Tag: music

Universal Music Group Expands MENA Operations

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Universal Music Group (UMG) announced on Tuesday that it has expanded its global network operating in over 60 countries to include two new offices in the MENA region, becoming the first major music label to establish offices in Morocco and Israel. 

UMG is the world’s leading music company and is home to some of the largest and most famous labels and brands in the world. Included in UMG’s repertoire are Abbey Road Studios, Capital Music Group, and EMI. 

Artists represented by UMG include The Rolling Stones, Kanye West, Queen, Nicki Minaj, Arianna Grande, Nirvana, and Bon Jovi. The depth of experience, marketing opportunities, and networks that the UMG brand will share with local artists could be transformative for the music scenes in Morocco and Israel. 

UMG in Morocco

The company’s Moroccan office is based in Casablanca and will work to ensure that North African artists have exposure to the global market. The office will also develop creative and commercial partnerships and work with Universal Music France (UMF) on key projects. 

UMF already represents a number of French-language artists from the region, including Algerian rapper Soolking and Moroccan rapper Issam. 

Announcing the new offices UMG’s MENA region CEO Patrick Boulos said, “within Morocco and their immediate neighbors, there is a wealth of untapped artist talent and we are excited to introduce these unique sounds to global audiences, platforms and partners.” 

UMG has identified traditional Arabic music and rap music front the Maghreb as core focus areas for the new office. 

UMG in Israel 

In Israel, UMG will be based in Tel Aviv. Incoming UMG Israel CEO Yokam Mokady has big plans for the new office, outlining that “UMG will look to identify, sign and develop the best domestic artist talent.” 

Both offices will work closely with UMG’s regional headquarters in Dubai.

Saudi Arabia’s MDL Beast Announces 2020 Online Event

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Following the success of the first MDL Beast music festival in December 2019, organizers announced on Monday that the 2020 edition will be an online event. Scheduled to coincide with World Music Day on June 20, the event, named Freqways, will feature an impressive international lineup. 

Confirmed performers include Steve Aoki, Afrojack, Maceo Plex, Claptone, Danny Tenaglia, Deep Dish, Sasha, Butch, Art Department, Laidback Luke, Delano Smith, Gui Boratto, Phil Weeks, Benny Benassi, and Dirty South. 

Regional artists including Led & Majid, Vinyl Mode, and SPCEBOI are also scheduled to perform. The multi-stage digital event will see virtual festival goers board online “flights” to locations around the world including Riyadh, Ibiza, and Las Vegas where they will be able to party to the pre-recorded sets. 

Last year, over 400,000 people participated in the three-day event which pushed Saudi Arabia’s ambition to host large-scale cultural events onto the global stage. Impossible to imagine in the conservative kingdom a few years ago, the event signified an awakening for the EDM community in Saudi Arabia. 

“Influencer-washing” Saudi Arabia’s image

The inaugural MDL Beast in 2019 was not without controversy. Many criticized the influencers and celebrities who were paid to attend the festival for failing to comment on the country’s abysmal human rights record. 

Among those who attended and posted extensively about the event on social media were models Irina Shayk, Winni Harlow, and Alessandra Ambrosio, actors Armie Hammer and Ed Westick, and social media personalities Sofia Richie and Negin Mirasheli. 

Whilst details of the stars’s compensation for their attendance were not made public, some of them are known to command six- or seven-figure sums for a single Instagram post. Among those to call out the celebrities was the Instagram account Diet Prada (@diet_prada), which regularly highlights problematic issues within the fashion industry, and model Emily Ratajkowski.  

Ratajkowski claimed she turned down the invitation to attend, issuing a statement in which she voiced her solidarity for the LGBTQ+ community and the rights of women stating, “I hope coming forward on this brings more attention to the injustices happening there.”

Commentators on social media called out many of the stars who attended the festival for posting “government propaganda” aimed at rehabilitating Saudi Arabia’s image. Issues raised by commentators included the murder or Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashogi in October 2018. 

Claims of mass sexual assault

In addition to the condemnation of the influencers who attended the festival, many women claimed on social media they were sexually assaulted at the festival. 

Using the hashtag #saudimenharassing in English and Arabic, women detailed their experiences at the festival. One woman described how she was surrounded by men who tore off her shirt and groped her. Others expressed concern that even young girls were victims of harassment, as were those who went with males in an attempt to avoid such problems. 

Conservative social media users were unsympathetic to the women’s claims, suggesting that sexual harassment was to be expected when attending a festival such as MDL Beast.

Culture in Crisis: Easing the Burden of COVID-19

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In Abu Dhabi the Louvre has led the way in pioneering digital offerings, creating a diverse range of ways for audiences to engage with the museum’s collections. These offerings include digital tours and talks by artists and curators. 

The museum also created a podcast that uses a sci-fi narrative to explore its futuristic architecture. In May, the museum partnered with streaming service Anghami to launch a series of playlists based on its collections. The playlists contain 20-30 songs each and have been crafted to reflect the era and region of the art presented in the associated exhibition. 

A cultural and artistic hub, Abu Dhabi has a plethora of galleries and art institutions and many have joined Abu Dhabi Louvre in offering online activities, including workshops and film screenings. As previously reported by Arabia Policy, the Sharjah Art Foundation is screening works by female Arab filmmakers throughout June for a virtual audience. 

In Morocco, the Moroccan National Foundation of Museums has mobilized to offer online virtual visits with accompanying explanatory texts to some of the country’s most famous museums. The virtual visits commenced with the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art’s “In Front of Picasso” collection. 

Beyond museums 

The museums in Morocco are joined by the national library, which is offering free online access to all its e-books, and the Moroccan Philharmonic Orchestra (OPM), which is streaming concerts on social media, in offering online access to culture and the arts. 

In Egypt, the country’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has launched a series of online guided tours of archaeological sites, in addition to museums. The initiative has the dual purpose of promoting tourism to foreigners and educating Egyptians on their country’s rich history. 

The tours, which are available through the ministry’s social media, include the Menna Tomb in Theban Necropolis and the tomb of Queen Meresankh III. The latter features some of the best preserved examples of burial art. Tours of more contemporary sites, including the Red Monastery, the 14th-century Mosque-Madrassa, and the Ben Ezra Synagogue, are also online. 

Socially distant cultural events 

In Saudi Arabia, the King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture made sure residents were able to experience the joy of Eid despite the lockdowns through a series of lockdown parades. 

Over 100,000 people enjoyed the parades, which featured traditional Saudi songs and dances such as Ardha, Sahrqi music, folk songs related to fishing and pearl diving, and Eid songs, from their balconies or windows.

As coronavirus lockdowns continue across the region, the ability to explore art and culture online or from a distance is a welcome relief for many.

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