Universal Music Group has established a partnership with Dubai Global Music City (DGMC) to begin building a music city in the Middle East. This ‘Music City’ will be based somewhere in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Several major corporations have expressed excitement about ‘the Middle East’s first-ever Music City’.
The new music city will be the home base of operations for a joint venture between Universal Music Group and Dubai Global Music City featuring the new recording studios, educational classes, programs, workshops, and the record labels signing local artists. The classes are going to be offered with a structured curriculum with ‘Master Classes’ hosted by top talent in the music industry. The mutual goal for the companies is to develop the world’s first ‘purpose-built music city’ and help with building sustainable careers in the international music industry. The UAE government stated in a press release earlier in spring 2023 that they had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Music Nation Copyrights Management and DGMC Production. A memorandum of understanding is a cooperative agreement between two parties that can include general terms and goals and is not intended to be legally bindingThe signing of this understanding is to help support the Middle East’s culturally diverse music sector and become an attractive destination for creative talents across the globe.
Rasha Khalifa Al Mubarak, who is the Chairwoman of both Music Nation and DGMC stated:
“We are proud to establish this public-private partnership with Dubai Culture. Music Nation and DGMC, together with our renowned international partners, will deliver state-of-the-art copyright protection, distribution, and advanced recording facility infrastructure to ignite Dubai’s music economy and establish Dubai as a leading Music City. This partnership will provide the platform for creatives to shape sustainable and fulfilling careers in all aspects of the music industry.”
This international deal is expected to have three recording studios that will belong to Capitol Studios, the music recording company which are primarily known for being the recording studios for the American record label Capitol Records. These recording studios in the Middle East ‘Music City’ will be the first ever Capitol Studios built outside of the Capitol Tower in Hollywood, California, USA. Each of the new studios will supposedly feature a Dolby Atmos mixing room, recording studios, green rooms, writers rooms, and rehearsal studios. Universal Music Group has stated experiences for fans are also planned for the new studios and will be in the works soon.
Launching of a ‘Music City’ in the Middle East is unsurprising given that the region has been growing exponentially in the past few years. In 2021, Universal Music Group launched Universal Arabic Music (UAM) with Republic Records and Wassim ‘SAL’ Slaiby. In 2022, the recorded music market for that region grew by 23.8% and has been a fast growing music region on the world wide scale. Last August, Universal Music Group made a critical investment with their acquisition of Chabaka Music, a prominent music company based in the UAE. Following them in October Warner Music Group invested in HuManagement, a company that operates across all digital media including music, film, and television with over 300 creators.