Arab music streaming service expands into live events

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Abu Dhabi-headquartered Arabic music streaming service Anghami has expanded into the live music sector through its acquisition of Dubai-headquartered events and concert organiser Spotlight Events.

The partnership will bridge the online and offline sector, giving Anghami music fans opportunities to see their favourite acts live, access to exclusive private concerts, VIP lounges, artist meet-and-greets and backstage access.

Eddy Maroun, co-founder and CEO of Anghami said: “Our vision is to expand from music streaming to a fully integrated entertainment platform that meets our goal of building our own unique category that no other provider can compete with. 

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“This partnership will allow us to deliver unique experiences to our users while giving artists a stage to perform and reach their fans physically and virtually.”

Spotlight Events will be able to leverage Anghami’s 75 million registered users in 16 countries across the Middle East and North Africa for its upcoming schedule of events in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Paris, Cairo and Riyadh.

The events include Beat the Heat a seven-concert festival organised in collaboration with the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing – Dubai (DTCM).

It is also set to stage six concerts in Abu Dhabi this year, as well as a live concert by the Arab superstar Wael Kfoury in Paris.

Anghami, which was the first Arab tech company to list on the US stock market Nasdeq in February, was founded in 2012 and has the largest catalogue of Arab music, comprising 72 million songs and licensed content from leading Arabic labels, independent artists, and distributors.

In May Anghami announced its preliminary results for 2021, with total revenue increasing to $35.5 million, up 16 percent year-on-year.

The company also said that subscription revenue reached $25.7 million in 2021, as 43 percent more paying subscribers were converted into a monthly plan deal. 

Anghami’s paid subscribers increased to 1.4 million as of the end of 2021, while advertising revenues also grew by 70 percent to $9.8 million.

The total number of active Anghami users increased by 20 percent year-on-year to 18.5 million in the first quarter of 2022.

Anghami’s chief technology officer Elie Habib told AGBI he is confident that 2022 revenues will be double that of last year, boosted by big plans to transition from a music streaming platform to an entertainment media company.

As part of this drive, the company has also partnered with Addmind, which operates hospitality brands such as White, Iris, Clap across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Qatar and London, to launch a new concept which will debut in the Saudi capital of Riyadh in “about four months”.

This will be followed by venues in Dubai (early 2023) and then Abu Dhabi and Cairo, Habib revealed.

The venues will feature a lounge, stage and recording studio where artists can experiment by co-creating music inspired by both Arabic and international cultures to be performed in the venue.

The resulting music will be made available exclusively on Anghami.