CCourtesy of Concord
BBob Valentine
Concord has continued to shuffle its executive ranks, announcing Tuesday (March 23) that chief financial officer Bob Valentine has been promoted to president of the company, while publishing CFO Kent Hoskins has been promoted to replace Valentine as CFO. Both execs will report to CEO Scott Pascucci, with their promotions effective immediately.
Valentine has been working with Concord in one form or another since becoming CFO of the Concord Music Group in 2005, and worked in top finance and operations roles as Concord’s various entities shifted amid acquisitions and mergers through the years, before retaining the CFO title in 2015 upon the merger of Concord and Bicycle, which became just Concord in 2019. As president, he’ll be in charge of the overall business alongside Pascucci, tasked with leading acquisitions, expanding into new markets and businesses and generally expanding the scope of the company for its artists and partners.
“I’m extraordinarily proud and humbled by the growth and success of Concord, and even more thankful for the many, many people who have worked so hard to make Concord what it is today," Valentine said in a statement. "Scott, our Board and I have developed an outstanding working partnership and I look forward to continuing our collective mission to make Concord the leading independent, worldwide leader in the music industry."
Hoskins, meanwhile, has held top financial positions at Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers from 2001, when he became its group financial controller, before the company’s sale to Imagem in 2008, when he became Imagem U.K.’s CFO, before being promoted to global head of finance in 2015. When Imagem was acquired by Concord in 2017, he took on the role of CFO of Concord Music Publishing, overseeing the catalog acquisitions of Pulse Music Group, Samuel French and Sikorski, among others.
“Having worked in the music industry for almost 20 years, I am honored and delighted to be taking up the Concord CFO role,” Hoskins said in a statement. “The team at Concord persistently delivers the creative passion and stewardship of their artists, writers and authors with an astute and highly successful growth strategy. I look forward to Concord continuing that success and thank Scott Pascucci and Bob Valentine for their continued support.”
The promotions today follow two more top-level moves in January, when Victor Zaraya was promoted to COO of Concord and Ruth Martinez was named chief people officer. Those moves followed then-COO Jim Selby’s shift to chief publishing executive, replacing Jake Wisely, who stepped down last September.
“Bob has been a key contributor to Concord’s evolution and growth over the better part of twenty years," Pascucci said in a statement. "He takes great pride in the history and culture of the company and understands as well as any of us the work and dedication that our entire team has invested in the dramatic evolution of Concord. This is a well-deserved promotion in recognition of his invaluable contributions to the future vision of Concord.
“He will be replaced by Kent Hoskins, another extraordinary executive who has been serving as CFO of both Concord Music Publishing and Concord Theatricals," Pascucci continued. "His transition to CFO of the entire company will be seamless and the entire Board looks forward to working even more closely with Kent in the coming years.”
NEWS
Lorde returned to Governor’s Ball for the first time in nine years and gave fans a unique take on her collaboration with Charli XCX, ‘Girl, So Confusing’.
The New Zealand singer made her long awaited comeback to the New York festival on Friday (June 5), where she headlined the opening night.
Speaking to the crowd about stepping back onto the Governor’s Ball stage after almost a decade away, Lorde admitted it was “the most nervous I’ve been for a show in a while”. She then treated fans to a string of beloved tracks including ‘Royals’, ‘What Was That’, and ‘Hammer’.
One of the standout highlights of the evening arrived near the end of her 21 song performance when she performed ‘Girl, So Confusing’, the track she later reworked alongside Charli XCX.
The song first appeared on Charli XCX’s hugely successful 2024 album ‘Brat’ without Lorde’s involvement, though it was inspired by her. In the lyrics, Charli reflected on the complicated feelings between the two artists and revealed she had once felt “super jealous” of the New Zealander’s achievements during her early career.
The pair later teamed up for a remix after Charli shared the song’s meaning with Lorde ahead of the release of ‘Brat’. Following that conversation, Lorde proposed creating a collaborative version together.
At Governor’s Ball, Lorde performed the remix adaptation during the closing section of her set and added her own personal touch to the track.
Charli was not present for the performance, leaving Lorde to deliver the song on her own. The moment stood out even more because the track had only appeared sparingly throughout Lorde’s recent ‘Ultrasound’ tour. More footage from the show can be seen below.
In addition to revisiting fan favourites and reimagining ‘Girl, So Confusing’, Lorde also surprised the audience with a preview of brand new material.
Early in the set, she introduced a portion of an unreleased song from the side of the stage. Standing behind a synthesizer setup, she sang: “Don’t look for me now that I’m gone/ Don’t look for me, I’m gone.”
Lorde’s festival appearances this summer follow her recent ‘Ultrasound’ tour, which was launched in support of her newest album, ‘Virgin’.
Released last June, the record earned a four star review from NME, which stated: “‘Virgin’ is a vibrant combination of Lorde’s best qualities, and then some.”
“With her newfound candour, the record combines the emotional whirlwind of ‘Melodrama’, the chilling minimalism of ‘Pure Heroine’ and the breezy freedom of ‘Solar Power’,” it added. “This might be called ‘Virgin’, but Lorde proves she’s not afraid to strip herself bare.”
While ‘Girl, So Confusing’ was not a regular feature during the ‘Ultrasound’ tour, Lorde did perform it at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles last October, where she surprised fans by bringing Charli XCX on stage.
Since releasing ‘Virgin’ and launching the accompanying tour, Lorde has contributed more than $200,000 from merchandise sales to Minnesota immigrant funds. She has also been announced as a headliner for All Points East 2026 in London, where PinkPantheress, Zara Larsson and additional artists are also set to appear.
