Universal Music Middle East & North Africa (MENA) a division of Universal Music Group, has entered into a partnership with Harb Talent Management in Egypt.<\/p>\n
The partnership will be focused on talent discovery and development in the market.<\/p>\n
UMG’s new partnership in Egypt marks its latest move in the MENA region and follows its announcement in August that it has acquired<\/a> Chabaka Music<\/span>, a company based in the\u00a0United Arab Emirates<\/strong>\u00a0and founded in 2013 by brothers Ala\u2019a and Tarek Makki.<\/p>\n That deal marked UMG\u2019s latest strategic positioning in the MENA<\/strong>\u00a0recorded music market, following its\u00a0launch<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in 2021 of Universal Arabic Music (UAM) in tandem with\u00a0Republic Records<\/a>\u00a0and music biz<\/span>\u00a0entrepreneur,\u00a0Wassim \u2018SAL\u2019 Slaiby<\/strong>.<\/p>\n As previously reported by MBW<\/a>, the commercial potential of MENA\u00a0for music rightsholders is plain to see. According to stats<\/a>\u00a0published by\u00a0IFPI<\/a>, the Middle East and North Africa was the world\u2019s fastest-growing market in\u00a02021<\/strong>, and its third-fastest-growing in 2022.<\/p>\n Last year, MENA\u2019s recorded music market grew\u00a023.8% YoY,<\/strong>\u00a0and represented the highest share for streaming of any region globally, at\u00a095.5%.<\/strong><\/p>\n Together, Universal Music MENA and Harb Management will jointly work on local talent discovery, development, music production, marketing and promo, live events, and brand partnerships.<\/p>\n According to the announcement, the agreement “builds presence for both companies in the market, super-serving the local artist community”.<\/p>\n To mark the launch, Universal Music MENA has announced three flagship signings to its artist roster.<\/p>\n Ahmed Santa, Slyver and Abu El Anwar – who UMG describes as “three of the most exciting emerging Hip-Hop artists in Egypt with growing pan-Arab fanbases and standout sounds and styles” are all set to release later this year and into 2024.<\/p>\n Universal Music says that the partnership will aim to reinforce its “strategic commitment to the artists in the region and to expand its local repertoire range with a diversity of genres and profiles”.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is an exciting time for us to build a presence in Egypt via this partnership with Harb Management\u201d.<\/p>\n Patrick Boulos, Universal Music MENA <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Patrick Boulos, CEO of Universal Music MENA said: \u201cIt is an exciting time for us to build a presence in Egypt via this partnership with Harb Management\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a shared passion to develop and support the local music scene in Egypt and offer talents the best of label and management services.\u201d<\/p>\n “We are thrilled to be identified by Universal Music MENA as a local partner in Egypt.”<\/p>\n