Warner Music India Is Buying Film History and Betting On Folk
The label has picked up Gemini Music's Tamil film catalogue in the same season it is building a folk imprint. Its India head says the country should be treated as many markets, and the deals back him up.
Warner Music India announced three catalogue deals in the South on 16 October. In the same weeks, the man who runs the company here was telling anyone who asked that its future lies in regional and non-film music.
For most of its history the Indian record business ran on the film soundtrack. Buy the rights, sell the songs, let the hits pay for the rest. Warner still buys soundtracks. It has just stopped treating them as the whole business.
The southern shopping list
The biggest of the three deals is the Gemini Music catalogue, which holds the soundtracks of Nanban, Thuppakki, Mayakkam Enna, Singam 2 and Paradesi, scored by Harris Jayaraj, G. V. Prakash Kumar and Devi Sri Prasad. Warner also signed an exclusive long-term deal with filmmaker Gautham Vasudev Menon covering his past and future releases. The third is a long-term partnership with Listin Stephen's Malayalam production house Magic Frames, which brings in more than 500 tracks from films such as Kaduva, Jana Gana Mana and Driving Licence, and makes Warner the global release partner for every future Magic Frames soundtrack.
All three sit on top of the majority stake Warner took in Chennai's Divo in 2023.
New soundtracks are lined up as well: the Dhanush film OM, scored by Sai Abhyankkar, the Malayalam feature 40 Days of House Party, scored by Bibin Ashok, and Oru Startup Kadha, with music by Paal Dabba.
The Menon deal is the odd one out. Next to film songs such as "Maruvaarthai" and A. R. Rahman's "Thalli Pogathey", it includes independent releases like "Bodhai Kodhai" and "Ulaviravu". One director, one catalogue, and the old line between soundtrack and scene running straight through it.
"A multi-market music ecosystem"
Jay Mehta heads recorded music and publishing for Warner in India and SAARC. "India needs to be approached as a multi-market music ecosystem rather than a single market," he said. He named Guru Randhawa and Darshan Raval as established names on the roster, alongside newer regional artists.
He expects growth to come from "the rise of regional and non-film music, expanding digital consumption, and the growing role of technology in artist discovery". The company is moving into publishing, distribution, artist services, live entertainment and partnerships, past the usual label model.
The folk side has a name. Maati is Warner's indigenous folk label and franchise, with artists across Indian languages. On what it is for, Mehta was direct.
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"We don't believe Indian music needs to be made less Indian to become global."
The spreadsheet behind it
The data work gets less attention. Warner Music India tracks consumption patterns, geography, audience behaviour, catalogue performance and how quickly a track picks up, and uses all of it to plan releases and marketing and to spot openings in partner labels' catalogues. A technology hub in Bengaluru is meant to sharpen that. Tie-ups with Divo, Tips, Global Music Junction and EYP bring in the regional repertoire and the relationships.
Then there is the money. Mehta noted that 96 per cent of smartphone users listen to music, while the paying base is still small. His answer is a mix of subscriptions, advertising, live shows, brand deals and publishing, and building IP "beyond film soundtracks".
Two kinds of asset
The two halves behave differently on a balance sheet. A Tamil film vault like Gemini's earns steadily from songs people already know, and grows only when someone puts them in front of new listeners. A folk franchise starts with no guaranteed return, but the label shapes the music from the first recording. Warner now owns both.
Over the next three years, Mehta says, the company will deepen its regional presence, widen artist and partner services and push more Indian music abroad. OM is the first big soundtrack off the new slate.
(Source: The Hindu interview, Warner Music India press release)
