Times Music has announced the acquisition of two Indian regional record labels, Symphony Recording Co. and ARC Musicq. These are the company’s first acquisitions since its partnership with Primary Wave Music, an independent music publisher, in 2023.
The partnership with Primary Wave Music involved significant investment to support Times Music’s expansion in global markets. Symphony Recording Co. and ARC Musicq have established a presence in the Indian music industry, particularly in the devotional and folk music genres.
Symphony Recording Co., which began as a retail music store in 1983, has grown to become a leading Tamil devotional music label. It has an extensive catalog of over 350 audio and 100 video albums and has played a significant role in preserving Tamil spiritual music. The label has collaborated with well-known Indian musicians such as Dr. Balamurali Krishna, Dr. S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, and Chitra. Its devotional content has contributed substantially to YouTube revenue, which has doubled in the past four years, with six channels collectively reaching nearly 2 billion views. This acquisition is expected to enhance Times Music’s position in the Tamil devotional music market.
ARC Musicq, a Kannada music label that has been distributed by Times since 2017, has been part of the industry since 1985. The label has contributed significantly to Indian folk music and film soundtracks, including a large portion of A-grade movie original soundtracks. It houses a diverse collection of film, devotional, and folk music within the Kannada market. The label’s YouTube presence has expanded in recent years, with four channels reaching a combined viewership of over 2 billion, and revenue from the platform has quadrupled in the past three years.
Devotional and spiritual music continues to have a strong listener base in India, cutting across various demographic and cultural lines. With increased investment in digital streaming platforms—reportedly growing by over 230% in the past two years, according to Spotify’s Culture Next Report—these acquisitions aim to strengthen Times Music’s role in the devotional and Kannada music segments.
“These acquisitions represent a major milestone in the company’s growth journey and the Times Group’s ongoing expansion in the broader entertainment space,” shares, Vineet Jain, Managing Director, Times Group.
Mandar Thakur, CEO, Times Music, also notes, “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, adds, “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.” He goes on, “These are the first of what we hope will be many more investments in legendary Indian music.”
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