Kobalt Releases Fiscal Year 19/20 Financials and Announces Profitability in Current Fiscal Year

01 July 2021 - Press release

Amid Pandemic Gross Collections Grew 13%

Company Strongly Positioned for Further Profitable Growth


Kobalt today reported that its gross collections grew by 13% to $703M in the fiscal year-ending June 30, 2020, meeting its previous guidance. The company also announced it has reached profitability in its current fiscal year ending June 30, 2021.

"Even amidst a pandemic, these past couple of years have proven the strength of Kobalt's mission and vision and the unwavering dedication of our team members, who support so many great songwriters and rights holders," said Founder and Chairman, Willard Ahdritz. "The future is very bright, and I'm proud of the whole Kobalt team for carrying the company into the next phase - I like it."

Kobalt's March To Profitability
In February 2021, Kobalt concluded its sale of AWAL and Kobalt Neighbouring Rights. As a result, the company strengthened its balance sheet and commitment to its award-winning music publishing business and AMRA.

"As we embark in this new chapter for Kobalt, our business, tech and team has never been stronger," said Kobalt CEO, Laurent Hubert. "Reaching profitability was a key Kobalt objective to further strengthen the business for our clients and long-term success. I'm proud we were able to achieve that important milestone well ahead of plan and do it in such an unprecedented year. Kobalt is well-positioned to take our service and offering to the next level."

FY 19/20 Company Highlights
Kobalt Music Publishing (Including Synch) - Despite challenges due to COVID-19, Kobalt's publishing arm grew revenue by another 7.6% YoY to $436M. Kobalt continued to dominate the US charts with co-writes on hits from Roddy Ricch (Rockstar, The Box), Billie Eilish (everything i wanted, Bad Guy), Megan Thee Stallion (Savage), The Weeknd (Blinding Lights), Doja Cat (Say So), Dua Lipa (Don't Start Now), Black Eyed Peas x Ozuna (Mamacita) and many more, capping off their fiscal year in the #2 position on Billboard's Publishers Quarterly with a 19.04% market share. This, combined with a stellar roster of clients that includes Andrew Watt, Finneas O'Connell (who won five Grammy awards this year, including producer of the year), Abel Tesfaye, Roddy Ricch, Gunna, will.i.am, and Max Martin, lead to Kobalt winning the coveted ASCAP Publisher of the Year award in June. In addition to success in the US, Kobalt continued to grow market share in the UK, Sweden, Australia, and Latin America. In particular, Kobalt has solidified its positioning in the growing LATAM market with clients including Carlos Vives, Ozuna, Karol G, Natti Natasha, Prince Royce and many others. Kobalt's stellar fiscal year can be attributed to the hard work and diligence of the best creative, synch, operations, tech, and overall global infrastructure in the music industry. Kobalt also continues to work closely with some of the biggest legacy artists in the world including Lionel Richie, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Andrew Gold, John Denver and more, further proving that Kobalt has become a destination for songwriters across genres and generations.

AMRA - The only global digital collection society, and a key part of Kobalt that ensures global writers and artists are paid accurately and fairly, grew overall revenue by 19% to $78.3M. This growth is predominantly driven by market growth and growth in AMRA clients. AMRA's territorial scope, which is the broadest in the industry, also continues to generate revenue growth. AMRA's business model is built to meet the needs of the rapid growth of digital global music consumption and is once again positioned to set new standards for global digital collections among societies. AMRA's business model is also not affected by the pandemic the same way the rest of the industry, due to revenue being heavily skewed to digital collections. Today, AMRA's global roll-out has reached all corners of the world outside of the US and includes direct digital collections for China, Brazil, and Japan.

Kobalt Capital Limited (KCL) - The two music royalty funds managed by KCL, owned by institutional and private investors and administered by Kobalt, continued to grow during the year, generating solid returns on its catalogues and on new investments made. The two funds (the first crossing 9 years in operation and the second in its third year) have invested over $1.4 billion in total.