Kobalt has entered into a global publishing partnership with Madverse Music Group, an India-based distribution and publishing company.
According to a press release, the partnership aims to unlock new pathways for Indian and South Asian music to reach audiences worldwide.
The deal gives Madverse’s network of over 150,000 independent artists and labels access to Kobalt’s global publishing infrastructure across more than 180 territories, the press release added.
“This partnership with Kobalt represents a pivotal moment in our mission to empower India’s independent music community. For too long, Indian creators have left money on the table simply because the infrastructure to collect global royalties was broken and almost nonexistent,” said Madverse CEO, Rohan Nesho Jain.
“Publishing royalties are essentially a musician’s pension fund – they generate income long after the initial release, sometimes for generations. Through this collaboration, we’re ensuring that Indian independent artists can finally access and protect these earnings seamlessly, no matter where in the world their music is played.
“This is about more than just collecting royalties; it’s about building sustainable careers and giving our artists the financial foundation they deserve. When independent voices are properly compensated and protected, the entire music ecosystem becomes richer and more diverse.”
“For too long, Indian creators have left money on the table simply because the infrastructure to collect global royalties was broken and almost nonexistent.”
Rohan Nesho Jain, Madverse Music Group
Madverse describes itself as a tech-driven music distribution, publishing, and marketing company. The partnership aligns with what Madverse calls an “Independent, Not Alone” philosophy by offering creators transparency, rights management, and operational support while allowing them to retain full ownership and creative control.
Simon Moor, Managing Director APAC, Kobalt, said: “Madverse has built an impressive ecosystem that supports one of the most dynamic independent music communities in the world.
“By combining their creator-first approach with Kobalt’s global publishing infrastructure, we’re committed to ensuring Madverse songwriters and producers have the resources, accuracy, and reach they need to succeed on an international scale.”
“By combining their creator-first approach with Kobalt’s global publishing infrastructure, we’re committed to ensuring Madverse songwriters and producers have the resources, accuracy, and reach they need to succeed on an international scale.”
Simon Moor, Kobalt
For Kobalt, the partnership comes over five years since it first entered India’s music publishing market via a partnership with Turnkey Music & Publishing Pvt. Ltd.
Kobalt operates from 10 offices globally and serves over 1 million songs, the company said. It represents songwriters including Max Martin, Karol G, Stevie Nicks, Phoebe Bridgers, The Lumineers, The Foo Fighters, Paul McCartney and more. Kobalt says it represents over 35% of the top 100 songs and albums in the US and the UK.
In October, Kobalt partnered with Berlin-based entertainment company umn — founded by ex-BMG senior execs Dominique Casimir, Maximilian Kolb and Justus Haerder — to acquire the authors’ share and the publishing rights to the catalog of multi-award-winning German songwriters Peter Plate and Ulf Leo Sommer.
In July, it acquired a portion of the song catalog of country songwriter Derrick Southerland, whose songs have accumulated more than 1 billion streams and secured film and TV placements with ABC, Hallmark and Netflix, among others.
Kobalt also operates AMRA, a digital music collection society that collects royalties from streaming and digital platforms.
In August, Kobalt signed a direct, multi-year licensing agreement with Spotify, covering the US. As MBW pointed out, this means that Kobalt’s direct deal supersedes the audiobook ‘bundling‘ payment structure that, starting in March last year, saw Spotify dramatically cut the rate of mechanical royalties paid to publishers and songwriters in the US.
Music Business Worldwide
