Deezer upstages Spotify in North Africa
Deezer has beaten Spotify in setting up shop in northern Africa.
In September, news broke that Swedish streaming company Spotify was to establish operations in the Middle East and North Africa in November.
“Spotify’s ultimate goal is to be available in every country, but we don’t currently have any news to share on a launch in the Middle East,” a spokesperson for Spotify said when the news was reported.
Spotify's reluctance to divulge its plans might have little significance as French company Deezer has gone ahead to start running operations in the region. Music lovers in the MENA region can now listen to music online via the Deezer app, which is designed for users in each country within the region.
The Deezer deal comes after an exclusive digital distribution agreement with Rotana Records took place in August. Rotana is reportedly the biggest record label in the Middle East and an exclusive deal with them means only Deezer users will get access to the label’s repository of music.
“As Rotana is the first and leading Arab music company in the world to have always surpassed many other companies in the digital music world,” said Salem Al-Hindi, CEO of Rotana Audio & Video Group, “we realized that it was time to conclude a partnership agreement with Deezer, a world leader in high-quality music, in order to reach the largest segment of users in the MENA region and in many parts of the world.
“This agreement will certainly benefit both parties and the biggest and main beneficiary will be the artists who are signed with Rotana, as well as all music lovers in the Arab music.”
Users can access playlist curated by such editors as PopTop Arab, Rapstars Maghreb United and Shaabi Essentials in Arabic. New users are being offered half a year of Premium access.
“We are really excited to bring Arabic listeners a unique and unrivalled blend of the best exclusive Arabic music and the most popular international tracks in one place,” Deezer CEO Hans-Holger Albrecht.
“We are also proud to now offer music fans the Deezer app in Arabic, with an affordable premium offer as well as the opportunity to try Deezer for free. At Deezer we understand that people’s music tastes combine local and international tracks. We believe that it is important to be present locally, close to the artists we promote on our platform and to the local music fans who support them.
“In the coming months, we will be opening a new regional headquarters in Dubai, which will help us grow our presence further. While overall streaming levels are still relatively low in the Middle East and North Africa, we are convinced that they will continue to grow rapidly and we look forward to being a key part in creating and capturing that growth.”
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