At a Platinum Records press conference on Wednesday night in Abu Dhabi, attended by pop stars Ramy Ayach and Mohammad Assaf, the label announced the assembly of a brand new A&R (artists and repertoire) team, as well as the launch of English language label, Platinum Independent.
The artists and repertoire team, which the label says is the first of its kind in the region, consists of lyricists, composers and distributors from the Gulf, Egypt and Lebanon. This includes the likes of Michel Fadel, Fayez Al Saeed and Hadi Sharara, who aim to help the label’s artists gain worldwide attention.
“Gangam Style by Psy, we didn’t understand a single word of it, but it reached us in the Arab world,” said Sharara, illustrating the power of a song that can travel. In the same way, the new A&R team aims to push existing talent outside of the bounds of the region.
Teymoor Marmachi, who has been head of Platinum Records for eight months, said it will not be an easy experience, but a colourful one.
“It will push the audience out of the box. Our target is the millenial. As the audio improves, the video will also improve,” he said.
To the everyday music buyer, this means getting their hands on higher quality content. It also means a bigger focus on Platinum’s visual components and music videos. A future website, Evolve, will host exclusive clips from the label’s roster of seven artists; this includes the newly added Ayach, who switched from Rotana, Assaf, Jameela Al Badawi, Carmen Sulaiman, Dounia Batma, Ziad Khoury and child singer Hala Al Turk.
Marmachi denied that Assaf will get the bulk of the attention from the label.
“These seven stars, we’re going to spoil each one of them equally,” he said.
Ayach, who stands out for having a longstanding career and belonging to an earlier generation than the rest of the singers, will hopefully be introduced to a new demographic, said composer Hadi Sharara.
As for the absence of women from the A&R team, Marmachi said that team goes beyond the eight men presented at the conference, and that many women are involved within the creation process under Platinum Records.
Platinum Independent, the newly launched label, will be the first specifically catered to regional artists who wish to release music in English. Marmachi said that he has received many inquiries from artists who desire to do so, but don’t have the necessary backing.
“Those who sing in English [on Arabic talent competitions] don’t have a chance to win these shows,” he added.
Each of the Platinum Records’ current artists performed a snippet of one of their songs at the event. The stage was set up at The Galleria Mall in Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi. The location was announced as a new strategic partner to the organisation, with future plans to hold more events in the area.
