Warner Music has announced that it has acquired a stake in Serbian record label Mascom Records.

For more than two decades, Warner Music and Mascom have enjoyed a label partnership, with Mascom acting as Warner Music’s local distributor. This new development will see the two companies working together to build a roster of local artists, with the opportunity for acts to be up-streamed into Warner Music’s global network. Mascom’s catalogue will continue to be distributed by Warner Music’s ADA. 

Through their new partnership, the companies have been working together with Serbian star Sergej Pajic on his latest releases Kabul and Mia Bella. His videos have racked up more than 12 million views on YouTube and entered the local trending charts, while he has built up more than 350,000 followers on YouTube, 500,000 on Instagram, over a million on TikTok and 36,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. 

Izabela Ciszek-Podziemska (pictured), general manager, Warner Music South East Europe, said: “This is a landmark development within the South East Europe region. By investing in Mascom we’ll have the infrastructure and a team of local experts on the ground to discover great new talent, while we can tap into Warner Music’s fantastic global network to give artists the opportunity to become global superstars. Sergej is a great example of someone we hope to see on the global stage soon.” 

Slobodan Nesovic, CEO of Mascom, added: “We’re delighted that Warner Music has made this investment into our company. We’ve enjoyed a great relationship over the years and this next stage of our partnership will allow local Serbian artists to join a major record label and enjoy worldwide success. It’s an exciting time for our company and the Serbian music industry.”

Mascom Records is a label that has built its presence in Serbia over more than 20 years, representing artists in genres ranging from classical to pop, jazz to electronic music. It is part of the Mascom group of companies, which also operates in book publishing, artist representation and entertainment retail.

For more stories like this, and to keep up to date with all our market leading news, features and analysis, sign up to receive our daily Morning Briefing newsletter