Major labels in Canada have a tendency to be a little bit risk-averse, betting on legacy artists or piggybacking off the success of their American counterparts. Recently, Warner Music Canada has been the exception. Since she became President in 2021, Kristen Burke has been the only female head of a major label in Canada, and it’s already been an eventful tenure. They’ve moved their headquarters into the heart of Toronto at the splashy new retail/business development The Well, which has space for content creation, recording and live music to host industry, artist and community-centric events. They’ve also launched 91 North Records, a joint venture with Warner Music India to support South Asian artists and create “a bridge between the East and West that exists to elevate artists creating culturally impactful and innovative music.” The Punjabi Wave is one of the biggest and most influential stories in Canadian music right now, and the label is at the forefront. Karan Aujla (who is signed directly to Warner Music Canada) has over 1 billion global streams with his album Making Memories and over 445 million streams and 2 billion social views with his single “Softly.” He also set a Billboard Canadian Albums chart record for a Punjabi artist and capped it off with a TikTok Fan Choice Juno Award. The bet paid off.