Google Ventures leads $60m funding round for music firm Kobalt
by Stuart Dredge from Technology | The Guardian on (#3XKJ)
Backing for publishing and rights company as it tries to bridge gap between music industry and Silicon Valley - and get songwriters paid
Google's investment arm Google Ventures has led a $60m funding round for music publishing firm Kobalt, which manages rights for songwriters including Paul McCartney, Sam Smith, Foo Fighters and Beck.
The round takes Kobalt to $126m of total funding since it was founded in 2000. The company collects and pays out royalties for more than 5,000 musicians and 500 music publishers, including income from streaming services Spotify and YouTube.
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