Another big music industry merger is on the cards, but at least this time it’s not Universal Music continuing in its bid to gobble up every single business on the music rights menu. According to Bloomberg, BMG is in talks to acquire Concord, potentially bringing together two significant independent businesses within recorded music and especially music publishing.
The news isn’t particularly surprising given the boss of BMG owner Bertelsmann, Thomas Rabe, told the Financial Times in 2024 that maybe the time was finally right for the media group’s music business to consider “joining forces with a competitor”.
Given Rabe presumably meant allying with another sizable music rights business, the list of possible competitors to join forces with was relatively small, especially once Universal announced its intent to absorb Downtown Music. Concord was obviously on that short list.
Negotiations are seemingly ongoing regarding the possible BMG/Concord merger, which could value Concord - a company that has been very acquisitive itself in recent years - as high as $7 billion, according to Bloomberg’s sources.
Concord’s owners - which include Michigan Retirement Systems, which manages the US state’s teacher pensions, and Great Mountain Partners - previously considered bids to buy the company back in 2022.
Back then Concord’s owners and directors reportedly received offers in excess of $5 billion, but ultimately decided not to sell. Concord has grown further via additional acquisitions since then, although its bid to buy the assets of the Hipgnosis Songs Fund in 2024 was ultimately unsuccessful.
The current iteration of BMG was founded in 2008, after Bertelsmann sold off its previous music company - which was one of the ‘majors’ - between 2006 and 2008, with its labels going to Sony Music and its publishing catalogue to Universal. The all-new BMG then grew rapidly through a series of acquisitions, initially backed by equity outfit KKR.
A combined BMG and Concord would be a key player in the music rights industry, and could well be lumped in with the other majors, although being classified ‘major’ has both pros and cons within the music business.
The merger would likely need regulatory approval in at least some markets, but having a combined BMG and Concord competing in a market so dominated by Universal and Sony could be a positive.
Especially given all the controversies around Universal’s Downtown deal - not to mention the major’s alliance with Chord Music Partners to buy up more rights - and Sony’s new multi-billion dollar tie-up with Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund to likewise acquire music IP. Any company that can join Warner Music as a strong competitor against the Universal/Sony duopoly seems like a good thing.
It's thought a combined BMG/Concord would likely be run by Concord CEO Bob Valentine, as current BMG boss Thomas Coesfeld is set to move into the CEO role at the wider Bertelsmann group next year, he being a member of the Mohn family that controls the German media giant.