits to regular, plain language reporting. Headline figures for income, costs, net profit and distributions to communities and Aon: The Gathering singers will be published. Over time, this may include summaries by album or project.

11. What makes Finn Moray authentic?

Every song begins with Finn’s own lyrics and melodies on a single Freshman guitar. Each song has to work in that bare form before any technology is involved. Digital production and AI are used later to explore arrangements and textures, but they do not invent the songs or decide what is true. The Social Compact and transparent financial commitments add a further layer of authenticity because they can be checked.

12. How does Finn actually write a song?

Words come first as notes, poems or rough lyrics about a place or feeling. Finn then finds the chords and melody using his Freshman guitar. If the song does not feel honest in that acoustic form, it is not ready. Only then does he record an acoustic take and begin production. You can read more here.

13. How does AI fit into the music?

AI is treated like extended instruments. After the original acoustic performance, Finn uses it to explore tempos, sound, harmonies and textures. AI can suggest variations, but the human ear decides what stays. The test for every idea is simple. Finn asks himself, "Does this feel more like the truth of the song, or less?"

14. How are Scottish places and people reflected in the songs?

Each AON track is rooted in a specific place, memory, person or experience in David’s life, each linked to a Scottish town, person, entity or community. The lyrics name places, people and memories, or express the feelings David carries from living in, listening to, admiring, following and feeling those people and places.

15. How are community partners chosen?

Community partners are chosen on a merit metric, based on their connection to the places in the songs, their alignment with the project’s values and their ability to use funds well. These include community groups, youth projects, arts and culture organisations and initiatives focused on wellbeing and access. The process will start modestly and improve with experience.

16. What happens if the project makes little or no money?

If net profit is small, the community share will be small. If there is no net profit in a period, there is no money to distribute. The Social Compact does not promise unrealistic figures; it promises a fixed share of whatever net profit truly exists. Even in lean periods, the project can add value through visibility, example and storytelling.

17. How can other artists get involved?

Scottish artists can respond to Aon: The Call and audition to be part of Aon: The Gathering. They can collaborate on new songs, visuals or live work. In time, they can also develop their own projects under a Finn Moray-style social compact, using the same principles in their own voice and genre.

18. What is Finn most proud of in this project?

Finn is most proud of the decision to write and stand by the Social Compact. Committing to share half of net profit, to give Aon: The Gathering singers a real royalty stake and to talk openly about music, community, Scotland, AI and fair distribution of value sets a standard he wants to live up to every day.

19. What is the one thing he most wants listeners to understand?

He wants listeners to understand that this is not a perfect system, but it is a sincere mission to align heart, craft, technology and money with kindness and fairness. Every song on Aon: The Call begins with a human thought, experience, voice and a Freshman guitar, and every pound of net profit is split according to a promise people can read. If that idea spreads, Finn Moray has succeeded.

Buy Aon: The Call