Times Music has announced the acquisition of two Indian regional Record Labels – Symphony Recording Co. and ARC Musicq.
Growing from a retail music store in 1983 to South India’s top devotional music label, Symphony Recording Co. maintains a position as the undisputed leader of Tamil spiritual and devotional music. Housing the largest catalogue in the genre, with over 350 audio and 100 video albums, Symphony’s collection of music is deeply embedded in Tamilian culture worldwide. With collaborations from legendary artists in the Indian music space like Dr. Balamurali Krishna, Dr. S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, and Chitra, the company has set industry benchmarks in music and video production. The label’s devotional songs contribute to a majority of its YouTube revenue, which has doubled in the past 4 years, and the label’s six channels have a viewership of nearly 2 billion.
ARC Musicq, a time-tested label whose music has been distributed by Times Music since 2017, also upholds a place as a leading Kannada music label. As a pioneer in the entertainment industry since its initial inception in 1985, the label has played a key role in the expansion of Indian folk music and film soundtracks, contributing to over 75% of A-grade movie OSTs. The company is home to a diverse collection of film, devotional, and folk music within the Kannada music market, which has also taken a major foothold across YouTube. The label’s four channels have seen significant growth, and much like Symphony Recording Co., has a viewership of over 2 billion views, with YouTube revenue having quadrupled in the past three years.
These two deals are the company’s first acquisitions since partnering with Primary Wave Music, an independent publisher of iconic and legendary music, in 2023. That partnership saw the publishing giant invest significant capital to help accelerate the company’s growth in the global markets.
“These acquisitions by Times Music represent a major milestone in the company’s growth journey and the Times Group’s ongoing expansion in the broader entertainment space,” said Vineet Jain, Managing Director, Times Group shares.
Mandar Thakur, CEO, Times Music said, “Times Music has an array of exciting premium partnerships coming up and we are proud to work with Symphony Music & ARC Musicq catalogues to further their global appeal.”
Primary Wave Music’s David Loiterton said, “Primary Wave partnered with Times Music because growth in our business will come from emerging markets like India, and there are libraries of legendary music that live in the hearts of local consumers. These are the first of what we hope will be many more investments in legendary Indian music.”
