Muscling the Mideast music market

by John Defterios December 1, 2007

written by John Defterios December 1, 2007

It took us a half hour to drive from Sheikh Zayed Road in the center of Dubai to the Al-Quoz Industrial Area where you’ll find the headquarters of Arab Media Group or AMG. Their three-letter acronym will soon have a very familiar three-letter brand running right along side it, MTV. The one you know is celebrating the launch of its 60th channel this weekend, 53 of those outside the United States. The other, AMG, gets a chance overnight to play in the big leagues of global media, with its 10-year partnership agreement. A great deal has been said already ahead of the launch, but let me boil it down into three headlines: MTV is ready to enter a market of 50 music channels in the region. Their lead music channel will be built around Hip Hop and two-thirds of the population in the Arab World is under the age of

John Defterios

A passionate media professional and advisor, I specialize in emerging markets and energy. As a Strategic Senior Advisor and board member for APCO Worldwide, Professor of Business at NYU-Abu Dhabi, and World Economic Forum Energy Fellow, I created a global emerging markets media platform and was formerly CNN’s Emerging Markets editor. With 25 years as a WEF Media Leader, I also chair numerous summits and conferences annually, and contribute columns to Gulf News and Arab News.

Muscling the Mideast music market

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