By Nolan Strong
Hip-Hop superstar Eminem has entered into an exclusive publishing and marketing deal with online music-publisher Kobalt Music Group and Los Angeles-based licensing and administration company Music Resources.
Under the terms of the deal, Kobalt and Music Resources will administer the rapper’s Eight Mile Style Music catalog across the world outside of the United States and Canada.
Eminem’s Detroit based Eight Mile Style and Joel Martin’s Martin Affiliated owns and controls over 225 compositions on various multi-million selling albums, including Eminem’s first solo albums.
Eight Mile Style’s catalog contains songs recorded by artists like Tupac, Dr. Dre, Nas, Jay-Z, 50 Cent and songs from Eminem’s upcoming album.
Martin, who is also principal of Eight Mile Style Music, made the announcement today (November 16) with Willard Ahdritz, CEO and Founder of Kobalt Music Group and Music Resource’s founder, Nancie Stern.
Kobalt will collect, process and administer royalties for the lucrative catalog on a worldwide basis, while Music Resources will administer the catalog for the United States and Canada.
Both companies will collaborate on A&R services to promote use of the catalog. Music Resources will use Kobalt’s new online music publishing administration technology to debut the “Powered By Kobalt” services brand as well.
“The music industry is changing fast, and like the trend with established major artists, copyright holders of major catalogs need to take control of their own destiny,“ Martin said in a statement. “Kobalt's transparent system has re-engineered the publishing industry, and we're confident we have crafted a unique relationship with Kobalt globally, and both Kobalt and Music Resources in the U.S., that will provide tremendous financial and creative advantages and will ensure we are completely involved in the management of our business with money not being wasted on unnecessary expenses."
According to Martin, the companies spent years conducting market tests and comparisons of collections of various publishers that have handled the rapper’s Eight Mile Style publishing catalog under separate agreements.
"Due to the fact that Eight Mile Style co-publishes multiple writers for the same songs that were administered by different companies in the same territories, it has enabled us to accurately compare 'apples to apples.' We found compelling advantages in Kobalt's level of accuracy, royalty tracking and transparency, especially as it relates to their unique portal and the proprietary technology they have developed," Martin said.
Kobalt has deals with artists like Gwen Stefani, Barry Manilow, German pop star Herbert Groenemeyer, The Hives and others.