Finding the next Beyoncé in UAE: Rasha Khalifa Al Mubarak on musicians' rights and new music fees
Dubai: The UAE has no trouble attracting the world's biggest music superstars. But can it produce its own Beyoncé or Taylor Swift? And can an aspiring musician in the country make enough money from their music to build a career, let alone become a global sensation?
For Rasha Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairwoman of Music Nation and a human rights lawyer, these questions go hand in hand.
After all, there's little point dreaming of international stardom if an emerging musician cannot afford to record their next song.
And Al Mubarak is determined to help change that.
With newly announced music-use fees set to take effect in the UAE on December 1, 2026, according to Al Mubarak, the question of who gets paid when music is played commercially is taking on fresh significance.
Think of that catchy tune playing in your favourite Dubai restaurant, the soundtrack to your gym workout or the music filling a hotel lobby. Someone wrote it, someone performed it and someone owns the recording. But does the money generated from its commercial use reach the people who created it?
That's precisely the gap Al Mubarak wants to address through Music Nation.
"I saw that there was a gap between the value music creates and the practical ability of its creators to earn from that value," Al Mubarak told Gulf News in an exclusive interview from her home in Dubai.
Through her work, she encountered talented musicians who faced difficulties protecting their creative rights and turning their passion into sustainable careers. Her legal background also helped her recognise the importance of making copyright protections work in practice.
"Artists need somewhere to register their work. Businesses need a straightforward way to license it, and royalties need to reach the correct owners," she said.
For Al Mubarak, championing musicians' rights isn't just about making the industry more organised. It's about giving talented artists a fair chance to earn a living from their work.
Imagine you're an emerging musician living in Dubai. You've written and recorded a song that starts playing in restaurants, hotels and gyms across the country.
The exposure is wonderful. But what about your bank account?
Al Mubarak explains that the process begins with musicians registering their work with Music Nation, ensuring that ownership details and credits are accurate.
"So first, you would register your work with Music Nation, and make sure the credits and ownership shares are correct. We also establish which rights we represent for you. Writing a song, performing it, and owning the recording can create different entitlements."
When businesses use music covered by Music Nation's licences, their licensing fees contribute to the royalties available for distribution. Music usage is then matched to registered works and recordings, with the money allocated to the relevant rights holders.
An artist who writes, performs and owns a recording could therefore qualify for more than one share.
"So, as an artist, the amount you receive will depend on the relevant use, the relevant use, your rights, and the distribution rules," she said.
"Our role is to make that route to income accessible and understandable."
The stakes are particularly high for independent musicians, who may not have the financial backing of major record labels.
"When commercial music use cannot be properly tracked and cannot be properly licensed, creators can lose income that should help them sustain their careers. For an independent musician, that might affect whether they can even afford their next recording."
It's a reminder that behind every glamorous music video or viral hit is an artist who needs to pay the bills.
Music Nation's partnerships with BMI and SoundExchange support its work in music rights management and royalty administration.
For Al Mubarak, a newcomer releasing their first song deserves the same attention to ownership and rights as an established musician with an extensive catalogue.
"A first release deserves the same care in identifying its owners as an established catalog. An artist should be able to understand how their entitlement has been calculated."
The UAE has become a destination for international music stars. But the bigger ambition is to nurture artists who can command that kind of global attention themselves.
When asked what it would take for the UAE to produce its own Beyoncé or Taylor Swift, Al Mubarak didn't reach for a glamorous answer.
Instead, she spoke about the less glamorous but essential work of developing songwriters, producers, managers and performers.
"Building international careers for artists who start here in our country takes sustained work and takes teamwork," she said.
"It means developing songwriters and producers alongside the performances and the performers, giving artists regular paid opportunities and connecting them with strong management and distribution."
In other words, producing a superstar requires more than discovering someone with a great voice. It means creating an industry capable of supporting that talent.
Al Mubarak pointed to the growing appetite for regional music, citing a 15.2 per cent rise in MENA recorded-music revenues in 2025.
"The opportunity is to ensure more of that growth, and that more of that growth supports the talent developed here."
And she is optimistic that musicians from the UAE and wider region can eventually achieve the kind of international recognition enjoyed by the world's biggest pop stars.
"I am sure that we are going to see so many Emirati, so many regional artists achieve that level of global recognition."
But she also believes artists should be able to succeed on their own terms.
"We should give them support and freedom to succeed with their own identity, alongside building industry where many more artists can sustain a career."
Here's another question facing musicians in the region: Is singing in English the price of international success?
Al Mubarak doesn't think so.
"Absolutely, I believe an Arab artist can reach that level while singing primarily in Arabic, because listeners can connect with a voice, a rhythm, an emotion before they understand every word, and we're already seeing very strong international reach."
It's a compelling argument in a music industry where songs increasingly travel across borders, often reaching listeners who don't understand the language in which they're performed.
Al Mubarak cited Spotify's report that Arabic was among its fastest-growing languages in 2024.
But turning that international interest into a sustainable career requires more than one popular song.
"So, turning that attention to a lasting career takes strong music, consistent releases, touring, and investment, and investment in reaching audiences," she said.
She is equally clear that singing in English should remain a creative choice, not a requirement for international acceptance.
"English can be an artistic choice, like any language, can be an artistic choice. Collaboration across languages is wonderful, but it should not be treated as a condition for being taken seriously or for being a global artist."
For Al Mubarak, Arabic music's distinctive rhythms, instruments and lyrical qualities are strengths that deserve a wider audience.
The goal isn't to create an imitation of an international pop star. It's to give regional musicians the freedom and support to become global stars while retaining their own identities.
Beyond the dream of global stardom, Al Mubarak believes there are practical changes the music industry needs to make.
Asked for her recommendations for an intensely competitive business, she highlighted the importance of contracts, transparency and educating musicians about their rights.
"I would push for clearer contracts, transparent accounting, and better rights education and awareness early in the artist's career."
For emerging musicians, understanding the fine print of an agreement can be just as important as writing a good song.
"Artists should understand what they own, what they are licensing, and how their earnings are calculated before signing an agreement."
She also believes royalties generated from commercial public use of music need to function efficiently.
"We also need the other income attached to music to work efficiently and effectively, including royalties from commercial public use."
It's a practical approach to an industry that can be notoriously difficult for newcomers to navigate. Al Mubarak wants artists to have a clearer understanding of what belongs to them, how their music is being used and what they are entitled to earn.
Al Mubarak's interest in protecting rights isn't confined to the recording industry.
A human rights lawyer whose work also extends to humanitarian causes, she is involved with INARA, which supports children and families affected by conflict.
And when the conversation turned to privilege and the responsibility that comes with it, Al Mubarak spoke about the importance of knowledge, awareness and access to resources.
"So the position of privilege is very simply the position of having the knowledge and awareness. I am I am privileged to be able to to have that knowledge, and I am actually incredibly privileged and honored, and humbled that I'm allowed to work with these children and these families."
Her involvement with INARA has also shaped how she views the responsibilities of people who have the ability to help.
"My involvement with Inara has made the meaning of opportunity much more concrete."
She believes humanitarian support cannot simply end when a conflict stops dominating the news cycle.
"If we have access to people or resources that can help, how do we put that access to use?"
For Al Mubarak, meaningful support requires patience and a willingness to remain involved.
"Again, it's the importance of staying involved and consistent, because recovery takes time, and meaningful support needs to continue after a crisis disappears from public attention."
Asked whether her commitment to justice was what connected her humanitarian work and her advocacy for musicians, she offered one of the interview's most revealing answers.
"I think that the pursuit of justice is something that is a very big part of my life."
That commitment also extends to storytelling.
Al Mubarak backed Seize the Summit, a documentary following four young survivors of war from Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine as they attempt to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.
But she is particularly conscious of how the suffering of vulnerable people is portrayed on screen.
For her, the young people at the centre of the documentary are more than their experiences of conflict. Their ambitions, friendships and personalities deserve just as much attention.
"Responsible storytelling begins with recognizing that people already have a voice. A filmmaker has the responsibility to listen and create space for it," she said.
She believes consent, personal boundaries and the consequences of public exposure must be considered when telling sensitive stories.
"And more, most importantly, somebody's pain should never ever become the price they have to pay to be heard."
The documentary's proceeds go to INARA, connecting the project to humanitarian support.
Al Mubarak believes that responsible storytelling should allow people to be represented with dignity rather than reducing them to the most traumatic experiences of their lives.
Al Mubarak credits her upbringing in Abu Dhabi with shaping her understanding of achievement and responsibility.
"The lesson I learned from growing up in Abu Dhabi and the UAE was that achievement should have a purpose."
It's a philosophy that helps explain her involvement in fields as varied as law, music and humanitarian work.
"My own personal path has brought together law, humanitarian work, and the arts, which share a concern for people's rights and opportunities. I see this as a responsibility to do something useful with those three elements of my life."
She also spoke warmly about the UAE's development and its investment in opportunities for people from different cultures.
"What makes me proud is the confidence with which the UAE has invested in its future, and the opportunities that this has opened for people who want to create here."
Yet when asked what she would like to see for the country's creative community, her wishes were rooted in everyday realities.
"And for creatives, inshallah, I would like to see more affordable spaces to rehearse and record."
She also wants regular opportunities for locally based musicians and stronger connections between education and paid work.
"Cultural influence grows when people can keep making original work, build audiences for it, and share it with the world."
For a country with ambitions to become a global cultural powerhouse, those details matter. A thriving creative scene needs places where musicians can rehearse, opportunities to perform and an industry that makes their work financially viable.
For someone working across music, law and humanitarian initiatives, Al Mubarak has a relatively straightforward definition of success.
"In general, success means using my work to make a lasting, positive difference in people's lives."
At Music Nation, she hopes to see a future in which understanding and receiving royalties becomes a routine part of a musician's career in the UAE, rather than a confusing process reserved for established artists.
But her ultimate ambition isn't tied to personal recognition.
"Success would be knowing that the organisations that I am involved with can continue serving people well beyond my own involvement."
And perhaps that's where her vision for the UAE's next generation of musicians comes full circle.
The country may already have the stages, the audiences and the appetite for international superstars. But Al Mubarak wants its homegrown musicians to have something equally important: the means to keep creating, earning and building careers of their own.
The next Beyoncé may be an exciting prospect. Making sure the musician performing at a Dubai restaurant today gets paid for their work is a more immediate place to start.
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