B2StreamingOct 30, 2026By Lockgroove

Create Music Group confirms a minority stake in DistroKid

The investment sits alongside CVC's majority takeover of the indie distributor, which is also fighting a lawsuit from Universal Music Group.

Create Music Group owns a minority stake in DistroKid, the distributor that helps independent artists get their music onto Spotify, Apple Music and other streaming services. Create CEO Jonathan Strauss confirmed the investment to Music Business Worldwide, which reported it on October 28.

The deal was made alongside private equity firm CVC Capital Partners' purchase of a majority stake in DistroKid. CVC announced that deal in July, and it closed in the third quarter. DistroKid's long-time backer Insight Partners keeps a significant minority stake.

Financial terms of Create's investment were not disclosed, and reports differ on when the money changed hands; some say it happened earlier in the year and was only now made public.

Create, a Los Angeles-based music distribution and label services company, remains majority-owned by its founders, with Ares Management, 2 Mile and Flexpoint Ford holding minority stakes. DistroKid is currently being sued by Universal Music Group.

The Lockgroove take

A rival distributor now owns a piece of DistroKid

This is the odd part of the story: Create and DistroKid work in overlapping businesses. Both help artists and labels get music onto streaming services and collect the money. Owning part of a company you partly compete with is not unusual in finance, but it shows how much the people running the business side of streaming now see distribution as one big market to consolidate.

For the millions of independent artists who use DistroKid, nothing changes today. The bigger question is direction. With private equity in control, a sector rival on the cap table and a Universal lawsuit hanging over it, DistroKid's low-cost, upload-anything model is under pressure from several sides at once. Artists should watch for changes to pricing and to which uploads the service accepts.

Put this on

01
Pink Floyd, "Have a Cigar" (Wish You Were Here, 1975)
Still the sharpest song about the business people deciding what music is worth.
Play on Apple Music
02
Sex Pistols, "EMI" (Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, 1977)
A band's revenge on the company that signed and dropped them, for a week of label-deal news.
Play on Apple Music
03
The Beatles, "Taxman" (Revolver, 1966)
A reminder that musicians have always watched closely who takes a cut.
Play on Apple Music

SourcesMusic Business Worldwide Billboard Digital Music News Music Ally

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