Big Noise Music Group

What Big Noise Music Group does

Big Noise Music Group is a privately held, multi-faceted music company headquartered in Los Angeles that combines a full-service record label, an independent music publishing division administered through Kobalt, a sync licensing business, and a state-of-the-art recording studio known as The Noise Nest. Founded by CEO Nick Gross and scaled with the 2018 addition of President Jon Cohen (co-founder of Vagrant Records and former head of recorded music for North America at BMG) and Head of A&R John Feldmann (a Grammy-nominated producer for Blink-182's 'California'), the company signs and develops artists and songwriters across pop, pop-punk, alternative rock, hip-hop, and pop. Its roster includes legacy and contemporary acts such as Avril Lavigne, The Used, Goldfinger, Escape the Fate, iann dior, Bryce Vine, Lil Skies, Sammy Adams, The Veronicas, The Wrecks, and New Politics, alongside a songwriting/production bench that includes Stolar, PJ Bianco, Mr. Popular, Ravenna Golden, and Eva Busacker Arnby.

Big Noise generates revenue across four streams: (1) recorded music from signed artists (streaming royalties, sales, and live touring income), (2) publishing administration and royalty collection via Kobalt for songwriter signings, (3) sync licensing fees for placements of catalog music into television, film, advertising, gaming, and brand campaigns (placements reported across ABC, NBC, CBS, HBO, Netflix, Apple TV+, Paramount+, Hulu, ITV, EA Sports, NFL, Peloton, Ralph Lauren, Revlon, and MCM), and (4) studio services from The Noise Nest facility. Go-to-market is sales-led and relationship-driven: artists are sourced via A&R outreach and a public submission inbox ([email protected]), publishing is administered institutionally through Kobalt, and sync clients are handled via direct outreach ([email protected]).

The company is supported by an experienced operating bench that includes VP of Marketing Heather Castillo (formerly Amuse and SYCO), General Manager Adam Muhlbaum (formerly BMG and Dim Mak), label operations manager Josh Cohen, rights management consultant Robert Briggs (founder of Levity Music, ex-BMG/EMI), and accounting leadership. A non-core initiative, 'Together We Make Noise,' operates as a mental health awareness platform in partnership with the Find Your Grind Foundation and NAMI. The company is privately held with no disclosed institutional funding rounds.

Name

Big Noise Music Group

Legal name

Big Noise Music Group

Website

https://bignoise.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Big Noise Music Group is a Los Angeles-based, privately held music company combining a record label, independent publishing (administered via Kobalt), a sync licensing division, and a state-of-the-art recording studio (The Noise Nest), serving recording artists, songwriters/producers, and TV/film/advertising clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

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, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Record Label Services: Revenue from signed artists through record sales, streaming royalties, and touring. The label provides strategy, marketing, and record-curation services to support artist careers.
2. Publishing Administration: Independent music publishing division administered through Kobalt. Songwriters have contributed to multiple Top 40 Billboard tracks and launch their own artist projects.
3. Sync Licensing: Matching original and hand-crafted music with television, movies, commercials, and more. High-visibility placements in Best Picture winning movies, top music competitions, recurring TV segments, ads, and major brand campaigns.
4. Studio Services: Recording studio facility providing services to artists, producers and songwriters. Studio generates revenue through recording, mixing, and mastering services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

Big Noise Music Group is a multi-faceted independent music company that signs and develops recording artists, administers songwriters' publishing rights through Kobalt, licenses its catalog for sync placements in television, film, advertising, and video games, and operates The Noise Nest, a state-of-the-art recording studio facility in Los Angeles. Its services combine label strategy, marketing, record-curation, and rights administration to support artists at all stages of their careers.

Product overview

Big Noise Music Group is a multi-faceted music company offering a robust platform combining label services, independent publishing (administered through Kobalt), and a state-of-the-art recording studio (The Noise Nest) in Los Angeles. The company surrounds every project with strategy, marketing, and record-curation to launch break-out moments. Their sync and publishing division matches original music with television, movies, and commercials. The company supports a diverse roster of recording artists and songwriters/producers across multiple genres.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Big Noise Record Label Full-service record label offering artist development, strategy, marketing, and record-curation to support recording artists at all stages of their careers. Roster includes Avril Lavigne, Bryce Vine, Sammy Adams, Lil Skies, iann dior, The Used, Escape the Fate, and others across pop-punk, alternative rock, hip-hop, rap, and pop genres.
• Big Noise Publishing Independent music publishing division and rights holder administered through Kobalt, representing songwriters including John Feldmann, Scot Stewart, Eva Busacker Arnby, Ravenna Golden, Stolar, PJ Bianco, and Mr. Popular. Songwriters have contributed to multiple Top 40 Billboard tracks and launched their own artist projects.
• The Noise Nest Recording Studio State-of-the-art recording studio facility in Los Angeles serving as a creative studio and incubator for artists, producers, and songwriters. The studio has been used for placements in major TV shows, films, commercials, and music projects including HBO, NBC, ABC, Netflix, MTV, FX, The CW, CBS, and Apple TV+.
• Big Noise Sync Sync licensing division that matches original and hand-crafted music with television, movies, commercials, and advertising campaigns for placements. Achieved high-visibility placements in Best Picture winning movies, top music competitions, recurring TV segments, ads, and major brand campaigns for clients including ABC, NBC, Netflix, MTV, CBS, HBO, FX, Apple TV+, Paramount+, Hulu, Peloton, Ralph Lauren, and Revlon.

Quantifiable outcome

• 8 GRAMMY nominations for artists/producers on roster
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers41 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• KobaltcoreTechnology or IntegrationKobalt is the publishing administration partner for Big Noise's independent music publishing division and rights holder administration.
• NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTogether We Make Noise, a mental health initiative founded by Big Noise Music Group and supported by the Find Your Grind Foundation, partnered with NAMI to host virtual events and raise money for mental health organizations. Big Noise committed $25,000 to mental health organizations and matched all donations during events.
• Find Your Grind FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Find Your Grind Foundation supports Together We Make Noise, a mental health initiative in the music industry founded by Big Noise. Nick Gross is the founder of Find Your Grind (an education-based platform) as well as Big Noise.
• Levity Music, LLCminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerRobert Briggs' firm Levity Music, LLC has partnered with Big Noise since 2019 to work with the Big Noise team, distribution and administration partners to ensure effective collection and accounting of income for clients. Prior to founding Levity, Robert headed rights management at BMG and EMI Music Publishing.
• Travis BarkerminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTravis Barker from Blink-182 contributed drums to The Veronicas' single 'Perfect' while visiting John Feldmann's studio, showcasing collaboration between Big Noise artists and external talent.
• Ryan LinvilleminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-produced The Veronicas' single 'Perfect' with John Feldmann. Works with artists including Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan, and Charlotte Cardin.

Scale indicators18 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• BMG: Global music company combining recorded music, publishing, and sync across all genres; Jon Cohen joined Big Noise directly from BMG. Highly comparable business model but at vastly larger scale.
• Concord Music Group: Larger, established independent music company combining recorded music, publishing, and sync. Comparable multi-faceted structure to Big Noise but at materially greater scale and with broader genre reach.

Direct peers

• Position Music: Independent music publisher and sync licensing specialist with placements in major TV, film, and ad campaigns. Most directly comparable pure-play competitor to Big Noise's sync division.
• Vagrant Records: Independent label co-founded by Big Noise President Jon Cohen (sold to BMG in 2014). Operated as a full-service indie label focused on alternative and pop-punk acts, making it the closest historical and operational comparable to Big Noise's label-plus-publishing-plus-sync model.
• Rise Records: Independent rock/pop-punk label (Of Mice & Men, Memphis May Fire, The Devil Wears Prada). Same alternative/pop-punk genre focus and indie scale as Big Noise's label business.
• Fearless Records: Independent US label with a roster spanning pop-punk, alternative rock, and metalcore. Directly comparable in genre focus and indie scale to Big Noise's artist roster (Pierce the Veil, Ice Nine Kills, Atilla).
• Epitaph Records: Independent punk and alternative label owned by Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz (Pennywise, The Offspring, Rancid). Closely comparable genre positioning and independent scale to Big Noise's roster.
• Hopeless Records: Independent label focused on punk, pop-punk, and alternative (Avril Lavigne's 'Love Sux' was released through Hopeless/DTA). Directly comparable to Big Noise's roster, genre, and independent scale.
• Fueled by Ramen: Independent pop-punk and alternative label (Fall Out Boy, Panic! At the Disco, Paramore), now an Elektra imprint. Highly comparable to Big Noise on genre, roster profile, and John Feldmann's prior A&R work at Warner Bros.

Emerging players

• Create Music Group: Tech-forward independent music company operating a label, publishing, and rights administration platform. Comparable multi-revenue-stream structure to Big Noise but with proprietary admin tech rather than outsourcing to Kobalt.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bignoise
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@BigNoiseMusic
• Facebookfacebook.com/bignoisemusicgroup
• Instagraminstagram.com/bignoise
• TikToktiktok.com/@bignoisemusic

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 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 Big Noise Music Group