Concord Rebrands After Expanding Into ANZ

Two months after expanding into the Australian and New Zealand markets, Nashville, U.S.-based rights company Concord has undergone a visual rebranding.

According to the company, it includes a “bold and confident” new logo, as well as a refreshed colour palette and overall design look.

It’s a symbol of a five-year “dramatic and aggressive” expansion plan.

In August, Concord Music Publishing Australia & New Zealand was set up in Melbourne after acquiring Native Tongue in an eight-figure deal, with staff based in both Sydney and Auckland.

Its first signing in the region following the acquisition was Meg Mac.

The ANZ operations are run by Native Tongue managing director Jaime Gough, SVP Chelsea Gough, along with their executive team including David Nash, VP publishing and Matt Tanner, VP A&R.

The new Concord logo

The rebrand coincides with the opening of its modern and innovative global headquarters in Nashville’s in Peabody Plaza this year – three times the size of its previous head office.

“Concord has grown significantly in the last seven years, necessitating new offices in L.A., N.Y.C., Berlin and Nashville,” said its president Bob Valentine.

“Marrying not only copyrights, plays, musicals, recordings and other narrative content, but more importantly merging the cultures of the many companies is what makes us the Concord of today.

“It is time for us to recognize that we now have an integrated, singular and unique culture that requires a fresh visual representation, giving our teams around the world a renewed sense of purpose.

“We are still the Concord that does what it says, seeks out exciting challenges and that exists to elevate every creative voice that it can, we just have a new and wonderfully bold face.”

The old Concord logo

It recently bought the Genesis catalogue and LA Reid’s L.A-based label and artist-development HitCo Entertainment (a week after the Native Tongue acquisition) and is said to be in the running to acquire the rights to Pink Floyd music.

Generating U.S. $600 million a year, it recently turned down a bid of $6 billion.

Concord’s expansion is funded primarily by its main stakeholder, a pension fund called the State of Michigan Retirement System.

But in an interview in September with Music Business Weekly, executives revealed they had enough of a cash flow to do some deals directly, but would take in some debt financing and minor investors.

Concord spent an estimated $1 billion on acquisitions during its first 14 years.