Warner Music India is set to strengthen its position in the central Indian music market after making a strategic investment in Global Music Junction (GMJ), the music and entertainment subsidiary of JetSynthesys.
The investment builds on a distribution agreement signed between Warner Music and JetSynthesys, a digital entertainment and technology company, in September 2021. JetSynthesys is part of the JetLine group, a packaging, manufacturing and textile company founded in Bangkok, Thailand, in the 1930s.
Through the investment, Warner Music India has secured a board seat at GMJ, the company said in a press release on Wednesday (March 20).
“This is a significant milestone in the expansion of our presence across India. Working with the amazing team at GMJ last year not only strengthened our partnership, but enabled us to better support artists from the central regions of India, bringing them the best artistic support that any company can provide, and helping them connect with fans across the country and around the world,” said Alfonso Perez Soto, President, Emerging Markets, Warner Music.
“This is a significant milestone in the expansion of our presence across India. Working with the amazing team at GMJ last year not only strengthened our partnership, but enabled us to better support artists from the central regions of India.”
Alfonso Perez Soto, Warner Music
“India is one of the most exciting music markets in the world and with GMJ as a partner we’re right at the heart of it.”
Warner Music India says that GMJ is a dominant player in the Bhojpuri, Kannada, Gujarati, Haryanvi and Oriya languages markets, with exponential growth seen in the latter two. Bhojpuri is India’s fastest-growing language and the investment in GMJ makes Warner Music “the largest player in its music market,” the company said.
GMJ provides artists and labels a comprehensive suite of services including content creation, event management, distribution services, marketing expertise, data analytics, and legal support.
“Our journey with Warner Music has been remarkable, highlighted by some successful collaborations. The indigenous languages in which we operate, such as the Bhojpuri, Haryanvi, Oriya, Kannada and Gujarati markets in India, have seen incredible growth in the recent past.”
Rajan Navani, JetSynthesys
GMJ collaborates with over 100 partners, has attracted more than 250 million subscribers, and delivers 100 billion minutes of entertainment annually through more than 130,000 pieces of audiovisual music content.
Global Music Junction works with artists such as Bhojpuri superstars Khesari lal Yadav, Pawan Singh, Haryanvi superstars Renuka, Sapna Chaudhary and Sahil Sandhu, Odiya stars Malay Mishra and Ira Mohanty along with what it calls “legends from the industry” such as Sonu Nigam, Salim Merchant, Shaan, and Sulaiman Merchant.
GMJ also collaborates with training and production partners such as online music learning platform Artium Academy, Rajasthan-based movie production company Hariprem Films and Music Directors Sahil Sandhu (Western Beats, Haryana) and Malay Mishra (Basanta Studios, Orissa).
GMJ has recently achieved significant milestones. Haryanvi superstar Sapna Choudhary‘s music video Jale 2 became one of the fastest to reach 300 million YouTube views and 15 million Instagram Reels views in India within 90 days. Shivani Singh‘s Sent Gamkauwa garnered over 700 million YouTube views in just six months.
“Our journey with Warner Music has been remarkable, highlighted by some successful collaborations. The indigenous languages in which we operate, such as the Bhojpuri, Haryanvi, Oriya, Kannada and Gujarati markets in India, have seen incredible growth in the recent past,” said Rajan Navani, CEO and founder of JetSynthesys.
“This is a critical moment in our expansion across the country as we seek to position Warner Music India as the number one choice for all discerning artists and labels.”
Jay Mehta, Warner Music India
“Warner Music’s investment in Global Music Junction and its continued collaboration with us will fast track the increasing expansion of India’s regional music industry. With our combined collective vision and understanding of audience preferences, we aim to strengthen the ecosystem by meeting the growing fan demand in the music and entertainment space. We are looking forward to more successful outcomes from our longstanding collaboration.”
Jay Mehta, Managing Director of Warner Music India, underscored the partnership’s significance in their rapid expansion strategy, saying “Our partnership continues to have a significant presence in the places in the Indian market which are growing most rapidly, and so enables us to be the fastest expanding music company. GMJ is a leading player in five language markets in central India and works with some of the biggest names in Indian music and showbusiness.
“This is a critical moment in our expansion across the country as we seek to position Warner Music India as the number one choice for all discerning artists and labels.”
Rajkumar Singh, CEO of Global Music Junction, said, “GMJ is committed to pioneering innovative marketing strategies, fostering creativity, and elevating the digital music landscape across India. Our expanded partnership with Warner Music will help us fulfil our vision of becoming the foremost digital entertainment company in the country, while nurturing the next generation of talent. We will continue to enable our partners to focus on their artistic endeavours, while we manage their digital properties to engage users effectively.”
“Our expanded partnership with Warner Music will help us fulfil our vision of becoming the foremost digital entertainment company in the country, while nurturing the next generation of talent.”
Rajkumar Singh, Global Music Junction
The development marks Warner Music India’s latest move in its Indian expansion strategy after bolstering its nearly four-year-old distribution deal with Mumbai-headquartered record label and film production company Tips Music less than a month ago. In 2020, shortly after launching Warner Music India, the company signed a distribution deal that covered Tips’ catalog of more than 13,000 Hindi-language songs.
In September, the company formed a joint venture with Sky Digital, an aggregator of Punjabi music in India. Less than a month later, it acquired India-based management and live events company E-Positive.
These partnerships come as India’s music market continues to grow. Data from the IFPI shows that in 2022, India’s recorded music business grew 48% year over year to $319 million. Separate data from EY India suggested that India’s music publishing business grew 2.5 times in three years to INR ₹8.84 billion ($106.5 million) in 2022-2023 from INR ₹3.4 billion (USD $41 million) in 2019-2020.
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