Concord buys Native Tongue in eight-figure acquisition, expands in Australia and New Zealand

Remember when it seemed like the entire music industry was whispering about whether Concord would sell to a major music company?

The truth about that story released in April When we learned that, yes, Concord was exploring the possibility of a sale – but, no, it wasn’t willing to make a deal for less than an “extraordinary” price. Specifically: at least USD 6 billion dollars.

(Bloomberg Accurate report in April, Concord and its largely parent company — the Michigan Retirement Systems pension fund — rejected two separate acquisition bids for $4.5 billion and $5 billion, respectively.)

All of which prompts Concord to close its chapter on looking at a potential trade ($5 billion clearly not considered “plus binary”!), and face the future as is a well-funded independent company.

However, has earned a reputation as an aggressive acquirer of music rights – and spent a whopping $400 million to buy. Downtowncopyright directory of last year – Will Concord quickly go back to mergers and acquisitions mode, or is it silent?

Today (August 4), that question has been definitively answered, with the news that Concord is expanding its operations in Australia and New Zealand through the acquisition of music publishing company Native Tongue – with a substantial price.

Reliable sources close to the Australian deal told MBW that Concord spent an eight-figure sum on the acquisition, although they added that the final transaction price was significantly lower. 50 million USD sign. (Concord declined to comment on these figures when contacted by MBW earlier today.)

Concord, then, officially got back into business as an acquired music company – and expanded globally.

Due to the acquisition of Native Tongue, Concord will launch Concord Music Publishing ANZ, will be headquartered in Melbourne, with staff in Sydney and Auckland.

Native Tongue was founded in 2003 by Chris Gough. Since his retirement in 2014, the company has been led by siblings Jaime and Chelsea Gough.

Concord Music Publishing ANZ will now be led by Jaime Gough, CEO, and Chelsea Gough, SVP, along with their executive team including David Nash, VP Publishing and Matt Tanner, VP A&R.

The Native Tongue list includes writers such as Courtney Barnett, Stuart Crichton (Backstreet Boys, Kesha, Kygo), Sophie Curtis (Cosmos Midnight, Jessica Mauboy, aespa), Sir Dave Dobbyn, Jon Hume (Dean Lewis, Sofi Tukker), M- Phazes (Ruel, Remi Wolf), Don McGlashan, Ciara Muscat (NiziU, TWICE), Steve Rusch (Clinton Kane), Tim Tan (Enhypen, Seventeen), Gin Wigmore and Marlon Williams.

“This is the next step, providing our home country writers with a truly international organization capable of maximizing their potential worldwide.”

Chris Gough, Aboriginal Tongue

“Jaime and Chelsea and our amazing staff have grown the company significantly in recent years,” said Chris Gough, founder of Native Tongue.

“This is the next step, providing our home country writers with a truly international organization capable of maximizing their potential worldwide.”

“Australia and New Zealand are important music markets in their own right and this is an area we’ve wanted to invest in for years.”

John Minch, Concord

John Minch, President of International Publishing at Concord, said: “Australia and New Zealand are important music markets in their own right and this is an area we have wanted to invest in for many years.

“This will be an important strategic move by Concord in coordinating our Asian publishing initiatives, which Jaime will handle. Above all, this acquisition is about the Native Tongue team, who we know well and believe would really enjoy being a part of Concord. “

“This is the beginning of a new chapter for us.”

Jaime Gough, Concord Music Publishing ANZ

Jaime Gough, CEO of Concord Music Publishing ANZ, said: “This is the start of a new chapter for us.

“Our team has worked hard to deliver the best publishing service in the region, so combining this with the support of an independent global music powerhouse will allow us to provides a premium international service to our local musicians and artists.

“To be able to take this next step with friends we have worked closely with for many years has been very exciting. We know Concord believes in the team we have here and in the Australian market. This will be fun! “

In addition to successes in Australia and New Zealand, Native Tongue has spawned hits in Asia alongside musicians in five Korean chart-topping releases and two consecutive number-one albums in Japan in the early part of the year. year 2022.

Native Tongue is also a sub-publisher of many international catalogs and has represented Concord (and before that Boosey & Hawkes and Imagem) in Australia and New Zealand for over 12 years.Worldwide music business