Concord Music

The company was founded in 1973 in Concord, California by Carl Jefferson, an auto dealer and jazz enthusiast. Jefferson produced the first Concord Jazz recording by guitarists Herb Ellis and Joe Pass. He named the label after the Concord Jazz Festival, which he had organized some years earlier. Jefferson sold Concord to Alliance Entertainment in 1994 and died the following year.[3] In 1999, film/television producer Norman Lear and entertainment executive Hal Gaba purchased the company.[4] In 2002, the label's headquarters were moved to Beverly Hills, California.

In 2004, Concord Records acquired Fantasy, Inc., owner of the Prestige, Fantasy, Milestone, Riverside, and Specialty, and the post-Atlantic Stax catalog. Concord then combined with Fantasy to form the independent Concord Music Group.[5] Concord joined with Starbucks to release the Ray Charles album Genius Loves Company,[6] which won eight Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.[7] In 2005, Concord bought Telarc.[8] On December 18, 2006, Concord announced the re-launch of the soul label Stax; rights to the name were formerly held by Fantasy. New signings included Isaac Hayes and Angie Stone.[9]

On March 12, 2007, Concord Music Group and Starbucks jointly founded the Hear Music label.[10] Paul McCartney's album Memory Almost Full was released in June 2007.[11] Hear Music has released albums by Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, and John Mellencamp.

In 2008, Village Roadshow Pictures Group (VRPG) and Concord completed their merger resulting in the creation of the new diversified entertainment group, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group.[12] In April 2010 it was announced that Paul McCartney transferred the distribution rights of his post-Beatles output to Concord from EMI.[13]

Concord purchased Rounder Records in 2010.[14] Distribution is mainly handled by Universal Music Group.[15] In smaller markets, such as those in Africa and Eastern Europe, local independent labels that represent Universal license the catalogue.[15] In 2012, Concord Music Group designated four distinct operating units: Fantasy Label Group (Hear Music, Stax, Fantasy), Rounder Label Group, Concord-Telarc Label Group (Concord Jazz/Heads-Up/Telarc) and Prestige Group.

Esperanza Spalding was honored with the Best New Artist Grammy in 2011, a first for Concord.[16] Concord artists won 8 Grammy Awards at the 2013 Awards ceremony, the most of any label.[17]

On March 25, 2013, Wood Creek Capital Management, (now Barings LLC, an affiliate of MassMutual Financial Group), purchased Concord Music Group from Village Roadshow Entertainment Group.[18] On October 31, 2013, The Bicycle Music Company acquired Wind-up Records back catalog including the master recordings of 1,600 songs including albums by Creed, Evanescence, Seether and Alter Bridge. The Bicycle Music Company then cut a service agreement deal with sister company Concord Music Group to market the acquired Wind-up Records back catalog to retailers and consumers.[19]

On July 1, 2014, Tom Whalley's label, Loma Vista Recordings (home to St. Vincent, Little Dragon, Spoon, Cut Copy, Marilyn Manson, Ghost, and the Grammy-nominated Django Unchained soundtrack, among others) agreed to a new multi-year, worldwide strategic partnership with Concord Music Group. Under the terms of the agreement, Concord provides funding for new talent relationships and artist development, as well as comprehensive label services for Loma Vista.[20] On July 8, 2014, Concord Music Group announced the acquisition of the Vee-Jay Records catalog including over 5,000 master recordings from Little Richard, John Lee Hooker, Betty Everett, Jimmy Reed, Jerry Butler, The Staple Singers, Gene Chandler, and the Dells, among many others.[21]

On April 1, 2015, Concord Music Group announced that it had acquired Vanguard Records and Sugar Hill Records from the Welk Music Group. Simultaneously, it was also announced that Concord Music Group merged with the Bicycle Music Company, a leading independent music publisher, record label, and rights manager to form the fully integrated recorded music and publishing company Concord Bicycle Music. Concord Music and Bicycle Music will operate as individual divisions within Concord Bicycle Music, with Concord Music Group being primarily responsible for recorded music activities and Bicycle overseeing publishing and rights management.[22] In May 2015, Concord Bicycle Music acquired Fearless Records and the rest of Wind-Up Records, the latter's back catalogue having been acquired by The Bicycle Music Company in October 2013.[23] The Fearless acquisition also included Fearless Records' Fearmore Music Publishing, along with the company's in-house merchandise operation.[24]

In September 2015, Concord acquired a significant stake in Razor & Tie, which includes the Razor & Tie and Washington Square labels, a publishing company, and the Kidz Bop franchise. Artists on the Razor & Tie label include The Pretty Reckless, All That Remains, Red Sun Rising and Starset.[25] In December 2015, American rock band R.E.M. signed a multi-year distribution deal with Concord, which covers their Warner Bros. Records albums.[26]

On June 2, 2017, Concord acquired music publisher Imagem [27] for $500 million. This deal included the rights to music by Daft Punk, Phil Collins, Pink Floyd, Mark Ronson, Boosey & Hawkes, and Rodgers & Hammerstein.[28] In July 2017, Concord acquired the back catalogues of several former Warner Music Group artists, including Jewel, the Violent Femmes, Taking Back Sunday, and Sérgio Mendes.[29] Concord also acquired part of Victory Records' back catalogue. In September 2017, Concord acquired Savoy Records. The catalog deal brings more than 3,000 master recordings to the company. Savoy was founded in 1942 and recorded Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon and Cannonball Adderley.[30]

On February 1, 2018, Concord acquired Tams-Witmark Music Library,[31] which licenses Broadway musical scripts and scores to professional and amateur theaters. Among the properties handled by Tams-Witmark are Kiss Me, Kate; My Fair Lady; Gypsy; Bye Bye Birdie; Hello, Dolly!; Cabaret; Man of La Mancha and A Chorus Line. In February 2018, Concord acquired the classical soundtrack label Varèse Sarabande.[32] On July 27, 2018, Concord acquired Latin label Fania.[33] In August 2018, Concord acquired the catalogue of British label Independiente.[34] In December 2018, Concord acquired theatrical publisher Samuel French, Inc.[35] Among the musical properties handled by Samuel French are Chicago, The Rocky Horror Show, The Secret Garden, La Cage Aux Folles, Perfect Harmony and Rock of Ages.[36]

In 2019, the company made the decision to rebrand itself as simply "Concord". Concord acquired the classical publisher Hans Sikorski in June 2019.[37] and in September 2019, acquired the rock label Victory Records and its Another Victory publisher.[38]

In January 2020, Concord acquired a stake in publisher Pulse Music Group from Fujipacific Music.[39]

Concord Music's active roster includes James Taylor, Chick Corea, Alison Krauss, Ben Harper,[40] Esperanza Spalding, Christian Scott, Arturo Sandoval, Booker T. Jones, Kenny G, George Benson, Steve Martin, Alejandro Escovedo and AFI. The company's master catalog recordings includes John Coltrane, John Fogerty, Frank Sinatra, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Little Richard, Otis Redding, Thelonious Monk, Isaac Hayes, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett and Albert King.[41]

Concord's songwriting roster includes the catalogues of George Harrison, Mark Ronson, Daft Punk, Dolly Parton, Robert Johnson, Igor Stravinsky, Pink Floyd, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Nine Inch Nails, Social Distortion, and Kaiser Chiefs.

Its music publishers include Rodgers & Hammerstein, Harrisongs, the Tams-Witmark Music Library, Boosey & Hawkes, Another Victory, Sikorski, Imagem, the Bicycle Music Company, and Fania Records.

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