Kobalt Reports Fiscal Year 2021/2022 Financials With 22% Growth With Revenue In Excess of $600m

Music firms continue reporting record numbers, with Kobalt showing revenue growth of 22% – and net revenue growth of 50% – for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022.

Why it matters: The report is the latest in a string of record-setting financial disclosures from the music world. Fiscal year 2022 has already been shown as a winner for BMG, Warner, Universal and others, and since Kobalt bills itself as an alternative to those traditional music-business giants, the success was clearly widespread.

By the numbers: It was the second year in the black for Kobalt, who brought in revenue of over $600 million in total. The innovation-focused firm also spent more than $300 million on advances and music catalogues, and its money came mostly from two divisions.

It’s all about the song: Kobalt’s publishing division revenues grew by 20% in the last year, and the firm topped the U.S. charts with cowrites on hits by artists including Jack Harlow, Beyonce, Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish, Adele and more.

Royal flush: Kobalt’s business model also includes AMRA – which is the world’s “leading digital collection society.” AMRA processed 41.1 billion music royalties last year – up 40% year-on-year – and since 2015 has collected almost $500 million of digital royalties. AMRA focuses on the micro-payment landscape of the digital market, and Kobalt now serves superstar songwriters like Roddy Ricch, Max Martin, Stevie Nicks, Phoebe Bridgers, The Foo Fighters, Paul McCartney, and others.

What they’re saying: “We had another strong growth year at Kobalt. Driven both by our great client roster, new signings and favorable market growth,” said Founder and Chairman, Willard Ahdritz. “We've doubled down on our core publishing business and AMRA, our digital global society, to continue to innovate for the benefit of creators and rights owners. … Somebody stop us!”