Alchemy Copyrights,LLC,[9][11]doing business asConcord, is anindependent American entertainment company.[12] It develops, manages and acquires sound recordings, music publishing rights, theatrical performance rights, and narrative content for film and television. Concord is majority owned by the State of Michigan Retirement System.[13]
Concord holds rights to more than 1.3 million[14][15] songs, composed works, plays, musicals and active recordings.[16][17] In 2020, 45% of its revenue came from music, 38% from music publishing and 17% from theatricals.[9] As of 2023, according to its CEO, it derived 85% of its revenue "from catalog, rather than newly-developed, music".[18][b]
Auto dealer and jazz enthusiastCarl Jefferson started the Concord Jazz record label in 1973. He sold the label to Alliance Entertainment in 1994,[21] and Glen Barros was appointed as CEO of the resulting company Concord Records.[22]
Concord Music Group was a Former American independent music company (now Concord) based inBeverly Hills, California, with worldwide (including the U.S.) distribution throughUniversal Music Group.[25][26] The company specialized in recordings and music publishing. On April 1, 2015, Concord Music Group merged with Bicycle Music Company to becomeConcord Bicycle Music.[27]
In 2004,Concord Records acquired Fantasy, Inc., owner of thePrestige,Fantasy,Milestone,Riverside,Specialty, and the post-AtlanticStax catalog. Concord then combined with Fantasy to form the independent Concord Music Group (CMG).[28] Also in 2004, CMG partnered with Starbucks to release theRay Charles albumGenius Loves Company,[29] which won eight GRAMMY Awards, including Album of the Year.[30] In 2005, CMG boughtTelarc.[31] 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 includedIsaac Hayes andAngie Stone.[32]
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.[35] In April 2010, it was announced that Paul McCartney transferred the distribution rights of his post-Beatles output to Concord fromEMI.[36]
CMG purchasedRounder Records in 2010.[37] 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.[38] CMG artists won 8 GRAMMY Awards at the 2013 Awards ceremony, the most of any label group.[39]
On March 25, 2013, Wood Creek Capital Management, (nowBarings LLC, an affiliate ofMassMutual Financial Group), purchased Concord Music Group fromVillage Roadshow Entertainment Group.[40] On October 31, 2013, music publisher TheBicycle Music Company acquiredWind-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 acquiredWind-up Records and other back catalogs to retailers and consumers.[41]
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-nominatedDjango 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.[42] On July 8, 2014, Concord Music Group announced the acquisition of theVee-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.[43]
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.[27] CBM then immediately announced that it had acquiredVanguard Records andSugar Hill Records from theWelk Music Group.[27]
On October 28, 2014, Alchemy Copyrights LLC was incorporated, with its headquarters registered asWilmington,Delaware.[44] On December 23, 2014, its Nashville-based subsidiary and namesake was formed.[45]
On April 1, 2015, Concord Music Group, still led by Glen Barros, announced its merger withBicycle Music, owned by Wood Creek and led by Jake Wisely.[46][47] The merged companies became subsidiaries of Concord Bicycle Music, a portfolio company of Wood Creek, with Scott Pascucci as CEO. The Concord Music Group division oversaw recorded music activities, and the Bicycle Music Company division managed publishing and rights.[48] As Concord Bicycle Music, the company acquiredRazor & Tie,Vanguard Records,Sugar Hill Records,Wind-up Records,Fearless Records,[49][50] andMusart Music Group including its Edimusa publishing arm (2016).[51]
Following the merger announcement, the Delaware parent and the California branch of Concord Bicycle Assets LLC were incorporated on October 21 and 22, 2015, respectively.[52][53]
On June 2, 2017, Concord Bicycle Music purchased European-based publishing companyImagem Music Group[54] from a Dutch pension fund.[55] After acquiring two theatrical licensing companies,Tams-Witmark Music Library andSamuel French in 2018, the company formed its own Theatricals division.[56]
During 2017, the Concord Music Group, Bicycle Music and Imagem divisions of Concord Bicycle Music were consolidated as Concord Music, and Barros was appointed aschief operating officer.[22][57][c]
In 2017, a streaming rights deal signed between Universal andSpotify gave Concord access to Spotify's marketing tools.[9]
By 2018, in the estimation of its chief business development officer Steve Salm, the company's revenue placed it in between "corporate giants" and "most indies", which gave it "an advantage in deals".[59]
In 2019, Concord purchased theGerman music publishing companyHans Sikorski, and has since amalgamated it with the previously acquired Boosey & Hawkes.[60][61]
The name Concord Music remained in use until early 2019.[62] By May 1, 2019, the company was restyled as Concord.[63][64][d] Concord Music had described itself as "a wholly owned subsidiary"[57] or as "the operating entity of Alchemy Copyrights LLC, an investment company that is owned byBarings Alternative Investments,[e] Sound Investors, and seventy institutional and individual partners, including forty members of Concord Music's management team".[65][66] After rebranding, Concord would define itself as "a private company funded by long-term institutional capital and members of Concord's management team".[67][24][55] By July 2020, Alchemy Copyrights was trading as Concord; the State of Michigan Retirement System was its "ultimate parent".[9]
On January 1, 2021, Jake Wisely, the former Bicycle Music CEO and a partner at Concord, was succeeded by Jim Selby as the chief publishing executive of Concord and joined its board of directors.[68]
On April 26, 2021, Concord acquiredDowntown's copyrights consisting of 145,000 owned and co-published copyrights for $300 million.[69]
In late 2021, incoming interest prompted Concord majority owner, the Michigan State Retirement System, to consider a sale of its stake in the company. "We got some very strong bids, and we passed on all of them," commented the then Concord CEO Scott Pascucci. Pascucci reported that Concord received several bids that were "extremely aggressive" but none that were "extraordinary plus."[70]
In September 2022, Concord purchased the publishing and recorded music catalogues ofTony Banks,Phil Collins, andMike Rutherford, as well as the publishing and recorded music catalogue from their years in the bandGenesis.[71]
In December 2022, Concord successfully closed $1.8 billion ofsenior notes, secured by a significant portion of its diversified catalogue of sound recordings and songs. Led byApollo Global Management and assisted by J.P. Morgan, it was the largestasset-backedsecuritizationoffering of music rights in the industry to date in terms of both size of issuance and number of assets (over one million copyrights). Proceeds from the issuance were to be reinvested to support Concord's continued growth in 2023 and beyond.[72][73]
On July 1, 2023, Bob Valentine (previously thechief financial officer[24]) replaced Scott Pascucci as CEO, and Pascucci was appointed to the board of directors.[1]
In September 2023, it was announced Concord had acquired the music publishing catalog of the New York, Nashville, and London-based music publisher, Mojo Music & Media. The catalog includes works of bands such asREO Speedwagon,Kiss, andCheap Trick.[78]
Additionally in September 2023, Concord[g] made an offer to acquire the entirety of Round Hill Music Royalty Fund (RHM) – the UK-listed fund operated by Round Hill Music. In October 2023, the RHM shareholders approved the acquisition, with over 99% of shareholders supporting the deal. With this transaction, Concord exceeded the $2 billion mark in its spending "across recorded music, music publishing and theatricals" since the 2015 merger.[15]
On March 24, 2025, Concord acquired Stem Distribution, which provides personalized distribution, digital strategy, data-driven insights, playlisting, and more for independent artists and labels. Stem will continue to be operated as a separate division within Concord Label Group.[79]
In 2017, when Concord purchased the Imagem Music Group, it tripled the size of its catalog bringing it to nearly 800,000 copyrights. The Imagem purchase also brought classical music publisherBoosey & Hawkes and The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization into Concord Music Publishing. Concord's publishing catalog now includes a vast array of popular music, classical music and many song and stage standards.[80]
Concord Music Publishing has also launched the new, Nashville-based talent and creative development venture Hang Your Hat Music, in partnership withGRAMMY®, CMA and ACM awarded songwriterHillary Lindsey.[133]
In April 2021, Concord acquired the roster and catalogue ofDowntown Music Publishing bringing its catalog to nearly 600,000 works.[134]
In August 2022, Concord acquired Australian music publisher Native Tongue, effectively launching Concord Music Publishing ANZ.[135]
In September 2022, Concord acquired the assets ofL.A. Reid's HitCo Entertainment.[140]
In June 2023, Concord and PULSE Music Group launched a new label, dubbed PULSE Records. The deal builds on a partnership between Pulse and Concord started in 2020 when Concord's music publishing division acquired a stake in Pulse Music Group to form a joint venture that included Concord administering Pulse's catalog and future signings.[141]
In September 2024, Concord Label Group merged the operations off Concord Records and Fantasy Records. Mark Williams and Margi Cheske are co-presidents of the new combination.[142]
Concord'sKIDZ BOP label has sold 23 million albums, generated 8 billion streams, has a featured channel onSirius XM and an international tour under its name.[192][193]
Concord purchased theatrical licensing companiesTams-Witmark[194] andSamuel French, and combining then with R&H Theatricals, launched its Theatrical division in 2018.[195] In May 2025, it was announced that Concord Theatricals acquired Broadway Licensing Global and its family of imprints, including Broadway Licensing, Dramatists Play Service, Playscripts and Stage Rights.[196] Concord Theatricals services both creators and producers of musicals and plays with theatrical licensing, script publishing and cast recordings. It also develops, licenses, produces and invests in musicals and plays for production.[195]
Concord Theatricals is a co-producer on the currently running Broadway showsHadestown and the 2022 revival ofInto The Woods for which Concord Theatricals/Craft Recordings released the cast album.[206][207] TheInto the Woods(2022 Broadway Cast Recording) won the GRAMMY Award for Best Music Theater Album on February 5, 2023.[208]
In 2019, Concord formed a Film & Television Development and Production Department to oversee all long-form audio-visual content produced by both Concord and third-party companies.[209] In 2021, the company launched Concord Originals as its narrative content creation business that will focus on developing and producing stories anchored by Concord's artists, music and[210] theatrical works. The division's slate consists of feature films, series, documentaries and podcasts, including remakes and re-imaginings of properties from Concord's iconic portfolio.[211]
Concord Originals recently executive producedBillie, a documentary aboutBillie Holiday which premiered atTelluride Film Festival in 2019.[212] The business is in development on several major screen projects based on iconic musicals byRodgers & Hammerstein: a TV series reimagining ofOklahoma!, which Concord Originals is producing alongsideSkydance TV, a remake ofThe King and I withTemple Hill atParamount Pictures and a contemporary take onFlower Drum Song with Daniel Dae Kim's 3AD and Janet Yang Productions.[213] Additional announced projects include a scripted series centering the history-making labelFania with Sherry Marsh, Jorge Granier and Sergio Pizzolante, an elevated genre film inspired by the music of blues legendRobert Johnson and a scripted podcast that tells the story behind the classic Mexican balladPeregrina with Prodigal Entertainment.[214][215] Concord Originals has also partnered withSkydance andJennifer Lopez'sNuyorican Productions to develop a slate of original projects based on Concord's catalog of theatrical works.[216]
In 2025, Concord Originals acquired the latest incarnation of the classic Hollywood studioRKO Pictures along with the derivative rights to the more than 5,000 titles that the studio retained.[217] RKO will continue to operate as an imprint under Concord Originals.
^Due to being a government entity, SMRS is represented by an independent third-partyfiduciary on the board. It has provided external equity funding for Concord's acquisitions.[9]
^Catalog music is defined as older than 18 months.[19]
^At the time of the Imagem acquisition in June 2017, the company still went by Concord Bicycle Music.[58]
^Concord had already appeared in press under this name in mid-2018.[59]
^Wood Creek, the owner of Concord since 2013, was merged by its owner, Mass Mutual, with Baring Asset Management and two other investment firms to form Barings LLC in September 2016.
^The legal entity involved is Concord Bicycle Assets LLC.[74]
^The legal entity involved was a British subsidiary of Concord, Concord Cadence Limited.[11]
