iWorld
Warner Music India signs deal to acquire a majority stake in Divo
Mumbai: Warner Music India has signed a deal to acquire a majority stake in Divo, a leading digital media and music company in India with a presence across all four South Indian language music markets. This investment will help deliver Warner Music India’s strategy of having a leading presence in the entertainment sector across the whole country.
Divo offers online video, music distribution, publishing, digital and influencer marketing solutions for brands, celebrities and movies. It has been working with labels, artists and musicians to help distribute and monetise their content across digital platforms, radio and TV stations. With a large presence in the Tamil market and a fair share of the Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu music industries, Divo released more than 30,000 songs last year.
Warner Music India has grown its presence across the vast majority of regions and cultures in the country with chartbuster releases and strategic partnerships with companies including Global Music Junction, Sky Digital, Tips Music and Ziki Media. The label recently forayed into Marathi and Gujarati music with the release of official film soundtracks as part of its strategy to strengthen its presence in the regional music scene. The company also has a regional imprint with its sub label Maati.
Warner Music India managing director Jay Mehta said, “I’m so delighted that we’re able to bring the Divo brand under the Warner Music India banner. This move will strengthen our presence in the south of the country, enabling us to have a truly strong Pan India presence. Divo’s extensive portfolio will not only bolster our core music offering in South India, but its entire artist influencer ecosystem will further enhance our overall entertainment footprint.”
Warner Recorded Music president Alfonso Perez Soto said, “The acquisition of Divo is a major milestone in our Indian journey. We opened for business in 2020 and through a series of strategic deals and culturally relevant artist signings have fast established ourselves as a key player in the market. We’re excited to partner with Shahir and Vishu and the team at Divo, who have built an amazing company that operates at the intersection of four key music markets. Together, we’ll take South Indian music to a global audience.”
Divo founder & director Shahir Muneer commented, “It gives us immense pleasure to partner with Warner Music India. Having the backing of a global partner will put us on the map, helping us to be a force to be reckoned with when it comes to attracting talent and clients. Our music business will benefit from better access to Warner Music’s global footprint and that will help us drive growth for our artist and label partners.”
Divo director Vishu Ramaswamy added, “We are glad to partner with Warner Music India for the next phase of our growth. Our ideologies and long term approach towards expansion in India connected in the right manner and with this association we’re sure that we will become the biggest entertainment entity in South India.”
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
