Ann Tausis joins Kobalt Neighbouring Rights as Managing Director

Joins after several years as a director at Universal Publishing Group
Brings considerable rights collection and distributing experience to fast-developing field of Neighbouring Rights

Ann Tausis has joined Kobalt Neighbouring Rights (KNR) as Managing Director.

In her new London-based role, which begins 1st June, her initial objectives will include streamlining day-to-day operations, building up KNR’s staffing across the world and helping lead the Neighbouring Rights industry at a policy level.

Tausis brings years of collection rights management expertise to a young, fast-growing company that is successfully negotiating the jungle of Neighbouring Rights on behalf of its select artist roster. Most recently, she was Director of European Regional Administration at Universal Music Publishing, having previously held the position of Global Copyright Director from 2005-2012. She brings 20 years of experience in rights management administration, particularly in registration of rights.

KNR has amassed a premier client roster in just over a year since launching at MIDEM in 2012. It provides a bespoke, transparent service, backed up by the critically-acclaimed Kobalt Music Group client portal technology. KNR operates in all of the key territories where Neighbouring Rights revenues are collected. IFPI’s 2013 Recording Industry in Numbers Report estimates that global Neighbouring Rights are worth an estimated €735 million a year.

Said Hans Van Berkel, Executive Chairman of KNR and one of the pioneers in the field: “Ann brings fantastic experience from her time at Universal, and PolyGram before that, to the role. Her stability and clarity of vision gained across the publishing sector will stand her in great stead in the rapidly developing sphere of Neighbouring Rights, where complex distribution policies and qualifying criteria vary widely from society to society in a patchwork of countries covered by relevant treaties.”

Said Ann: “I am delighted to be joining a thriving, industry-leading company that operates in an area of the recordings business that is developing fast, both at a commercial and at a policy level. Opportunities abound for an efficient global Neighbouring Rights agency, and it is testament to KNR that it has been able to attract the cream of the crop in terms of clients in such a short space of time.”

Tausis takes the mantle from Sabine Jones, Managing Director from KNR’s launch, who is to pursue a consultancy career.

Neighbouring Rights are often overshadowed by the scale and sophistication of the music publishing industry, but they are in many cases no less lucrative for rights holders. Significant sums are collected by societies but labyrinthine bureaucracy can mean it is difficult to actually get paid. Part of KNR’s bespoke service for clients includes the use of secondary data to check the accuracy of reporting by collecting societies.

Although a separate limited company, KNR operates as part of the Kobalt Music Group, making use of its considerable infrastructure including the powerful new interactive client portal, and sharing the ethos of transparency and timeliness in payments to clients. Recent signings to KNR include Ellie Goulding, Tom Odell, Gotye and the estate of Michael Jackson.

Notes to Editors

Ann Tausis biography

Ann Tausis began her music career at Swedish performing rights society, STIM in 1988 and then joined local publisher Sweden Music in 1989 as Copyright & Royalty Assistant. She moved to London in 1996 to join PolyGram Publishing’s international operation as International Copyright Manager, where she played a vital part in the

integration of the MCA and Rondor publishing catalogues. She held a key role within Universal Music Publishing’s centralised structure as Global Copyright Director between 2005 and 2012. Her most recent role was as Director, European Regional Administration, also at Universal. In these roles, Ann has played an integral part in building a strong centralised administration organisation with a focus on streamlining and improving processes to ensure more efficient copyright registration and royalty collections.

About Kobalt Neighbouring Rights

Kobalt Neighbouring Rights (KNR) offers a global service for artists and independent labels to collect their Neighbouring Rights income from the various relevant collecting societies around the world. KNR was started in 2011, and launched at MIDEM 2012 by Hans Van Berkel, and benefits from his inside knowledge and international relationships built up over 20 years of record label experience at Polygram and 18 years in the Neighbouring Rights field

KNR prides itself on its bespoke, robust service to clients, drawing on secondary data to test reporting by collecting societies and negotiating the complex distribution policies and qualifying criteria in order to maximise revenues to artists. By making use of the infrastructure and back office of the critically-acclaimed Kobalt Music Group, KNR is able to build a more accurate picture of revenues owed.as Managing Director of Dutch Neighbouring Rights organisation SENA.

KNR represents, amongst others, Bob Dylan, Björk, Ellie Goulding, Jake Bugg, Gotye and the estate of Michael Jackson.

Based in London, Kobalt Neighbouring Rights is a separate limited company operating as part of the Kobalt Music Group, and embraces the wider group’s ethos of transparency and timeliness of payments to clients who are guaranteed payment within 31 days after the end of the month in which money is received.