Kobalt To Launch Global Collection Society

Kobalt has created a global, direct, digital mechanical and performing rights society. According to the company, this is the first global society of its kind. It is expected to debut this summer.

Following last year’s acquisition of AMRA (American Music Rights Association), Kobalt is combining AMRA’s music rights administration framework with its own advanced royalty processing platform, KORE, to provide fast, efficient royalty distribution with total transparency. Through continued partnerships with major digital service providers (DSPs) around the world, AMRA will broaden the direct-collection capabilities across the globe for its members.

This is designed to bypass the numerous collection societies around the world, so that digital music outlets can work with the one service, which would streamline the process and result in more accurate, timely payments to rights holders.

AMRA will offer two services: (i) licensing of AMRA publisher members’ Anglo-American repertoire to DSPs operating in multiple territories and (ii) collection of writer’s share of public performance monies on behalf of AMRA writer members. Single territory digital music services will continue to be licensed by the local collection societies.

Willard Ahdritz, founder and CEO of Kobalt said, “With AMRA, we are now able to fully execute our original Kobalt vision of trust and technology for creators and rights owners on a global scale. AMRA allows us to offer service unlike anything ever seen before in royalty collections. The industry can no longer afford to spend $5 collecting $1—the efficiency and transparency of AMRA is the future.”

The New York Times has a lengthy article on this initiative, and reports AMRA’s administration fee would be 7.5 percent.