The agreement gives Warner's Austrian roster access to Tonherd's studio facilities while the indie's artists gain global distribution through ADA Central Europe.# Warner Music Austria signs distribution and studio deal with Vienna indie Tonherd
The agreement gives Warner's Austrian roster access to Tonherd's studio facilities while the indie's artists gain global distribution through ADA Central Europe.
Warner Music Austria and ADA Central Europe have signed a partnership with Tonherd, a Vienna-based studio, label and publishing operation led by Constantin Kaiser, Florian Koch and Valentin Bröderbauer, the companies disclosed on Tuesday.
Tonherd's roster includes work with Austrian acts Josh., Ina Regen and Pizzera & Jaus. Under the agreement, Tonherd artists will receive global distribution and what the companies described as strategic support from Warner and ADA. The first artist signed under the distribution arrangement is Michael Russ, with releases from ams and Fräulein Peter scheduled for later in 2026.
The studio occupies 350 square metres in Vienna's ninth district and operates two control rooms. Warner Music Austria's full local roster will gain access to the facilities.
Franz Pleterski, general manager of Warner Music Austria and president of IFPI Austria, said the agreement represents "a new, forward-looking, and market-aligned model of cooperation between the indie and major label sectors."
"With this partnership, we aim to support artists as partners from the very early stages of their development and demonstrate our commitment to local Austrian music," Pleterski said.
The deal follows a pattern of Warner Music expansion this year. In April, the company agreed to acquire Revelator, a B2B music platform specialising in distribution and rights management. Warner has also announced deals in the Bengali music market, a virtual-artist partnership in China, and a minority stake in TuStreams, which operates in the Música Mexicana space, according to trade reports.
ADA Central Europe, Warner's distribution and label services arm in the region, recently signed an exclusive distribution deal with Berlin label AIM Music, handling global distribution, streaming strategy and marketing.
The companies did not disclose whether the Tonherd deal includes an equity investment. Warner Music Group's international partnerships have taken varied forms; some recent agreements have involved ownership stakes while others, such as AWAL's partnership with Italy's Artist First earlier this year, were structured as distribution deals with no change of control.
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