Kobalt Label Launches In Australia And New Zealand

Global independent music publisher Kobalt Music Group has today launched Kobalt Label Services [KLS] in Australia and New Zealand, marking another introduction of an “alternative” to the traditional label deal.

As part of the antipodean expansion, KLS has struck a physical distribution deal with Inertia while Sydney-based former EMI and Original Matters staffer Ben Godding has been appointed Manager of Label Services. He will report to Simon Moor, Managing Director of Kobalt Music Australia and Paul Hitchman, Managing Director of KLS.

Digital distribution is handled globally by Kobalt's own in-house AWAL platform, which the group acquired earlier this year.

Today Hitchman said that Australia and New Zealand are “important markets for Kobalt Label Services releases, and we are therefore thrilled to be able to offer our clients the best possible retail sales representation in the territory via our partnership with Inertia. We aim to offer the best of both worlds – expert local representation for physical sales in all of the key markets worldwide combined with global digital distribution via our own AWAL platform.”

Godding will oversee marketing and product  management for KLS and AWAL releases.

Locally Kobalt's publishing division – which built its reputation globally by aligning itself as a streamlined and transparent royalty collection model – boasts the likes of Paul Ridge (Drapht) and Art Vs Science while internationally they have Gotye and Paul McCartney. KLS argues that they 'empower' recording owners with tools for release and marketing while not losing their ownership of master recordings.