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Kobalt signs with Spotify for AI-powered fan-made covers and remixes

Kobalt announced a deal with Spotify for the AI covers and remixes tool, the first for a publisher outside Universal. Spotify says songwriters get an additional income source.

STOCKHOLM, August 13, 2026 Kobalt announced on August 13, 2026 a licensing agreement with Spotify for its AI-powered tool for fan-made covers and remixes. Financial terms were not disclosed.1

Terms of the deal

It is Spotify's first deal for the tool with a publisher outside Universal. Spotify says the tool will give participating songwriters an additional income source, but the announcement does not explain how participation will work or how songs with multiple writers and publishers will be handled.1 Kobalt also signed a multi-year US licensing deal with Spotify on August 13, 2025.1

The public record on this agreement is limited to the announcement and the press coverage cited below. The price is listed here as: Undisclosed. The status shown, Signed, reflects the most recent reporting available on October 22, 2026, and any later amendments are not captured.

Announcements describe a headline structure only. Scope of the license, term, exclusivity, audit rights, deletion obligations and payment timing are set in the contract, and they decide how much the headline is worth in practice.

Background

Kobalt's separate ElevenLabs deal requires Kobalt to control 100 percent of a composition's mechanical rights for it to be eligible, which shows how split ownership limits what can be licensed.1

What it means for data sellers

Sellers with fragmented ownership should map who controls each right before signing. Clear title is a prerequisite for AI licensing and affects how much of a catalog can be monetized.

A seller comparing this deal with its own situation should ask what the buyer actually receives: raw data, a license to train, a license to display, or a right to build a product. Each is priced differently, and the answer should be written into the agreement rather than inferred from a press release.

How the deal came together

  1. Universal and Merlin. Universal signed in May 2026 and Merlin on August 4.
  2. Publisher agreement. Kobalt announced its agreement on August 13, 2026.
  3. Principles. Kobalt cited consent, credit and compensation.
  4. Open questions. How multi-writer songs will be handled was not explained.

Takeaways for companies with data

  • Publishers face complexity when songs have multiple writers and owners.
  • Named principles can be useful anchors in later disputes.
  • Separate deals with one buyer, such as Kobalt's ElevenLabs terms, can have different eligibility rules.

Sources

Every numbered reference above points to an entry here. Figures come from these pages as of the date shown at the top of the article. Where a source reports a number it got from unnamed people, the text says so.

  1. After Universal and Merlin deals, Spotify inks agreement with Kobalt for AI-powered fan-made covers and remixes (Music Business Worldwide, August 2026)

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About the AI Data Deal Tracker

SellYourAIData tracks publicly reported sales and licenses of data to AI companies, with the price, terms and sources for each. Entries are checked against public reporting and updated as deals change. SellYourAIData was not involved in this deal. To ask what your company's data could sell for, get a free valuation. To report a deal, contact us.