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Concord Music Group

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Concord Music Group
Company typePrivate
IndustryMusic
PredecessorConcord Records
(1973–2004)
Founded2004
Defunct2015
SuccessorConcord
(2015–present)
HeadquartersBeverly Hills, California
Websiteconcord.com Edit this on Wikidata

Concord Music Group was an American independent music company based in Beverly Hills, California, with worldwide (including the U.S.) distribution through Universal Music Group.[1][2] The company specialized in recordings and music publishing. On April 1, 2015, Concord Music Group merged with Bicycle Music Company to become Concord Bicycle Music.[3]

History

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In 2004, Concord Records acquired Fantasy, Inc., owner of the Prestige, Fantasy, Milestone, Riverside, Specialty, and the post-Atlantic Stax catalog. Concord then combined with Fantasy to form the independent Concord Music Group (CMG).[4] Also in 2004, CMG partnered with Starbucks to release the Ray Charles album Genius Loves Company,[5] which won eight GRAMMY Awards, including Album of the Year.[6] In 2005, CMG bought Telarc.[7] On December 18, 2006, CMG announced the re-launch of the soul label Stax; rights to the name were formerly held by Fantasy. New singers included Isaac Hayes and Angie Stone.[8]

On March 12, 2007, Concord Music Group and Starbucks jointly founded the Hear Music label.[9] Paul McCartney's album Memory Almost Full was released in June 2007.[10] Hear Music went on to release albums by Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Alanis Morissette, Carly Simon and John Mellencamp.

In 2008, Village Roadshow Pictures Group (VRPG) and CMG completed their merger resulting in the creation of the new diversified entertainment group, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group.[11] In April 2010 it was announced that Paul McCartney transferred the distribution rights of his post-Beatles output to Concord from EMI.[12]

CMG purchased Rounder Records in 2010.[13] 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 Records.[14] CMG artists won 8 GRAMMY Awards at the 2013 Awards ceremony, the most of any label group.[15]

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.[16] On October 31, 2013, music publisher 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 entered into a service agreement deal with sister company Concord Music Group to market the acquired Wind-up Records and other back catalogs to retailers and consumers.[17]

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, CMG provided funding for new talent relationships and artist development, as well as comprehensive label services for Loma Vista.[18] 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.[19]

On April 1, 2015, it was 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 operated as individual divisions within Concord Bicycle Music (CBM), with Concord Music Group being primarily responsible for recorded music activities and Bicycle overseeing publishing and rights management.[3] CBM then immediately announced that it had acquired Vanguard Records and Sugar Hill Records from the Welk Music Group.[3]

Labels

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Main article: List of Concord record labels

References

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  1. ^ "Concord Music Being Shopped to Private-Equity Firms, Not Strategic Suitors", Billboard, December 5, 2012
  2. ^ "Concord Music Group to be Sold to Wood Creek Capital Management", Billboard, March 25, 2013
  3. ^ a b c "Concord and Bicycle Merge to Form Concord Bicycle Music, Acquires Vanguard and Sugar Hill Records", Billboard.com, April 1, 2015
  4. ^ "Concord Records Completes Acquisition of Fantasy, Inc". www.businesswire.com. December 1, 2004. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  5. ^ "Concord Records and Starbucks Partner to Create Historic Ray Charles Duets CD". www.businesswire.com. March 23, 2004. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  6. ^ Boucher, Geoff (February 14, 2005). "Ray's 'Genius' Loves Company". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  7. ^ "Concord Music buys Telarc". Los Angeles Times. December 21, 2005. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  8. ^ "Stax Relaunches With Hayes, Stone, White Tribute". Billboard. December 18, 2006. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  9. ^ Woodward, Curt (March 12, 2007). "Starbucks launches Hear Music record label". The Seattle Times. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  10. ^ About.com Classic Rock "Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full" Archived April 4, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, About.com Classic Rock
  11. ^ Suzi Price "Village Roadshow Pictures Group And Concord Music Group Join Forces", JazzReview.com, January 29, 2008
  12. ^ Sean Michaels "Paul McCartney cuts ties with EMI", The Guardian, April 22, 2010
  13. ^ Lawless, John (April 14, 2010). "Rounder acquired by Concord Music Group". Bluegrass Today. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  14. ^ Huffington Post "Esperanza Spalding: Grammy Award 2011 Winner For Best New Artist", Huffington Post, May 25, 2011
  15. ^ "Concord, Warner Bros. Lead Record Labels With Most Grammy Awards at 2013 Ceremony", Billboard.com, February 11, 2013
  16. ^ "Concord Music Group to be Sold to Wood Creek Capital Management", Billboard.com, March 25, 2013
  17. ^ "Bicycle Music Acquires Wind-Up Records' Back Catalog, Cuts Deal with Concord Music Group (Exclusive)", Billboard.com, October 31, 2013
  18. ^ "Tom Whalley's Loma Vista Goes to Concord Music Group", Billboard.com, July 1, 2014
  19. ^ "Concord Music Group Acquires Famed Soul Label Vee-Jay Records", Billboard.com, July 8, 2014
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