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.
For most of its history, the Indian record business ran on one asset: the film soundtrack. Buy the rights, sell the songs, let the hits pay for everything else. Warner Music India still believes in that model. It has just stopped believing it is the only one.
Look at its October. On one side is a run of film catalogue deals in the South. On the other, Jay Mehta, who heads Warner's recorded music and publishing for India and SAARC, has been saying that the company's future lies in regional and non-film music. These look like two strategies. I'd argue they are one.
The southern shopping list
On 16 October, Warner announced three deals. It bought the Gemini Music catalogue, which holds the soundtracks for Nanban, Thuppakki, Mayakkam Enna, Singam 2 and Paradesi, with scores by Harris Jayaraj, G. V. Prakash Kumar and Devi Sri Prasad. It signed an exclusive long-term deal with filmmaker Gautham Vasudev Menon covering his past and future releases. And it struck a long-term partnership with Listin Stephen's Malayalam production house Magic Frames, covering more than 500 tracks from films such as Kaduva, Jana Gana Mana and Driving Licence. Warner will also be the global release partner for every future Magic Frames soundtrack. All of this builds on Warner's majority investment in Chennai's Divo in 2023.
New soundtracks are coming too. The upcoming slate includes the Dhanush-starrer 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 one to watch. Alongside soundtracks such as "Maruvaarthai" and A. R. Rahman's "Thalli Pogathey", it includes independent releases like "Bodhai Kodhai" and "Ulaviravu". A single director's catalogue that mixes film and independent releases is exactly the kind of asset that ignores the old split between soundtrack and scene. Catalogues like that are becoming valuable.
"A multi-market music ecosystem"
Mehta has set out the thinking clearly. "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 artists on the roster, alongside emerging regional performers.
Mehta sees growth coming 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, beyond the conventional label model.
The indie half of the strategy has a name, Maati. It is Warner's indigenous folk music record label and franchise, bringing together artists across Indian languages and cultures. Mehta's best line is about Maati's purpose: "We don't believe Indian music needs to be made less Indian to become global."
The spreadsheet behind the slogan
The data side gets less attention, but it drives the decisions. Warner Music India tracks consumption patterns, geography, audience behaviour, catalogue performance and how fast tracks gain traction. It uses that to plan releases and marketing and to spot commercial opportunities in partner labels' catalogues. A Bengaluru technology hub is meant to sharpen this. Its associations with Divo, Tips, Global Music Junction and EYP supply the regional repertoire and relationships.
Then there is money, which is the industry's sore point. Mehta noted that 96 per cent of smartphone users listen to music, while the paid subscriber base remains relatively small. His prescription is a revenue mix of subscriptions, advertising, live shows, brand deals and publishing, and building IP "beyond film soundtracks".
Why the two bets need each other
Here is my read. A Tamil film vault like Gemini's is dependable money, with decades of songs that people already love. It also only grows when someone puts it back in front of new listeners. A folk franchise or a catalogue mixing film and independent releases does the opposite: low guaranteed return, but music the label can shape from the first recording. Owning both lets Warner fund the experiment with the nostalgia.
For listeners, the result could be more regional music getting real marketing money. For artists, the useful question is whether "multi-market" means more doors or simply more paperwork. Mehta says that over the next three years Warner will deepen its regional presence, expand artist and partner services, and push more Indian music abroad. The OM soundtrack will be an early test.
(Source: The Hindu interview, Warner Music India press release)
