Kobalt and Umbrella Songs have finalized a global publishing agreement. Photo Credit: Soundtrap
Kobalt has officially signed indie publisher Umbrella Songs, which debuted about two years ago, to a global publishing deal.
Kobalt and Umbrella formally unveiled their tie-up last week, with the announcement having largely flown under the radar until now. Founded by Universal Music A&R exec Lunick Bourgess, Umbrella arrived on the scene in 2022, as mentioned, and is said to have developed a catalog boasting north of two billion streams in the interim. That includes stakes in works performed by Ed Sheeran, Pop Smoke, and a number of others, per the business.
Additionally, Umbrella says it’s closed deals with rap and hip-hop “pioneers” throughout the UK, the US, France, and Africa. In keeping with its existing strategy, the “fast-rising” publisher has “hit the ground running with Kobalt” by finalizing a pact involving Liverpool-based rapper Mazza_l20, higher-ups revealed in the same to-the-point announcement message.
Addressing the agreement in a statement, Bourgess touched upon his ambitious vision for the professional union, which has entered the media spotlight a little less than four months after Francisco Partners’ Kobalt partnered with Morgan Stanley to drop $700 million on catalogs.
“We are extremely proud and excited to join the Kobalt Family,” relayed Bourgess. “We like the way the team works, their outlier mentality, and, more importantly, the belief they have in Umbrella’s vision. We want to thank Kenny and Alison for backing us, the work starts here.”
And in comments of their own, these execs – Kobalt head of UK creative Kenny McGoff and head of global creative Alison Donald – provided similarly optimistic assessments of the partnership.
“I have admired and respected Lunick and the Umbrella team from the first moment we met,” weighed in McGoff, who was promoted to his current post last August. “Their energy is infectious, and their taste is impeccable. To be able to help support their global ambition to discover and nurture true talent is both exciting and a privilege for me and the Kobalt family.”
Earlier in February, Kobalt announced an admin deal with producer and songwriter JULiA LEWiS. Then, the 14th saw the nearly quarter-century-old company disclose the release of “its next-generation Client Portal.”
According to New York City-based Kobalt, this portal boasts “real-time royalty payments, song-specific performance insights, and live sync updates” – besides a “collection gap” feature designed to highlight the window between usages and the arrival of their corresponding royalty payments.