Concord Acquires Indie Labels Fearless, Wind-Up
UPDATED:[Read the full official announcement] Concord Bicycle Music continued its buying binge with the acquisition of Fearless Records and Wind-up Records.
Concord Bicycle Music has acquired the 150+ album catalog and current operations of Fearless Records including releases Plain White T's, At The Drive-In, Bigwig, The Aquabats, and Sugarcult, for a reported $10 million, according to Billboard.
After purchasing Wind Up's catalog last year, Concord has now also added the rest of the company to its roster.
The leadership and staff of both labels will reportedly remain largely intact
The official announcement:
CONCORD BICYCLE MUSIC ACQUIRES ACCLAIMED INDEPENDENT LABELS WIND-UP RECORDS AND FEARLESS RECORDS
TRANSACTION SIGNALS CONCORD’S EXPANSION IN ROCK AND ALTERNATIVE MUSIC
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – MAY 6TH, 2015 – Concord Bicycle Music is very pleased to announce the acquisition of acclaimed independent rock music labels, Wind-up Records and Fearless Records. This latest pair of transactions, led by Concord Bicycle Music’s Chief Corporate Development Officer, Steve Salm, underscores the company’s commitment to develop and grow its rock and alternative music portfolio. The acquisition of Wind-up and Fearless closely follows Concord Bicycle Music’s recent purchase of storied independent labels Vanguard and Sugar Hill Records.
New York-based Wind-up Records has sustained a remarkable level of success since its founding in 1997. The company is responsible for establishing and breaking numerous multi-platinum artists over the years and continues to develop and build a great young roster of alternative and rock artists such as Civil Twilight, The Griswolds, The Virginmarys, Crobot, Young Guns, Strange Talk Revivalists, SPEAK, Aranda and Filter. The roster also includes outstanding singer-songwriters Five for Fighting, Jillette Johnson and Genevieve. The acquisition of Wind-up’s active roster and ongoing business follows The Bicycle Music Company’s purchase of Wind-up’s core catalog in 2013.
Formed in 1994, Fearless Records became known for launching the careers of respected punk rock acts such as Plain White T's, At The Drive-In, Bigwig, The Aquabats, and Sugarcult. In recent years, the Culver City, CA based label has become an internationally renowned hotbed for up-and-coming rock bands, including Pierce The Veil, Breathe Carolina, The Maine, Mayday Parade, The Word Alive, Motionless In White, Alesana, and Every Avenue. Fearless Records is also home to the "Punk Goes" series, which is one of the top themed compilation series available. The Fearless acquisition also comprises Fearmore Music Publishing including the evergreen copyright "Hey There Delilah," along with the company’s highly successful in-house merchandise operation.
The ongoing operations of both labels will now form another vital part of the Concord Music Group, which is Concord Bicycle Music’s recorded music division. President and CEO, Ed Vetri will continue to lead the Wind-up team in New York, working in close conjunction with Concord’s staff in Los Angeles. Fearless Records founder and president Bob Becker will continue to lead the Fearless team in Los Angeles.“Teaming with Concord provides operational backing and an experienced, committed support team which enables Wind-up to focus entirely on artist development, A&R, marketing and promotion,” stated Wind-up President and CEO, Ed Vetri. “I have been working closely with the executive management at Concord over the last few years. It’s clear they are dedicated to building a major independent music company, one that benefits independent labels and their artists. I’m confident that Wind-up will be well positioned in the U.S. and around the world, to break new alternative and rock artists over the next several years.”
“Fearless has had many opportunities to be acquired by larger companies over the years and it had never seemed like the right fit, until now,” stated Fearless Records President Bob Becker. “Fearless and its roster of artists will be able to obtain a higher level of success, and still preserve our important role in the independent music community. I am looking forward to a long and successful relationship with the Concord Music Group.”
Glen Barros, CEO of Concord Music Group stated, “The addition of Wind-up and Fearless illustrates our commitment to expand within the rock genre, a process which we began over the last couple of years. Both of these labels have demonstrated long-term success and are true leaders in their field. We are extremely proud to welcome them to the Concord family and look forward to working alongside their very talented teams.”
Scott Pascucci, CEO of Concord Bicycle Music said, “Fearless and Wind-up fit perfectly within our aggressive growth strategies across publishing and recorded music. Ed and Bob will be great additions to Concord Bicycle Music and we look forward to working with them both. “
Additionally, the company recently disclosed it had raised $100 million of supplementary capital to fund future growth through continued music rights acquisitions and artist development investments. These moves position this now fully integrated recorded music and publishing powerhouse as one of the fastest growing independent music companies in the world.
About Concord Bicycle Music:
Concord Bicycle Music, based in Beverly Hills, California and Nashville, Tennessee is comprised of Concord Music Group and The Bicycle Music Company. Concord Music Group primarily manages the company’s recorded music activities, while The Bicycle Music Company oversees publishing and rights management. Concord Bicycle Music is a portfolio company of Wood Creek, an investment manager with over $2.5 billion in committed capital. Wood Creek is a leading investor in intellectual property assets including music, other copyrights, filmed content and patents and trademarks.
Concord Bicycle Music’s portfolio of more than 10,000 active album recordings includes at least 270 RIAA certified gold, platinum, or multi-platinum releases (including one of only 115 RIAA Diamond® albums, attesting to USA consumer sales in excess of 10 million units). Its collection also includes 227 Grammy® winners (more than 5% of the Grammy® awards ever presented in the 57-year history of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences).
Its master recording catalog features works by AFI, Gregg Allman, Joan Baez, George Benson, The Brand New Heavies, Ray Charles, John Coltrane, The Connells, Creed, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Miles Davis, Drowning Pool, Evanescence, Finger Eleven, Vince Guaraldi, Isaac Hayes, Kenny G, Carole King, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Steve Martin, Paul McCartney and Wings, Nickel Creek, Nine Inch Nails, The Offspring, The Pharcyde, Robert Plant, Raffi, Otis Redding, Seether, Paul Simon, The Skyliners, Social Distortion, The Staple Singers, James Taylor, George Thorogood, Tone-Loc, Brenton Wood and Young MC. A small sampling of the company’s active recording roster includes Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Alison Krauss, Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, Paul Simon, Ben Harper, Seether, Matt Nathanson, Valerie June, Dave Koz, Esperanza Spalding, and Kenny G; and through its partnership with Loma Vista Recordings, Spoon, St. Vincent and Marilyn Manson.
The company’s celebrated family of labels includes Concord Records, Concord Jazz, Fantasy, Rounder, Stax, Hear Music, Milestone, Nitro, Prestige, Riverside, Specialty, Telarc, Loma Vista, Bicycle, Vee-Jay and most recent acquisitions Vanguard, Sugar Hill, Wind-up and Fearless.
Concord Bicycle Music’s songbook includes over 55,000 copyrighted works and more than 750 Billboard® chart hits, featuring the standards Always On My Mind, Bad Moon Rising, Because of You, Born On The Bayou, Bring Me To Life, Bust A Move, Come On Get Happy, Crossroads Blues, Down On The Corner, Eye of the Tiger, Fortunate Son, Guantanamera, Guitars Cadillacs, Have You Ever Seen The Rain, Hang On Sloopy, Hurt, Ironic, Lady Sings The Blues, The Letter, Let Your Love Flow, Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys, Man In The Mirror, Proud Mary, Sister Christian, Slow Ride, Stand By Your Man, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, This Is How We Do It, Time After Time, The Wanderer, Where Have All The Flowers Gone, Who’ll Stop The Rain, Wild Thing and the Tony® Grammy® Pulitzer® winner A Chorus Line.
The Concord Bicycle Music songwriter portfolio contains works by Roy Ayers, Marty Balin, Glen Ballard, Sammy Cahn, Wes Farrell, The Fixx, John Fogerty, Foghat, Marvin Hamlisch, Billie Holiday, Robert Johnson, Montell Jordan, Josh Kelley, Cyndi Lauper, Ernie Maresca, Marilyn Manson, Ben Moody, Night Ranger, Nine Inch Nails, Jim Peterik, Plain White T’s, Sonny Rollins, Pete Seeger and Third Eye Blind.
