Independent music publisher Kobalt has signed a global publishing deal with Derrick Southerland, the Grammy- and Country Music Awards-nominated songwriter best known for Ingrid Andress’ hit More Hearts Than Mine.
As part of the deal, Kobalt has acquired a portion of Southerland’s song catalog, the company said in a statement on Thursday (July 10). The value of the transaction was not disclosed.
Sutherland’s songs have accumulated more than 1 billion streams and secured film and TV placements with ABC, Hallmark and Netflix, among others. He was nominated for a Best Country Song award at the 63rd Annual Grammys for More Hearts Than Mine, which picked up the Song of the Year prize at the Nashville Songwriters Association International awards in 2020, as well as Song of the Year at the MusicRow awards.
Sutherland also worked with Andress on the gold-certified Lady Like, as well as Seeing Someone Else and Yearbook, which made Rolling Stone’s list of 100 Best Songs of 2022.
Beyond his work with Andress, Sutherland has co-written songs for Carrie Underwood, Jordan Davis, Vince Gill, Fletcher, Laci Kaye Booth, Hunter Hayes, Breland, Charlotte Sands, High Valley, Charles Kelley, Muscadine Bloodline, Tanner Adell, Blair Davie and Dallas Smith, among many others.
He worked on Kane Brown’s gold-certified Like A Rodeo and Joshua Bassett’s Crisis, which NPR named one of the Top 10 Songs of 2021. Sutherland shares a writing credit on Mitchell Tenpenny’s current hit Same Moon.
“I’m so excited to be partnering with Kobalt,” Southerland said.
“When I met with [Kobalt Music Group CEO] Laurent Hubert, [President and COO] Jeannette Perez, [General Manager/SVP of Creative at Kobalt Nashville] Stephanie Cox, [EVP/Head of US Creative] Rani Hancock, [Head of Creative UK] Kenny McGoff and so many others of the creative team, I knew this was where I needed to be.
“[Kobalt’s] enthusiasm not only about my writing and songs, but my dreams and vision for the future made this the perfect partnership to help me accomplish my goals.”
Derrick Southerland
“Their enthusiasm not only about my writing and songs, but my dreams and vision for the future made this the perfect partnership to help me accomplish my goals. Huge thanks to [Senior Creative Director] Kevin [Lane], who was with me for my first major label outside cut and brought me to this amazing team. I’m looking forward to what’s coming in this next chapter of our careers.”
Stephanie Cox added: “Derrick is one of the most gifted, prolific songwriters working in Nashville today. He has the incredibly unique ability to write across genres which makes him a perfect fit for Kobalt’s global ecosystem.”
“Derrick and I had the opportunity to work together early in our careers, and I am ecstatic to have the opportunity to work with him again,” Lane said.
“His ability to craft songs that permeate the Nashville community while having multi-genre impact is rare. Combine that with his relentless work ethic, and you have a true creative force to be reckoned with. The sky’s the limit for what we can accomplish together, and I’m so excited to see where this partnership takes us.”
For Francisco Partners-owned Kobalt, the deal with Southerland comes in the wake of a number of new signings and initiatives. The company formed a joint venture with emerging markets-focused label Heatwave last fall, following that up with a global publishing admin deal with Música Mexicana indie record label K Music in May.
“Derrick is one of the most gifted, prolific songwriters working in Nashville today.”
Stephanie Cox, Kobalt
Kobalt also inked a publishing admin deal with The Circuit Group, a music company formed by industry veterans to acquire stakes in catalogs, and a global licensing deal with blockchain-powered music platform Audius.
It also signed a music publishing admin deal with licensing platform Slipstream, which included Kobalt taking a stake in the company.
Earlier this year, Kobalt launched Kosign, a new publishing platform aimed at emerging artists and songwriters with the goal of addressing the problem of uncollected royalties.
SVP and Head of Kosign Jason Feinberg recently told MBW that the platform already represents 12,000 songs.Music Business Worldwide
