MBW’s World Leaders is an everyday sequence during which we flip the highlight towards among the most influential business figures overseeing key worldwide markets. On this function, we communicate to Jay Mehta, Managing Director, Warner Music South Asia. World Leaders is supported by PPL.
India is a giant precedence for Warner Music Group – and it’s not laborious to see why.
The corporate’s CEO Robert Kyncl advised analysts on WMG’s calendar Q3 earnings name the opposite week that India “will change into an more and more influential international drive within the music enterprise”.
He identified the hole between the dimensions of the market’s GDP (the world’s fifth largest) versus the dimensions of its recorded music market (the world’s 14th largest).
Kyncl argued that this hole will shut, pointing to the chance in subscription music streaming. He famous that solely 2% of the nation’s 1.4 billion inhabitants at the moment subscribe to music streaming companies, however that India’s complete subscriber quantity has grown 40% over the previous yr.
India may not be the most important market globally by variety of music subscribers, but it surely may very well be on the right track to change into the most important by quantity of streams.
Stats revealed by Luminate in January confirmed that India noticed the largest YoY improve in complete annual on-demand music streams of any nation final yr.
If annual streaming quantity progress within the US slows in 2024, as many anticipate it’s going to – however India manages to maintain its 2023 YoY streaming progress margin this yr – India may change into the world’s largest music streaming territory by quantity in 2024.
WMG formally launched Warner Music India in March 2020, headed up by Jay Mehta.
He joined Warner Music Group following a number of years at Sony Music on April 1, 2020, proper in the midst of the primary COVID lockdown.
His remit expanded in April 2024 to incorporate oversight of Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka as Managing Director of the newly shaped Warner Music South Asia.
“We had a really attention-grabbing begin to Warner Music India,” Mehta tells us. “However what we’ve carried out within the final 4 years is important.”
Warner Music has since inked a number of distribution and M&A offers available in the market, seeking to bolster its positioning amid projections of serious subscriber progress and streaming consumption domestically.
On the distribution entrance, WMG has struck offers with Bollywood specialist Suggestions Music and Punjabi music firm Sky Digital India.
WMG’s M&A strikes, in the meantime, embody a strategic funding in JetSynthesys’ World Music Junction in April. It additionally acquired India-based artist administration and dwell occasions firm E–Optimistic in October 2023 and acquired a majority stake in digital media and music firm Divo in February final yr.
Most not too long ago, earlier this month, WMG took a minority stake in ticketing platform SkillBox, simply a few weeks after Robert Kyncl revealed by way of an Financial Instances article that WMG is actively looking for M&A alternatives in India.
Talking with MBW, Jay Mehta reiterates that M&A will probably be key to the corporate’s enlargement in India.
“One of many issues we at all times aimed for after I began Warner Music India was to change into a high three label within the nation,” he tells us. “It appeared very formidable once we began as a result of we have been the final large participant to enter the market.”
He provides: “To have that sort of dream in an especially aggressive Indian market, with out having a home catalog, virtually felt unreal. However [we’ve already] had success. Within the month of March, we had near 30 tracks in Spotify‘s Prime 200 and we don’t have a giant catalog as a part of Warner [in India]”.
“We need to be the flag bearers taking this sound international, and I feel we’ve had a superb begin in that.”
Jay Mehta
Along with making ready for India’s home music business progress by means of native partnerships and investments, Mehta argues that India will begin enjoying an more and more influential artistic position within the international music business.
He predicts that Punjabi-language music would be the subsequent international breakout style after Okay-pop and Afrobeats.
“I’ve been saying this for some time now,” he says. “The primary interview that I gave after I began Warner Music India was about this. I actually imagine the following international wave goes to be from India. And I really feel Punjabi music has all of the substances to make that occur, from the beats to the melody and the artists.”
Warner is seeing success in India and globally with frontline Punjabi-language artists like Diljit Dosanjh, who signed his first main label partnership with WMG in March 2022. In response to Mehta, Dosanjh is turning into “one of many largest superstars of the Indian diaspora”.
Proof of Dosanjh’s international enchantment arrived in April when he carried out the biggest-ever Punjabi live performance held outdoors of India on the BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, Canada. He additionally grew to become the first-ever Punjabi-language artist to carry out on The Tonight Present with Jimmy Fallon in June.
“We need to be the flag bearers taking this sound international, and I feel we’ve had a superb begin,” says Mehta.
Different Warner-affiliated Punjabi-language stars embody Shubh, plus Karan Aujla who’s signed between Warner Music India and its Toronto-based JV with Warner Music Canada, 91 North. Warner additionally works with Hindi-language celebrity rapper, King.
“All of those artists will be certain that it’s not only a one-artist phenomenon,” says Mehta. “A giant cultural shift goes to occur.”
Mehta tells us that the 91 North three way partnership, led by Ikwinder (Ikky) Singh and Ajay Charlie ‘B’ Saxena, kinds a part of Warner’s “ambition of taking South Asian music to the world”.
He plans to copy the mannequin in different international locations however explains that Canada was chosen as the primary location for the JV, as a result of it’s the place a “large cultural revolution is occurring by way of content material creation” within the international South Asian diaspora.
“There are quite a lot of markets that are consumption markets for South Asian music, however Canada is turning into a giant creator hub,” provides Mehta. “That’s why we needed to do that JV in Canada. It’s the place among the largest artists and so the very best music is getting created.”
He spotlights the success of Karan Aujla and Ikky’s Making Recollections album for example of crossover success available in the market. It reached No.5 on the Canadian album chart final summer season, the highest-charting Punjabi-language album within the chart’s historical past.
Trying forward, Mehta says that he’s trying ahead to the day when a frontline South Asian artist “celebrates a mainstream award” like a Grammy in a significant class.
“Fingers crossed on that one,” he says and tells MBW in regards to the steps WMG is taking to try to make {that a} actuality…
What markets globally are you figuring out as key artistic hubs for South Asian music like Canada?
India and Pakistan are the obvious markets. However outdoors of the South Asian neighborhood in South Asia and Canada, we’re seeing [potential] in California and plenty of components of the US.
The UK has at all times been a hub, however I feel it has began to reflect a few of these [trends] from Canada. That’s the place we need to take North information – to all of those diaspora markets.
Might you touch upon Diljit Dosanjh’s success in North America?
It’s a giant second, not just for him however for your complete neighborhood. We at all times needed there to be the flag bearer of taking this sound international, or taking South Asia international.
He’s main from the entrance with the successes and the quantity of curiosity that he’s producing from internationally and on his North American tour. We’ve seen arenas offered out and offered out inside days of him saying the tour. That’s unimaginable.
We don’t see that occur for a lot of artists, not solely South Asian artists however large, international artists; after they announce a tour, it will get offered out in hours. That’s the ability of what Diljit has [achieved]. And quite a lot of that’s mirrored in different success as effectively.
The quantity of collaborations that we’ve carried out with him within the final 18 months is unimaginable. The Sia monitor [Hass Hass] was on Spotify charts in a number of international locations. It was on YouTube charts in a number of international locations.
A sequence of massive worldwide collaborations are developing. He’s solely going to develop greater from right here.
Taking a look at his touring stats, he has arguably damaged the North American market in dwell. Are these collaborations with international stars the important thing to breaking the North American market, by way of breaking into the highest 10 of the Sizzling 100?
For positive, sure. That’s what we’re aiming for subsequent. You’re proper – by way of touring, he’s already damaged there, however we need to hit the Billboard charts and we need to hit high streaming charts in these markets.
Collaborations are the speedy steps to making sure {that a} wider viewers past the diaspora begins to find and stream his music.
So we can have the followers of the artist he’s collaborating with uncover him, and slowly, the revolution will probably be full by way of, people who find themselves not listening to South Asian music will now begin listening to it due to him.
As Punjabi artists change into extra profitable globally, how aggressive is it attending to signal artists from South Asia, and are you competing with labels within the US for these signings?
Certain, however that’s solely thrilling for us.
The extra competitors signifies that these artists are producing quite a lot of curiosity worldwide. That’s necessary. It’s a giant optimistic takeaway for us, saying that quite a lot of large US labels are actually all in favour of signing South Asian artists.
What’s driving the expansion in streaming quantity domestically and within the international consumption of music from India?
It’s a mix of how underpenetrated India as a market was, and on the similar time, we now have artists who’re [making] really international-level music, and we now have Indian artists who’re turning into large stars.
It’s a mix of all three. However, you realize, the primary monitor ever from India to hit the World Prime 25 on Spotify was by an artist that we [signed], known as King.
The second monitor to hit the World Prime 25 on Spotify was once more from one of many artists signed to us, Jasleen Royal.
These [global hits] have been pushed by numerous streams from India. India, as a market, has roughly 220 million audio streaming customers, which is simply 40% of the nation’s complete YouTube customers. YouTube customers are at round 550 million, roughly lower than 50% of complete cell customers.
At such low ranges of penetration, India is popping out the [domestic streaming] numbers [to produce] a very World Prime 25 on Spotify.
Think about, even when we attain 50% of India’s complete cell inhabitants utilizing audio streaming, we would begin having international No.1s solely coming from streams [from within] India.
We’re rising a lot quicker than giant components of the world. So even at these large numbers and massive base, there’s a market that’s going to multiply. And we lastly even have a giant listing of artists who’re making really worldwide music of superb high quality. India goes to be the following large international wave for music.
Circling again to Warner Music’s positioning in India and in South Asia, you’ve signed a couple of partnerships and made a couple of investments since 2020. How necessary will M&A be in increasing your presence available in the market within the coming months and years?
M&A is necessary as a result of the bigger intention is to be a high label within the nation throughout the first 5 years of launching. And we’re not too removed from that. We’re undoubtedly within the Prime 5. M&A is a manner of making certain that, extra importantly, we now have deeper penetration and deeper presence inside a rustic.
India behaves like a continent by way of music, the place music is created in several languages, in several states. Every language and every state has a journey of its personal.
Our intention was to make sure that we’re undoubtedly current in a minimum of 12 or 13 of the nation’s high languages. Whereas Hindi was rising quicker than English, regional languages have been rising a number of instances quicker than Hindi.
That was our large goal: making certain that we develop backside up and be nearer to the bottom. That’s why most of our M&A offers are within the regional house.
We acquired an organization which is among the largest media firms within the south of India, known as Divo. We have now a giant presence in Punjab by means of acquisitions and a partnership with Sky Digital. We invested within the largest central India firm known as World Music Junction. As we communicate, we successfully have some type of presence in 19 of 28 states within the nation on the again of M&A.
Whereas on the heart, we’re signing artists and making ourselves a vacation spot for popular culture in India. However on the similar time, we’re creating this ecosystem throughout the nation by having the identical philosophy throughout totally different languages to our companions.
What was the considering behind the launch of Warner Music South Asia?
It was began with the target of taking the success that we had in India and replicating it in different South Asian nations. As a result of, like I mentioned, our dream is to take South Asian music to the world. And it’ll occur off the again of, not simply India, however by taking Pakistan, Bangladesh, and this complete artistic hub throughout these international locations to the world.
And due to proximity to those markets, the concept was to function Warner Music South Asia from Dubai, however all of those international locations have entry to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.
Pakistan particularly is the second-biggest South Asian market outdoors of India, and among the greatest content material created there may be by means of Coke Studio. So we determined to spend money on the corporate known as Giraffe Studios, which have been making the largest tracks out of Coke Studio.
The concept was to make sure that we take a look at South Asia holistically, and that signifies that throughout India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, collectively, we now have to take these cultures to the world. That’s the bigger concept behind the South Asia [division].
What are your longer-term predictions for the music sector in each India and wider South Asia?
This phenomenon is right here to remain. We’re simply on the tip of the iceberg by way of exploring the true potential of South Asian music and the artists.
The presence is really felt, each by way of music and consumption, and now artists like Karan Aujla are profitable Junos and Diljit Dosanjh are promoting out stadiums.
These are very encouraging indicators. However within the close to long run, we’ll see a giant, main South Asian music wave all through the world. These are the very best instances for South Asian music and artists.
