The Multi-Million Dollar Startup Who Took on Sony, Universal & Warner (from Abu Dhabi!)
Spek sold over a million records as a rapper, now he’s rewriting how the Middle East’s music industry works, from Abu Dhabi.
A sit-down with Spek, the founder of PopArabia, the company powering music rights and royalties across the Arab world and South Asia, and part of billion-dollar group Reservoir.
His roster includes JID, Mohamed Ramadan, and Nancy Ajram, and his bet is clear: the next global hits won’t come from LA or London, they’ll come from emerging markets.
What you’ll learn:
• How music rights and royalties actually work
• How to build global infrastructure from scratch
• Why culture is the next big growth market
• What it takes to take on Sony, Universal, and Warner from Abu Dhabi
To watch more episodes, head over here.
Spek's thesis about emerging markets being the source of the next global hits makes a lot of sense when you consider how Spotify and YouTube have completely democratized music distribution. What's impressive about PopArabia isn't just competing with Sony, Universal, and Warner - it's building the infrastructure (rights management, royalties collection, publishing) that simply didn't exist for the Arab world and South Asia at scale. The fact that Reservoir saw enough value to make them part of a billion-dollar group validates that there's real business here, not just cultural aspiration. The roster mix is smart too - having established stars like Nancy Ajram and Mohamed Ramadan alongside Western acts like JID shows they understand both local dominance and crossover potential. Most major labels still treat emerging markets as licensing territories rather than creative centers. If PopArabia can capture even 10-15% of the value being created in those regeions while artists retain more control and better economics, that's a huge win.