Concord
USDC issuer Circle terminates SPAC merger with Concord
Circle, the issuer of USD Coin (USDC), announced the mutual termination of its proposed merger with the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Concord Acquisition on Dec. 5. The deal was announced in July 2021 with a preliminary valuation of $4.5 billion and was then amended in February 2022 when Circle’s valuation ballooned to $9 billion. USDC is currently the second-largest stablecoin in circulation, with a market capitalization of $43 billion. Under the terms of the agreements, Concord had until Dec. 10 to consummate the transaction or seek a shareholder vote for an extension. However, it appears that Concord chose to have the time limit lapse instead. As told by Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire: “Concord has been a strong partner and has added value throughout this process, and we w...
Concord Taps Bond Market With $1.65 Billion Asset-Backed Security
Independent music company Concord is the latest to tap into a growing market for music royalty-backed securities with Concord Music Royalties, LLC, Series 2022-1, a $1.65 billion asset-backed security. The bond will be supported by mechanical, performance and synchronization royalties from more than 1 million assets. The proceeds will be used to fund reserve accounts, pay transaction expenses, repay debt and for other general corporate purposes, according to a report by ratings agency KBRA. KBRA gave Series 2022-1 a preliminary rating of A+ (on a scale ranging from AAA to D), citing the “large, diversified catalog with globally recognized songs and artists” such as R.E.M., Plain White T’s, Creed, Evanescence, Genesis, Phill Collins and Mike + The Mechanics — the latter t...
Concord’s HitCo Acquisition Includes Catalog & New Releases, Not Brand
Concord has officially confirmed its acquisition of what it calls “certain assets” of Antonio “L.A.” Reid and Charles Goldstuck‘s HitCo Entertainment, “including (with limited exclusions) its entire sound recording catalog and certain recent releases.” The deal is also expected to include some upcoming tracks from top HitCo acts Saint JHN and Rubi Rose, sources say. Additionally, sources tell Billboard the ongoing transition does not include the purchase of the HitCo brand or the label, though Concord is working with a handful of HitCo staffers during the changeover and may continue to work with some after that is completed. Reid and Goldstuck will not have ongoing involvement, however, sources confirm. The deal, which is worth an undisclosed amount, was first reported in August by Variety...
Concord Acquires Australasian Music Publisher Native Tongue
Concord continues to expand, this time with the acquisition of Native Tongue, one of the leading independent music publishers in Australasia. A family business since it was established in 2003 by New Zealander Chris Gough, Native Tongue is sub-publisher for more than 40 international catalogs, including Barton Music, Because Editions, Boosey & Hawkes, Cloud 9 Music, Domino Publishing Company, Faber Music, Roys Boys, PULSE Publishing, Ultra Music and Wixen Music. The acquisition, announced Thursday (Aug. 4), is an extension to an alliance that has seen Native Tongue represent Concord in Australia and NZ for more than 12 years. Concord now has access to Native Tongue’s stable of songwriters, which includes Grammy-nominated writer/producer Stuart Crichton (Backstreet Boys, Kesha, Kygo, Ro...
Inside Track: Labels’ Back-to-Office Plans Include Massages, Mediation, Free Lunch & Concerts
As COVID-19 restrictions ease, music companies are welcoming back employees with a wide range of healthy perks to lessen the stress of returning to the office after two years of working from home. Warner Music Group and publishing arm Warner Chappell offer staffers massages, reiki sessions and even sound baths in their Los Angeles, New York and Nashville offices, as well as complimentary lunches and smoothies. Baristas also man coffee stations to encourage face-to-face conversation and collaboration among returning workers who may have only seen each other over Zoom for months. There is also a full slate of virtual programs ranging from yoga, wellness classes and meditation. WMG’s recorded music division began welcoming staffers back in late February, while the publishing company and corpo...
Jennifer Lopez, Concord and Skydance Team to Adapt Classic Musicals for TV, Film
The A-list actor and musician will have an option to star in one of the forthcoming productions. Concord, Skydance and Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions (co-run by Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas) have teamed to co-develop original film/TV projects based on Concord’s theatrical catalog of musicals, the companies announced Monday (July 12). Representing a wide array of classic and modern theatrical catalogs, Concord controls works by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, Lin-Manuel Miranda, George & Ira Gershwin and many more. Nuyorican Productions’ Lopez, Goldsmith-Thomas and Benny Medina will act as executive producers for the projects from the partnership along with Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Bill Bost and Concord’s Sophia Dilley and Scott Pascucci. Lopez will ...
Chadian rebels, government forces clash in area where slain leader was shot
Government troops and rebels clashed on Thursday in a region of western Chad where president Idriss Deby Itno was killed earlier this month. The fight in the desert region of Kanem, near Chad’s border with Niger, pits Libya-based rebels against forces loyal to a new military junta led by Deby’s son. Fiercely criticised for authoritarianism and inequality, Deby was seen as a trusty ally by many Western countries including the former colonial power France. He was seen as a stabilising force in the fight against jihadism in the wider Sahel region on the southern fringes of the Sahara desert. “Fighting is continuing in Kanem — we are going to have continue to fight, otherwise they will destabilise us,” junta spokesman General Azem Bermandoa Agouna told AFP. The Military Transition Council (CMT...
Chad rebels ready for ceasefire; opposition presses for civilian rule
Rebels in northern Chad are ready to observe a ceasefire and to discuss a political settlement after the battlefield death of President Idriss Deby last week, a rebel spokesman said on Sunday. The rebels, known as the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), came over the northern border from Libya on April 11 calling for an end to Deby’s 30-year rule. They came as close as 200-300 km (125-185 miles) from the capital N’Djamena before being pushed back by the army. Deby was killed on Monday while visiting troops at the front, just after he won an election. His death shocked the Central African country, which has long been a Western ally against Islamist militants. The air force has since bombarded rebel positions, the military and rebels said. The military said on Saturday it had “annih...
US: Chad rebels heading towards capital from north
The United States said rebel fighters in Chad appeared to be moving towards the capital N’Djamena and ordered non-essential staff to leave, warning of possible violence. A spokesman for the rebel Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) said its fighters had “liberated” the province of Kanem, some 220 km (136 miles) from the capital N’Djamena, but the government denied this. “The authors of these false statements are not even on the ground, but somewhere in Europe,” the government said in a message posted to Facebook. A day earlier the British government urged its citizens to leave Chad because of information that two rebel convoys on the move, one near the town of Faya, some 770 km (478 miles) northeast of N’Djamena, and another by the town of Mao, the provincial capital of Kanem. On S...
Marilyn Manson Off Label’s Site After Evan Rachel Wood Claims Abuse
As recently as Jan. 1, Loma Vista was offering more than 25 Marilyn Manson related items through its online site, ranging from limited edition vinyl to We Are Chaos puzzles, socks and candles, according to the Internet Archive. Manson’s first release through Concord imprint Loma Vista was 2015’s The Pale Emperor. Concord’s chief label head and Loma Vista founder Tom Whalley had worked with Manson when Whalley ran Interscope Records. Manson’s last album, We Are Chaos, came out Sept. 11, 2020, and debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and at No. 1 on the Top Rock Albums chart. Wood’s post accuses Warner, whom she began dating when she was 18 and Warner was 38, of “grooming her,” adding I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission. I am done living in fear of retaliation, slander, o...
Universal Music Group, Concord Extend Global Distribution Deal
“UMG and Concord have built a wonderful relationship over the past 15 years,” comments Concord CEO Scott Pascucci in a statement. “As we have grown, they have provided the support that we needed to expand the worldwide success of our frontline labels, the KIDZ BOP franchise, Craft Recordings, and the rest of our catalog. We are very pleased to be renewing this partnership with Universal.” Adds Lucian Grainge, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group: “Our partnership with Concord is built on a foundation of shared values. We both put artists and creativity at the center of everything we do.” Grainge continues, “I couldn’t be happier to extend our partnership and l look forward to even more success working with Scott, Tom, Sig and the entire Concord team.” The independent Concord music gro...
US election: Republicans hold back Democrats, narrowing path to Senate control
The battle for power in the Senate tightened into Wednesday as Democrats picked up a seat in Colorado, but suffered a setback in Alabama, and Republicans held their own in high-profile races in South Carolina, Iowa, Texas and Kansas, dramatically narrowing the political map. Republicans fought to retain their Senate majority by turning back a surge of Democrats challenging allies of President Donald Trump, and the Democrats’ various paths to seizing control were growing more limited. With several contests still too early to call, and one Georgia race heading to a January runoff, the final verdict is expected to drag on. Democrats gained a seat when ex-Gov. John Hickenlooper ousted GOP Sen. Cory Gardner in Colorado, a must-win to flip the Senate, but couldn’t hold on in Alabama, where forme...
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