Reservoir Media Closes First India Catalog Deal Via PopIndia Unit

New York-headquartered Reservoir Media has closed its first catalog deal in India via its recently launched PopIndia subsidiary.

Why it matters:

PopIndia has acquired the publishing and master rights to the entire Musicraft Entertainment catalog, covering more than 1,000 recordings spanning decades of Indian music.

Established in 1980, Musicraft represents a niche in the Indian music landscape referred to as "Indie Bollywood". Indie Bollywood features production styles similar to Bollywood soundtracks while remaining independent of any specific film. It also incorporates Qawwali songs, a form of devotional singing.

Musicraft's catalog features artists such as Ashok Zakhmi, Gyasuddin Warsi and Majid Shola, to name a few.

PopIndia is also taking over Musicraft's YouTube channel, which has 3.3 million subscribers.

The financials have not been disclosed.

What they said:

Spek, Reservoir Executive VP of International and Emerging Markets: "Our strategy in India is focused on long-term value creation, and that starts with investing in catalogs that matter – culturally and commercially."