RS Group joins up with Universal Music to make it big on international stage

The aim of the deal is to take Thailand’s music and related soft power to the international stage.

A statement from RS Group said the agreement means that RS Music will form an unprecedented alliance with UMG to manage all of RS Group’s music copyrights and royalties of over 10,000 songs from 1981 to 2022.

Surachai Chetchotisak, chief executive officer of RS Group, said he expects this new business model with strong international partners to generate additional revenue for RS Music.

He added that this collaboration will aid in the promotion of new music releases by popular artists through the RS Homecoming project and introduce new faces through the RS Newcomers project.

“UMG is the world’s No 1 music company with a wide-spanning vision and leadership in the music industry. We are glad to partner with UMG as a means to take Thai music to the international stage. This will give music lovers across the world easy, seamless access to our music content through online channels,” he said.

He believes this joint venture will help drive Thailand’s soft power and serve as a springboard for future projects and businesses.

“We are still exploring new opportunities with both existing and new business partners. To build on music marketing, we will also link up with independent artists or artists from different labels to explore the possibility of creating new musical masterpieces with renowned Thai and international artists,” he said.

Surachai said this joint venture will help make RS Group competitive in both local and international markets. He added that the move was also part of RS Group’s and is part of the company’s strategic plan to propel its music business, represented by RS Music, to be listed in the Thailand Stock Exchange by next year as planned. The company will appoint its financial adviser this month, he added.

As part of the joint venture, UMG will acquire a 70% stake and RS Music a 30% stake, RS Group’s chief financial officer Wittawat Wetchabutsakorn said.

UMG will assist RS Music in managing its extensive music catalogue and associated content like music videos, lyrics, compositions, photographs and other rights granted under licence agreements, he added.

“In this partnership with UMG, we will not only boost our revenue from online distribution and copyrights management but will also generate earnings from our music events and concerts. Marketing campaigns for clients and artist management will also provide a source of income,” he said.

Wittawat said he expects the joint venture to contribute to RS Group’s revenue target of 700 million baht for this year.