NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — Kobalt announced a major investment into AWAL, their music services division for indie artists.
The $150 million investment will allow AWAL to hire an additional 150 employees and help the division to service its growing roster, as well as introduce a new line of tech products which will debut at this year’s SXSW festival.
The new technology offerings range from digital distribution, music-data insights, and funding, to global marketing, A&R, and promotion, Kobalt said.
“We’re leveling the playing field,” said Kobalt Music Founder & CEO, Willard Ahdritz. “For too long, artists have had to go through the gatekeepers to make a living out of music. Today, artists can build a career without the hangover of a traditional label deal. Hundreds of artists on AWAL are making over $50,000 a year and many earn in the millions without signing away their rights. We are also helping dozens of other independent labels do the same for their artists.”
Over the past year, AWAL has deployed numerous products and services on top of Kobalt’s global multi-rights platform, which accounts for the billions of daily microtransactions in today’s music industry.
Among those products is AWAL’s mobile app which provides information about an artist’s streaming and financial performance across Apple Music and Spotify. Since launch, the AWAL App has also added real-time access to YouTube videos with a detailed view of how an artist’s music is used and monetized across user-generated content. New upgrades in the works for the App include enhanced financial data, along with a separate new music analytics platform, which will both be shown at this year’s SXSW, the company said.
As a part of the investment, Kobalt also announced it is combining all of its recording business under the AWAL brand.
