Killphonic Rights has signed Rough Trade Publishing, Symphonic Distribution, and Half Tone, the publishing arm of Mad Decent, for worldwide publishing administration.
The agreements expand Killphonic’s direct global royalty collection network, which the company has built to operate without traditional sub-publishers in individual territories. The model is designed to reduce intermediaries between rightsholders and their revenue, while increasing transparency and accelerating payments.
The move positions Killphonic as an independent alternative for publishers seeking global infrastructure outside major corporate ownership. It follows consolidation in publishing administration, including Primary Wave‘s acquisition of Kobalt‘s publishing administration business and Downtown Music Holdings becoming part of the Universal Music Group ecosystem.
Caleb Shreve, CEO of Killphonic, said:
For decades, international publishing administration has relied on networks of sub-publishers in individual territories, with each additional layer creating another handoff between the songwriter and their royalties. We’ve built Killphonic around direct collections so our partners don’t need that traditional network of sub-publishers. We can collect as close to the source as possible, giving publishers and songwriters greater transparency into where their money is coming from and getting it to them more efficiently.
