iWorld
Times Music acquires Catrack to expand Punjabi catalogue
Third acquisition adds legacy Punjabi hits, boosts global sync and OTT potential.
MUMBAI: Old beats, new busines,Times Music is turning nostalgia into a growth strategy. The Times Group-owned label has acquired Catrack Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., marking its third strategic buy and deepening its partnership with Primary Wave Music. The move brings a culturally rich Punjabi music catalogue into Times Music’s portfolio, signalling a continued push to monetise legacy content at scale. Founded in 1990, Catrack played a defining role in shaping Punjabi music’s “golden era”, with a catalogue featuring artists such as Babbu Maan, Malkit Singh, Channi Singh and Dolly Singh. It also backed early voices like Manmohan Waris, Surjit Khan and Sukhwinder Panchhi names that continue to carry recall across generations.
For Times Music, the acquisition is less about archival pride and more about future play. The catalogue, already digitally active, opens up monetisation avenues across sync deals, film and OTT integrations, brand collaborations and contemporary remixes areas where legacy music is seeing renewed commercial traction.
The deal follows Times Music’s earlier acquisitions of ARC Musicq and Symphony Recording Co., positioning the company as an active consolidator in India’s fragmented music IP landscape.
The Times Group managing director Vineet Jain said the acquisition reflects a continued commitment to amplifying India’s cultural voices globally. CEO Mandar Thakur described the Catrack catalogue as a “cultural treasure” with enduring relevance, while Primary Wave’s David Loiterton highlighted its cross-generational appeal as a key driver for global expansion.
As streaming platforms and short-form video continue to fuel demand for recognisable, nostalgia-driven tracks, Times Music appears to be betting on the long tail of legacy, where yesterday’s hits can still find tomorrow’s audience.
iWorld
Meta launches AI connectors for ads in open beta
Tools enable campaign creation, reporting and insights via AI platforms.
MUMBAI: If ads were once about gut feel, Meta now wants them run on autopilot with AI riding shotgun. The company has unveiled its Meta ads AI connectors in open beta, a move aimed at embedding campaign creation, management and analysis directly into the AI tools advertisers already use. The push reflects a broader shift in digital advertising: from platform-led workflows to AI-assisted, cross-tool execution.
At the heart of the rollout are Meta’s ads model context protocol (MCP) server and a command line interface (CLI), which together allow advertisers to securely link their ad accounts to AI agents. The promise is straightforward real campaign data, not generic prompts, powering decisions across workflows.
The connectors are designed to streamline multiple layers of campaign management. Advertisers can generate detailed performance reports, create and edit campaigns using natural language, manage product catalogues, and diagnose signal quality, all without leaving their preferred AI environment.
Meta is also leaning into ease of adoption. For MCP, the company says setup requires no coding, developer credentials or API integrations, positioning the tools as accessible for businesses of varying sizes and technical maturity.
The launch complements Meta’s existing AI business assistant within Ads Manager, which focuses on recommendations and troubleshooting inside the platform. The connectors, by contrast, extend that intelligence outward into third-party AI tools that marketers increasingly rely on for cross-channel planning and automation.
The underlying strategy is clear: instead of forcing advertisers deeper into its ecosystem, Meta is meeting them where they already work while still keeping its data and ad infrastructure at the core of decision-making.
As AI continues to reshape how campaigns are conceived and executed, Meta’s latest move signals a future where managing ads may feel less like operating software and more like having a conversation.
