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Canada’s Loft Entertainment Partners with 'Impact Agency' One Twenty Eight

The company that recently acquired Canadian Music Week has made another strategic relationship to expand its reach.

Loft Entertainment Logo

Loft Entertainment Logo

Courtesy Photo

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.

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“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.

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From left to right: Matthew Burnett, Jordan Evans and Daniel Caesar at Billboard Canada Managers to Watch 2026
Gabriel Di Sante

From left to right: Matthew Burnett, Jordan Evans and Daniel Caesar at Billboard Canada Managers to Watch 2026

Management

Daniel Caesar's Surprise Tribute to His Managers & More of the Best Moments From Billboard Canada Managers to Watch 2026

Caesar presented the Managers of the Year Award to his longtime managers Matthew Burnett and Jordan Evans as industry luminaries gathered to celebrate at Billboard Canada Managers to Watch x MMF Canada Honour Roll at SOUNDSTAGE at NXNE on June 11. Angine de Poitrine manager Sébastien Collin and Yungblud manager Tommas Arnby also received special awards.

The most influential managers from across the globe gathered at SOUNDSTAGE in Toronto on June 11 at NXNE to celebrate Billboard Canada Managers to Watch. The celebration spotlighted the people who put in the behind-the-scenes work to elevate artists across the country following the release of this year's coveted Managers to Watch list.

“If you want to get something done, call the manager,” said Billboard Canada national editor Richard Trapunski in his opening remarks. "You are the ones who are closest to the artists, the unsung heroes of the music industry. You have the vision and the tools to open doors and build careers, yet you are rarely in the spotlight yourselves."

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