Concord has promoted Victor Zaraya to chief operating officer and Ruth Martinez to chief people officer, the company announced Tuesday (Jan. 19).
Zaraya, who has served as chief revenue officer at the company since April 2020, steps into the COO role held until recently by Jim Selby, who was named Concord’s chief publishing executive earlier this month. In the new role, Zaraya will directly oversee rights optimization, repertoire management, IT, royalty and licensing administration, distribution and direct-to-consumer operations, among other initiatives. He will be based out of Concord’s new office in midtown Manhattan, reporting to Concord CEO Scott Pascucci.
“Vic is a skilled, experienced executive with solid operational abilities as a result of his years working across all business areas at Razor & Tie and KIDZ BOP,” said Pascucci in a statement. “I am confident that he will be an exceptional COO and I look forward to seeing what he will accomplish on behalf of our staff, artists, writers and other creative partners.”
“I want to thank Scott Pascucci, Bob Valentine [CFO], Jim Selby and the rest of the executive team for this opportunity,” added Zaraya. “Concord is a special company that has the resources and willingness to support the creativity of our songwriters, artists, composers and playwrights at the highest level. I will do everything in my power each and every day to ensure that Concord and its exceptional staff deliver on this commitment.”
Martinez, who will lead the global human resources team with a special focus on diversity, inclusion and talent development, first joined Concord in March 2019 as senior vp worldwide human resources. She will continue reporting to Pascucci, with whom she previously worked at Warner Music Group (WMG).
“I have known Ruth for years, since our work together at WMG,” said Pascucci. “She is an exceptionally talented HR executive who understands the importance of mentoring, training and the promulgation of healthy team dynamics. With her guidance, we will make Concord an even better place to work and flourish for everyone at the company.”
Martinez added, “Working to transform our company values into outcomes is something I’m passionate about. It is so gratifying to be in a position to architect what our future programs look like, in order to grow the talent capability of our employees. A big thank you to Scott, the executive team and our Board for this inspiring opportunity and humbling recognition.”
Zaraya formerly served as COO at Razor & Tie, which was acquired by Concord in 2015. During his time there, he helped transition the company — including its family-friendly music brand KIDZ BOP — from CDs into digital while also helping expand its business by launching a music publishing arm and negotiating touring partnerships, licensing, distribution and marketing deals. He currently serves on the SoundExchange board and previously served on the board of the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM). He is also a founding council member of the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN).
At WMG, Martinez most recently served as vp human resources – global publishing, where she managed Warner Chappell’s HR efforts in 22 countries. She joined that company in 2011.
