Warner/ Chappell music enters India through a partnership deal with Times music. This deal will allow Warner/Chappell’s rich catalogue in India. In order to understand the partnership deal of Warner Chappell-Times music, Radioandmusic.com speaks to Times Music COO Mandar Thakur to understand a little more about the deal.
Excerpts:
For how many years is this deal signed for?
This is a multiple year deal.
How important is this deal for Times Music?
Warner Chappell / Times Music association is a landmark one in the sense that it closes out the loop of the major legacy global publishers ‘representation in India. This will give a tremendous boost to the fledgling music publishing industry in India and make sure that rights to Warner Chappell’s songwriters are taken care of in this territory.
For how long have you been in talks with Warner/Chappell for the same?
We have been discussing a possible partnership with Warner Chappell for the past two years and also simultaneously studying the possibilities of business in India
What are the areas that this partnership will help you focus?
This partnership will focus on the definitive administration ( collection and administration of royalties from various rights and organisations) ; and the sync exploitation ( usage of Warner Chappell’s songs in ad films , commercials , feature films , re – recordings , versions etc ) of WarnerChappell’s extensive catalogue in India , amongst other things that may involve local Indian music repertoire
Who will enjoy the major revenue share through this deal?
The biggest beneficiaries will be Warner Chappell’s songwriters as a new market has opened up for them.
What will be you market share for Times music after this deal?
It is a bit too early to predict market shares etc.
How you plan to explore this catalogue?
Times Music today has a fairly knowledgeable team of executives to exploit Warner Chappell’s repertoire .We are structured as a hybrid rights management business ( all under one roof ) , besides being a label , so in that sense capacity wise we are well positioned to make immense value from this catalogue . Publishing is all about hard work, making sure the metadata is coherent, extensive, registered and processed continuously and it is also about sales and making sure that the works are used and exploited commercially. We will be working with various brands to creatively consult them on music usage.