Concord Music Acquires Venerable Film Music Label Varèse Sarabande

It’s a big deal in the film music business: Concord Music has acquired the venerable music label Varèse Sarabande from Film Score Records, an investor group led by The Cutting Edge Group (Whiplash, Sicario). The 40-year-old Varèse Sarabande has deep roots in the Hollywood film soundtrack and scoring community, releasing some of the most high-profile film music including Carter Burwell’s Oscar-nominated score for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and iconic soundtracks like that of Dave Grusin’s Heaven Can Wait.

Under Concord Music, Varèse Sarabande will continue to release scores from major and independent film studios, network TV studios, digital streaming platforms, and A-list producers. The company has a 2,000-title catalog that includes the greats: Jerry Goldsmith, Bernard Herrmann, Alex North, Elmer Bernstein, Danny Elfman, Michael Giacchino, Mark Isham, John Powell, Alan Silvestri, Brian Tyler, Christopher Young and Hans Zimmer.

Varèse Sarabande also includes the Varèse Vintage imprint that specializes in releasing new and re-issued albums by classic pop, jazz and country artists.

“The acquisition of Varèse Sarabande continues to strengthen Concord’s position as a leader in the industry. On the 40th anniversary of the storied Varèse Sarabande brand, we are proud to take over this prolific legacy and catalog and, most importantly, continue to invest and grow the film score/soundtrack market,” said Steven Salm, Concord Music Chief Business Development Officer.

As a part of this transaction, therefore, Concord Music has also entered into a multi-year distribution and services agreement with The Cutting Edge Group to cover its existing catalog of soundtracks, as well as future soundtrack releases.

“In addition to adding the great legacy and team associated with Varèse Sarabande, we are also grateful for the opportunity to partner with Cutting Edge. Considering how Cutting Edge has been responsible for so many incredible film scores over the past decade, such as The King’s Speech, Sicario, and Whiplash, we look forward to seeing what’s next and using our resources to achieve our mutual goals,” said Concord Music COO Glen Barros.

“While it has been an absolute honor and tremendous experience running Varèse Sarabande for the past five years and working so closely with the best soundtracks team in the industry, as I continue to run Cutting Edge in the U.S., I do so knowing Varèse’s future is in great hands with Concord Music, and I look forward to continuing our successful partnership with the combined Concord/Varèse Sarabande,” said Varèse Sarabande CEO Darren Blumenthal.

The Varèse Sarabande acquisition was managed and negotiated for Concord Music by Steven Salm, Chief Business Development Officer, and Michael Poster from Michelman & Robinson, LLP, legal advisor to Film Score Records and Cutting Edge.