Worldwide Music Launches ‘House of Carmen‘ – A Creator Marketing App
Universal Music Group (UMG) has quietly launched ”House of Carmen,” a creator marketing app designed to connect the company with influencers on platforms like TikTok and Instagram and facilitate direct payment for content creation. Information on the App store indicates the platform rolled out in September 2024.
MBW reports that UMG has been operating the platform in “stealth mode” while establishing the necessary legal and tax compliance frameworks for various markets. Recently, the app’s capabilities were expanded to allow for the onboarding of entire talent agencies and their creator rosters, in addition to individual creators.
Janey Stride, Director, Commercial and Creative Innovation at Universal Music UK, explained the rationale behind the app in a statement: “As creator marketing has continued its growth trajectory, we realised there was a real need to bring it in-house: somewhere we could house a global creator database, appropriately categorise creators, effectively and directly communicate with them, deliver prompt payment for activity and integrate all of our data sources to enable effective and timely analysis of campaigns. House of Carmen is our answer to this.”
According to Stride, “As creator marketing has continued its growth trajectory, we realised there was a real need to bring it in-house.”
The launch reflects a broader industry trend toward authentic creator marketing, shifting away from traditional celebrity endorsements and toward more grassroots influencer campaigns. UMG’s internal data reportedly indicates that this direct approach yields better results than utilizing third-party platforms.
this advancement also aligns with a growing trend among major music companies to own the technology and data driving their marketing efforts. UMG has been notably active in this area, having patented AI-powered technology in 2020 focused on artist marketing, analytics, and distribution. A second patent was granted in 2022 for an invention that uses AI to identify high-value audiences for marketing campaigns.
UMG’s longer-term ambition is to establish a global network enabling any of its regional divisions to brief creators worldwide.
