An online music service that aims to be the world's largest has signed a deal with Etisalat to launch an app in 18 markets.
UrFilez, which claims to have invested a multimillion-dollar sum in music rights and technology, said it would launch its personalised radio app tomorrow.
In one of the most significant deals in the Middle East's fledgling online music business, UrFilez said it had formed distribution agreements with Etisalat, along with Kuwait's Zain Group. It already has a deal with Bahrain's Batelco.
The UrFilez app will initially be available in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, said Hassan Miah, the co-founder and chief executive of the company.
Through the agreement with Etisalat, UrFilez aims to roll out the app to all the markets in which the UAE operator has a presence, Mr Miah said. "It's to launch in conjunction with Etisalat in every Etisalat territory," he said. Two of the first markets will be Nigeria and Tanzania, he added.
The app, which will be available on Apple iPhone, BlackBerry and Android handsets, is a personalised radio service similar to Pandora in the US.
"It does everything that Pandora does and a little bit more," Mr Miah said. "You type in your favourite artist, and it will create a personalised radio station. Since it knows what kind of artist you like, it knows what kind of music you like."
The application will initially be free, after which UrFilez intends to charge between US$1 (Dh3.67) and $2 a month for access.
UrFilez, a privately funded company with offices in Bahrain, New York and Abu Dhabi, announced in 2010 it had acquired rights for music by artists signed with Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and EMI Music.
The company said it was negotiating to acquire the rights to use music licensed by Rotana, one of the Arab world's most prominent music owners.
Mr Miah said the company had invested an "eight-figure" dollar sum in music rights and technology. "We think we can get the break-even within probably a couple of years, given the economic model we built," he said.
Mr Miah said he personally funded UrFilez, along with "a member of the royal family of Bahrain", whom he declined to name.
The company planned to be the world's largest music service, ahead of iTunes, Spotify and Pandora, he added.
"The potential market is enormous," Mr Miah said. "We should be the world's largest, because we're looking at so much bigger markets."
The company launched in Bahrain in 2010, but delayed its wider rollout to perfect its business plan.
"We only launched in Bahrain and we have several thousand subscribers," he said. "We decided to hold back until we had this product really ready to hit the mass."
The company originally pursued a music downloads business model, but said streaming - in which music is played over a computer or smartphone internet connection - is preferable.
"It's all streaming - there are no downloads at all. It's a whole music experience - and you can't pirate that," he said. "We are adding downloads down the line, but we do not believe downloads is a very exciting business for the future."
UrFilez plans to launch another service next month, which will allow users to listen to specific songs on demand, as well as pay to download and keep tracks.
The next service will be more akin to the Spotify offering, Mr Miah said. It will cost about $5 a month to subscribe to and - within the Gulf region - about 79 cents to download a song to keep.
UrFilez is one of just a handful of music download services to have launched in the Middle East.
Last year, the Saudi Arabian company Music Master began offering online downloads, with more than 3 million songs available at launch.
This month, Etisalat's rival du launched its Music Store service, in which users pay Dh1 per day for the right to download and keep five songs a day from a catalogue of 10,000.
Virgin Megastore is also planning to launch a digital download platform on its website, the company said in September.
bflanagan@thenational.ae
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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UAE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Adel Al Hosani
Defenders: Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Mohammed Barghash, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hassan Al Mahrami, Yousef Jaber, Salem Rashid, Mohammed Al Attas, Alhassan Saleh
Midfielders: Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Majed Hassan, Yahya Nader, Ahmed Barman, Abdullah Hamad, Khalfan Mubarak, Khalil Al Hammadi, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Harib Abdallah, Mohammed Jumah, Yahya Al Ghassani
Forwards: Fabio De Lima, Caio Canedo, Ali Saleh, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
The biog
First Job: Abu Dhabi Department of Petroleum in 1974
Current role: Chairperson of Al Maskari Holding since 2008
Career high: Regularly cited on Forbes list of 100 most powerful Arab Businesswomen
Achievement: Helped establish Al Maskari Medical Centre in 1969 in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region
Future plan: Will now concentrate on her charitable work
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
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7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
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Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 720hp
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Price: Dh1,100,000
On sale: now
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PSA DUBAI WORLD SERIES FINALS LINE-UP
Men’s:
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Ali Farag (EGY)
Simon Rosner (GER)
Tarek Momen (EGY)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Nick Matthew (ENG)
Women's:
Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
Raneem El Welily (EGY)
Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
Laura Massaro (ENG)
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Ponti
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US tops drug cost charts
The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.
Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.
In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.
Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol.
The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.
High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.
The specs
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Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Kamindu Mendis bio
Full name: Pasqual Handi Kamindu Dilanka Mendis
Born: September 30, 1998
Age: 20 years and 26 days
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Major teams Sri Lanka's Under 19 team
Batting style: Left-hander
Bowling style: Right-arm off-spin and slow left-arm orthodox (that's right!)
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