Latest news with #MDLBEAST
CairoScene
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
Central Cee, Black Eyed Peas & More to Perform in Saudi this Summer
This summer, MDLBEAST kicks off two back-to-back series: ONYX in Jeddah and AFT_r in Riyadh. With a lineup spanning Black Eyed Peas to R3HAB, Saudi Arabia's music scene is turning up the volume. Jun 24, 2025 This summer, MDLBEAST is unleashing two massive live experiences across Saudi Arabia. ONYX, held at the 12,000-capacity Onyx Arena in Jeddah, runs from July 17th to August 8th and features major acts like the Black Eyed Peas, Central Cee, Metro Boomin', Don Diablo, R3HAB, and Meduza, alongside rising regional names like Saud & Jeed and DAFENCII. Running in parallel, AFT_r takes over Riyadh from July 18th to August 7th during the Esports World Cup, the world's biggest esports competition. The immersive nightlife series brings the same headline artists into a new context, where gaming and music collide inside the ANB Arena. 'As we continue to push the boundaries of entertainment in the region, this summer's AFT_r and ONYX shows demonstrate our commitment to building cultural bridges, elevating local talent, and hosting world-class experiences across Saudi Arabia,' Ramadan Alharatani, CEO of MDLBEAST, tells SceneNoise. Last year's Esports World Cup saw MDLBEAST take over the after party series by the likes of Jack Harlow and Wiz Khalifa, as well as regional icons like superstar Moroccan rapper ElGrandeToto, Nancy Ajram and Tamer Hosny, alongside Saudi DJ Cosmicat.
Identity
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Identity
Why Can't Egypt Throw a Proper Music Festival — Like, Ever?
With Morocco's Mawazine Festival kicking off — 24 years strong since its birth in 2001 — a nagging question echoes louder than ever: Why doesn't Egypt, the country that gave the planet Umm Kulthum, Abdel Halim, and Amr Diab, have a single proper music festival that represents us? And no, it's not about talent. That excuse expired long ago. We have range. The fans are here. The artists are here. The sound is here. So what's missing? Simple answer: the platform. Sandbox in Gouna is the only festival with consistency, but let's be real. It's niche, expensive, and curated for a very specific crowd. It doesn't represent the larger Egyptian music culture or reach the wider audience that's craving it. Other concerts happen occasionally, but they're scattered and usually brand-led. No identity. No community. No long-term vision. Just noise. And while Egypt fumbles through one-off concerts and disconnected sponsor activations, Saudi Arabia went from zero to MDLBEAST, a multi-stage EDM empire that doesn't just pull global headliners but also exports a whole new Saudi cultural identity through music. Tunisia has been hosting the Carthage International Festival since the 1960s. That's decades of investing in music as national pride. And Morocco? Morocco has Mawazine, a festival so massive it regularly attracts both Arab legends and global icons. What's Egypt's excuse? Let's be honest: Bureaucracy is a nightmare. Organizing a live music event in Egypt feels less like planning a cultural experience and more like navigating a minefield of paperwork, paranoia, and unpredictable shutdowns. You're more likely to get a 'no' than a permit. There's no infrastructure to build on. No designated festival grounds. No streamlined logistics. No real investment in stage design, safety, or long-term systems. The music scene itself operates in silos. Artists are blowing up online, selling out shows, making noise, but they're disconnected. It feels like almost no one is staying to build something here, collectively. Then there's the sponsorship problem: brands jump in for a product drop, a hashtag, or a flashy Instagram moment, and disappear the second the campaign ends. No one's sticking around to nurture the scene or invest in the long run. And looming over it all is cultural fear. Anything too 'Western' or unpredictable? Shut it down. Need proof? Let's talk about Travis Scott's cancelled 2023 concert at the Pyramids. It was set to be a global moment, the kind that brings international attention, tourism, and cash. But Egypt's Musicians Syndicate shut it down before it even happened, citing 'moral concerns' and 'threats to Egyptian traditions.' A once-in-a-lifetime event, gone. Out of fear. We're not just lacking festivals, we're blocking them. And at the same time, Egypt still doesn't have publishing royalties or proper collection systems. Music that plays in cafes, concerts, or clubs barely translates into revenue for artists. But let's imagine, just for a second, what a real Egyptian music festival could look like. Picture this: stages across the desert or the Nile, each one dedicated to a different sound — trap, shaabi, indie, electro, jazz — all coexisting without apology. Local legends, rising stars, regional collabs, and international names, all in one lineup. We're talking real Egyptian energy: food, art, dialect, movement. The sounds of the street and the pulse of the underground on full display. Brands that actually care about the scene — not just their billboard presence. And no, it's not just about the music. It's about jobs. Stylists, sound engineers, stage designers, filmmakers, vendors, photographers, editors, transport, tourism, the whole creative economy gets a boost. A festival is infrastructure. A festival is storytelling. A festival is soft power. That could be Egypt. That should be Egypt. So what exactly are we waiting for?
Entrepreneur
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Entrepreneur
MDLBEAST is Roaring Saudi's Cultural Storm
"We're not just centralizing culture in the capital. We're spreading it—north, south, east, west. If Saudi is going to evolve, everyone needs to feel it," says Ramadan Alharatani, CEO of MDLBEAST. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. You're reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. It's not every day that you watch Guns N' Roses tear up a stage in Riyadh, with tens of thousands singing their lungs out under the desert skies. Here we are: after Gimmix, local young band performing a 30 min energizing intro to the legends, next to me, as the crowd sways to Welcome to the Jungle, is Ramadan Alharatani, CEO of MDLBEAST, grinning like someone watching a dream he once scribbled on a napkin come to life. We're walking between backstage tents and tunneled pathways: while the music is loud and vibrating, what Ramadan's built in just a few years is a pure, roaring cultural storm. "We didn't just start a festival. We unlocked unity and the opportunity of enjoying life, together." I asked him how MDLBEAST started. He doesn't give me the polished company story. Instead, it's this, "In 2019, we knew social change would have been the most difficult. So, we threw a party - Soundstorm. We hoped maybe 50,000 people would come. 400,000 showed up. We knew then: this wasn't just an event. It was a bringing together these pockets of diverse communities together and enjoying openly, outside their homes or private parties, without music being a taboo for anyone." That first Soundstorm, just outside Riyadh, was a cultural jolt. It wasn't just music. It was a unique moment. Special and different. It was people - young and old, conservative and rebellious, male and female - finally now flying out but hearing their own rhythm echoed back at full volume, at home. "It was all about people dancing together, being together, enjoying with no taboos. At that liberation point, that moment meant a lot for us. It was a cultural change similar to the one Americans experienced with the Woodstock of '69 or the break of the Berlin Wall for German people. We didn't know that a music festival would have been one of the strongest means to change a nation and open doors to a new creative scene." Raffaella Campagnoli and Ramadan Alharatani, CEO of MDLBEAST. Since 2019, when the Saudi Entertainment Company launched the Seasons all over the Country organizing event spaces mainly by licensing international IPs, MDLBEAST has only grown. It's grown inside Saudi Arabia, with Saudis, as a change catalyst, supported by local and international communities. Last year, almost 450,000 people attended Soundstorm. At one point, Ramadan gestures toward the crowd. "This? This is Saudi Vision, live and loud." And he's right. MDLBEAST is a direct response to Saudi Arabia's bold national transformation plan - a push to diversify the economy, empower the youth, seeing the first ever Saudi female DJs on set, and build a vibrant cultural and creative scene that reflects the energy of its people. It's not just about concerts. It's about a country daring to evolve into the creative scene - and doing it, unapologetically. By 2030, creative industries are planned by Saudi Vision to represent up to 1% of Saudi's GDP. As entertainment industry internationally positioned and (for now) directly operating only in KSA, their ROI is way higher than expected: in 2023, MDLBEAST ecosystem created almost 2B SAR opportunity to the local economy (estimation for 2024 is a +15% contribution vs 2023) with a 40% contribution to travel industry, 17% to entertainment and 16% to hospitality. "We're aligned with government goals, yes. As part of the quality of life improvement journey, our drive is grassroots. This is the unseen mega-project which we are proudly building every year bigger." While starting alone the first music festival in Jeddah back in 2019 and being exposed to music education and collecting CDs back in the US where he studied while listening recorded MTV mixes when back home for the summer break, Ramadan now operates with a structure of 200 employees and leverages on a network of over 7,000 people each year, leapfrogging the music ecosystem across different productions, from stage riggers to sound techs to emerging Saudi DJs. "We're not just centralizing culture in the capital. We're spreading it—north, south, east, west. If Saudi is going to evolve, everyone needs to feel it." MDLBEAST events are popping up in Jeddah, AlUla, Neom, DGDA and smaller towns we wouldn't expect. The Seasons are spreading around many locations almost all year long: I was personally impressed by the incredibly cultural movement MDLBEAST is creating. Never, ever seen such a diverse crowd, dancing together and singing like there is no tomorrow. Fearless, empowering diversity and gender mix, boosting freedom in an unbelievably powerful multi-directional journey. It's not just about EDM either. You'll see jazz nights, traditional fusions, orchestras, indie showcases, and yes - rock legends and young local rock bands like tonight. The sound is diversifying, just like the audience. We are opening new hospitality venues. Indeed, he goes: "next time, I will invite you soon to our new vinyl cigar lounge or to our Attaché Restaurant in DQ where you will try out the new vibes". MDLBEAST operates as a private company with a creative mission and collaborates as ecosystem main creative player with major government entities such as the Ministry of Culture - Ramadan sits on the Music Commission Board - GEA, Ministry of Tourism, STA, RCRC, DGDA, Red Sea. The company is now syncing music into other cultural moments like F1 in Jeddah, Formula E in Diriyah, Fashion Futures, and the Red Sea Film Festival. Music isn't just a layer anymore: it's central to how Saudi tells its story while enlarging the industry ecosystem from sound to a multi-industry perspective. "Whether it's racing, cinema, or couture—we ask: what's the sound of this moment?" Backstage, I ask about the "what's next." Ramadan doesn't talk about bigger fireworks or headliners. "We're building an industry. You don't get transformation from one good party. You get it when you give people a way to live and grow through it." Together with an amazingly young and passionate team, MDLBEAST is developing as a broad and multi disciplinary ecosystem play, impacting on the people of now and preparing the new generations to the new Saudi. Education, support, acceleration, mentorship, sponsorship, international growth of local talents are within its mission. That means activating a set of capabilities converging into MDLBEAST cultural storm, such as, on top of the events: • XP Music Futures: part conference, part scene-building lab. Artists, execs, tech heads - all discussing and exchanging ideas in Riyadh every year since 2021; • The BEAST HOUSE: MDLBEAST's incubator for local talent where music production, sound engineering, even event logistics happen; • MDLBEAST Records, progressive and independent Saudi Arabian label set up to release, distribute and amplify unique sounds. From empowering local & regional scenes to releasing anthems from the biggest international dance artists; • MDLBEAST RADIO, bringing all over the main cities in the Kingdom the best beats, hottest tracks, and latest hits from across the globe, with a special spotlight on Saudi music legends in the making; • MDLBEAST Foundation, fostering, in alignment with the Ministry of Culture, a human centric music industry that promotes well being, sustainable practices and a more conscious music ecosystem through innovative and educational initiatives and research. By now, the encore has started. People are dancing. Phones are out, selfies are thousands. Ramadan's watching the crowd more than the stage. I ask what this all means to him, personally. He's quiet for a beat. Then: "I think of a 17-year-old kid in Tabuk, hearing this and thinking, 'Wait - I can be part of this?' That's when you know you're doing something real. Music education has started last year in elementary schools for the first time. This is a huge, historic, milestone for our nation." MDLBEAST is filling a space that didn't exist before - a place where culture, identity, unity, freedom and ambition converge. And where being Saudi means more than it did yesterday. As we walk back out toward the cars, someone yells "Ramadan!" and waves. He smiles, embraces friends and smiles with them. He might not be a global celebrity - however - to a generation, he's part of the reason the lights are finally on and the volume is finally up!
Vogue Arabia
06-06-2025
- Business
- Vogue Arabia
Breaking Records: Reflections From MDLBEAST's Ramadan Alharatani
Back in the 90s during the early days of satellite TV, Ramadan Alharatani would record mixtapes when music debuted on MTV, and sell them at gift shops. Then, when he went to high school in the United States, he would return to Saudi during holidays with suitcases full of CDs that hadn't yet reached local stores, reselling them at his uncle's record shop. He never imagined that his personal passion for music would evolve into something more. 'It's still hard to grasp that what was once an underground music scene in my hometown, Jeddah, would evolve to a thriving music scene globally,' says Alharatani, who, as CEO of MDLBEAST, has helped elevate the local industry to global prominence. It all started with Soundstorm – a milestone for musical performances in the Kingdom. 'It was the first public event where men and women could be in the same space, enjoying live music together at scale. It marked a cultural shift and opened the door for a more inclusive music entertainment offering,' he reflects. In 2021, the event saw 700,000 attendees over four days, becoming a large-scale, multi-genre festival attracting visitors from Saudi and beyond. MDLBEAST's other flagship events – XP Music Futures, Balad Beast and A Thousand and One – spotlight talent while also supporting the next generation of Saudi artists through workshops and networking opportunities. And, its record label helps emerging Saudi talent release original music and reach global audiences. The platform has brought international stars to Saudi's sands too, from Eminem and Metallica to Camila Cabello and David Guetta. 'One thing global performers consistently highlight is the electric energy of Saudi crowds, who are young, passionate and deeply engaged,' shares Alharatani. Photo: MDLBEAST MDLBEAST is elevating the nation's offering of music festivals and events, and it's doing so within a cultural framework. At Keinemusik in AlUla for instance, the programme incorporated prayer breaks. 'This balance of global and local is key to our identity,' says Alharatani. 'Ultimately, music creates a sense of community. On the dance floor, people from different backgrounds, cultures, and countries come together, united by a shared love for music. It's in those moments that we focus on what connects us, not what separates us. With lights that illuminate the desert sky, and added effects from drones, pyrotechnics, lasers and massive LED screens, the festival has made international headlines as a 'Saudi rave'. This year, MDLBEAST plans to inaugurate a HiFi listening bar in Jeddah's historic Al-Balad as well as a members-only pool club concept, in addition to ongoing Esports World Cup and Formula 1 events. The momentum is only escalating, according to Alharatani: 'We're excited to keep growing, breaking Arab artists internationally, expanding our reach and working with partners to continue building a creative and subcultural ecosystem for the next generation.'
Vogue Arabia
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue Arabia
Inside Vogue Arabia's June Saudi 2025 Issue
Photo: Nora Alharthi by Fahad Al Shanbari near Jabal Cafe, Taif A new wave of Saudi creatives and entrepreneurs take centre stage in this month's issue. Photographed in the predominantly-male rose fields of Taif, Nora Alharthi personifies the kingdom's progressive path, having created a luxury e-commerce business stemming from the roses native to her hometown. In fashion, we speak to Ahmad and Razan Hassan, the founders of fashion label KML, which was a semi-finalist for the 2025 LVMH Prize. Ahmad Hassan, Photographed by Lesha Lich, Styled by Ahmed Zaher Hassan Photography by Lesha Lich, Styling by Ahmed Zaher Hassan In music, we catch up with Ramadan Alharatani, the CEO of MDLBEAST, which has organised massive, multi-genre music festivals in the Kingdom, and DJ Nooriyah, who is carving out a space for SWANA sounds in London, and will be performing at Glastonbury Festival 2025. Photographed by Stef Galea, Styled by Natalie Westernoff Photographed by Stef Galea, Styled by Natalie Westernoff Just in time to inspire your summer holiday itineraries, entrepreneurs with Saudi roots share their favourite spots in cities such as Milan and Los Angeles. Also worth incorporating into your travel plans are two events that just kicked off in Europe, and will be running throughout the summer: in Paris, we get a first look at The Mystery of Cleopatra exhibition opening this month at the Arab World Institute, and in Venice, we meet the visionaries behind the Arab pavilions at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025.
