Concord COO Glen Barros Stepping Down to Launch New Company
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Concord today announced that Glen Barros will leave his post as the company’s Chief Operating Officer on December 31, 2019 in order to form a new business venture entitled Exceleration Music.
According to the announcement, through this new venture, Barros plans to invest in music rights while providing strategic services to third-party entities, primarily within the independent music community. His first investment, made with Concord’s blessing, will be the acquisition of the respected London-based jazz label, Candid Records. Barros and the remaining Concord executive team are exploring further ways in which Concord and Exceleration may collaborate on future business initiatives.
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Barros’ history with Concord began exactly 25 years ago when, in December 1994, as a 28-year-old executive with Alliance Entertainment, he closed a deal to purchase the Concord Jazz label from its founder, Carl Jefferson; Barros assumed the role of the label’s President & CEO when Jefferson passed away a few months later. From that point forward he implemented a strategy that saw the company grow from a traditional jazz label into Concord Music Group, one of the largest independent music companies in the world. In 2015, Concord Music Group merged with independent music publisher Bicycle Music. Barros became COO of the new company in 2017 after its acquisition of Imagem Music Group, at which time Concord Music Group, Bicycle and Imagem divisions were all consolidated under the Concord name.
While Barros’ overall plans for Exceleration Music have not yet been announced, the company will commence operations when it closes its transaction to buy Candid Records from its current owners, Alan and Nieves Bates, on January 1, 2020. The Candid catalog includes recordings from jazz and blues greats such as Charles Mingus, Abbey Lincoln, Otis Spann, Max Roach and Memphis Slim, as well as contemporary artists such as Stacey Kent, Jamie Cullum, Kenny Barron and Kyle Eastwood.
Scott Pascucci, Concord’s Chief Executive Officer, comments, “It’s been my privilege to work with Glen for almost seven years. The care and passion with which he led and grew Concord Music Group for decades has carried on into the current Concord and will surely continue after his departure.”
Glen Barros states, “I am eternally grateful for all that I’ve experienced over the past 25 years at Concord and for the company’s help in allowing me to launch Exceleration Music. It’s been an amazing ride and Concord will forever be in my heart. While leaving is incredibly difficult, I know that Concord is in great hands and will undoubtedly continue to flourish long into the future. When I look forward to my new venture, I’m tremendously excited by the prospect of using my past experiences to help others achieve their strategic goals in the future. And I find it very fitting that I begin this second act of my career the same way that I started the first one…with a great jazz label.”
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