MENA focused music streaming service Anghami is expanding into live events.
Anghami has acquired Spotlight Events, a company specialized in managing and executing live events and concerts in the region.
Spotlight is headquartered in Dubai and has six affiliate offices in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia & Morocco covering GCC, Lower Gulf and North Africa.
The deal will see Spotlight Events become Anghami’s arm for live events and concerts, including offline activities and activations.
According to the press materials announcing the deal, Spotlight Events will “provide a stage for artists to perform and reach their audiences offline”, while Anghami’s technology “will bridge the gap between the offline and online worlds by providing access to exclusive concerts through its live video streaming capabilities and creating immersive experiences through AR and VR”.
The announcement follows Anghami’s recent IPO on the NASDAQ in New York.
In May, Anghami published its full year financial results for 2021 as well as its preliminary results for Q1 2022, reporting that its total revenue grew 16% year-over-year in 2021, to $35.5 million in 2021.
Anghami says that its new partnership with Spotlight will enable it to “unlock opportunities” between artists, brands, and music fans, “with exclusive access to private concerts, VIP lounges, meet & greets and backstage access, in addition to attending concerts either offline or streamed through their devices”.
In-person and virtual concerts will be accessible either through tickets or sponsored by brands.
Spotlight Events has recently confirmed its program of upcoming concerts and events in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Paris, Cairo and Riyadh, including “Beat the Heat”, a seven-concert festival organized in collaboration with the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing – Dubai (DTCM).
Also in Abu Dhabi, six concerts are planned for the rest of the year, to be announced at a later date. Also scheduled is a live concert by the Arab superstar Wael Kfoury in Paris.
Spotlight will also be executing all of Anghami’s events, including Amr Diab Live. (Middle Eastern mega-star Amr Diab signed an exclusive multi-year licensing deal with Anghami in February).
“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.”
Eddy Maroun, Anghami
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.
“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 and Anghami Lab are among a number of initiatives we plan to develop as new business extensions to accelerate our growth and improve our margins while widening the gap with our competitors.
“Maher has built a great business on solid economics and has proven that live concerts and events are a scalable and profitable business.”
“Our offline expertise, complemented by Anghami’s reach, data and technical capabilities, is the perfect recipe for success.”
Maher Khawkhaji, Spotlight
Maher Khawkhaji, Founder and CEO of Spotlight added: “Anghami is the largest music platform in the MENA region with an incredible number of users and a unique network of partnerships that, once connected to Spotlight, will open doors to amazing opportunities.
“Our offline expertise, complemented by Anghami’s reach, data and technical capabilities, is the perfect recipe for success.
“We look forward to being part of this dynamic team and unleashing the incredible potential to bring the best to music fans, artists and brands and take entertainment to the next level.”
Music Business Worldwide
