Acquisitions in India are becoming an intense area of activity for the global music business.<\/p>\n
Recent deals have included Warner Music’s minority investment in live entertainment and ticketing platform SkillBox<\/a>, and acquisition<\/a> of artist management and live events company E-Positive<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Universal Music India (UMI) also recently took a majority stake<\/a> in Indian music and entertainment company TM Ventures, while Sony Music\u00a0acquired<\/a> a major catalog in India from\u00a0Eros<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Believe, meanwhile, acquired<\/a> what it calls a \u201cPunjabi powerhouse\u201d catalog from India-based White Hill Music in January 2024.<\/p>\n One of the biggest deals yet in the Indian market arrived in April 2023, however, when Primary Wave made a strategic investment in Indian record label and music publisher Times Music, a subsidiary of media giant Times of India Group.<\/p>\n Primary Wave said<\/a> that it was investing “significant capital in the company” and that it would “provide resources for further Indian catalog investments”.<\/p>\n The Wall Street Journal<\/em>\u00a0reported <\/a>at the time that Primary Wave\u2019s investment in Times Music would “help form a new joint venture valued at over $100m”.<\/p>\n Now that venture has acquired two prominent regional Indian record labels,\u00a0Symphony Recording Co.<\/strong> and ARC Musicq<\/strong>, and there are likely more deals on the way.<\/p>\n According to Primary Wave Music\u2019s David Loiterton<\/strong><\/a>, \u201cThese are the first of what we hope will be many more investments in legendary Indian music\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are the first of what we hope will be many more investments in legendary Indian music.”<\/p>\n David Loiterton<\/strong>, Primary Wave<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Commenting on Primary Wave’s partnership with Times Music and its investment in India, Loiterton, Primary Wave’s President, Indo & Asia Pacific, added: \u201cPrimary Wave partnered with Times Music because growth in our business will come from emerging markets like India, and there are libraries of legendary music that live in the hearts of local consumers.”<\/p>\n Elsewhere in the world, in Brazil, another key emerging market in the global music industry, Primary struck a partnership<\/a> with Nas Nuvens Catalog (NNC) in February last year.<\/p>\n That deal, according to a Bloomberg report at the time<\/a>, saw Primary Wave acquire a 50%<\/strong>\u00a0stake in\u00a0NNC, valuing the Sao Paulo-headquartered company at around\u00a0USD $100 million<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Primary Wave said today that both Symphony Recording Co.<\/strong> and ARC Musicq<\/strong> are “exciting additions to the Times Music empire”.<\/p>\n Starting as a retail music store in 1983, Symphony Recording Co. is claimed to be the\u00a0 “undisputed leader of Tamil spiritual and devotional music” in the market today<\/p>\n \u201cThese acquisitions by Times Music represent a major milestone in the company\u2019s growth journey and the Times Group\u2019s ongoing expansion in the broader entertainment space.\u201d<\/p>\n Vineet Jain, Times Group<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Housing what’s claimed to be the largest catalog in the genre, Symphony owns over 350<\/strong> audio and 100<\/strong> video albums, Symphony has collaborated with what Primary Wave says are “legendary artists” in the Indian music space like Dr. Balamurali Krishna, Dr. S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, and Chitra.<\/p>\n Primary Wave added that Symphony’s devotional songs contribute to a majority of the label’s YouTube revenue, which has doubled in the past four years. Primary Wave said that the label\u2019s six YouTube channels have a viewership of nearly 2 billion.<\/strong><\/p>\n ARC Musicq,<\/strong> meanwhile, has been distributed by Times Music<\/strong> since 2017 and is claimed to be the “leading Kannada music label” in the market.<\/p>\n Founded in 1985, the label has played a key role in the expansion of Indian folk music and film soundtracks. The label\u2019s four YouTube\u00a0 channels have a combined viewership of over 2 billion<\/strong> views, with YouTube revenue having quadrupled in the past three years.<\/p>\n \u201cThese acquisitions by Times Music represent a major milestone in the company\u2019s growth journey and the Times Group\u2019s ongoing expansion in the broader entertainment space,\u201d Vineet Jain, Managing Director, Times Group said.<\/p>\n \u201cTimes Music has an array of exciting premium partnerships coming up and we are proud to work with Symphony Music & ARC Musicq catalogues to further their global appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n Mandar Thakur, Times Music<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Mandar Thakur, CEO, Times Music, added: \u201cTimes Music has an array of exciting premium partnerships coming up and we are proud to work with Symphony Music & ARC Musicq catalogues to further their global appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n News of Primary Wave’s investment in Times Music arrived six months <\/a>after Primary Wave struck a $2 billion deal with financial giant Brookfield.<\/p>\n That deal included the acquisition of a minority stake in Primary Wave and Brookfield investing $1.7 billion into a new \u201cpermanent capital vehicle\u201d.<\/p>\n
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