12 April 2024 – Warner Music Group (WMG), one of the world’s leading music companies, has announced the launch of Warner Music South Asia, a new affiliate handling its recorded music operations in markets including Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Warner Music South Asia will operate out of Dubai and be headed by Jay Mehta, who works with Alfonso Perez Soto, Warner Music’s President of Emerging Markets. It will support exceptional artists and target millions of fans locally, while simultaneously promoting South Asian music globally.

In January, WMG announced that it was partnering with Pakistani company Giraffe, one of South Asia’s leading music and audio production companies. Giraffe has spearheaded the production of Coke Studio Pakistan – a show acclaimed for promoting multiculturalism, dialogue and multigenre collaboration, which has become the country’s biggest cultural export with almost 15 million subscribers on YouTube.

In 2023, WMG acquired a majority stake in Divo, a leading digital media and music company with a significant presence in the Tamil-language market, which is active in Sri Lanka.

Warner Music and Giraffe have now produced Season 15 of Coke Studio Pakistan, the first episode of which is set to drop this Sunday. The new season will have 11 songs recorded in English, Punjabi and Urdu, all of which are aimed at starting conversations around themes including community, the environment, love and celebration. The artist line-up for this season includes the likes of Abdul Hanan, Hassan Raheem, Kaifi Khalil, Norwegian rap duo Karpe, Sabri Sisters, Sajjad Ali, and Shazia Manzoor.

Pakistan is a fast-growing recorded music market of some 250 million people, and a source of repertoire that particularly resonates with the 90 million Punjabi and Urdu speakers outside the country. More than 167 million people live in Bangladesh, the eighth most populated country in the world, where the recorded music market is still in its infancy. Nepal and Sri Lanka are markets of some 30 million and 20 million people, both currently largely without a formalized music industry.

Jay Mehta, Managing Director, Warner Music South Asia, says: “I’m so delighted to launch Warner Music in Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and other SAARC territories. These are exciting markets with brilliant artists who historically haven’t had the opportunity of plugging into the global music industry. That’s all set to change.”

Alfonso Perez Soto, President, Emerging Markets, Warner Music, adds: “I am hugely excited to launch Warner Music South Asia, the new entity we’ve formed to help us connect with artists and communities across Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. And I cannot wait for our upcoming releases from Coke Studio, and other new music, to help bring these cultures to the wider world and provide artists from these markets with our global services. With more than 400 million people, and very important and dynamic diasporas, these are sizable markets that the industry is only just beginning to tap.”

Simon Robson, President, International, Recorded Music, Warner Music Group, concludes: “This is a major moment for Warner Music. We’re now open for business in a series of countries that have rich musical traditions and strong global connections through their extensive diasporas. We’re already working on exciting projects in Pakistan and other territories and there’s much more to come.”