Osagie Osarenz. Photo: Mayor Otu

ONErpm, one of the world’s fastest growing independent music companies, announced today (March 23) that it will be opening its new office in Lagos, Nigeria. The Lagos office will join ONErpm’s existing offices in over 20 territories around the globe that have been in operation since the company’s founding in 2010, including New York City, Nashville, Atlanta, Miami, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Bogota, Mexico City, Madrid, Moscow, Lagos and Kingston.

“We are pleased to introduce our current African roster—which includes Flavour, Timaya, Laycon, Ada Ehi, Bella Shmurda, Reminisce, YCee, Umu Obiligbo, Kcee to name a few—and will continue adding artists under the direction of country manager Osagie Osarenz,” says Martin Price, director of A&R, North America and Afro-Caribbean operations. Osarenza adding, “These artists deserve to be heard. The goal is to consistently and innovatively add value to the African music industry.”

“These artists deserve to be heard,” Osarenz adds. “The goal is to consistently and innovatively add value to the African music industry.”

ONErpm has also recently announced a new, proprietary platform that aims to streamline user interface while also combining daily performance statistics and demographic consumption data. With three levels of service, ranging from DIY to professionally assisted support, the new website allows users to create advertising campaigns on social media and DSPs like Spotify and YouTube.

“With our renewed focus on direct to fan, combined with improved real-time data, we are preparing our company and our clients for what we believe is the next big wave of music consumption.” says ONErpm founder Emmanuel Zunz.

Brent Cobb, Kendell Marvel. Photo: Andrew Hutto

Brent Cobb and Kendell Marvel are heading out on the road this spring on the Country Music For Grown Folks Tour. This string of 12 acoustic shows kicks off May 6 at Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Cain’s Ballroom and will include stops in Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.

“Well, the time has finally come. Looking forward to getting back out to y’all with my ol’ buddy Kendell Marvel,” says Cobb.

Marvel adds, “There ain’t a better singer/songwriter than my buddy Brent Cobb. Can’t wait to hit the highway with him in May and throw some country on ‘em!”

Each of these shows will feature acoustic solo sets from both Cobb and Marvel as well as a collaborative stage showcasing songs they’ve written for other artists, such as Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan, Little Big Town, Chris Stapleton, George Strait, and many more.

Tickets go on-sale this Wednesday, March 24 at 11 a.m. CST. All health and safety protocols are available at each venue’s website.

Country Music For Grown Folks Tour Confirmed Dates:
May 6—Tulsa, OK—Cain’s Ballroom
May 7—Kansas City, MO—Knuckleheads
May 8—Fayetteville, AR—George’s Majestic Lounge
May 9—Fort Smith, AR—Majestic
May 13—Austin, TX—Antone’s Nightclub
May 14—Houston, TX—The Heights Theater
May 15—New Braunfels, TX—Gruene Hall
May 16—Dallas, TX—The Kessler Theater
May 20—Decatur, AL—Princess Theatre Center
May 21—Chattanooga, TN—The Signal
May 22—Asheville, NC—Grey Eagle
May 23—Nashville, TN—City Winery

John R. Miller Inks With Rounder Records

Strong Armed Robbers

EmiSunshine and her father, Randall Hamilton, have teamed up with singer-songwriter Fish Fisher to form new group Strong Armed Robbers. The trio’s debut single, “Judgement Day,” was recently released, with an album coming in late April. EmiSunshine appeared on American Idol on Sunday (March 21), where she made it to Hollywood week.

“The project reflects more of our ‘outlaw’ side within the Americana and country market,” Fisher says. “The song ‘Judgement Day’ is one of my favorites we’d ever written. It’s an insider’s look at the many pressures and rewards within the music industry. We gripe a little bit at first but also tap into the good things and people that keep you going in this wacky industry.”

Bob Valentine, Kent Hoskins

Concord CFO Bob Valentine has been promoted to President of the company and current Concord Music Publishing CFO Kent Hoskins is rising to Concord CFO. Both Valentine and Hoskins are assuming their new responsibilities immediately and report to Concord CEO Scott Pascucci.

In his new role, Valentine will continue to work closely with Pascucci to guide the company’s overall business strategy and in tandem with the rest of the senior executive team, will lead Concord’s efforts to grow via additional acquisitions, furthering the interests of Concord’s artists, writers, composers, playwrights and partners and helping expand its reach into new markets centered around music and music-related IP.

Nashville-based, Valentine began his association with Concord in 1999, when he worked as Vice President of Business Development for Norman Lear’s Act III Entertainment. In 2001, he joined the business development department of Fox Entertainment’s television division. Four years later he returned to Concord as CFO of the newly-formed Concord Music Group, Inc. When Concord merged with Village Roadshow Entertainment Group, in 2008, he subsequently served dual roles as CFO of Concord and SVP of Business Development for Village Roadshow. Upon Village Roadshow’s decision to divest of Concord in 2013, he helped manage its sale and stayed with the company as CFO and COO. In 2015, Concord Music Group merged with Bicycle Music, and rebranded as Concord in 2019, and Valentine was named CFO of the overall group upon the merger. During his career Valentine helped deploy over $1.5 billion of equity and debt capital to acquire music and theatrical rights and was a key contributor in driving Concord’s growth from an $8 million/year jazz record label to a $500 million + revenue global company. Before joining Act III, Valentine received his M.B.A. degree from U.C.L.A.’s Anderson School of Management. He began his career as a financial analyst in investment banking at Morgan Stanley.

“Bob has been a key contributor to Concord’s evolution and growth over the better part of twenty years. 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,” says Pascucci. “He will be replaced by Kent Hoskins, another extraordinary executive who has been serving as CFO of both Concord Music Publishing and Concord Theatricals. 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.”

“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. 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,” says Valentine.

A New Zealand native, Hoskins was a Chartered Accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers. He joined Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers as Group Financial Controller in 2001, working on both the public to private transaction, and the subsequent sale to the Dutch national pension fund backed Imagem in 2008. Hoskins was made Imagem UK CFO and in 2015 was promoted to the global board with the new position of Global Head of Finance. In 2017, following the acquisition of Imagem by Concord, he was promoted to CFO of Concord Music Publishing. He has successfully completed a number of catalogue and company acquisitions, including Samuel French, Pulse Music Group and Sikorski.

“Having worked in the music industry for almost 20 years, I am honored and delighted to be taking up the Concord CFO role,” says Hoskins. “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.”

iHeartRadio host, TV personality, and best-selling author, Bobby Bones has announced his new monthly interview show On Time With Bobby Bones. Streaming exclusively on Twitch’s CTRL_MUSIC_ channel, the show will include exclusive interviews, games, audience interaction through Twitch Chat, performances, and more.

On Time With Bobby Bones will premiere today (March 23) at 8 p.m. CST and will include appearances from award-winning artists Maddie & Tae and Ryan Hurd, along with other special surprises and segments.

Bones returned to a new episode of American Idol last night as part of the season’s Hollywood week on ABC. Additionally, he recently wrapped filming National Geographic’s upcoming 16-part series Breaking Bobby Bones, which he hosted and executive produced. The show will premiere on Monday, May 31 with two back-to-back episodes.