Warner Music South East Europe (WM SEE) is launching WM Balkans. The JV is a collaboration between WM SEE, Croatian label Dancing Bear, Serbian label Mascom and Slovenian label NIKA.
Warner said that the launch enables WM SEE to house all of its activities in the Western Balkans under one label, while it also continues to operate in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, and Romania.
WM Balkans plans to sign and develop artists mainly from Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia, but also from other West Balkan countries, such as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and North Macedonia.
Izabela Ciszek-Podziemska, General Manager of WM SEE, will oversee the label in addition to her other responsibilities across the wider region.
The launch of WM Balkans follows a string of investments, mergers and acquisitions from Warner Music SEE over the past few years. In 2022, WM SEE acquired a stake in Serbian label Mascom, run by CEO Slobodan Nesovic.
In March this year, Warner Music SEE acquired a minority stake in Slovenian label NIKA, which is run by its co-founders Darjo Rot and Marko Stopar.
Meanwhile, in June 2024, Warner Music SEE took a minority stake in Dancing Bear, a prominent independent label in Croatia, run by Silvije Varga (co-founder and Managing Director).
As part of their recent deal, Warner said that Dancing Bear is able to tap into the services of ADA, Warner’s independent distribution and label services arm, on behalf of its artists, and “potentially upstream them to the Warner Music global roster”.
Izabela Ciszek-Podziemska said: “Warner Music Balkans is the culmination of the team’s relentless pursuit of collaborating with the very best partners in the region over the last couple of years.”
Izabela Ciszek-Podziemska, Warner Music South East Europe
Izabela Ciszek-Podziemska said: “Warner Music Balkans is the culmination of the team’s relentless pursuit of collaborating with the very best partners in the region over the last couple of years.
“Bringing our JVs and investments under one label will benefit everyone involved and enable our artists to get the very best from Warner Music’s global network. With talent such as Edita, Sergej Pajić, and Ukić releasing music on the label, we’ve got a great summer festival season ahead of us!”
“Iza and the Warner Music team have hit the ground running with WM Balkans.”
Slobodan Nesovic, Mascom
Slobodan Nesovic, CEO of Mascom, said: “Iza and the Warner Music team have hit the ground running with WM Balkans.
“They’ve worked with us to promote and place Sergej Pajić and Edita’s next collab track through the label and we’re already seeing great results. This is just the beginning!”
“It brings me great pleasure to announce the launch of WM Balkans.”
Silvije Varga, Dancing Bear
Silvije Varga, Co-Founder and MD of Dancing Bear, added: “It brings me great pleasure to announce the launch of WM Balkans.
“A hit can come from anywhere and this new venture will enable us to look at some exciting cross-collaborations. I’m excited to see what we’ll achieve together.”
“We’ve worked with Warner Music for almost thirty years now, and the launch of WM Balkans is the next chapter in our partnership.”
Darjo Rot, NIKA
Darjo Rot, Co-Founder of NIKA, said: “We’ve worked with Warner Music for almost thirty years now, and the launch of WM Balkans is the next chapter in our partnership.
“Alongside the other JV partners and their artists, we’ll truly be able to propel each other into new genres and regions.”Music Business Worldwide