Kobalt’s Investment Fund KMC Acquires Nettwerk’s Vast 30-Year Catalogue

KOBALT’S INVESTMENT FUND KMC ACQUIRES NETTWERK’S VAST 30-YEAR CATALOGUE

Kobalt Music Publishing to Administer Nettwerk Music Group’s Publishing Titles and Futures

NEW YORK, NY – JULY 25, 2016 – Kobalt, the world’s leading music services company, announced today that KMC, an investment fund advised and managed by Kobalt, has acquired a significant portion of the Nettwerk Music Group publishing catalogue including more than 18k songs developed and acquired by Nettwerk over the last 30 years. As a subsequent component of the acquisition, Kobalt has also entered an exclusive administration agreement to administer Nettwerk’s retained publishing titles and all future publishing signings. The respective agreements include all territories under the songwriter agreements acquired by KMC. 

Johan Ahlstrom, CEO of KMC, stated “Today’s announcement is a perfect example of the caliber of talent we are investing in here at KMC and we are thrilled to be working with this impressive catalog.”

Willard Ahdritz, Kobalt Founder and CEO, stated, “I am excited that Kobalt will be servicing KMC’s new acquisitions of Nettwerk copyrights with so many great writers and works in their catalog. Terry has built a great company and I’m thrilled to welcome him and his team into the Kobalt family.”

Terry McBride, Chairman and CEO of the Nettwerk Music Group added, “In a digital world where streaming has become the predominant way we consume music, it is important that our artists are partnered with the best technology company in the publishing space to see the full value of their creations. Kobalt simply is the best, and also the most transparent. We are very happy Kobalt will be the new home to Nettwerk’s 30+ years of legacy, as well as our partners moving into the future.”

Nettwerk continues to sign and invest in new artists and songwriters across its management, label and publishing businesses. Some of Nettwerk’s elite clientele include, Passenger, Guster, The Veils, Run River North on the label side and Mike Posner, Stereophonics and Father John Misty on the management side.

ABOUT KOBALT

Kobalt is the leading independent music services company. Kobalt’s Music Publishing, Label Services, and Neighbouring Rights divisions each offer an alternative to the traditional music business model, empowering artists, songwriters, publishers and labels with advanced technology, transparency, flexibility, ownership and control. Kobalt’s innovative technology solutions are designed to maximize efficiency and accuracy across the billions of micro-payments collected in today’s highly complex digital world.

Kobalt has experienced tremendous growth year-over-year through the past decade and now serves over 8,000+ songwriters and over 500 publishing companies worldwide. Kobalt works with many of the world’s greatest artists and songwriters, representing on average over 40% of the top 100 songs and albums in both the US and UK. Kobalt has built the most trusted brand in music among music creators including Beck, Dr Luke, Kelly Clarkson, Dave Grohl, deadmau5, Max Martin, Paul McCartney, Pitbull, Ryan Tedder, Sam Smith, Noah “40” Shebib, Skrillex and many more.

Kobalt offers its clients a variety of services, including creative services, synch & brand partnerships, global licensing management, neighboring rights, works and rights distribution, royalty collection and processing, online data and royalty statements, record release management, and digital marketing and monetization. For more information on Kobalt, please contact: info@kobaltmusic.com, or visit us at www.kobaltmusic.com.

ABOUT NETTWERK MUSIC GROUP:

The Nettwerk Music Group was founded in 1984 by principals Terry McBride, Mark Jowett, Ric Arboit and Dan Fraser, and for the past 30+ years has followed one motto: We release music that we love.  Initially specializing in electronic music genres such as alternative dance and industrial, the group became a powerful player in pop and rock in the late 1980s and 1990s, with such record label and artist management clients as Coldplay, Sarah McLachlan, Dido and Barenaked Ladies. www.nettwerk.com

Today, with offices around the globe, Nettwerk continues to achieve international critical and commercial success with its label, management and publishing rosters, which include Passenger, Mike Posner, Guster, Banners, Stereophonics, The Veils, Father John Misty, Gojira and more.