Saudi Arabia Partners With Legends for New Venues & More Music Deals

Create Music Group acquired Cr2 Holdings Group, which encompasses U.K. dance label Cr2 Records, MBMB Publishing and a music education division, Sample Tools by Cr2. With the deal, Create will provide capital, technology and a global infrastructure to drive the label’s growth strategy, with additional investments in independent dance artists, catalogs, labels and publishers.

Mark Brown will continue leading Cr2 as president alongside Matthew Brown out of London. Create’s Eric Nguyen and Jonathan Strauss will join Cr2’s board.

Cr2’s premier artists include HUGEL (“Morenita”) and Matt Sassari (“Give It to Me”). It has also released music from acts including David Guetta, Eric Prydz, Avicii, Camelphat, Fedde Le Grand and Steve Angello.

Following the deal, Cr2 will focus its energies on expanding relationships and deals for its current roster while also acquiring and investing in its artists’ future businesses.

iHeartMedia signed an exclusive video podcasting partnership with Netflix for more than 15 original iHeartPodcasts, including The Breakfast Club, My Favorite Murder, Joe and Jada (hosted by Fat Joe and Jadakiss), Chelsea Handler’s Dear Chelsea, and This Is Important featuring Workaholics stars Adam Devine, Anders Holm and Blake Anderson.

The deal includes all new episodes from the podcast lineup, along with select library episodes from each of the shows. New video podcast episodes are slated to launch on Netflix early next year in the U.S., followed by additional markets.

iHeartMedia retains all audio-only rights and distribution for the podcasts included in the deal. All of the podcasts will continue to be available on iHeartRadio and podcast platforms.

Iconic U.K. venue The O2 and the charity Music Venue Trust (MVT), which represents hundreds of grassroots music venues in the U.K., signed a new three-year commitment that will see The O2 make a direct donation to MVT each time a new artist headlines the storied arena for the first time. According to a press release, The O2 has hosted more than 50 first-time performers this year alone; in recognition of that number, the venue will make an initial six-figure donation to MVT.

“By partnering with Music Venue Trust, we’re investing in the pipeline that nurtures the next generation of breakthrough artists and ensures they have a place to start,” said Emma Bownes, senior vp of venue programming at AEG Europe, in a statement.

Mark Davyd, CEO of MVT, added that the “partnership sets a powerful new benchmark for the industry, proving that major venues can actively participate in securing the future of the talent pipeline. Our challenge to every other arena in the UK is simple: The O2 has taken a lead, now it’s your chance to follow.”

Live Nation Entertainment struck a new partnership with BeLive Entertainment Group that will make the concert giant a majority stakeholder in Chile’s 15,000-capacity Movistar Arena Santiago. In concert with BeLive, Live Nation will focus on improving the fan experience at the arena while strengthening its production capabilities and expanding opportunities for both global artists and local acts to play the venue.

Live Nation also announced it will take over the operations of Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. The company says it has committed to upgrading the venue and improving the concert experience for fans and artists. Live Nation will work with the arena’s founding developer, Bangkok Land, to institute modern production infrastructure and enhanced hospitality, with upgrades including improved food and beverage options, premium seating and “curated design touches,” according to a press release. The improvements will create more booking opportunities and support the local economy, Live Nation says.

Auracles, a venture founded by artist Imogen Heap that’s described as “a sovereign digital ID and creative data platform built to help artists protect, manage, and control their work,” joined the SoundCloud Benefits Partners Program. The partnership will allow artists to connect their SoundCloud profiles directly to Auracles, import music projects from SoundCloud to Auracles and publish projects from Auracles back to SoundCloud.

SV Records, a label co-founded by Saliva frontman Bobby Amaru and Shawn Grau, signed a joint venture with producer Howard Benson and Three Days Grace drummer Neil Sanderson‘s Judge & Jury Records. The JV is described as “an incubator built to identify talented artists and provide world‑class production and songwriting.” It will include content, marketing and business affairs support, including streamlined global distribution, optimized rights management, royalty administration and access to capital. The first release under the JV will be the track “Happy When We’re Bleeding” from Texas band Thrower, which was released digitally on Friday (Dec. 12).

Warner Music India struck a partnership with Rthyms.Life, described as a “creator-first music ecosystem” that allows artists “control over every aspect of their careers — from cross collaborations and studio sessions, through to bookings and career management,” according to a press release. Through the deal, Warner Music India will provide distribution for Rthyms.Life artists across platforms globally.

Noctal, an AI-powered sound design platform that features a library of more than 200,000 licensed human-made recordings, has raised $2 million in seed funding to scale the business. The platform, which uses AI to help users quickly find sounds they need for their video projects, closed a $1.8 million seed round led by Dan Caruso with additional investment from Media Empire Ventures, which includes Grimes, Jim Packer of Lionsgate, Tony Kemp of Major League Baseball and Mitchell Smith of X. Following that deal, the platform scored an additional $200,000 investment.

AXS partnered with Tickets for Good, a ticket distribution platform that allows venues, promoters and artist management teams to allocate complimentary or discounted tickets to “deserving audiences” including healthcare professionals, teachers and charity workers, according to a press release. The partnership, which entails a new API integration that connects AXS directly to the Tickets for Good platform, launched in the U.S. in October. A U.K. launch is also expected soon.

Streaming platform Audiomack, which is popular in Africa, among other territories, signed a deal with music industry data analytics platform Soundcharts that integrates Audiomack playlists and “Geo Charts” into the Soundcharts database. According to a press release, this is the first time Audiomack’s playlists “are being captured at scale.” This includes its weekly “100 Geo Charts,” which rank the top songs in every U.S. state and nearly every country worldwide. “Integrating Audiomack’s data helps Soundcharts deliver a truly global view of the music industry, filling long-standing gaps in how African music consumption is represented,” said David Wieszfeld, founder and CEO of Soundcharts, in a statement.