Kobalt has launched DistroKid Publishing, a publishing administration service for independent songwriters, in partnership with Kobalt. The service lets eligible DistroKid users collect publishing royalties through their existing DistroKid accounts.
The service was announced on Wednesday, November 11. The company first unveiled DistroKid Publishing in a blog post on October 5, saying at the time that eligibility would roll out gradually.
Fees and eligibility#
Songwriters pay a one-time setup fee of USD $75 and receive 80% of the publishing royalties collected on their behalf. To qualify, a songwriter or artist needs:
- At least one release on DistroKid
- More than $50 in streaming revenue over the past 12 months
Only original songs, including co-writes, are eligible. Covers, remixes and mash-ups are excluded, and fully AI-generated tracks do not qualify, DistroKid says on its website.
“Original songs you wrote or co-wrote qualify, even if you only own a share.”
Songwriters face no long-term commitment and can leave the service at any time.
How royalties are paid#
The service collects mechanical and public performance royalties, with payouts sent to artists’ DistroKid Bank accounts, according to the company’s website. DistroKid says a songwriter’s first royalty payment arrives roughly six to nine months after their publishing earnings exceed $10, with quarterly payments after that.
Kobalt and its ownership#
Kobalt, which DistroKid describes as “the world’s largest independent music publisher”, powers the service. Primary Wave now owns Kobalt, having completed its acquisition of the company on July 7 in a deal worth around $1.5 billion. Under the deal, Kobalt continues to operate as a standalone company led by CEO Laurent Hubert.
In February 2025, Kobalt launched KOSIGN, a publishing platform aimed at emerging artists and songwriters. Kobalt estimated at the time that more than $1 billion in publishing royalties go uncollected every year, an estimate DistroKid cites in its October 5 blog post. At launch, KOSIGN offered members an 80/20 royalty split in their favor, according to its website at the time.
Statements on the launch#
The launch announcement includes this statement:
“Through this partnership with Kobalt, we’re making it easier than ever for songwriters to collect the royalties they’ve earned, with just a few clicks from their DistroKid dashboard.”
Phil Bauer, President of DistroKid, said:
“The top request we’ve been getting from DistroKid members is for help collecting the music publishing revenue generated by their songs, something that has historically been very difficult for independent artists.”
DistroKid’s business and investors#
DistroKid was founded in 2013 and says it distributes between 30% and 40% of all new music in the world. The company says more than 4 million artists use its services. Other products sit outside distribution, including DistroKid Direct, through which artists can sell music and merchandise to fans. The company also runs DistroVid, a service that delivers music videos to platforms including Spotify.
The launch comes four months after CVC Capital Partners agreed to acquire a majority stake in DistroKid. That deal closed in Q3, with Insight Partners, which invested in DistroKid in 2021, retaining a “significant minority stake” in the company. Create Music Group also holds a minority stake in DistroKid, reported in October.
Reports in January said DistroKid was exploring a sale, with a figure of around $2 billion under discussion at the time.
Lawsuit from Universal Music Group#
Universal Music Group (UMG) is suing DistroKid. In a complaint filed in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware on September 15, UMG alleges deceptive trade practices and copyright infringement. It claims that DistroKid “is flooding platforms with AI-generated ‘slop’ that siphons revenue and listeners from the legitimate artists and rightsholders”.
In October, DistroKid confirmed that “a very small number of recordings” had been removed from streaming services in response to claims made by UMG, after independent artists said their music had been taken down without notice. Amanda Ferri, DistroKid’s VP of Artist Services, said at the time: “We strongly dispute the allegations underlying UMG’s lawsuit.”
