Deal sheet
- Status
- ANNOUNCED 10 APRIL 2025. NOT CONFIRMED AS A COMPLETED, PRICED TRANSACTION BY ANY SOURCE CHECKED, AND THE TWO NAMED PARTIES USE DIFFERENT WORDS FOR IT. Music Business Worldwide and HitsDailyDouble both headlined the announcement as an acquisition. Within the same announcement, Create's own CFO, William Smith, said the company was 'trusted' with !K7 founder Horst Weidenmüller's 'legacy,' while !K7's own CEO, Tom Nieuweboer, called the arrangement a 'partnership,' not an acquisition, and said it would let !K7 'scale' its vision 'while staying true to our core values.' Weidenmüller himself, in a statement given before his death in February 2025, called it a 'partnership' that would let what he built 'continue to thrive and evolve.' No source checked discloses a share percentage, a price, or a closing date distinct from the 10 April 2025 announcement date. Eighteen months later, the consequence is visible in the catalogue: Strut, now under Create's ownership by every account's own description, released Orchestra Baobab's album Made In Senegal on 23 October 2026, in conjunction with the Senegal-facing company Madoky Music, per Strut's own product page and Apple Music's own phonogram credit line, which reads 'Strut Records – a division of K7 Music GmbH / Madoky Music.' That same product page names World Circuit, a wholly-owned BMG Rights Management (UK) Limited subsidiary per this directory's own World Circuit Limited record (and this site's own prior deal record on that acquisition), as the label for Orchestra Baobab's only prior studio album, 2017's Tribute To Ndiouga Dieng, and does not connect that release to this one. Orchestra Baobab's recorded catalogue, from 1982 through 2017, carries a World Circuit Limited, a BMG Company phonogram credit on every studio album checked in Apple Music's catalogue (fetched directly, 1 November 2026); the band's only new album since then carries neither name.
- Parties
- Create Music Group, !K7 Music GmbH
- Amount
- Not disclosed Not disclosed. Neither trade report checked, nor any statement from either company, names a price, a percentage of shares, or a valuation for the !K7 transaction. US SEC EDGAR full-text search returns zero hits for "Create Music Group" (checked 1 November 2026), consistent with Create being privately held and not required to disclose deal terms.
- Rights covered
- Corporate acquisition of !K7 Music GmbH as a company, not a transfer of any single copyright. Both trade reports checked describe Create as acquiring !K7's management, publishing and label operations, including three named imprints: !K7 Records, Strut, and 7K!. No source checked specifies whether the deal covers all of !K7's shares, a controlling stake, or a minority position, and no source distinguishes which rights (masters, publishing, or both) moved with it. This record does not assert that Create Music Group now owns any specific master recording or composition; it asserts only that Create controls the corporate parent of the Strut imprint, per both companies' own quoted statements.
- Territory
- Germany (!K7 Music GmbH's Berlin base) and the United States (Create Music Group's Los Angeles base); !K7's Strut imprint operates out of the UK. The catalogue consequence reaches Senegal and Mali: Strut inherited rights work tied to West African artists, and in October 2026 released Orchestra Baobab's new album in conjunction with the Senegal-facing company Madoky Music.
- Announced
- 10 April 2025, per same-day reports from Music Business Worldwide and HitsDailyDouble, both quoting the companies' own named executives. No source checked gives a separate closing date.
- Primary document
- Trade press
- Sources
- Music Business Worldwide, 'Create Music Group acquires the late Horst Weidenmüller's !K7 Music,' published 10 April 2025. Fetched and read in full. Source of the acquisition date, the named imprints (!K7 Records, Strut, 7K!), and the direct quotes from Create CFO William Smith, !K7 CEO Tom Nieuweboer, and the late Horst Weidenmüller's own pre-death statement. · HitsDailyDouble, 'Create Acquires !K7 Music,' 10 April 2025. Fetched and read in full. Independent corroboration naming the same imprints and quoting Create CFO William Smith. · Strut Records' own product page for Made In Senegal. Fetched live 1 November 2026. Source of the 'Strut, a division of !K7 Music GmbH' copyright line, catalogue number STRUT509, the 23 October 2026 release date, and the statement that World Circuit was the label for the band's prior (2017) album only, with no connection drawn to this release. · Apple Music catalogue for Orchestra Baobab, fetched directly 1 November 2026. Source of the phonogram-credit history: 'World Circuit Limited, a BMG Company' on every studio album from the 1982 Pirates Choice reissue through 2017's Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng, and 'Strut Records – a division of K7 Music GmbH / Madoky Music' on 2026's Made In Senegal, with no other release in between. · Wikipedia, read 1 November 2026, for Create's 2015 founding, its June 2024 ($165m, Flexpoint Ford, ~$1bn valuation) and March 2026 (~$450m, ~$2.2bn valuation) funding rounds, and its own confirmation that it acquired !K7 Music in April 2025. Secondary source, used for company background, not as the basis for any claim in this record about the !K7 deal's terms. · Wikipedia, read 1 November 2026, for !K7's 1984/1985 Berlin founding by Horst Weidenmüller, Strut's 2008 acquisition into the !K7 group, and Weidenmüller's death in February 2025. · WOMEX trade directory listing for Orchestra Baobab, read 1 November 2026. Still names World Circuit Records as the band's label as of this date; noted as a stale, contradicting secondary source, not relied on for this record's claims.
Read this before citing: ESTABLISHED FROM PRIMARY SOURCES THIS DESK FETCHED AND READ IN FULL: Music Business Worldwide's 10 April 2025 report and HitsDailyDouble's 10 April 2025 report, both independent trade outlets, both quoting Create Music Group's and !K7's own named executives directly rather than paraphrasing a release neither outlet reproduced in full; Strut Records' own product page for Made In Senegal (strut-records.co.uk), read live on 1 November 2026, for the copyright line, catalogue number STRUT509, and the statement that World Circuit covered only the band's prior album; and Apple Music's own catalogue metadata for Orchestra Baobab, fetched directly via the iTunes lookup API on 1 November 2026 (43 results in both the US and a second storefront check), for the phonogram-credit history across every studio release from 1982 to 2026.
NOT ESTABLISHED, AND NOT GUESSED AT IN THIS RECORD: (1) the price, valuation, or share percentage in the Create/!K7 transaction; (2) whether the transaction has formally closed under German or US law, as distinct from being announced; (3) the legal identity, registration, or ownership structure of Madoky Music (also styled Ker Madoky), the Senegal-facing company co-credited on Made In Senegal; this desk found a single structured-data reference naming Abibou Mbaye as its founder and could not corroborate it against a second source, and Senegal, like Nigeria, publishes no public company register this desk could query; (4) how the phonogram-credit rights in Made In Senegal are actually split between !K7/Strut and Madoky Music, which the joint credit line states but does not quantify; and (5) whether World Circuit Limited or BMG Rights Management (UK) Limited retains any claim, option, or first-refusal right over Orchestra Baobab's new recordings, which no document reviewed addresses either way. This desk also checked WOMEX's own trade directory, which as of 1 November 2026 still lists World Circuit Records as Orchestra Baobab's label, a stale entry that disagrees with both Strut's own product page and Apple Music's current catalogue credit; this record relies on the two sources that are current and primary to the band's own 2026 release, not on WOMEX's listing.
Create Music Group said on 10 April 2025 that it had acquired !K7 Music, the Berlin company that owns the Strut label. !K7’s own chief executive called the same deal a partnership, not a sale, in the same announcement. No source checked discloses a price, a share percentage, or a date the transaction closed. Eighteen months later, Strut released Orchestra Baobab’s first new studio album in nine years, crediting itself and a Senegal-facing company, Madoky Music, neither of which is BMG or World Circuit, the companies that have owned the band’s entire prior catalogue since 2018.
An acquisition, or a partnership, depending on who is talking
Music Business Worldwide and HitsDailyDouble both headlined the 10 April 2025 announcement as an acquisition. Create’s chief financial officer, William Smith, said the company was “trusted” with the legacy of !K7 founder Horst Weidenmüller, who had died two months earlier. !K7’s chief executive, Tom Nieuweboer, called it a “partnership” that let !K7 “scale” while “staying true to our core values,” and Weidenmüller’s own prepared statement, given before his death, used the same word. Neither company has disclosed terms, and Create, which is privately held, does not appear in US securities filings.
The catalogue it touches
Strut, the imprint !K7 brought into its group in 2008, released Orchestra Baobab’s Made In Senegal on 23 October 2026. Apple Music’s own phonogram credit names “Strut Records, a division of K7 Music GmbH / Madoky Music.” Every Orchestra Baobab studio album before it, back to the band’s earliest material, carries a “World Circuit Limited, a BMG Company” credit instead, per this directory’s own World Circuit Limited record. Strut’s own product page for the new album names World Circuit only as the label for the band’s prior (2017) release, drawing no connection to this one.
What this record does not establish
The price or share percentage in the Create/!K7 transaction; whether it has formally closed; the legal identity or registration of Madoky Music, for which Senegal publishes no public register this desk could check; and how phonogram rights in Made In Senegal split between Strut and Madoky, which the joint credit states but does not quantify. This desk searched for each and found nothing.
Full long-form treatment, including the capital story behind Create Music Group and what the gap in company registers means for artists: Create Music Group Called the !K7 Deal an Acquisition. !K7’s Own CEO Called It a Partnership. Either Way, Its Label Just Put Out an Orchestra Baobab Album With No BMG Credit.
