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BMG And Concord Merge To Form Major Music Company
Hittin’ the big time // Image by Kait Cunniff with DALL-E
Music companies BMG and Concord are merging in a $7 billion deal to form “the leading independent music company in the world.”
The Big Sound: While the BMG-Concord deal creates a firm capable of competing at the scale of the three major music companies (UMG, Sony, and Warner), both are staying true to their independent roots, betting on a more-is-more approach. The new BMG (the official name of the combined company) may not have current superstars, but it does have a superstar catalog library that can help subsidize artist development.
Behind The Deal: The year of the mega-merger continues.
The combined company will operate under the BMG name and be headquartered in Nashville, with Concord CEO Bob Valentine serving as CEO and BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld as chairman.
German media giant Bertelsmann will own 67% of the company, while Great Mountain Partners will hold the remaining 33%, with the deal expected to close by the end of the year.
The combined BMG has record deals with artists like Jelly Roll, Paul Simon, Lainey Wilson, Diane Warren, Daddy Yankee, and R.E.M.
On the publishing front, it represents top names like Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bruno Mars, Lewis Capaldi, John Legend, and Pitbull.
Closing Thoughts: The new BMG is signaling that it wants to use its combined resources to supercharge the unsexy stuff it does best — catalog-rights management, music publishing, and distribution. Announcing the deal, Valentine said: “This is not about replicating the major label model; it’s about using scale to strengthen independence. Together, we will build a company that gives artists more reach and more flexibility — all designed to support their distinct visions.”
In other words, it’s a bet that one size definitely doesn’t fit all.
The Future: The merger shows that music assets are now among the most attractive investments in the world… so expect consolidation across the industry to continue as companies compete in catalog bidding wars.
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Polled and Copy-edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.