Create Music Group
Chicago-based private equity firm Flexpoint Ford said on Tuesday that it invested $165 million in Create Music Group in a funding round that a source said values Create as worth $1 billion. Create plans to use the money to scale operations, expand services and fund acquisitions, said CEO & founder Jonathan Strauss. “Flexpoint’s investment will […]
Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign‘s collaborative album Vultures 1 moved between distribution companies on Thursday (Feb. 15), starting the day with FUGA and then moving over to Label Engine.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Label Engine, a distribution company acquired by Create Music Group in 2015, had previously put out the two lead singles from Vultures 1. Confusingly, however, the album then arrived via FUGA.
A FUGA spokesperson told Billboard on Thursday that “a long-standing FUGA client delivered the album Vultures 1 through the platform’s automated processes, violating our service agreement.” As a result, the company said it planned “to remove Vultures 1 from our systems.” This created some turbulence for West’s release, which was briefly pulled off Apple Music and iTunes before it reappeared.
Trending on Billboard
The album’s new home, Label Engine, was founded by Rich Billis; in 2022, he said that “over 1,500 labels and a total of over 90,000 artists” use his company for distribution.
Billis said the company built its client base in part because “we had a very low [distribution] rate which was 15%, compared to 25% (what a lot of other distributors were charging).”
“We also provided free use of all the accounting and promotion tools I had created,” he continued. “That seemed to do very well. We quickly acquired customers and grew quite quickly in the upcoming years. From there, we got purchased by Create Music Group, which was a client of ours for a year or so. That’s when I took over as CTO of Create Music Group.”
On Wednesday, Spotify also removed the song “Good (Don’t Die)” from Vultures 1 after Donna Summer‘s estate complained it interpolated the singer’s work without permission, as did Amazon Music and Apple Music later, too.
But despite the hiccups around the new album release, listeners continue to seek it out. The song “Carnival” is No. 1 on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs Global chart, picking up nearly 6 million daily streams on the service. “Burn” and “FUK SUMN” are also in the top 20.
Jermaine Dupri‘s legendary So So Def Recordings has signed a multi-year agreement with Create Music Group that encompasses all of the label’s recordings, publishing and back catalog. In addition, Dupri will supervise the launch of new artists and music under the partnership and double as Create Music Group’s the newly appointed creative director.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Concurrent with his new appointment, Dupri will segue from CEO of So So Def Recordings to its chairman & founder. He, in turn, has named Bryan Patrick Franklin to replace him as CEO and Joe Romulus Esq. as head of legal business affairs. In his role as creative director for Create Music Group, Dupri will work on “expanding the company’s impact on the cross-section between music and culture,” as noted in the press release announcing the news.
Dupri, a Grammy-winning producer and member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, stated in the release, “I have been looking for a home for the entire So So Def brand so I can continue to do what I started.” Last year, So So Def celebrated its 30th anniversary.
Jonathan Strauss, CEO & founder of Create Music Group, commented, “Jermaine has been one of the most successful and impactful forces in music for the last three decades. We are honored that he and his team have decided to partner with us for both his catalog and future output.”
Dupri’s talent as a songwriter-producer is behind such platinum and multi-platinum songs as Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together” (which won him the Grammy for best R&B song), Usher’s “Nice & Slow,” Xscape’s “Just Kickin’ It” and his own “Money Ain’t a Thang” featuring Jay-Z. He also produced the hits “Burn” and “Confessions Part II,” from Usher’s diamond-certified Confessions album. Upon founding So So Def Recordings in 1993, Dupri helmed a roster of R&B/hip-hop and pop hitmakers that included Xscape, Da Brat, Jagged Edge and Anthony Hamilton. A DJ and the second rapper after Jay-Z to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Dupri also established the plant-based ice cream alternative JD’s Vegan.
Create Music Group was founded in 2015. The Hollywood-based data-driven media and technology firm has worked with stars and global brands such as Jennifer Lopez, Marshmello and PepsiCo. Among the media networks that Create Music Group operates are the independent music distribution platform Label Engine and the Gen Z-focused digital entertainment and marketing agency Flighthouse.
-
Pages