London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Jun 20, 2025

How a 22-year-old CEO built a TikTok empire with Gen Z media brand Flighthouse

How a 22-year-old CEO built a TikTok empire with Gen Z media brand Flighthouse

Flighthouse is the driving force behind the virality of multiple hit songs that have thrived on TikTok, under the guidance of Create Music Group.

Few people understand the genius of TikTok the way 22-year-old entrepreneur Jacob Pace does, and the proof lies in the success of Flighthouse, one of the largest entertainment media brands on TikTok. Flighthouse's popularity has been tangent to Addison Rae's and the D'Amelio sisters' rise to stardom, with many famous Gen-Z creators gravitating to Flighthouse's Los Angeles studios to collaborate on buzzy content.

TikTok has become largely synonymous with the music industry in the new age, and Flighthouse successfully recognized this overlap early on by identifying the TikTok-able qualities of a record and then packaging and promoting it with the help of TikTok creators. Labels and artists alike have flocked to the channel for these custom content campaigns, shaped by Flighthouse's fluency in TikTok trends and network of influencers.

As a result, Flighthouse has established its authority as a driving force behind the virality of multiple hit songs that have thrived on TikTok, such as "Sunday Best" by Surfaces and "Roxanne" by Arizona Zervas. Many of these top-performing tracks wind up ranking in the Billboard Hot 100 after Flighthouse gets involved.

"We've become kind of a secret weapon for labels," Pace told Insider.

The TikTok account also operates as an entertainment network, marketing agency, and production company in one, developing original short-form content that includes skits, interviews, and interactive series that feature influencers as guest stars. With a collective 2.3 billion likes, Flighthouse is the leading media brand on TikTok, home to the "Finish the TikTok Lyric" series that simultaneously took off alongside the next generation of TikTokers.

The engineer behind this TikTok gold mine is CEO Jacob Pace, who first discovered Flighthouse when it existed on Musical.ly (before the merger with TikTok) as a song remix destination for young teens looking to create lip-syncing content on the app. The account originally had one million followers and was managed by two teen brothers — according to Pace, it was "the only sounds page on Musical.ly that had a brand to it."

Intrigued by its potential, Pace pitched the idea for a partnership to Jonathan Strauss, his boss and co-founder of music-technology company Create Music Group (CMG), who suggested they go ahead and acquire it instead. Pace was only 16 when he was recruited by Strauss' partner Alexandre Williams to do PR-related work for CMG, their newly launched YouTube monetization company at the time. Flighthouse was a project Pace fell into within months of being named VP of Business Development at CMG, further impressing his bosses with his forward thinking and business acumen.

"I definitely had a vision for it, but I didn't know exactly how big it was going to become," Pace said. "I pretty immediately saw it could become a content brand in the future."

And a content brand it became, serving as Create Music Group's in-house production arm for music and culture focused content creation — followed by over 27 million devoted fans. Now, Flighthouse spans across multiple platforms, including YouTube and Snapchat, and has secured brand deals with companies like Hollister, American Eagle, and Tinder.

On these brands' willingness to partner with Flighthouse, Pace said, "I think that they're really gravitating to us because we're able to create this brand-safe advertising solution for them. We've really created one of the more relevant Gen Z brands on the internet within TikTok."

Pace currently spearheads an ambitious team of young twenty-somethings who speak TikTok as their first language, while Pace himself spends a lot of his day-to-day working on current opportunities, as well as identifying new ones for both Flighthouse and CMG.

One might wonder how Pace has managed to make it this far in the digital music business at an age when most young adults are graduating college. The explanation traces back to when Pace was 14. Leading an unconventional student lifestyle, Pace promoted his own music on YouTube as a DJ and producer and wrote for various music publications from his bedroom in Texas — all while attending grade school.

"That just kind of led down this wormhole of being interested in blogs, record labels, and PR firms, so I've always been around digital since I got my start in music," Pace said.

Impressed by Pace's work, Williams onboarded him as his PR agent for his indie record label, relying on Pace's relationship with music-centered media to feature his signed artists in the press. During this time in 2015, Williams was in the initial stage of launching his rights management company with Strauss, and the pair was already seeing success in the first few months.

Upon hearing that Pace just "graduated," they decided to fly him out to their headquarters in Los Angeles, where Pace would eventually move in with them. Little did they know that this newly hired intern was a kid fresh out of high school, not college — a fact that was immediately recognized as an advantage once the initial shock had faded.

Co-founder and CEO of Create Music Group Jonathan Strauss (left) and Jacob Pace (right), taken in CMG's Hollywood office.


At the beginning of CMG's founding, Pace was mostly in charge of client acquisition, helping to sell CMG's vision to artists and labels. This was a relatively effortless task for Pace, whose natural charisma and magnetic energy swayed even the most skeptical of clients.

"Very quickly we just realized how incredibly smart Jacob was. Like regardless of his age, he was such a determined person," Strauss told Insider. "He could reach out to anyone. He could get anyone in."

CMG is currently on track to drive $120 million in revenue from its origin as a music rights management start-up, Strauss said, founded upon the goal of delivering untracked royalties to indie artists whose songs were being exploited by third-parties. Many developing artists who lacked the industry savvy would upload their songs to YouTube for free, where their songs would be posted by hundreds of channels and streamed upwards of 30 million times, generating at least $30,000 to $60,000 dollars an upload, Strauss explained.

Strauss and Williams offered a month-to-month agreement to clients who were making a net income of zero; the risk was essentially nonexistent.

"We have the technology and the ability to find anyone who's used your music and instantly monetize that music. It was a really easy sales pitch," Strauss said. "Selling someone on the concept of 'do you want to make something or nothing' is a lot easier than if they're making something and promising them more."

When CMG was launched six years ago, downloaded music was still popular and streaming had yet to take over as the dominant platform for music consumption. The young founders identified a huge opportunity in the market, beginning with electronic artists who largely relied on touring and live performances for an income.

Since then, they've expanded to artists across multiple genres and have grown well beyond the description of a rights management company, boasting a multi-faceted portfolio of acquisitions that stretch to every corner of the creator ecosystem. Simply put, they're now a media company, a data and audience company, and a distribution and production company looking to be the next Disney.

What Strauss believes differentiates CMG from a traditional music company and steers them along the path of a media company is their shift from a passive to active approach to the music landscape.

"We actually are a huge owner and operator of brands that we utilize to increase the reach of our audience, and in addition to that, we're one of the only companies that distributes content and actually has an advertising team that is also going out and selling against the audience," Strauss said.

This is seen not only in Flighthouse, but in their management of several artists' YouTube channels, such as Jennifer Lopez's, which extends beyond monetizing her music streams and includes all of her media. If J.Lo were to deliver a fitness video, Strauss described, CMG would also sell against this content and package it for advertisers in the same way they do for her music.

"We see our assets as a way to grow our audience, not just as a way to collect money," Strauss said.

The transparency of CMG's business model is another core value Strauss emphasized, distinguishing CMG from distributors like DistroKid and SoundCloud in its ability to provide artists with daily earnings statements.

And with Pace's Flighthouse functioning as the brand extension of CMG and a direct link to a highly engaged TikTok audience, the future looks promising for the two companies on both an individual and unified scale.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
Energy Infrastructure Becomes War Zone in Middle East
UK Home Secretary Apologizes Over Child Grooming Failures
Trump Organization Launches 5G Mobile Network and Golden Handset
Towcester Hosts 2025 English Greyhound Derby Amid Industry Scrutiny
Gary Oldman and David Beckham Knighted in King's Birthday Honours
Over 30,000 Lightning Strikes Recorded Across UK During Overnight Storms
Princess of Wales Returns to Public Duties at Trooping the Colour
Red Arrows Use Sustainable Fuel in Historic Trooping the Colour Flypast
Former Welsh First Minister Addresses Unionist Concerns Over Irish Language
Iran Signals Openness to Nuclear Negotiations Amid Ongoing Regional Tensions
France Bars Israeli Arms Companies from Paris Defense Expo
King Charles Leads Tribute to Air India Crash Victims at Trooping the Colour
Jack Pitchford Embarks on 200-Mile Walk to Support Stem Cell Charity
Surrey Hikers Take on Challenge of Climbing 11 Peaks in a Single Day
UK Deploys RAF Jets to Middle East Amid Israel-Iran Tensions
Two Skydivers Die in 'Tragic Accident' at Devon Airfield
Sainsbury's and Morrisons Accused of Displaying Prohibited Tobacco Ads
UK Launches National Inquiry into Grooming Gangs
Families Seek Closure After Air India Crash
Gold Emerges as Global Safe Haven Amid Uncertainty
Trump Reports $57 Million Earnings from Crypto Venture
Trump's Military Parade Sparks Concerns Over Authoritarianism
Nationwide 'No Kings' Protests Challenge Trump's Leadership
UK Deploys Jets to Middle East Amid Rising Tensions
Trump's Anti-War Stance Tested Amid Israel-Iran Conflict
Germany Holds First Veterans Celebration Since WWII
U.S. Health Secretary Dismisses CDC Vaccine Advisory Committee
Minnesota Lawmaker Melissa Hortman and Husband Killed in Targeted Attack; Senator John Hoffman and Wife Injured
Exiled Iranian Prince Reza Pahlavi Urges Overthrow of Khamenei Regime
×