Crowdsourcing Club Chants: A Fan-Led Music Publishing Model Inspired by Kobalt & Madverse

Fans frustrated by lost value? Here’s a model that turns chants into funding for youth programmes and supporters’ trusts

Every West Ham fan knows the thrill of a terrace chant that becomes part of matchday DNA. Yet those songs—created, refined and amplified by supporters—rarely generate revenue that returns to the community that made them. Fragmented rights, unclear ownership and ad-hoc use by media and brands leave fan creations monetarily invisible. In 2026, with advances in global publishing administration (see Kobalt’s recent partnership with Madverse) and booming direct-to-fan subscription models (see Goalhanger’s success), there’s a practical, rights-respecting way to change that.

The idea in one line

Crowdsource, catalog, publish and license fan chants as a managed catalogue—collect royalties centrally through a trusted admin partner and route proceeds to youth programmes or the supporters’ trust. This article maps a concrete model inspired by the Kobalt model of global publishing administration, adapted for fan content and the modern creator economy.

Why now? 2026 trends that make this possible

• Global publishing admin reach: Partnerships like Kobalt & Madverse (Jan 2026) show independent publishing communities can get global royalty collection without giving up control.
• Direct subscriber revenue models: Companies like Goalhanger demonstrated that dedicated fan subscriptions can scale—250k+ subscribers shows fans will pay for exclusive matchday and community content.
• Better rights tech: AI-driven audio identification, Content ID improvements and blockchain-style ledgers (where used responsibly) make tracking and splitting micro-payments more accurate.
• Micro-licensing demand: Social creators, podcasts, livestreams and third-party merch need quick, low-friction licenses for chants and short phrases. See practical micro-event and clip-first workflows in Micro-Event Audio Blueprints (2026).

Core principles of the fan-led publishing model

1. Voluntary, opt-in contributor model: Fans submit chants and agree to a clear, simple contributor agreement that preserves moral rights while granting specified commercial rights to the publishing entity. For a creator-focused perspective on contracts and control, see Creative Control vs. Studio Resources.
2. Rights transparency: Every work is catalogued with contributor metadata, ISWC/ISRC registration where appropriate, and a visible revenue-share formula.
3. Non-exploitative licensing: Use licenses are tiered (non-commercial, creator micro-license, commercial sync/merch) with clear pricing and revenue routing to community causes.
4. Accountability: Quarterly reporting, public dashboards and independent audits ensure trust between contributors, the supporters’ trust and beneficiaries.

How it works: step-by-step

1) Establish the publishing vehicle

Create a transparent legal entity—either a publishing arm of the supporters’ trust or a dedicated not-for-profit publishing company governed by supporters. This entity owns the publishing administration rights (not necessarily the moral rights) on behalf of contributors.

• Governance: board with supporter reps, youth programme representatives and an independent music-publishing professional.
• Legal setup: clear jurisdiction, tax status (charitable or not-for-profit) and banking to accept cross-border royalties.

2) Contributor agreement (short, plain-English)

Design an agreement that answers fans’ top concerns: ownership, credit, revenue share and how contributions are used. Key clauses should include:

• Grant: contributor grants the publishing vehicle non-exclusive administration rights to register, license and collect for the work.
• Moral rights: contributors retain moral rights and receive author credit on usage.
• Revenue split: specify percentages (example below).
• Withdrawal: opt-out windows and clear terms for removal if a track is unused for a set period.

3) Cataloguing & metadata

Good metadata is the difference between collecting nothing and collecting global royalties. For each chant, gather:

• Title, alternate titles (phonetic)
• Contributor names, percentages
• Recording date, location (e.g., Upton Park archive)
• Use-case tags (matchday, chant, chorus, shout)
• Any underlying source (original melody or adaptation) — critical for clearance

For automated approaches to metadata extraction and DAM integrations, consider Automating Metadata Extraction with Gemini and Claude, which shows how to pull structured contributor and provenance data from uploads.

4) Clearance process for adapted melodies

Many chants use pre-existing tunes. To publish or license these commercially you must clear the original composition from its rights holder. If a chant is based on a public-domain tune, clearance is not needed, but always document provenance.

"If a chant uses another composer’s melody, treat it like a sampled composition. Either secure a license or classify vocal-only, non-commercial uses under an agreed fan-use policy." — Music publishing best practice

5) Admin partner selection

Work with a modern publishing administrator (a la Kobalt) to register works with PROs worldwide, collect digital performance and mechanical royalties, and handle sub-publishing in markets where the club’s fanbase is large (e.g., South Asia via Madverse/Kobalt-style partnerships).

• Look for: global collection reach, transparency portal, competitive admin fee (10–15% typical for small catalogues), and experience with short-form and user-generated content.
• Negotiation tip: retain non-exclusive admin rights so contributors can pursue other opportunities. A concise admin shortlist and tools checklist can be helpful — see a practical tools roundup for local organising that includes admin and platform tooling considerations.

6) Licensing tiers and pricing

Create simple, public license options:

• Fan Use (free): non-commercial sharing by fans on personal profiles, with attribution required.
• Creator Micro-License (£5–£25): for social creators and podcasters; automated checkout and instant license delivery. For ideas on building small, automated licensing and creator checkout flows, see case studies in Micro Apps Case Studies.
• Commercial Sync/Merch License (negotiated): for brands, broadcasters and official club merchandise—higher fees with proportional revenue share for contributors and the trust.

Revenue routing: a practical split

Be explicit so contributors and supporters know how money flows. Here’s a practical, rights-respecting template used by many community catalogues in 2026:

• 50% to contributors (split among songwriters/composers by agreed percentages)
• 30% to youth programmes/supporters’ trust (program funding, scholarships, community projects)
• 10% admin & collection costs (to publishing admin and platform fees)
• 10% community reserve (reinvestment, micro-grants, promotion)

Example: a chant that earns £1,000 in a quarter would allocate £500 to the creators, £300 to youth programmes, £100 to cover admin and collection fees, and £100 to community projects. All splits are transparent on the public portal.

Monetization channels to prioritise in 2026

1. Streaming & mechanical royalties: when chants are recorded and distributed on streaming platforms, register them and claim mechanicals.
2. Performance royalties: matchday broadcasts, radio, and TV use—collect via PROs and admin partners.
3. Sync licenses: for club promos, documentaries, highlight reels and advertiser campaigns.
4. Micro-licensing for creators: automated low-cost licenses for TikTok, YouTube, Twitch and podcasts.
5. Merch & product licensing: chants used on shirts, scarves or novelty merchandise with revenue shares and clearance. Consider the advanced revenue strategies used by concessions and event operators in Advanced Revenue Strategies for Concession Operators (2026).
6. Subscriptions & membership content: premium members get exclusive versions, remixes and early access (modeled on subscriber-first companies).

Leverage the subscription economy

Use supporters’ subscription revenue to underwrite rights administration and promotion. Case study inspiration: Goalhanger’s subscriber model (2026) shows fans will pay for early access, ad-free content and community perks—apply this to exclusive chant recordings, behind-the-scenes creation sessions and live-streamed chorus rehearsals. For creator monetization patterns and platform-first monetisation options, see How Bluesky’s Cashtags & LIVE Badges Open New Creator Monetization Paths.

Protecting rights and policing misuse

Automation and community reporting are both needed. In 2026, AI-driven detection tools are mature enough to identify chant usage at scale; pair them with a community-run enforcement policy:

• Automate Content ID/identification across YouTube/TikTok and offer monetization or take-down options.
• Issue standardized license notices for infringing commercial use and fast-track paid licensing before legal escalation.
• Offer amnesty periods for creators to license retroactively at reduced rates.

Copyright sensitivities: what to avoid

Some chants borrow melodies still under copyright. Publishing or licensing those without clearance risks takedowns or legal disputes. Practical rules:

• Do not commercially exploit chants that clearly use protected melodies until you secure clearance.
• If a chant is purely vocal and unique, document its origin and register it immediately.
• When in doubt, tag chant status as "pending clearance" and allow non-commercial fan sharing only.

Governance and transparency

Trust is the currency of a community catalogue. Implement:

• Quarterly financial statements published on the portal.
• Contributor dashboards with real-time play and revenue data. For technical patterns that help deliver responsive dashboards and real-time reporting, see Hybrid Edge Workflows for Productivity Tools.
• Annual external audit and a public impact report showing funds routed to youth programmes.
• Community voting on allocation of the community reserve (e.g., matchday sound projects, training bursaries).

Partnership opportunities

This model benefits multiple stakeholders:

• The club: access to cleared anthem catalogue for official use, community goodwill and new revenue sources.
• Supporters’ trust/youth programmes: new, recurring funding streams for development and outreach.
• Publishers & admin partners: rights to manage a growing, engaged catalogue and demonstrate innovative client work (for example, Kobalt-style partners).
• Brands & broadcasters: quick access to authentic fan audio for campaigns with responsible licensing. For onboarding payments, royalties and IP workflows when producing for platforms, see Onboarding Wallets for Broadcasters.

Practical rollout plan (90-day pilot)

1. Form pilot committee: supporters’ trust reps, a publishing advisor, three fan contributors (days 0–7).
2. Solicit chants & clearances: call for submissions with simple upload tool and metadata form (days 8–30). Leverage micro-app workflows and simple upload portals highlighted in Micro Apps Case Studies.
3. Catalogue & register: vet submissions, flag clearance needs, register eligible works with a publishing admin partner (days 31–60).
4. Launch micro-license market & subscription perk: enable small licenses and a subscription tier with exclusive chant content (days 61–90). For micro-event and API-driven licensing ideas, refer to Micro-Event Audio Blueprints.

Sample contributor revenue scenario

Imagine 100 chants uploaded in the pilot. The catalogue generates £20,000 in year one via micro-licenses, sync and subscription uplifts. Using the 50/30/10/10 split:

• £10,000 to contributors (distributed per metadata percentages)
• £6,000 to youth programmes/supporters’ trust
• £2,000 to admin costs (covered partly by subscriptions)
• £2,000 to community reserve

This scalable model grows with better cataloguing, more clearances and wider platform reach.

Lessons from industry: what to copy from Kobalt & others

• Global admin partnerships: Kobalt’s model shows value in plugging local catalogues into a global collection network—this avoids lost royalties in far-flung markets.
• Transparency & dashboards: top publishers invest in contributor-facing portals; fans expect the same visibility as creators in 2026.
• Subscription-first community monetization: emulate Goalhanger’s paid-membership perks to underwrite rights administration and create repeatable revenue.

Risks and mitigation

• Copyright disputes: mitigate with strict clearance workflows and legal advice on adapted tunes.
• Administrative costs outpacing revenue: start lean with micro-licensing automation and subscription revenue to cover admin fees.
• Community trust erosion: build open reporting, regular Q&A sessions and contributor voting mechanisms. Keep an eye on wider regulatory and platform changes such as Ofcom and privacy updates (UK, 2026) that can affect broadcast and rights reporting.

Advanced strategies for scale (2026+)

• API-driven micro-licensing: integrate with content platforms so creators can license chant snippets at checkout. See micro-event tooling inspiration in Micro-Event Audio Blueprints.
• Localized sub-publishing: partner with regional admins (the Madverse example) to capture royalties in markets with large diasporas. Practical local admin choices are covered in broader tooling roundups like Tools That Make Local Organizing Feel Effortless.
• Creator collaborations: commission remixes with alumni artists and release them exclusively to subscribers to boost streams and mechanicals.
• Impact bonds: offer naming rights or sponsored campaigns where brands underwrite youth programmes in return for limited commercial usage of select chants. For event and concession revenue models that parallel branded underwriting, see Advanced Revenue Strategies for Concession Operators (2026).

Final checklist: launch-ready items

• Legal entity and bank account set up
• Short, plain-English contributor agreement
• Metadata template and upload portal
• Publishing admin partner shortlist and contract
• Micro-license storefront and subscription offering
• Clearance policy for adapted melodies
• Transparency dashboard & audit plan

Why this matters for West Ham songs and supporters

West Ham’s chants are more than noise; they’re heritage. A rights-respecting publishing model lets the fans who create and sustain this heritage benefit financially while strengthening the community through youth programmes and the supporters’ trust. It turns intangible culture into tangible impact—honouring the terrace and funding the next generation of fans.

Call to action

If you’re a West Ham supporter ready to turn chants into change, join the pilot. Submit a chant, volunteer for the pilot committee, or back a supporters’ trust initiative to become a founding member.

Sign up at westham.live/chant-pilot to submit your recording and get the contributor agreement. If you’re a music admin or brand interested in partnership, contact the pilot team to explore sub-publishing or sponsorship opportunities. Let’s make the terrace pay the future forward.

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