RIYADH: Rotana Music Holding, a major Arab independent record label, has signed a strategic partnership with music streaming platform Anghami to distribute its collection of original music audio and video content on the platform.
Rotana Music is among the leading Arabic media, entertainment, events, content producers and distributors in the MENA region. Its portfolio includes prominent Arab artists such as Mohammad Abdo, Abdul Majeed Abdullah, Rashid Al-Majid, Abdullah Al-Ruwaished, Majed Al-Mohandes, as well as Amr Diab, Assala, Elissa, Tamer Hosni, Najwa Karam and Sherine Abdel Wahab.
The deal sees Anghami reuniting with Rotana, which was a key partner when the streaming service launched in 2012. The move is in line with Anghami’s vision of amplifying Arab talent on the global stage. Anghami users will now have access to Rotana’s vast library free of charge.
The partnership was finalized at a signing in Riyadh between Salem Al-Hindi, CEO of Rotana Music Holding, and Eddy Maroun, co-founder and CEO of Anghami.
Al-Hindi said: “We are thrilled to commence this partnership with Anghami, which will also strengthen the relationship between Rotana and its artists. We are confident that this collaboration will expand the business even further with the purpose of reaching Rotana music fans across the world.”
Maroun said: “This partnership represents a major addition to our already unrivaled selection of Arabic music and will give Rotana’s portfolio of artists and outstanding Arab talent a powerful platform to share their voice with the world.
“There is no better way to celebrate Anghami’s 10th year and next chapter, than expanding our library of 72 million songs to include Rotana’s authentic Arabic content and rewarding fans with a wealth of original tracks.”
Earlier this month, Anghami signed a multi-year deal with Arab superstar Amr Diab, which has seen the platform host the artist’s entire catalog, including past and future releases, under his record label Ney. Listeners will now also have access to Amr Diab’s audio and video content produced by Rotana on Anghami.
Anghami, Rotana sign new strategic partnership
https://arab.news/29z63
Anghami, Rotana sign new strategic partnership
- Deal will put label’s entire original Arabic catalog on platform
- The move is in line with Anghami’s vision of amplifying Arab talent on the global stage
BBC says will fight Trump's $10 bn defamation lawsuit
LONDON: The BBC said Tuesday it would fight a $10-billion lawsuit brought by US President Donald Trump against the British broadcaster over a documentary that edited his 2021 speech ahead of the US Capitol riot.
“As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case,” a BBC spokesperson said in a statement sent to AFP, adding the company would not be making “further comment on ongoing legal proceedings.”
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Miami, seeks “damages in an amount not less than $5,000,000,000” for each of two counts against the British broadcaster, for alleged defamation and violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
The video that triggered the lawsuit spliced together two separate sections of Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021 in a way that made it appear he explicitly urged supporters to attack the Capitol, where lawmakers were certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election win.
The lawsuit comes as the UK government on Tuesday launched the politically sensitive review of the BBC’s Royal Charter, which outlines the corporation’s funding and governance and needs to be renewed in 2027.
As part of the review, it launched a public consultation on issues including the role of “accuracy” in the BBC’s mission and contentious reforms to the corporation’s funding model, which currently relies on a mandatory fee for anyone in the country who watches television.
Minister Stephen Kinnock stressed after the lawsuit was filed that the UK government “is a massive supporter of the BBC.”
The BBC has “been very clear that there is no case to answer in terms of Mr.Trump’s accusation on the broader point of libel or defamation. I think it’s right the BBC stands firm on that point,” Kinnock told Sky News on Tuesday.
Trump, 79, had said the lawsuit was imminent, claiming the BBC had “put words in my mouth,” even positing that “they used AI or something.”
The documentary at issue aired last year before the 2024 election, on the BBC’s “Panorama” flagship current affairs program.
Apology letter
“The formerly respected and now disgraced BBC defamed President Trump by intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring his speech in a brazen attempt to interfere in the 2024 Presidential Election,” a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said in a statement to AFP.
“The BBC has a long pattern of deceiving its audience in coverage of President Trump, all in service of its own leftist political agenda,” the statement added.
The British Broadcasting Corporation, whose audience extends well beyond the United Kingdom, faced a period of turmoil last month after a media report brought renewed attention to the edited clip.
The scandal led the BBC director general, Tim Davie, and the organization’s top news executive, Deborah Turness, to resign.
Trump’s lawsuit says the edited speech in the documentary was “fabricated and aired by the Defendants one week before the 2024 Presidential Election in a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence the Election’s outcome to President Trump’s detriment.”
The BBC has denied Trump’s claims of legal defamation, though BBC chairman Samir Shah has sent Trump a letter of apology.
Shah also told a UK parliamentary committee last month the broadcaster should have acted sooner to acknowledge its mistake after the error was disclosed in a memo, which was leaked to The Daily Telegraph newspaper.
The BBC lawsuit is the latest in a string of legal actions Trump has taken against media companies in recent years, several of which have led to multi-million-dollar settlements.
