SongTrust adds 50,000 songwriters, 5,000 publishers in a year

Another sign the music biz is on the upswing: SongTrust, Downtown Music Publishing’s global digital rights management platform, is reporting swift gains across its client roster of labels, publishers and songwriters.

In just over a year, the company says it now boasts 150,000 songwriters and 20,000 publishers among its clients, well up from the up from the 100,000 songwriters and 15,000 publishers it represented and administered publishing.

The company, which provides efficient, accountable royalty collection services, now represents “well over” 1 million copyrights and one in five new professional songwriters in the U.S. currently use its platform, according to a blog post.

After sharing the news late Thursday U.S.-time, SongTrust tweeted it was “extremely proud of all we’ve accomplished, and eager to continue providing more songwriters with their global publishing royalties.”

Downtown Music Publishing co-founder/CEO Justin Kalifowitz launched the business in New York back in 2011. Today, it administers music publishing for clients in every state in the United States and 87 countries around the globe. SongTrust has direct deals with a raft of national and international collection societies as well as with the likes of Amazon, Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify and YouTube in the U.S.

Justin Kalifowitz

In recent developments, SongTrust tapped musician and former Kickstarter exec Molly Neuman as head of business development, and the company expanded its European footprint with an office in Amsterdam and the hire of Fintage House veteran Mandy Aubry as director of global business development and client relations.

Downtown recently expanded its operations in these parts with the appointment of former Alberts and BMG licensing guru Rachel Kelly as creative director and head of sync for Australia and New Zealand. Just last year, Kalifowitz, a one-time speaker at the Bigsound conference, struck a Pan-Asian digital and online rights licensing and admin deal with APRA AMCOS.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.