A new rights management company called Interstellar Music Services has been launched with two high-profile appointments from Kobalt Music Publishing and BMG Rights Management.
David Wille, former SVP of Kobalt Music Publishing, will join Interstellar as global head of sync and brand partnerships, and Sarah Bargiela, former senior manager of Income Tracking at BMG, will serve as head of copyrights and royalties.
Founded by artist manager Andy Robinson and “cross-asset speculator” Sean Stockdale, UK-based Interstellar is a music rights management company “established for artists, songwriters and creators”. It is explained that
The company claims it is “focused on maximizing the value and revenue potential of music rights by taking a forensic, pragmatic, and bespoke approach to metadata.” doing. analysis, distribution, publication management, neighboring rights, and music licensing.”
The company was founded by Robinson and Stockdale. The two first met during his COVID-19 pandemic and conceived the company together during lockdown in Barcelona.
With over 15 years of experience in the music industry, Robinson is responsible for music marketing and strategy, music publishing, rights management, and artist and label services.Start your career as an artist managerEstablished the units Interstellar Music Services, Interstellar Music and Interstellar Publishing.
“During my time in this industry, especially as an artist manager, I realized how complex it is for artists and their teams to ensure that their music is registered correctly and that they are profiting from the value of their work through rights. I’ve seen it first hand. The licensing opportunity. It shouldn’t be too much of a burden,” Robinson said.
“Changing industry dynamics mean that artists have more choice and autonomy over how they release and manage their music. We want to support this by providing a professional music rights management service that enables
Andy Robinson
“Changing industry dynamics mean that artists have more choice and autonomy over how they release and manage their music. We want to support this by providing a professional music rights management service that maximizes the value of
Stockdale, on the other hand, is an asset manager with 13 years of experience in the global financial markets. Stockdale also applies its “sabermetrics” expertise to Interstellar Music.
“Coming from outside the industry has given me a unique perspective on the challenges of how music is valued and compensated. The same goes for songs you do.Every copyright has different requirements and should be treated as such,” Stockdale said.
“As a property manager, it is my role to optimize the musical opportunities we are honored to represent and simply encourage artists to do more, work harder, or change the process. I’m not asking you to do something like that.”
Stockdale adds: Creators play their part, and it’s up to us to find opportunities for their music, whatever their individual sound. That is the mission of Interstellar. “
A former Kobalt executive, David Wille has over 30 years of experience in the music industry, having worked with major and independent record labels, music publishers, advertising agencies, global brands and tech start-ups.
At Kobalt, Wille spent five years building an award-winning sync team. Prior to that, he held senior positions at Warner Music, Atlantic and London Records, where he co-founded and established his agency One Tree Music.
Commenting on his appointment, Will said: In today’s ecosystem, artists, songwriters, and rights holders struggle to meet a new set of demands and expectations, but there are also many overlooked opportunities. Music knows no borders.
“I am driven by the opportunity to support songwriters and artists and want to leverage the knowledge and networks I have built over the years to ultimately support the value of their work.” Will added.
Interstellar Music hired Sarah Bargiela from BMG Rights Management as Senior Income Tracking Manager for five years to focus on sub-publishing. In that role, Bargiela managed her global portfolio of rights and tracked, identified and addressed revenue opportunities and inconsistencies through data manipulation.
The appointment comes nearly two months after Bargiela announced on LinkedIn that he would be stepping down from his role at BMG after five years.
Prior to joining BMG, he spent 10 years at PRS for Music in various senior international positions.
“The appeal of Interstellar, which employs a successful forensic approach to metadata analysis and licensing, is that the team explores every opportunity artists have access to and all overlooked data sources and revenue streams. It’s the boutique element that motivates us to do it.”
Sarah Bargera
“For me, the appeal of Interstellar is the boutique element, which employs a success-focused, forensic approach to metadata analysis and licensing, which allows the team to see every opportunity accessible to artists and overlooked. It motivates me to explore all the data sources and revenue streams that are available,” says Bargera.
“Our strategy of combining technology and human resources to leverage technology and augmenting rather than replacing experienced individuals ensures that all bases are covered and opportunities are not missed. “We look forward to working with a team that understands the need to remain agile in an evolving industry. Our goal is to create something special with Interstellar.” Bargera continued.
