iWorld
Warner Music India expands artist-services division for brand and touring push
Expansion targets touring, brand deals and cross-border hits as music muscles into sport and culture
MUMBAI: Warner Music India is done thinking of artists as mere hitmakers. It wants them built into brands, sold into stadiums and plugged straight into the world’s biggest cultural moments.
The label has announced a strategic expansion of its Artist Services & Expanded Rights division, known as ASER, doubling down on artist development, management, A&R, live touring and long-term brand partnerships. The idea is simple, if ambitious: stitch together every strand of an artist’s career, from the studio to the stadium to the sponsorship deal, into one integrated machine.
The logic is hard to argue with. Music today collides constantly with brands, sport, live events and creator culture, and ASER wants to be Warner’s toll booth on that intersection, pushing artists beyond conventional recorded-music campaigns and into sustainable, globally scalable careers.
Nothing illustrates the model better than “The Sting Within Me,” a collaboration between Sting Energy and Alan Walker built around the adrenaline of Formula 1. Launched live at the Barcelona Grand Prix, the track crossed one million Spotify streams within seven days, a neat proof of concept for ASER’s knack of landing music, motorsport and global audiences in the same room at the same time.
Live remains the beating heart of the strategy. ASER is scaling up concerts, festivals and touring for artists across India and abroad, building musical IPs designed to thrive both on stage and on screen. It is also working tightly with Warner Chappell Music India to unlock sync and licensing opportunities, ensuring artists cash in on both recordings and compositions rather than leaving money on the table.
The results are already stacking up. The Women’s Premier League has featured integrations with Ayushmann Khurrana, Shruti Haasan, Jonita Gandhi and Hanumankind. Brand tie-ups have ranged from Jameson x King x Sanjith Hegde to Darshan Raval x Dubai Tourism, while Raval has separately been signed as the face of Sony India’s premium audio range.
“Artists are building brands, shaping culture, and creating value across multiple touchpoints,” says Jay Mehta, managing director, recorded music and publishing, India and SAARC at Warner Music India. The expansion, he adds, reflects a commitment to an integrated ecosystem that helps artists build “lasting cultural and commercial impact” at home and overseas.
Anisha Gaba, associate director and head of ASER at Warner Music India, is blunter about the philosophy driving it. “Artists deserve an ecosystem, not just a release plan,” she says, describing a model that spans emerging talent, global collaborations, live experiences, sync deals and brand platforms built to last.
With India cementing itself as one of the world’s most closely watched entertainment markets, Warner Music India is not waiting for culture to come knocking. It is building the door, the stage and the billboard all at once, and daring the rest of the industry to keep pace.
