In this articleWMGFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTWhen music strategist Anjula Acharia began launching superstar actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas into Hollywood in the early 2000s, her label partner Jimmy Iovine — the name behind pop sensations such as Eminem and Lady Gaga — told her she was 20 years too early to bring South Asian talent to the U.S.Now, Acharia is the founder and CEO of 5 Junction, a joint label with Warner Music Group focused specifically on investing in South Asian artists in the U.S.”That sounded crazy, to think we were 20 years too early, but now, 20 years later, with the explosion of people like Diljit Dosanjh and Karan Aujla … there’s all these South Asian acts that are coming here and really selling out, particularly in the live arena,” Acharia told CNBC. The South Asian music market in the U.S. has remained largely untapped, but as music becomes more globalized, as with the success of K-pop and Latin acts, South Asian talent is making a case to investors as the next big business opportunity, Acharia said.Global music revenues are reaching all-time highs, surpassing $30 billion in 2025, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Spotify said last year that streams of Indian artists in international markets grew more than 2,000% between 2019 and 2023, and nearly 50% of royalties from Indian artists on the platform in 2024 were from listeners outside India.With South Asia’s growing population and diaspora, it’s set to be one of the fastest-growing segments within global music, according to Acharia.”We’re in a different time, and I think digitally things travel just so much faster,” she said. “A lot of big hits were made with samples from Indian music, so it’s been in the zeitgeist for a long time — it’s just not been given a face.”As more labels look to the subcontinent, Acharia said the business is currently in a stage of experimentation, figuring out what works and how the fan bases will evolve. Warner Music Group is the third-largest music label in the U.S., holding roughly 17% market share by distribution ownership as of the first quarter of 2026, according to Billboard.”I think the business proposition is this global Indian fandom,” she said. “How do we galvanize this audience and this fandom, and how do we serve it?”Rhea Raj at the event Atlantic Music Group and Salomon Present: Whisper Room, A Pre-Grammy Celebration, at The Hole in Los Angeles, Jan. 30, 2026.Chad Salvador | WWD | Getty Images5 Junction represents top artists such as singer and songwriter Rhea Raj, who told CNBC she’s seeing South Asian music become more mainstream in the U.S.”We’re seeing more artists at bigger festivals and at award shows, and I think the best of it’s yet to come,” Raj said.Raj and her sister, Lara Raj, of the girl group Katseye, are two of many South Asian artists in the U.S. building out fan bases that span backgrounds and ethnicities.Rhea Raj, who got her start on “American Idol” nearly a …
