Amit Sharma discusses the evolving independent music business and Virgin Music Group’s growth and vision in the South Asian market in an interview.
Virgin Music Group has had a successful 2024, with the launch of music from multiple artists and labels, strategic partnerships, and collaborations between acknowledged and emerging artists worldwide. The Indian independent music industry has experienced significant growth due to evolving consumer preferences, technological advancements, and digital streaming innovations. This has led to a change in trends and diversity across artists and labels, as well as a growth in creativity innovation, collaborations, and merging of genres in India.
Virgin Music Group is committed to fostering innovation, offering infrastructure, expertise, and services to artists, and establishing opportunities for them to grow and thrive in a competitive landscape. With the upcoming years, Virgin Music Group expects to see numerous noteworthy changes and developments in the industry, such as innovative technological convergence, emerging platforms, shifting consumer preferences, and changing market dynamics.
In 2025, Virgin Music Group plans to continue working and investing with independent artists and labels who bring forth original music, leveraging its artist-centric approach to encourage musicians to create music true to their artistic vision. They are looking forward to increasing the Indian footprint internationally through meaningful collaborations, focused marketing leveraging data-driven insights, and expanding reach with new and wider audiences.
The Indian music industry is highly dynamic, with trends emerging and disappearing quickly. The merging of genres during the previous decade has created room for many styles of music, each with its own dedicated audience. This presents both competition and opportunities for collaboration across artists of various genres.
The growth of digital platforms, more accessibility for artists, the rise of independent labels, live performances, and festivals contribute to the music industry’s improvement and expansion. Looking forward, the future seems hopeful for India’s independent music industry, as more musicians continue to embrace digital tools for production and dissemination while exploring new ways to monetize their work beyond traditional approaches.
Virgin Music Group is a global partner that promotes and supports independent music artists worldwide. Their mission is to encourage innovation, provide infrastructure, resources, and expertise, and create opportunities for indigenous artists in the increasingly competitive South Asian independent music scene. They also support collaborations between acknowledged artists and emerging artists, improving the music landscape by incorporating various genres.
The South Asian independent music market is unique, with video still playing a major role. Customized solutions and collaborations can increase awareness in the crowded market by associating with renowned brands or performers and other established or emerging artists. Partnerships in South Asia help the independent music sector expand and innovate through sharing promotional resources, networking, technological utilization, and increased visibility.
Virgin Music Group doesn’t follow a template when it comes to artists, as each label or artist has their own unique set of goals and objectives. They look at the whole picture to create a successful partnership while meeting their specific needs. The collaborative process involves incorporating a partner’s expertise and tools, as well as the guidance provided by Virgin.
Vienna Music Group has had great success with artists like Himesh Reshammiya, Rito Riba, Ammy Virk, Babbu Mann, Khan Bhaini, Neha Bhasin, Sukriti Prakriti, Neeraj Madhav, The Landers, Rochak Kohli, HipHop Tamizha, Tony Kakkar, and more. Their approach allows for personalization of processes and solutions, allowing artists to grow at their own pace.
Virgin Music Group is actively expanding its footprint in India and South Asia, aiming to develop a local presence and use its large worldwide network and infrastructure to deliver major benefits to artists in these locations.
