Kobalt removing songs from Facebook and Instagram in US

The news was unveiled in a letter Kobalt sent to its clients at the weekend. The company said it tried to negotiate a deal for its repertoire for a few months to no avail.

“Unfortunately, fundamental differences remained that we were not able to resolve in your best interests, and as a result Kobalt’s repertoire is in the process of being removed from Meta’s services, including Facebook and Instagram, in the United States,” the letter reads. “We’ve always stood for songwriters first, and we’re proud to continue to do so. We remain fully committed to reaching an agreement with Meta.”

The consequences could be dire for songwriters signed to Kobalt. Kobalt represents African artists such as Omar Lay and Burna Boy, among others. In September 2020, Mr Eazi’s emPawa struck a global deal with Kobalt to provide royalty income and activity to artists, allowing them to manage their rights and fees directly.

Globally, Kobalt claims it represents songwriters behind more than 40% of the Top 100 tracks and albums in both the UK and US. The removal of Kobalt’s publishing catalogue could negatively impact several hits distributed and owned by The Big Three record companies – Sony, Universal and Warner – as well as independent rightsholders globally.

The news comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed by Swedish music rightsholder Epidemic Sound against Meta in the US last week. The rightsholder, which is valued at $1.4bn, says the “unauthorised use” of its songs on Facebook and Instagram is extensive, and is demanding more than $142m in damages from the company due to the infringement.

“Meta has refused to enter into a license with Epidemic, even though Meta has done so with many other rightsholders,” the lawsuit reds. “Perhaps Meta is hoping to get away with it for as long as possible. Perhaps Meta is hoping that it will intimidate a company like Epidemic into bowing to Meta rather than incurring the disruption and expense of a lawsuit. Meta is wrong.”

According to the latest Music In The Air report by Goldman Sachs, Facebook contributed approximately 29% of emerging platform advertising returns paid to the record industry in 2021. Meta, however, does not pay music companies based on the precise music consumption on its platforms.