iWorld
Amazon MX Player sharpens India’s streaming appetite in 2025
India’s streaming audience stopped grazing in 2025 and started choosing with purpose. As viewing shifted from endless scrolling to deliberate selection, Amazon MX Player emerged as one of the year’s biggest winners, marrying familiar franchises with fresh formats and pushing free, mass-market streaming to new highs.
The platform began the year by laying out its ambition at StreamNext, unveiling a slate of more than 100 titles, including 40 Hindi originals, all streaming free. That strategy paid off. Long-running franchises once again anchored viewership, led by Ek badnaam aashram season 3 part 2. Starring Bobby Deol as Baba Nirala, the series crossed 250 million viewers and sat firmly atop Ormax Media charts as India’s most-watched show, puncturing the idea that only paid platforms can deliver scale.
Returning titles such as Half CA season 2, Hunter season 2 with Suniel Shetty and Jackie Shroff, Jamnapaar season 2 and Gutar gu season 3 reinforced the scripted slate, blending high drama with emotional realism. The platform also flexed its range with Bhay: the Gaurav Tiwari mystery, a restrained psychological thriller starring Karan Tacker and Kalki Koechlin that leaned on mood and investigation rather than spectacle.
Reality programming, however, became the year’s breakout engine. Formats grew sharper and more idea-led, turning into social conversations rather than background noise. Rise and fall, hosted by Ashneer Grover and featuring Pawan Singh, Arjun Bijlani, Kiku Sharda and Dhanashree Verma, drew more than 500 million views and ranked among India’s top two reality shows, according to Ormax. Hip hop India season 2, judged by Remo D’Souza and Malaika Arora, topped Ormax reality rankings for 11 consecutive weeks between January and June, while competitive shows such as Battleground and I-POPSTAR deepened the genre mix.
Fresh originals also found space to grow. Creator-led titles such as First copy with Munawar Faruqui and Aukaat ke bahar featuring Elvish Yadav brought new voices to the platform, while youth-focused shows like Lafangey and Gamerlog captured the awkward churn of early adulthood. Alongside domestic content, Amazon MX Player expanded MX Vdesi into one of India’s largest libraries of international dubbed programming, with more than 200 titles across Korean, Turkish and Mandarin, and the arrival of anime hits such as Demon slayer.
The scale attracted brands. Samsung, boAt, Lux Cozi, Haier and Sprite were among the marquee advertisers backing the platform, underlining its appeal as a mass-reach destination. By the end of 2025, Amazon MX Player had crossed 1.4 billion app downloads and reached 250 million monthly active users. With availability spanning Prime Video, Fire TV and the Amazon Shopping App, it closed the year not just as another streaming service, but as a fixture of India’s viewing habit.
In a crowded OTT market, Amazon MX Player’s bet was simple and effective. Make it free, make it familiar, then make it bold. In 2025, that formula made India stream.
iWorld
Warner Chappell Music launches India ops, Jay Mehta to lead unit
WMG shifts to direct model, unifying publishing and recorded music
MUMBAI: Warner Chappell Music has officially launched direct operations in India, marking a strategic shift by parent Warner Music Group to deepen its presence in one of the world’s fastest-growing music markets.
The move replaces the company’s earlier sub-publishing model with a full-fledged, on-ground operation, aimed at giving Indian songwriters stronger access to global networks, rights management tools, and creative infrastructure.
To lead the push, Jay Mehta has been handed an expanded mandate. Already serving as managing director of Warner Music India, Mehta will now oversee both recorded music and publishing across India and neighbouring South Asian markets, effectively bringing the two sides of the business under one roof.
The unified structure is designed to streamline how artists and songwriters work with the company, offering a more integrated ecosystem that spans compositions, recordings, and global distribution.
Warner Music Group managing director, recorded music and publishing, India and SAARC Jay Mehta said, “India’s songwriters are world-class, constantly redefining genres and pushing creative boundaries. By establishing a direct footprint for Warner Chappell, we’re bridging the gap between local brilliance and global opportunity.”
The timing is no coincidence. According to CISAC, creator collections in India jumped 42 per cent year-on-year to Rs 7 billion in 2024, while IFPI ranks India as the 15th largest recorded music market globally. At the same time, the industry is undergoing a structural shift, with independent and non-film music gaining ground over traditional Bollywood soundtracks.
Warner’s bet is that a direct presence will help it capture this changing dynamic. The company is also offering India-based creators access to its proprietary tools, including AI-powered royalty matching systems and real-time analytics platforms, aimed at improving transparency and earnings visibility.
Warner Chappell Music co-chair and CEO Guy Moot said the move is about shaping a publishing ecosystem that “works for creators and ensures their music is heard, protected, and rewarded everywhere.”
Meanwhile, Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl underlined India’s importance to the company’s global strategy, noting that the new structure creates a “unified powerhouse” for both creators and audiences.
With local studios, global reach, and tighter integration across its business lines, Warner is clearly doubling down on India. And as streaming habits evolve and independent music rises, the company is positioning itself to be not just a participant, but a key architect of the country’s next music chapter.
