We often hold our breath when a corporate acquisition swallows a favorite company with a legendary heritage. Sometimes its essence is destroyed or redefined beyond recognition. But once in awhile a corporate merger not only preserves the brand, but expands its original vision and influence. A shining example is the Concord Music Group.
I first encountered Concord as a record label in 1975 at my jazz-loving sister's house. Her album featured a jazz quartet supergroup, the L. A. Four, comprised of Bud Shank on flute and sax, Brazilian guitarist extraordinaire Laurinda Almeida, and legends Ray Brown (bass) and Shelley Manne (drums).
I was captivated by the album (The L.A. Four Scores) and rushed out to buy my own copy. Not only was the music fresh and alive, the recording quality was astounding. What made this even more amazing is that it was recorded live outdoors at the Concord Jazz Festival. To this day, the fidelity of that LP is one of the best recordings I have in any format for putting live musicians in my listening room. I long considered it a best-kept little secret. Not as well known as other jazz labels such as Verve, Pablo, Blue Note, Impulse, and Fantasy, but the equal or better in artist roster, music, and fidelity.
Concord Records was founded in 1972 as an offshoot of the the Concord (CA) Jazz Festival. The festival founder sold his car dealership to finance the label. Concord had all the hallmarks of a short bright life and premature death: small size in a crowded niche market (jazz), audiophile quality sound and expensive production values, top notch artists, and creative music slightly off the beaten path. Big investment, small return, fun while it lasted. Or so I thought.
But somehow it prevailed through the years. Their high quality attracted similar-minded artists who could attract sales--the inestimable Ray Brown, Dave Brubeck, guitarists Almeida, Herb Ellis, Charlie Byrd, Cal Collins, fusion vibe virtuoso Gary Burton, vocalist Ernestine Anderson, piano legend Marian McPartland, big band legend Woody Herman, and many others. Each album was an artistic and sonic gem and I grab every 1970s-'80s Concord LP I can find at used record stores and swap meets.
Then two wonderful things happened. In 1999 a consortium led by Neil Gaba and TV producer Norman Lear bought Concord. This no doubt infused some cash into an otherwise marginal operation. They moved the headquarters from Concord to Beverly Hills, but subsequent business decisions show that the consortium had the label's health in mind and expanded the label's original mission in a good way.
Then in 2004 Concord bought Fantasy Records and reinvented itself as the Concord Music Group. Fantasy was a Berkeley-based jazz label, originally home to artists such as Lenny Bruce, the Vince Guaraldi Trio (the jazz behind the Charlie Brown TV specials), and Cal Tjader. Fantasy became a force to be reckoned with by signing Creedence Clearwater Revival.
The enormous money generated by Creedence enabled Fantasy owner, Saul Zaentz, to expand his operation considerably. He built new facilities, acquired other struggling labels, and entered into film production where he's amassed an impressive record of successes--One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus, The English Patient, etc. He owns the film rights to The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Peter Jackson and Newline Cinema has to pay Zaentz some serious coin to film LOTR, and it's because of the intricacies of these film rights that filming The Hobbit became so problematic.
Apparently Zaentz's business acumen is matched only by his greed and vindictiveness, however, as least as it related to John Fogerty. When Fogerty decided to leave Creedence Clearwater, he had to sign his royalty rights over to Zaentz to get out of his contract. Furthermore, after Fogerty moved on, Zaentz continued to sue him, once for defamation of character because of a couple of thinly veiled satirical songs (e.g,, Zanz Kant Danz) and for--of all things--plagiarism because--in Zaentz's mind--Fogerty's new songs sounded too much like the old Creedence songs. Not only was Zaentz raking in the royalties from Fogerty's previous library, he was trying to block Fogerty's ability to earn new royalties with new songs, a new contract, a new label, and a new publisher.
Fortunately all that came to a halt when Concord Music Group bought Fantasy Records in 2004. In no time at all, CMG restored Fogerty's royalty rights and John immediately re-joined the Fantasy label after over 30 years of estrangement and no royalties. In the purchase, Concord also picked up all the labels Fantasy had acquired over the years including some treasure troves of American popular music--jazz labels Riverside, Prestige, Milestone, and Pablo (among others), and Soul/R&B icon Stax/Volt. That's Booker T & the MGs, Cropper & Dunn, Rufus Thomas, Sam & Dave, Isaac Hayes, Staples Singers, even the Aretha Franklin library recorded at Stax and pressed by Atlantic.
At the end of 2005 Concord acquired the struggling Telarc label, which had always stood for very high quality digital recordings. Starting out as a state-of-the-art classical label, Telarc had expanded particularly into jazz and blues, signing and recording such iconic but aging artists as Lionel Hampton, Oscar Peterson, Junior Wells, and Cab Calloway.
In 2007 Concord partnered with Starbucks for their HearMusic series. This has produced some beautifully done vintage jazz and blues collections mined from the vaults from the Fantasy acquisition, plus some very interesting modern projects such as Paul McCartney's "Memory Almost Full," James Taylor's "Covers" and a live album of Taylor and Carole King. After the affiliation with Starbucks expired, Concord has continued to produce new recordings under the HearMusic label.
These days Concord makes a point of offering much of its music in multiple formats to increase accessibility to the music. They offer CDs, SACDs on some titles, MP3 albums, and even some vinyl. Their prices are very friendly. CDs are typically $12.98, MP3 albums $8.98, and even their vinyl is often only $12.98 where $25-30 is more common on new LPs. Even their reissue of Ray Charles' iconic "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music" is available at $11.98. Their website offers 21 titles on vinyl, but a visit to Acoustic Sounds and a search for vinyl records on the various labels owned by CMG reveals hundreds of new LPs available.
So let's hoist one for Concord Music Group, a company that did it for love more than money, and somehow made that business model work, survive, prevail, and thrive.
Question
JohnnyB
We often hold our breath when a corporate acquisition swallows a favorite company with a legendary heritage. Sometimes its essence is destroyed or redefined beyond recognition. But once in awhile a corporate merger not only preserves the brand, but expands its original vision and influence. A shining example is the Concord Music Group.
I first encountered Concord as a record label in 1975 at my jazz-loving sister's house. Her album featured a jazz quartet supergroup, the L. A. Four, comprised of Bud Shank on flute and sax, Brazilian guitarist extraordinaire Laurinda Almeida, and legends Ray Brown (bass) and Shelley Manne (drums).
I was captivated by the album (The L.A. Four Scores) and rushed out to buy my own copy. Not only was the music fresh and alive, the recording quality was astounding. What made this even more amazing is that it was recorded live outdoors at the Concord Jazz Festival. To this day, the fidelity of that LP is one of the best recordings I have in any format for putting live musicians in my listening room. I long considered it a best-kept little secret. Not as well known as other jazz labels such as Verve, Pablo, Blue Note, Impulse, and Fantasy, but the equal or better in artist roster, music, and fidelity.
Concord Records was founded in 1972 as an offshoot of the the Concord (CA) Jazz Festival. The festival founder sold his car dealership to finance the label. Concord had all the hallmarks of a short bright life and premature death: small size in a crowded niche market (jazz), audiophile quality sound and expensive production values, top notch artists, and creative music slightly off the beaten path. Big investment, small return, fun while it lasted. Or so I thought.
But somehow it prevailed through the years. Their high quality attracted similar-minded artists who could attract sales--the inestimable Ray Brown, Dave Brubeck, guitarists Almeida, Herb Ellis, Charlie Byrd, Cal Collins, fusion vibe virtuoso Gary Burton, vocalist Ernestine Anderson, piano legend Marian McPartland, big band legend Woody Herman, and many others. Each album was an artistic and sonic gem and I grab every 1970s-'80s Concord LP I can find at used record stores and swap meets.
Then two wonderful things happened. In 1999 a consortium led by Neil Gaba and TV producer Norman Lear bought Concord. This no doubt infused some cash into an otherwise marginal operation. They moved the headquarters from Concord to Beverly Hills, but subsequent business decisions show that the consortium had the label's health in mind and expanded the label's original mission in a good way.
Then in 2004 Concord bought Fantasy Records and reinvented itself as the Concord Music Group. Fantasy was a Berkeley-based jazz label, originally home to artists such as Lenny Bruce, the Vince Guaraldi Trio (the jazz behind the Charlie Brown TV specials), and Cal Tjader. Fantasy became a force to be reckoned with by signing Creedence Clearwater Revival.
The enormous money generated by Creedence enabled Fantasy owner, Saul Zaentz, to expand his operation considerably. He built new facilities, acquired other struggling labels, and entered into film production where he's amassed an impressive record of successes--One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus, The English Patient, etc. He owns the film rights to The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Peter Jackson and Newline Cinema has to pay Zaentz some serious coin to film LOTR, and it's because of the intricacies of these film rights that filming The Hobbit became so problematic.
Apparently Zaentz's business acumen is matched only by his greed and vindictiveness, however, as least as it related to John Fogerty. When Fogerty decided to leave Creedence Clearwater, he had to sign his royalty rights over to Zaentz to get out of his contract. Furthermore, after Fogerty moved on, Zaentz continued to sue him, once for defamation of character because of a couple of thinly veiled satirical songs (e.g,, Zanz Kant Danz) and for--of all things--plagiarism because--in Zaentz's mind--Fogerty's new songs sounded too much like the old Creedence songs. Not only was Zaentz raking in the royalties from Fogerty's previous library, he was trying to block Fogerty's ability to earn new royalties with new songs, a new contract, a new label, and a new publisher.
Fortunately all that came to a halt when Concord Music Group bought Fantasy Records in 2004. In no time at all, CMG restored Fogerty's royalty rights and John immediately re-joined the Fantasy label after over 30 years of estrangement and no royalties. In the purchase, Concord also picked up all the labels Fantasy had acquired over the years including some treasure troves of American popular music--jazz labels Riverside, Prestige, Milestone, and Pablo (among others), and Soul/R&B icon Stax/Volt. That's Booker T & the MGs, Cropper & Dunn, Rufus Thomas, Sam & Dave, Isaac Hayes, Staples Singers, even the Aretha Franklin library recorded at Stax and pressed by Atlantic.
At the end of 2005 Concord acquired the struggling Telarc label, which had always stood for very high quality digital recordings. Starting out as a state-of-the-art classical label, Telarc had expanded particularly into jazz and blues, signing and recording such iconic but aging artists as Lionel Hampton, Oscar Peterson, Junior Wells, and Cab Calloway.
In 2007 Concord partnered with Starbucks for their HearMusic series. This has produced some beautifully done vintage jazz and blues collections mined from the vaults from the Fantasy acquisition, plus some very interesting modern projects such as Paul McCartney's "Memory Almost Full," James Taylor's "Covers" and a live album of Taylor and Carole King. After the affiliation with Starbucks expired, Concord has continued to produce new recordings under the HearMusic label.
These days Concord makes a point of offering much of its music in multiple formats to increase accessibility to the music. They offer CDs, SACDs on some titles, MP3 albums, and even some vinyl. Their prices are very friendly. CDs are typically $12.98, MP3 albums $8.98, and even their vinyl is often only $12.98 where $25-30 is more common on new LPs. Even their reissue of Ray Charles' iconic "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music" is available at $11.98. Their website offers 21 titles on vinyl, but a visit to Acoustic Sounds and a search for vinyl records on the various labels owned by CMG reveals hundreds of new LPs available.
So let's hoist one for Concord Music Group, a company that did it for love more than money, and somehow made that business model work, survive, prevail, and thrive.
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