Warner Music Rthyms deal

Punjabi pop artist (and Rthyms creator) Guri. Photo Credit: Gursewaksinghh

Warner Music Group (WMG) isn’t taking its foot off the gas in India (or MENA): Now, the major’s unveiled a strategic partnership with self-described “creator-first music ecosystem” Rthyms.Life.

WMG and Rthyms disclosed their tie-up today, weeks removed from Warner Music India’s Ultra Music distribution deal announcement. Founded earlier this year, Rthyms operates as “more than a label,” specializing in “creation, production, distribution, marketing, monetization, and career growth” alike, per its website.

Headquartered in Mumbai as well as Dubai, the company is looking “to take every artist from local story to global stage,” with signed talent including Aryann, Siroyi, Aariana, and Youngveer.

Enter Warner Music, which intends to support Rthyms with “seamless distribution across global platforms,” thereby elevating the relevant professionals “to the top of the international and domestic charts.”

Addressing the union, Warner Music India and SAARC MD Jay Mehta reiterated an objective of helping the appropriate artists “reach their full global potential.”

Meanwhile, Rthyms co-founder Gurjot Singh emphasized goals covering “charts, fans, and respect worldwide,” and fellow co-founder Akshit Lahoria underscored plans to enable “creators to turn their stories into global sounds.”

Most immediately, then, it’ll be worth tracking the collaboration’s ability to drive international results for Indian acts. But in the bigger picture, the pact is also a long-term bet on the domestic music market, where Spotify is overhauling its monetization approach and JioSaavn boasts north of 500 million overall Play Store downloads.

In other words, 2025’s many deals involving Indian music businesses – see Universal Music/Republic’s Visva Records JV, Reservoir’s Musicraft catalog buyout, and Sony Music’s THG India – are significant on multiple levels.

Specifically when it comes to Rthyms, however, the aforementioned Dubai presence doesn’t hurt, either; MENA’s achieving rapid music-sector growth of its own. Especially in light of Bollywood film soundtracks’ reach, nor does the fact that Gurjot Singh doubles as the founder of eight-year-old BeingU Studios.

Billed as “one of India’s finest content studios,” BeingU has apparently been leaning into Warner Music collaborations for a while; Singh-managed Guru Randhawa (also part of Rthyms’ roster) in March inked a Warner Music India deal, BeingU revealed in a formal release.

Furthermore, recent years have seen Warner Music take stakes in and/or secure agreements with Indian companies including E-Positive, Divo, Sky Digital India, and SkillBox, to name a few.