Artist Partner Group

What Artist Partner Group does

Artist Partner Group (APG) is a privately held independent record label and music publishing group founded in 2012 by veteran music executive Mike Caren and headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The company operates two integrated arms — Artist Partner Group for record label services and Artist Publishing Group for publishing administration — that share studio facilities, A&R resources, and administrative infrastructure. APG serves forward-thinking and entrepreneurial artists, songwriters, and producers, offering recording agreements, publishing contracts, distribution to digital service providers (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, TikTok), and sync licensing for film, TV, advertising, and video games. The company also operates four recording rooms and one writing room built in 2016, available for hourly rental ($100-$175/hour) to affiliated and external clients.

The business generates revenue primarily through licensing and royalties from streaming, publishing, and sync placements, supplemented by studio rental fees. APG's roster includes artists whose catalogs have accumulated billions of streams (Ava Max, Kevin Gates, YoungBoy Never Broke Again) and songwriters credited on hundreds of Top 40 Billboard tracks, with notable alumni including Charlie Puth and Don Toliver. The company has actively expanded its emerging-artist roster across genres from hip-hop (BabyChiefDoit, Jontae) to genre-bending pop and dream-pop (Odetari, Baby Nova, Flawed Mangoes). Operations are supported by partnerships with Kobalt Music Group for publishing administration and Curve for royalty processing. APG has a small core team of 1-10 employees and is described as well-funded, with no public funding rounds or acquisition activities disclosed. The company maintains a presence in the USA and Canada.

Name

Artist Partner Group

Legal name

Artist Partner Group

Website

https://artistpg.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Artist Partner Group is a privately held independent record label and music publisher founded in 2012 in Los Angeles, serving entrepreneurial artists, songwriters, and producers through recording, publishing, distribution, sync licensing, and in-house studio services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Record Label & Music Publishing

NAICS

Music Publishers (512230), Music Publishers (51223), Musical Groups and Artists (711130)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Full-Service Artist Management (MPAIAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

A&R / Artist Development Services (MPAIAGAL), Songwriting & Composition (Topliners, Co-writers, Camps) (MPAIABAA), Music Producers & Production Teams (MPAIAHAB), Trailer Music & Promo Music Providers (MPAIALAH)

Keywords

• Record label services
• Music publishing
• Sync licensing
• Recording studios
• Artist development

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Record Label Services: APG releases recorded music for artists, providing marketing support, distribution to DSPs, and career development. Revenue is generated through streaming royalties, music sales, and sync licensing placements.
2. Publishing Administration: APG administers and monetizes compositions, collects royalties from performing rights organizations, and may co-own copyrights. They work with Curve for royalty processing and Kobalt for publishing portal management.
3. Studio Rental: APG operates four recording rooms and one writing room available for hourly rental to external artists and producers, generating direct revenue from studio bookings.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Artist Partner Group is a modern independent record label and music publishing group that signs entrepreneurial artists and songwriters, administers their compositions, distributes recorded music to all major DSPs, places songs in film/TV/advertising/video games via sync licensing, and operates in-house recording studios for hourly rental. The company provides A&R, artist development, marketing, royalty collection, and creative support under one integrated roof alongside its sister entity Artist Publishing Group.

Product overview

Artist Partner Group (APG) is a modern, independent record and publishing group operating as a platform with multiple interconnected service modules. The core offering combines record label services for artists and music publishing administration for songwriters, supplemented by sync licensing services, professional recording studios, and distribution capabilities. The company supports forward-thinking and entrepreneurial artists and songwriters through A&R guidance, unmatched resources, creative development, and operational infrastructure including royalty management through partners like Curve and Kobalt.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Named customers12 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Atlantic RecordscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012APG was founded in 2012 and partnered with Atlantic Records for eight years through 2020. This partnership focused on developing and releasing recorded music for artists on the Atlantic roster, with APG providing A&R, artist development, and publishing support.
• Artist Publishing GroupcoreOthersAPG (Artist Partner Group) operates alongside Artist Publishing Group as an integrated entity. Together they provide combined record label and publishing services under one roof, sharing studio facilities, administrative infrastructure, and A&R resources.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• 10K Projects: Independent label and publisher signing emerging artists in hip-hop and pop — directly comparable to APG in artist-development focus and integrated label/publishing structure.
• 300 Entertainment: Independent multi-genre label with strong roster in hip-hop and pop, now backed by Warner Music — directly comparable to APG in operating model (A&R-driven indie label) though at larger scale.
• Kobalt Music Group: Independent music publisher and royalty administrator serving songwriters and labels — directly comparable to APG's publishing arm and operations, while also being an existing technology/integration partner.
• Quality Control Music: Independent hip-hop label and publishing company with a roster of multi-billion-stream artists — directly comparable to APG in genre focus, integrated label/publishing model, and proven ability to develop breakout artists.
• Empire Distribution: Independent record label and distributor offering label services, distribution, and publishing across hip-hop, R&B, and pop — directly comparable to APG's integrated label + publishing + distribution model.

Broad incumbents

• Atlantic Records: Major-label imprint (Warner Music Group) and APG's former 8-year partner — broader incumbent whose A&R reach, marketing budgets, and distribution scale set the competitive benchmark APG must match as an independent.
• BMG: Major music company combining recorded music and publishing — broader incumbent offering integrated label/publishing services at significantly larger scale than APG.
• Interscope Records: Major-label imprint with deep roster across pop and hip-hop — broader incumbent whose DSP promotion leverage and marketing spend compete directly for signings APG targets.

Emerging players

• Big Loud Records: Independent label and publisher focused on country music — comparable to APG as a genre-focused integrated label/publisher operating outside the major-label system.
• Rostrum Records: Independent label and publisher with hip-hop and pop roster — comparable to APG as a smaller indie with integrated publishing, competing for similar artist signings.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/artistpg
• Facebookfacebook.com/artistpg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/artist-publishing-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Artist Partner Group