For a glimpse into the future of Saudi Arabia’s music industry, step inside the newly opened Saudi Music Hub.
The multi-purpose venue in the heart of Riyadh features recording studios, a performance hall, a music library and ample spaces for rehearsals and workshops.
But it’s in the maze of meeting rooms where some of the most significant steps towards building a thriving music sector are taking place. In one room, members of the International Music Managers Forum – a global network for self-managed artists and their managers – are deep in discussion with the president of its newly established Saudi chapter.
Elsewhere, international producers and festival organisers are meeting Saudi organisations to develop new projects across the kingdom.
Overseeing the activity with quiet satisfaction is Paul Pacifico, chief executive of Saudi Arabia's Music Commission. Operating under the auspices of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture, the commission's remit is to develop the kingdom’s music sector – from regulating and establishing music institutions to promoting Saudi music domestically and abroad.
It’s a broad mandate, but like the best of music, progress happens when collaboration takes the lead.
"It's the networking effect and it’s about bringing people from different parts of the industry – I am talking about key domestic, regional and international stakeholders – together to have these important conversations," Pacifico tells The National. "In my experience, it seems that every other policy discussion about music begins with someone in the room saying something along the lines of 'if we are able to build the music industry today, we wouldn't have done it the way it is now'. I feel that what we are trying to do here in Saudi Arabia is making that effort to build an industry through a 21st century lens."
Five years since the commission’s establishment, these advances are clear to see and hear.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, music classes were introduced in public schools in 2022, starting with children in kindergarten. The Saudi Arabian National Orchestra and Choir, established in 2021, has already performed in major cities including Paris, New York, London and Tokyo. Efforts to preserve the kingdom’s musical heritage are also under way through the commission’s establishment of the Saudi Music Memory Initiative, which reportedly aims to document music and lyrics from Saudi artists dating back to the mid 1980s. Many of these initiatives were showcased and reinforced during December’s Riyadh Music Week, a series of events curated by the commission.
The programme included industry summits such as XP Music Futures and the Music Cities Convention, alongside major spectacles like the 2024 Billboard Arabia Music Awards and the massive Soundstorm music festival.
The scope and ambition already on display have been instructive, Pacifico notes: “Initiatives like Riyadh Music Week put welcome pressure on us domestically to get certain things done. These are big, immovable deadlines – and we all know that without them, things can start to drift.”
While these events bring industry leaders and stars to the kingdom, the foundation of a sustainable music industry is being laid offstage – driven by data analysis and long-term planning. As a former chief executive of the Association of Independent Music in the UK and an accomplished harmonica player, Pacifico says Saudi Arabia’s music sector must be shaped to meet the demands of a fast-changing and tech-driven global industry.
"Great houses are built on strong foundations, and in today’s music industry those foundations are data," he says. "But the global data set – who owns what, who wrote what, who performed on what – is woefully inadequate. In fact, even 10 years ago, the Berklee Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship published a report estimating that about 25 per cent of global music revenues go to the wrong people due to poor data. Now, we’re building a new music industry for the 21st century using 21st-century technology. Saudi Arabia has the opportunity to lead – its data set should be the most accurate in the world. If we build the right digital and physical infrastructure, this could be an extraordinary leapfrog moment for the kingdom.”
Some of the key projects include working towards establishing a local collective management organisation to collect royalties for commercially used work and collaborating with the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property to strengthen copyright regulations. It’s arduous and painstaking work, but Pacifico believes its impact will leave an immeasurable legacy.
“How do you make ‘fair’ fairer?” he asks. “That’s the real challenge. Mature markets have to break old systems to build better ones. Here, we’re starting fresh. That’s both a responsibility and an advantage.
“Saudi Arabia already has an incredibly rich musical heritage,” Pacifico adds. “Our job is to ensure that value is properly recognised, reflected and compensated.”
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Defined benefit and defined contribution schemes explained
Defined Benefit Plan (DB)
A defined benefit plan is where the benefit is defined by a formula, typically length of service to and salary at date of leaving.
Defined Contribution Plan (DC)
A defined contribution plan is where the benefit depends on the amount of money put into the plan for an employee, and how much investment return is earned on those contributions.
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
RESULTS
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Results
6.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Dirt) 1,200m; Winner: Major Cinnamon, Fernando Jara, Mujeeb Rahman
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,900m; Winner: Al Mureib, Fernando Jara, Ahmad bin Harmash
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Remorse, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
8.15pm: Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Meshakel, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer
8.50pm: Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Desert Peace, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,400m; Winner: Sharamm, Ryan Curatlo, Satish Seemar
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: Turbocharged four-cylinder 2.7-litre
Power: 325hp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh189,700
On sale: now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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Dubai World Cup Carnival card:
6.30pm: Handicap (Turf) | US$175,000 | 2,410 metres
7.05pm: UAE 1000 Guineas Trial Conditions (Dirt) | $100,000 | 1,400m
7.40pm: Handicap (T) | $145,000 | 1,000m
8.15pm: Dubawi Stakes Group 3 (D) | $200,000 | 1,200m
8.50pm: Singspiel Stakes Group 3 (T) | $200,000 | 1,800m
9.25pm: Handicap (T) | $175,000 | 1,400m
The years Ramadan fell in May
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Scoreline
Swansea 2
Grimes 20' (pen), Celina, 29'
Man City 3
Silva 69', Nordfeldt 78' (og), Aguero 88'
How to vote in the UAE
1) Download your ballot https://www.fvap.gov/
2) Take it to the US Embassy
3) Deadline is October 15
4) The embassy will ensure all ballots reach the US in time for the November 3 poll
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A German university was a good fit for the family budget
Annual fees for the Technical University of Munich - £600
Shared rental accommodation per month depending on the location ranges between £200-600
The family had budgeted for food, books, travel, living expenses - £20,000 annually
Overall costs in Germany are lower than the family estimated
As proof that the student has the ability to take care of expenses, international students must open a blocked account with about £8,640
Students are permitted to withdraw £720 per month
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Yuki Means Happiness
Alison Jean Lester
John Murray
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl, 48V hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: Dh359,000
On sale: now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Final round
25 under - Antoine Rozner (FRA)
23 - Francesco Laporta (ITA), Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA), Andy Sullivan (ENG), Matt Wallace (ENG)
21 - Grant Forrest (SCO)
20 - Ross Fisher (ENG)
19 - Steven Brown (ENG), Joakim Lagergren (SWE), Niklas Lemke (SWE), Marc Warren (SCO), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT)
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
If you go
Flying
Despite the extreme distance, flying to Fairbanks is relatively simple, requiring just one transfer in Seattle, which can be reached directly from Dubai with Emirates for Dh6,800 return.
Touring
Gondwana Ecotours’ seven-day Polar Bear Adventure starts in Fairbanks in central Alaska before visiting Kaktovik and Utqiarvik on the North Slope. Polar bear viewing is highly likely in Kaktovik, with up to five two-hour boat tours included. Prices start from Dh11,500 per person, with all local flights, meals and accommodation included; gondwanaecotours.com
How to vote
Canadians living in the UAE can register to vote online and be added to the International Register of Electors.
They'll then be sent a special ballot voting kit by mail either to their address, the Consulate General of Canada to the UAE in Dubai or The Embassy of Canada in Abu Dhabi
Registered voters mark the ballot with their choice and must send it back by 6pm Eastern time on October 21 (2am next Friday)
Match info:
Burnley 0
Manchester United 2
Lukaku (22', 44')
Red card: Marcus Rashford (Man United)
Man of the match: Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United)
India team for Sri Lanka series
Test squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Priyank Panchal, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharath (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Sourabh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
T20 squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Avesh Khan
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