Warner Music Group’s ADA Asia has partnered with Baramey Production, a premium music company specialising in nurturing original Cambodian talent. Headliner hears from ADA Asia managing director Chee Meng Tan and Baramey’s head of business development and operations Josh Kahn about the ground-breaking deal, which agreement marks the first time a label from Cambodia has signed a deal with a major international record company.
ADA Asia will work closely with Baramey to increase opportunities for Cambodian artists through bespoke services, such as global music distribution, digital marketing and sync licensing – while expanding the global reach of Khmer music and culture around the world.
Today, Baramey has a roster of some of the biggest artists in the country, including popular hip-hop duo Kmeng Khmer; new rising R'n'B singer Sophia Kao; and the hip-hop star Vann Da.
Laura Mam (pictured), artist, founder and CEO of Baramey, commented: “It’s a great honor for Baramey to join forces with ADA Asia to distribute our music around the globe. This deal is not only monumental for Cambodia’s music industry, it’ll also be transformational for Cambodian artists. When we started our company, distributing music outside of Cambodia was unheard of, and we’re excited that this partnership will enable us to amplify our team's achievements. I’m personally humbled and delighted that Baramey will be the first label in Cambodia’s history to partner with a major music company to bring the music of our country to the world.”
Here, Headliner speaks to Tan and Kahn about what the new deal means for the business and what opportunities it opens up for artists.
How did this partnership with Baramey Production come about?
Josh Kahn: Baramey’s story is incredible. The company started in an era where production houses in Cambodia didn’t even want to create original music, and the market was flooded with cover versions and piracy. Baramey was created with the purpose of giving artists in Cambodia a platform to make their own music, and something that sounds that simple was an enormous undertaking in a market where, at that time, the entertainment industry needed to be convinced about authentic artistry. Over our first years, we built a devoted grassroots following for many of our artists, such as Kmeng Khmer and Laura Mam (who is also our CEO) who became domestic superstars in their own right. Until 2020, when we started self-distributing our music starting with VannDa’s breakout album ‘$kull’, the market was still dominated by exclusive deals which suppressed the reach of Cambodian artists in the international market, who could have never been on the radar of a major distribution company.
We started to build a streaming story across the platforms which are dominant in Cambodia and had a very measured and realistic multi-year plan for growing outward. That plan went completely out the window with the explosion of VannDa’s single Time To Rise (feat. Master Kong Nay) earlier this year. It went on to be the most streamed music video (70M views and counting) in the history of the country, and immediately widened the market we could address. We knew it was time to find a like-minded partner that understood our challenges and opportunities, and who had the same passion to build the infrastructure that is so desperately needed for artists to grow across the region and beyond. We could not be happier to sign on with the ADA Asia team and we are looking forward to developing this story even further.