Rights management firm Interstellar Music launches with key hires from Kobalt, BMG

A new rights management company called Interstellar music service launched and made two senior appointments from Kobalt Music publishing and BMG Administered.

David Wille, former SVP of Kobalt Music Publishing, will join Interstellar as Head of Global Synchronization and Brand Partnerships, while Sarah Bargiela, former BMG Senior Director of Revenue Tracking enter, will hold the position of Head of Copyright and Royalties Department.

Founded by artist manager Andy Robinson and “cross-asset speculator” Sean Stockdale, UK-based Interstellar describes itself as a music rights management company “established for the artists, musicians and creators”.

The company claims that it is focused on “maximizing the value and earnings potential of music rights by taking a forensic, hands-on, and reservation approach to metadata.” analysis, distribution, publication management, related rights and music licensing”.

The company was founded by Robinson and Stockdale, who first met during the COVID-19 pandemic and formed the company during the lockdown together in Barcelona.

With over 15 years of experience in the music industry, Robinson is in charge of music strategy and marketing, music publishing, rights management, and artist and label services. He started his career as an artist manager with Interstellar Music Services, forming the units Interstellar Music and Interstellar Publishing.

“Through my time in the industry, especially as an artist manager, I have witnessed first-hand how complicated it is for artists and their teams to ensure that their music is they are properly registered and they are benefiting from the value of their creation through the right of licensing opportunities. Robinson said.

“The changing dynamics of the industry today means that artists – yes – have more choice and autonomy over how they can release and manage their music. We want to support this by providing professional music rights management that allows them to maximize their creative value.”

Andy Robinson

“The changing dynamics of the industry today means that artists – yes – have more choice and autonomy over how they can release and manage their music. We want to support this by providing professional music rights management that allows them to maximize the value of their creativity without having to give up any ownership rights to their work. .”

Meanwhile, Stockdale is an asset manager with 13 years of experience in the global financial markets. Stockdale will also apply her expertise in ‘sabermetrics’ to the Interstellar Music.

“Coming from outside the industry has given me a unique perspective on the challenges that exist in how music is appreciated and compensated. Not only are artists all individuals, but so are the songs they create; every copyright has different requirements and should be treated as such,” Stockdale said.

“As an asset manager, my role is to optimize the opportunities for the music we are honored to represent, rather than simply telling artists to make more money, try harder or change their process.”

Stockdale added: “The opportunity for music is huge and I believe it’s time to work harder and think creatively about how to bring music in on behalf of our clients. Creators do their job, then we have to find opportunities for their music, whatever their individual sound may be. That is the mission of Interstellar.”

Former Kobalt CEO David Wille has over 30 years of experience in the music industry working for major independent and record labels, music publishers, advertising agencies, global brands demand and technology startups.

At Kobalt, Wille spent 5 years building an award-winning sync team. Prior to that, he held a senior role at Warner music, Atlantic and London Records, and founded and built the One Tree Music brand and sync company.

Commenting on his appointment, Wille said: “Andy and Sean had a clear vision of what they wanted to achieve with Interstellar and the focus on mission and culture was what ultimately motivated me to join. In today’s ecosystem, artists, musicians and copyright holders are working hard to serve a new set of needs and expectations, but there are also many missed opportunities; Music is bound by borders, and neither are we.”

Wille added: “I am driven by the opportunities available to support musicians and artists, and at the same time I want to use the knowledge and networks I have built up over the years to ultimately support support their creations”.

Interstellar Music has also hired Sarah Bargiela from BMG Rights Management, where she was the Senior Director of Income Tracking for 5 years, focusing on minor publishing. In that role, Bargiela manages a global portfolio of rights, tracking, identifying, and resolving revenue opportunities and inconsistencies through data manipulation.

The appointment took place about two months after Bargiela announced about LinkedIn that she will be leaving her role at BMG after 5 years.

Before joining BMG, she held many senior international roles at PRS for Music, where she worked for 10 years.

“The appeal of Interstellar, which is taking a successful and centralized forensic approach to metadata analysis and licensing, is the one-stop shop through which the team is driven to explore every opportunity and every opportunity. overlooked sources of data and income streams that artists can access.”

Sarah Bargiela

“For me, the appeal of Interstellar, which is using a forensic and success-focused approach to metadata analysis and licensing, is the one-stop shop through which the team is driven to discover every opportunity and every overlooked source of data and income that artists can access,” says Bargiela.

“Strategy to combine technology and human resources to leverage technology and support experienced individuals instead of replacing them, ensuring that all facilities are covered and there is no chance of being damaged. skip. I look forward to working with a team that understands the value of metadata and the need to remain agile in a rapidly evolving industry. Our goal was to build something special at Interstellar,” continued Bargiela.

Global Music Business