Rotana Music Group

Rotana Music Group
Parent company
Founded1987; 37 years ago (1987)
FounderNagro Brothers
GenreArabic Music
LocationRiyadh, Saudi Arabia
Official websiterotana.net

Rotana Music Group (Arabic: مجموعة روتانا للموسيقى) is a Saudi Arabian record label and the music division of the Rotana Media Group. It was established by the Nagro Brothers, Mohammed, Khalid, Waleed, Ahmed and Nezar Nagro in 1987 and was later sold to Saudi billionaire Prince Al Waleed bin Talal.[1] Rotana Music Group is known to be the largest record label and music repertoire holder in the Arab world and is headquartered in Riyadh, with other branches located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Kuwait, Cairo, Egypt and Beirut, Lebanon. Artists who have released musical works with Rotana include Mohammed Abdu, Abdul Majeed Abdullah, Ahlam, Amr Diab, Elissa, Tamer Hosny, Najwa Karam, Saber Rebai, Angham, Wael Kfoury and more.[2]

During the 1990s and 2000s, the label's releases were distributed by EMI Music Arabia. Forbes Middle East included Rotana Music Group's CEO Salem Al Hendi, who first joined in 1995, in their list for Top Middle Eastern CEOs of 2023, ranking at 100.[3]

In 2021, Warner Music Group made an investment in Rotana Music, the deal is believed to have been eight figures for a minority stake in the company, it would value the company at almost $200 million. It was also announced February 16 of the same year that ADA Worldwide, a division of WMG, will distribute Rotana releases outside of MENA via YouTube.[4][5]

On January 11, 2023, the label signed a licensing deal with social media platform TikTok. It also licensed its music to Spotify adding 10,000 Arabic songs to the service less than a week later on January 17, 2023. Previously, Deezer exclusively held the rights to the labels songs. [2][6][7]

On March 12, 2024, music streaming service Anghami and Rotana Music Group extended their partnership for three more years. Instead of usually only obtaining access to Rotana's music catalogue, they expanded into concerts and collaborations.[8]

  1. ^ Bobby Ghosh (2008-09-16). "Saudi Billionaire to Wall Street: See You Later". Time.com. Archived from the original on September 18, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
  2. ^ a b Andre Paine (11 January 2023). "TikTok signs licensing deal with Rotana Music Group". MusicWeek. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  3. ^ "Salem Al Hendi - Top 100 CEOs 2023 in the Middle East". Forbes Middle East. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  4. ^ "Warner Music Group close to buying minority stake in Rotana Music (report)". Music Business Worldwide. 2021-01-28. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  5. ^ "Warner Music Group buys minority stake in Saudi Arabia's Rotana Music". Music Business Worldwide. 2021-02-16. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  6. ^ "Spotify just added 10,000 new Arabic songs to its platform via a licensing deal with Rotana Music". Music Business Worldwide. 2023-01-17. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  7. ^ "Deezer's new Middle East deal is not good news for Spotify or Apple". Music Business Worldwide. 2018-08-14. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  8. ^ "Anghami and Rotana expand partnership to cover live concerts, collaborations". Music Business Worldwide. 2024-03-13. Retrieved 2024-08-22.