AlphaTheta announces significant progress with its KUVO powered by DJ Monitor initiative

Nightclubs globally pay over €400 million* each year to Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) for music rights so DJs and artists can play music at their events. If setlists are not submitted, CMOs don’t know what music has been played. Incomplete information can lead to significant delays to creators being paid for the use of their music, and in some cases not being paid at all.

This is about to change. With ongoing successful service pilots for PRS for Music & PPL in the UK, BUMA in the Netherlands, and APRA AMCOS/PPCA in Australia, the KUVO powered by DJ Monitor service has demonstrated unparalleled technology for identifying the music played in clubs to enable more accurate royalty payments for electronic music creators and rightsholders.

The service enables DJs to support music creators by simply playing their tracks. And importantly, it respects DJ setlist privacy, as no details of who played which songs are captured by the technology, and no playlists are publicised.

What DJ’s are saying

Jaguar (DJ) said: “The KUVO powered by DJ Monitor project and logging tracklists is so important to supporting artists and keeping the scene alive. Not enough DJs and artists are aware of the benefits of logging tracklists. This is something I’m passionate about – artists deserve to get paid for their work, for that sick techno tune played in a club, for that earwormy remix heard at a festival! In a world where it’s increasingly difficult to make money off music and the arts, I think KUVO could be a game-changer for helping artists be more sustainable. Let’s get it in every club!!”

Boris Brejcha (DJ/Producer) said: “This technology aims to support electronic music creators, so it gets my full support. I play only my tracks at shows, but I know my music is also played by many other DJs in clubs all over the world, so I welcome this progress towards automated reporting for royalty purposes.”

Dave Seaman (DJ/Producer) said: “I’m a keen supporter of tech that helps DJs to support the producers making the music we spin and depend on. It’s the lifeblood of the scene, but getting increasingly harder to earn a living from. It’s good to see AlphaTheta making this process much more operable. Hopefully, we’ll now see more clubs adopt this technology and ensure producers get the remuneration they deserve.”

Alan Fitzpatrick (DJ/Producer) said: “I’d love to see this technology deployed in more clubs to help support the producers of the music DJs play.” 

Sirus Hood (DJ/Producer) said: “It’s great to know that by DJing, we can contribute to music creators getting their royalties. It’s a simple way to appreciate the artists who make our sets possible.” 

Venues also benefit by using KUVO powered by DJ Monitor in the form of music insights and extended warranties on their CDJ-3000 units. There is no cost for venues to participate and it does not affect the license fees they pay to CMOs for music. 

What venues are saying

James Newmarch, FOLD, Technical Manager (UK Venue) said: “KUVO powered by DJ Monitor has been really useful for us at FOLD. KUVO Care has been extremely important in keeping our fleet of CDJ-3000 units operational due to the harsh environment they are used in. Without this, we would have faced huge repair bills which would have been very challenging for the venue. The analytics and insights into popular tracks and artists is also very interesting and allows us to let certain artists know when their tracks are being played often in the club.”

Sophie Kollmorgen, Home The Venue and ARQ By Home (Australia Venue) said: “We are strong supporters of ensuring the fees we pay for music use are distributed more accurately to the electronic music creators who actually get played in our venues. KUVO powered by DJ Monitor is an important step in addressing this problem and we encourage other venues to get involved to support our community.”

Jasper Löwik, Founder, The Other Side (Amsterdam NL Venue) said: “At The Other Side, we believe music drives our community. Supporting initiatives like KUVO powered by DJ Monitor ensure the artists behind the tracks we enjoy are paid fairly. By adopting technology that respects privacy and supports creators, we can help build a more sustainable future for electronic music.”

The industry has previously struggled to find an effective and scalable solution to ensure that the money from license fees which clubs already pay to Collection Societies/CMOs for music use actually goes to the right artists and rightsholders. Now there is a proven solution that provides benefits to everyone involved, we plan to expand into many more territories and venues over the coming months and years. 

How the tech works

KUVO powered by DJ Monitor brings together the strengths of Music Recognition Technology and Direct Metadata Capture technology.

Direct Metadata Capture (DMC): Track, artist name, and other metadata is captured when music is played through a set-up where Pioneer DJ CDJ-3000 or CDJ-2000 units are present.

Music Recognition Technology (MRT): Music identification process where an encrypted fingerprint of the audio in a performance is compared to a database of music tracks.

More questions about KUVO powered by DJ Monitor? Visit the official website here

*€400m figure derived from ‘CISAC 2023 Global Collections report’ + ‘IFPI Global Music Report 2024’

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