Reservoir and PopArabia acquire two MENA catalogs
Reservoir Media and PopArabia purchased music rights from two Middle Eastern entities on Monday. The companies acquired all compositions and master recordings from HFM Production, an Iraqi music production house, as well as publishing and recorded music rights from Kuwaiti artist Essa Almarzoug’s catalog.
HFM Production operates a record label and has produced more than 500 recordings. The company’s YouTube channel attracts over 3.1 million subscribers and has reached nearly 1.4 billion views. Artists such as Ahmed Al Maslawi and Zaid Al Rashed perform under the label.
Almarzoug blends traditional Khaleeji melodies with contemporary Arabic pop. He gained recognition after appearing on Star Academy 9 in 2013. His music videos have accumulated over 619 million YouTube views.
The acquisitions advance Reservoir’s strategy to become the largest holder of Arabic music copyrights. PopArabia serves as a sub-publisher for Reservoir’s regional copyrights through a joint venture established in 2020.
