Weeks after teaming with Oak View Group to acquire Canadian Music Week, Loft Entertainment has made another strategic partnership to expand its reach.
The Toronto-based music company is joining forces with one twenty eight, a talent booking and cause marketing “impact agency” that focuses on connecting artists and influencers with social causes. The company has worked with a variety of companies and celebrities including Natalie Portman, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, Canadian artist Mustafa and Selena Gomez’s Rare Impact Fund Benefit.
It’s a natural fit. One of Loft’s first initiatives was Artists for Feel Out Loud, a Canadian benefit song for Kids Help Phone co-produced by Loft co-founder and former head of Universal Music Canada and Bell Media, Randy Lennox. Kids Help Phone is also a client of one twenty eight, and both companies have also worked with innovation festival Elevate. Loft and one twenty eight both launched within the last three years, but the working relationships of the people involved go back decades.
“Relationships are an essential part of our business and having trusted access is the key to ensuring extraordinary results,” says Loft co-founder and partner Jeffrey Latimer.
“We are in the business of impact and this partnership with Loft Entertainment is only going to multiply our efforts,” agrees one twenty eight founder David Johnson. “Loft Entertainment’s team of experts will help one twenty eight to up-source our offerings with a deeper expansion into creative and content.”
Johnson co-founded one twenty eight in 2021 with Cameron Kennedy, who left the following year to join Canada’s leading rights management organization SOCAN. Loft Entertainment also partners with Paquin Entertainment Group, Canada’s Walk of Fame and film and television studio Pinewood, among others. The company – which handles artists as diverse as Tom Cochrane, The Tenors and Rêve – straddles the music and entertainment world, uniquely combining production, management and events.