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Warner seeks music tech investment opportunities in Asia

By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 2 October 2020

Warner Music Asia has announced a new partnership with US investment firm SOSV that will see the two companies seek opportunities to jointly invest in music tech start-ups. To do that, the two firms will utilise two of SOSV’s existing start-up accelerators based in Asia, Chinaccelerator based out of Shanghai and MOX based out of Taipei.

Confirming the new alliance, Warner Music Asia President Simon Robson says: “SOSV has an impressive track record in the Asia market with Chinaccelerator and MOX. We’re excited to be partnering with SOSV to discover the next generation of start-up talent, which can help us transform the experiences of music fans”.

Meanwhile, SOSV General Partner William Bao Bean adds: “Deep technology is revolutionising how we experience music and engage with artists, while opening up new ways to support the arts. Bringing Warner Music’s expertise in music and media together with SOSV’s capital and ecosystem of founders, 300+ mentors and global community will prove a powerful force for disruption”.

Elsewhere in Warner Music does stuff in Asia news, Warner Music India – which launched in March this year – has announced another partnership. This time it’s done a distribution deal with Bollywood firm Tips Industries, which will see the major distribute Tips Music’s catalogues domestically and globally, the latter via its ADA business.

Says Warner Music India MD Jay Mehta: “Tips has an amazing catalogue containing some of the best and most loved Bollywood music. I’m delighted that, along with ADA, we’ll be promoting and distributing these iconic songs. Tips’ Hindi YouTube content receives more than 5.1 billion views per month, so the appetite for its music is there for everyone to see”.

Tips Industries MD Kumar Taurani adds: “We are excited to partner with Warner Music and to see how it’ll use its firepower to push our rich catalogue and new music even further. Warner will be an vital partner for us as we establish a bigger presence on global streaming platforms”.