BEIRUT, Lebanon (CelebrityAccess) — Warner Music Group has launched Warner Music Middle East, a new wholly-owned affiliate focused on covering 17 markets across the Middle East and North Africa.
The new division is based in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, which is becoming an increasingly important focal point in the region, both for live and recorded music.
WMGME’s bailiwick includes Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen and the company will handle marketing for WMG’s international artists, as well as local artists and their repertoire.
The new WMG affiliate will be helmed by Managing Director, Moe Hamzeh, who joins WMG from the Beirut-based video streaming platform, m.media. He will report to Chris Ancliff, WMG’s EVP, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Hamzeh got his start in the industry at one of WMG’s licensees, Music Master, where he served as a label manager, overseeing marketing in Lebanon.
He also founded the indie label and publisher Temple Entertainment and later oversaw the opening of Virgin Megastores retail outlets in the market, as well as overseeing the music retailer’s marketing and product distribution in the region.
In 2008, he joined Melody Music and Artists Management as General Manager, managing the company’s Beirut and Cairo operations. He then took up the role of Head of Content for m.media, a digital streaming platform that offers video on demand for Lebanese and regional movies, documentaries and series, in 2012.
“I’m honored to be joining Warner at this pivotal moment in the expansion of the market in the Middle East and North Africa. We can now reach and draw in a huge number of fans across the region, enabling us to develop careers for local talent, as well as creating new opportunities for our established artists,” Hamzeh said in a press statement.
