Kobalt’s collection agency AMRA inks landmark deal with Apple Music

Kobalt’s newly created collection agency, built on AMRA’s existing operations, has announced its first global licensing deal, a landmark agreement with Apple Music.

Coveringall markets except for the US and Canada, the two-year deal will see AMRA collect royalties for Kobalt’s songwriters and publishers direct from tracks streamed on Apple Music for usage around the world.

A deal is yet to be struck with North America due to the antitrust investigationwhich is being carried out by the US Department of Justice – US collection societies ASCAP and BMI have come under fire for how they handle payments.

AMRA (American Music Rights Association) was fully acquired by Independent music publishing and global music rights management services company Kobalt Music Grouplast year. In June Kobalt announced it had revamped and relaunched AMRA as the first ‘global, direct, digital mechanical and performing rights society.’

While this is the first deal to be made since Kobalt’s acquisition of AMRA, it’s also an important move for Apple, which aims to align itself with the artists’ side of the long-running streaming debate.

Tomas Ericsson, CEO of AMRA said: “AMRA was uniquely designed for this exact situation – a direct global deal with a major DSP to ensure rights-holders are fairly, accurately and transparently compensated for the use of their music globally.

“It’s the perfect example of how a new structure and innovative technology will significantly improve returns and transparency for songwriters, artists and publishers.”

As DSPs lean more toward ensuring rights holders are paid fairly, deals like this offer transparency for artists and songwriters. It’s believed AMRA will have competitive rates and terms with all DSPs, assumedly taking less than the typical 10% which agencies collect.

Kobalt has a roster of more than 8,000 artists and over 500 publishing groups, boasting 40%of the world’s top 100 albums and songs in the US and UK. Using its 'KORE' technology – “the most advanced rights management platform in the world” – Kobalt claims it can collect, process and account for the billions of micro-transactions in the digital sector on a global scale.

There is close to 700,000 places where a song might get played today and with Apple Music’s roll-out to over 100 countries, AMRA’s clients are expected to see a significant spike in royalties.