With this partnership, Esmaa aims to support regional and international music artists and composers.
Saudi Arabia-based music entertainment company MDL Beast has partnered with music rights company Esmaa to ensure payments are made to composers and rights holders whenever their works are featured at MDL Beast events and on their platforms.
The deal encompasses music performed and played at Soundstorm, the industry showcase XP Conference and the recently launched online music channel Beast TV. Artists signed to the company’s in house record label, MDL Beast Records, will also receive payments when their tracks are played by other organisations signed to Esmaa.
Launched in 2020, Esmaa is a rights management entity and a subsidiary of PopArabia, a music publishing company headquartered in Abu Dhabi’s TwoFour54.
Commenting on the agreement, MDL Beast’s Chief Operating Officer and Head of Talent Booking and Events, Talal Albahiti, said: “Ultimately we want to grow the music industry in the region and the best way to do that is to make sure it is economically viable for artists and composers to create the sounds we all want to hear. Esmaa is that solution for the Gulf. At MDL Beast, we certainly want to see creators getting fair rewards for their work wherever the music is played, and for us that is two-fold; we pay to ensure any time we use an artist’s tracks during our licensed events, they get paid, and as a rights holder we receive payment when our artists’ music is used by other media and events, and we pass that payment on.”
He added: “We believe that there has never been a more exciting time for the music industry in the Middle East and the agreement with Esmaa is a really important step towards sustainable growth and fair representation for talent globally.”
By committing to this licensing agreement and using music recognition tech, MDL Beast is putting the artists first and ensuring license fees are distributed back to the owners of the music rights. Additionally, MDL Beast will now be able to provide precise data and market insights for artists, composers, rights owners, and global PROs about Saudi and the region’s biggest music festival. This agreement is supported by music technology leaders BMAT who are able to track and fingerprint all music performed at Soundstorm ’21, monitoring eight stages with over 200 DJ sets and live act performances – a clear indicator of the growth and value of the market.
Hussain ‘Spek’ Yoosuf, Founder and CEO of Esmaa, stated: “Saudi Arabia’s music scene is undergoing incredible change at the moment and MDL Beast are right at the front of that. It is a watershed moment as music rights holders will be paid performance royalties for the first time for uses within Saudi Arabia, and we commend MDL Beast for taking the necessary steps to respect creators.”
