Create Music Group has acquired a majority interest in The Nations, a portfolio of curated music YouTube channels that reaches a collective audience of more than 60 million people.
The deal also includes the acquisition of the independent record label Lowly. According to Create, Lowly artists have have generated over 200 million global streams in the last 12 months across DSP’s.
The Nations was founded as a single YouTube channel, Trap Nation, in 2012 by Andre Benz when he was 15 years old. Trap Nation has become one of YouTube’s most popular curation channels for electronic music on the platform. After Trap Nation, Benz launched verticals in other genres, including Chill, Hip-Hop and Latin.
The Nations and Lowly. will continue to operate under the direction of Burke and Benz. The deal also creates a future joint venture company that will be focused on Web3, including NFTs, the metaverse and gaming.
Lowly. was founded in 2017 and is led by Benz Media President Creighton Burke. The label has played a role in developing the careers of artists such as Said The Sky, Arrested Youth, Inzo, Des Rocs, Greyson Chance, William Black and Maya Delilah.
The label is expected to be able to leverage Create’s owned and operated audience of 400 million to promote its artists on multiple platforms, including TikTok, YouTube, Snap and Instagram, says Create.
In January of this year, Create also expanded its social media marketing capabilities by acquiring content management and influencer marketing agency, VRTCL.
The news followed Create’s acquisition of Mumbai-based Nirvana Digital in November 2021.
“Create and The Nations were both launched by harnessing the power of YouTube to break artists.”
Jonathan Strauss, Create Music Group
Jonathan Strauss, Founder and CEO of Create Music Group, said: “Create and The Nations were both launched by harnessing the power of Youtube to break artists.
“Create accomplished this through technology while The Nations did it through curation and brand building. Together we are unstoppable.”
Alexandre Williams, Co-Founder and COO of Create said: “This acquisition not only substantially adds to our direct global audience, but also brings The Nations founder, Andre Benz, President Creighton Burke, and a deep bench of talent from one of the most groundbreaking curation companies in the business into the Create Music Group fold.
“We are particularly excited about Lowly. whose artists will now have direct access to our owned audience of 400 million people.
“We can’t wait to get started.”
“To be a leader requires this exploration and further push the envelope and be the modern-day music brand that others speak to being.”
Andre Benz
Andre Benz, said: “Witnessing the growth of Web3 and NFTs, we knew there was not only an opportunity but a responsibility to our artists, partners and team to always evolve, explore and incorporate new models.
“To be a leader requires this exploration and further push the envelope and be the modern-day music brand that others speak to being.
“That is why we are excited to announce a formal partnership and collaboration between Create Music Group and Benz Media Group in order to head up all Web3 & NFT initiatives within a shared ecosystem between both companies.”
“We have a very strong team at Lowly and The Nations.”
Creighton Burke, The Nations and Lowly.
Creighton Burke, co-founder and President of The Nations and Lowly., added: “After numerous conversations with Jonathan and Alex, it was clear we are a perfect match and both have some exciting things in the pipeline.
“We have a very strong team at Lowly and The Nations, which is led by music veteran, Vice President Sarah Landy and Nations head of programming Brandon De Oliveira.
“By joining the Create family, Lowly. artists now have access to one of the most powerful promotional vehicles in the music industry.”
