Create Music Group has acquired a minority stake in DistroKid, MBW can reveal.
Los Angeles-based Create – which is backed by Flexpoint Ford and Ares – made the investment earlier this year.
Create’s investment was executed adjacent to CVC Capital Partners’ deal to acquire a majority stake in DistroKid, which closed in Q3.
Create CEO and co-founder Jonathan Strauss confirmed his firm’s investment in DistroKid to MBW today (October 28), after our sources tipped us off about the transaction.
Strauss told MBW in a statement: “Create is home to some of the world’s largest and most storied independent record labels and artists, and DistroKid is where countless artists begin their careers.
“We’re excited to partner with CVC as a minority investor in the company and to support its continued growth.”
The move is the latest in a string of investments and/or acquisitions from Create.
Since March 2025, Create has acquired firms including Berlin-based label group !K7 Music, electronic label Monstercat, and UK dance music company Cr2, in addition to buying the deadmau5 and Mau5trap Records catalogs.
And in February 2026, Create agreed to invest more than $300 million in Vancouver-headquartered Nettwerk Music Group.
CVC announced its intention to acquire a majority stake in DistroKid via its CVC Capital Partners IX fund in July.
DistroKid’s longtime investor, Insight Partners, retains a “significant minority stake” in the company, according to that announcement.
Phil Bauer continues to lead DistroKid as President.
“We’ve been incredibly impressed by what Phil and the entire DistroKid team have built,” said Sebastian Künne, a Partner at CVC Capital Partners, in July.
“DistroKid has earned the trust of millions of artists by staying focused on what they need most. We look forward to partnering with Phil and his team, drawing on our experience across music, entertainment and consumer subscription businesses to help DistroKid support the next generation of artists around the world.”
Terms of the CVC deal were not disclosed.
MBW reported in January that DistroKid was holding talks with potential buyers, with a figure of USD $2 billion being discussed at the time.
Flexpoint Ford led a $165 million investment round in Create in June 2024, which valued the company at $1 billion.
In March, Create completed a funding round of more than $450 million in new equity and debt capital, at a valuation of $2.2 billion.
Following that round, Create remained majority-owned by its founders, with Ares Management, 2 Mile, and Flexpoint Ford each holding minority stakes.
Will Smith, Create’s Chief Financial Officer, said at the time that the new capital would “support continued acquisitions, strategic investments, technology development and global expansion.”
DistroKid was founded by Philip Kaplan in 2013 and is based in New York.
Kaplan moved from CEO to Chairman in January 2024, with Bauer taking over day-to-day leadership.
The company claims that it distributes roughly 40% of all new music worldwide.
DistroKid is currently being sued by Universal Music Group.
In a complaint filed in the US District Court for the District of Delaware on September 15, UMG alleges that “DistroKid is engaged in both deceptive trade practices and blatant copyright infringement.”
The complaint further alleges that DistroKid is “flooding platforms with AI-generated ‘slop’ that siphons revenue and listeners from the legitimate artists and rightsholders.”
DistroKid’s deadline to respond to the complaint is December 4.Music Business Worldwide