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Cartlow Rolls Out Subscription Model For GCC Retail Platform
Parent company Basatne is scrapping per-sale commissions, betting a flat subscription will pull more merchants into the Gulf’s re-commerce market.
Tech and logistics platform Basatne has launched a subscription-based marketplace through its consumer brand Cartlow, dropping the per-transaction commissions that define most regional platforms. It is a direct pitch to sellers pressed by fees that can reach 20% and to a GCC retail sector expected to hit USD 390 billion. The company is positioning the model as a structural reset rather than a pricing tweak.
The offer is straightforward: a monthly subscription instead of variable cuts on each sale. Basatne argues that this helps merchants retain more value, widen product ranges, and price competitively across refurbished, pre-owned, and new goods. For a region where many SMEs still struggle with digital retail onboarding costs, a predictable fee structure may lower the threshold to participate.
Cartlow is built on Basatne’s proprietary technology stack spanning trade-in, diagnostics, repair, refurbishment, and resale. That stack links individual consumers with businesses, wholesalers, and resellers along the full product lifecycle. The company says the system is built to recirculate millions of products annually and prevent more than 300,000 tons of potential e-waste from reaching landfill.
“Our goal is to make sustainability scalable, not just aspirational,” said Mohammad Sleiman, CEO of Basatne MENA. “With this subscription model, we’re removing cost barriers and creating an ecosystem where businesses thrive and products live longer”.
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Basatne’s wider operations span sustainable electronics distribution, a global trading platform, AI-driven analytics and diagnostics, integrated subscription programs, and embedded fintech tools. Cartlow now anchors the consumer side of that network. The group says the consolidation supports its international expansion play, with the Gulf acting as a proving ground for circular retail models.
Re-commerce in the GCC still trails established markets in Europe and Asia, but demand has risen as device prices climb and environmental expectations grow. By eliminating variable fees, Basatne is betting more merchants will list refurbished and pre-loved stock — and that a deeper pool of inventory will make the channel a mainstream retail path rather than a niche alternative.
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Deezer Says AI Tracks Now Make Up 44% Of Uploads
The streamer says nearly 75,000 AI-made songs now hit its platform each day, even as those tracks account for just 1% to 3% of plays.
AI-generated music is becoming a real headache for music platforms, according to Deezer. The streaming service says it now receives nearly 75,000 AI-made tracks a day, equal to about 44% of all daily uploads to the platform.
The figure is up sharply from 10,000 daily AI uploads when Deezer launched its detection tool back in January 2025. The jump shows how quickly products such as Suno and Udio have made song creation cheap, fast, and easy to scale.
Despite the volume, Deezer says AI tracks still only account for 1% to 3% of total streams. The music gets few human listeners, but upload pressure is rising. The company says it is also seeing more “fraudulent” submissions.
Its response so far has been practical. Deezer has removed AI-generated songs from recommendation systems, demonetized them, and stopped storing high-resolution versions of those files.
The company also says it’s the only streaming platform currently tagging AI-generated tracks at scale, using that claim to position its moderation tools as a wider industry model.
“AI-generated music is now far from a marginal phenomenon and as daily deliveries keep increasing, we hope the whole music ecosystem will join us in taking action to help safeguard artist’s rights and promote transparency for fans,” CEO Alexis Lanternier said in a blog post.
Deezer has started licensing the detection technology to other companies, turning an internal control system into a commercial product. It says the tool can already identify music created with Suno and Udio, and can be extended to other generators if training data is available.
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The company is also working on detection methods that would not require training datasets, a harder technical step that could widen coverage as new music models appear.
Rivals are taking mixed approaches. Spotify has rolled out policies aimed at curbing AI music. Apple Music is asking artists and labels to disclose AI-made tracks. Qobuz has begun automated labeling, while Bandcamp has banned AI music outright.
For now, Deezer’s numbers suggest the real issue is not listener demand. It’s supply.
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