News

Kobalt Music Group Singing With $16M Second Round

Independent music publisher Kobalt Music Group Ltd. has raised a $16 million second round of funding to support international expansion and new services for music rights holders.

New investor Balderton Capital led the round with participation from seed investor Spark Ventures PLC. Tim Bunting, partner at Balderton Capital, will join the board of directors. The company raised one prior undisclosed round of seed financing.

London-based Kobalt was established in 2001 to provide a modern, efficient and transparent music publishing model for songwriters and copyright holders. Kobalt's technology synchs with the various revenue channels for music around the world and allows clients to monitor those streams in real time.

Often the only option available to content owners is a traditional publishing deal where they give up ownership or control of their copyrights for many years in return for an advance. Many rights owners want a financing alternative which bridges the gap between an administration deal and a publishing deal. Kobalt provides advances, while allowing clients to retain their ownership rights. In return, Kobalt takes a portion of royalties collected.

With offices in London, New York, Nashville, Los Angeles, Berlin and Stockholm, Kobalt administers more than 100,000 copyrights worldwide on behalf of over 700 clients. Clients include Gwen Stefani, Moby, Barry Manilow, Dr. Luke - producer of Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson and Pink - The Hives, Editors, Hilary Duff, Richard Ashcroft and Nine Inch Nails, among others.

'We have completely re-engineered how the publishing industry runs,' Chief Executive Willard Ahdritz said.

Ahdritz declined to provide specific revenue or valuation figures, but said the company has experienced 100% revenue growth each year since its founding.