{"id":253803,"date":"2026-03-26T16:11:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T16:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=253803"},"modified":"2026-03-26T19:04:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T19:04:06","slug":"symphonic-acquires-music-distribution-and-youtube-monetization-platform-distro-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/symphonic-acquires-music-distribution-and-youtube-monetization-platform-distro-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"Symphonic acquires music distribution and YouTube monetization platform Distro Nation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tampa-based music technology and services company Symphonic<\/a> has acquired Distro Nation<\/a>, a music distribution and YouTube monetization platform.<\/p>\n

According to Symphonic, the acquisition brings the YouTube channels of several prominent artists under its management, including Lindsey Stirling, Sabaton, Yanni, Good Charlotte, Bryant Myers, and Switchfoot.<\/p>\n

The announcement added that the acquisition also includes “management and monetization of Chappell Roan\u2019s YouTube channel for content released prior to her 2023 debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess”.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Following the acquisition, Jon<\/b> Baltz<\/b>, CEO and Co-Founder of Distro Nation<\/b>, will join Symphonic\u2019s executive team as Head of UGC & Rights Management, along with his team.<\/p>\n

Founded in 2011 as INDMUSIC<\/b>, Distro Nation built its business managing YouTube channels for independent musicians. Its breakout moment came in February 2016, when it helped monetize The Harlem Shake <\/i>by Bauer that became a viral sensation, Symphonic said. This helped Baltz\u2019s label Mad Decent capture revenue from the song\u2019s popularity.<\/p>\n

Later that year, Live Nation acquired the business, renaming it Live Nation Video Network<\/b>. The business was separated from Live Nation in 2024 and has since offered clients a proprietary dashboard, royalty reporting, monthly payouts, and what it describes as \u201cTier A \u201cYouTube status.<\/p>\n

Since regaining independence, Distro Nation has grown to more than 200 artists in its YouTube network.<\/p>\n

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Jorge<\/b> Brea<\/b>, CEO of Symphonic, said: \u201cDistro Nation, like Symphonic, has been a champion for independent artists for many years, providing invaluable resources to help artists thrive on YouTube and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis acquisition was a natural partnership that will allow us to offer even better tools and strategies for success to our artist and label community. We\u2019re excited to welcome Distro Nation and their clients to the Symphonic family!\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis acquisition was a natural partnership that will allow us to offer even better tools and strategies for success to our artist and label community. We\u2019re excited to welcome Distro Nation and their clients to the Symphonic family!\u201d<\/p>\n

Jorge<\/b> Brea<\/b>, Symphonic<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Baltz said: \u201cThroughout the past 15 years at Distro Nation, our goal has always been to constantly innovate and offer the support that artists need to master the distribution game in such an ever-changing landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thrilled to join an industry leader like Symphonic who will help us expand even further on what we\u2019ve built.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Symphonic was founded in 2006 by Brea and has grown into a distribution and services operation with offices across Nashville, Los Angeles, New York and Miami, and internationally in Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Europe, the UK, and Africa.<\/p>\n

Symphonic\u2019s roster and alumni include Imogen Heap, Sixpence None the Richer, New Radicals, Doechii, Ryuichi Sakamoto, The Midnight, Sarah McLachlan<\/b>, and many more.<\/p>\n

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“Throughout the past 15 years at Distro Nation, our goal has always been to constantly innovate and offer the support that artists need to master the distribution game in such an ever-changing landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jon<\/b> Baltz<\/b>, Distro Nation<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The acquisition marks Symphonic\u2019s latest strategic move after striking a deal<\/a> with direct-to-fan platform EVEN<\/b> in November 2025 to bring \u201csell-before-streaming\u201d storefronts to Symphonic creators.<\/p>\n

In September, Symphonic expanded<\/a> its presence in Puerto Rico through a partnership with indie label High Ground Music<\/b>. In July, the company hired<\/a> a team of A&R Client Development Leads to expand its presence in Europe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jon Baltz, CEO and Co-Founder of Distro Nation, will join Symphonic\u2019s executive team as Head of UGC & Rights Management, along with his team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":254020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[133198,135170,4301,304,135171],"class_list":["post-253803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-chappell-roan","tag-distro-nation","tag-symphonic","tag-youtube","tag-youtube-monetization"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253803"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":254021,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253803\/revisions\/254021"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}