News
Rotana’s Music Library Is Back On Anghami
The partnership with Rotana is expected to attract even more listeners to Anghami, which already has 75 million users from around the world.
All users of Anghami, the MENA region’s leading music and entertainment streaming platform, have a reason to celebrate because Rotana Music Holding, the largest record label and music repertoire holder in the Arab world, has just agreed to bring its large music library back to the platform.
We say “back” because Rotana was one of Anghami’s key partners when the service launched in 2012. The partnership ended when Rotana decided to move its copyrighted content to Deezer, which is partially owned by Rotana’s owner Al Waleed Bin Talal.
Anghami’s recent growth following its listing on the NASDAQ stock exchange on 4 February 2022, which caused its shares to grow by 80 percent and its market capitalization to exceed $500 million, might be a reason why the two companies are partners again.
Rotana’s music library includes some of the most popular Arab artists, such as Mohammad Abdo, Abdul Majeed Abdullah, Rashid Al Majid, Abdullah Al Ruwaished, Majed Al Mohandes, Rabeh Saqr, Nawal Al Kuwaitiya, and Ahlam.

The agreement for the partnership was signed Salem Al Hindi, CEO of Rotana Music Holding and Eddy Maroun, Anghami’s co-founder and CEO.
“We are thrilled to commence this partnership with Anghami, which will also strengthen the relationship between Rotana and its artists,” said Salem Al Hindi. “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.”
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Eddy Maroun said that he was delighted to welcome Rotana to Anghami. “There is no better way to celebrate Anghami’s tenth 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,” he added.
The partnership with Rotana is expected to attract even more listeners to Anghami, which already has 75 million users from around the world.
News
NEOPAY Wants To Follow Merchants Across Channels And Borders
A controlling 65% stake in noon payments would give NEOPAY access to marketplace sellers, online merchants and the payment flows they generate.
It’s been a long time since checkouts were single defined places. A merchant might take payments at a physical register, on its own website and through an online marketplace, sometimes in more than one country. NEOPAY wants to follow those transactions wherever they happen.
The UAE payments company has entered into an agreement to acquire a 65% controlling stake in noon payments. NEOPAY already runs the acquiring infrastructure that lets merchants accept card payments, along with omnichannel acceptance and a merchant services platform. This new deal would add noon payments’ embedded payments platform, e-commerce gateway and merchant network across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. That would considerably expand both NEOPAY’s digital commerce capabilities and its regional reach.
For merchants, the attraction is a single provider for online and in-store payments, plus faster settlements, data and analytics, and value-added financial services.
“Payments should be simple, reliable, and built for the markets they serve,” said Faraz Khalid, CEO of noon. His counterpart at NEOPAY, Vibhor Mundhada, added: “We have built a strong payments business in the UAE, and our ambition is now to take that capability across the region”. The acquisition, Mundhada added, would “expand our footprint into Saudi Arabia and Egypt” while reinforcing NEOPAY’s position at home.
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NEOPAY is also keen to point out potential payment volume increases. The company says noon payments’ integrations with marketplace sellers and online merchants create high transaction density in some of the region’s fastest-growing digital commerce segments. It also believes control of the business would give it access to those merchant relationships and payment flows, and speed up the rollout of alternative payment methods and installment options.
The combined roadmap targets faster merchant onboarding, better payment performance, tighter fraud controls and embedded financial services. The deal could also strengthen cross-border payments and settlement along key regional commerce corridors.
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