- Anghami’s innovative Live Radio offers a unique combination of music and voice functions for the first time, allowing any user to both listen and talk in real-time
- Developed in-house, Live Radio builds on Anghami’s existing social features to capture an increased share of the growing social audio market
- Having launched in beta in September 2020, data from beta-testing also reveals social features support user engagement and retention
- Musicians and creators will also soon be able to benefit from features to create subscription-only channels and revenue streams via their Live Radio channels
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, May 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ahead of its historic listing on NASDAQ New York via proposed merger with Vistas Media Acquisition Company, a special purpose acquisition company (NASDAQ:VMAC), Anghami, the Middle East and North Africa’s (MENA) largest music platform, announces the launch of its live music and voice experience, ‘Live Radio’. Developed in-house by Anghami, this is the first time that a streaming service globally is enabling users and contributors to create a social audio experience for sharing music, conversation and more.
Available on both iOS and Android, Live Radio offers a number of unique features. Any user, including artists, DJs, content creators and music influencers, will be able to talk alongside playing songs, playlists and podcasts from Anghami’s library of over 57 million tracks. It gives everyone the chance to participate in a real-time version of a podcast experience and, by creating their own virtual events, users will be able to bring together communities with live interaction. Other features include applauding the host, sending text comments, meeting other participants and side-chats.
Elie Habib, Co-founder and Chairman of Anghami, commented, “The social elements of music have always been part of our vision. In fact, ‘live radio rooms’ were part of our original business pitch in 2011, as we saw the opportunity for social audio features to take off. Having been integrating social features such as stories and chats since 2017, now we are leading the way in delivering the next level of social audio to our users and our contributors. With the pandemic keeping people at home and apart, the intimacy of voice and the need to be closer to others has become more valuable and we expect to see the social audio market realise significant growth.”
Anghami launched Live Radio in beta in mid-2020, featuring text chats and other functionality ahead of the full launch which now includes voice chat for the first time ever. Data from the beta-phase demonstrates the additional benefits for Anghami in terms of user engagement and retention. For example, active social users have a 30% higher retention rate and social users overall stream 33% more average daily seconds than a standard active user.
Elie Habib added, “Anghami has an established track record and user base which continues to help us build and leverage our wide range of consumer behavioral data to create local experiences. Our beta launch in mid-2020 displayed how focusing on creating communities and adding interaction has been our best strategic asset, boosting engagement and retention - and a tribute to the region and the music that brings it together.”
What’s more, Live Radio continues to build on Anghami’s commitment to supporting new and established creative talent, with the forthcoming launch of Premium Live Radio and tokens providing the opportunity for artists and creators to introduce subscription-only channels and other revenue streams.
Best known for legalizing the Arab music streaming market amid high levels of piracy, and working with local artists to monetize their work, Anghami has already found success through hosting several content creators and Arab artists such as Maya Diab, Now United and others, where users were able to talk to celebrities, artists and listeners and connect in innovative new ways.
About Anghami
Anghami is the leading digital music entertainment technology platform in the Middle East and North Africa, with the largest catalog comprising of more than 57 million songs available for more than 70 million users. When it launched in 2012, Anghami was the first music-streaming platform in MENA. In digitizing the region’s music, it has become the best-known and best-loved brand in music streaming in MENA. Today, Anghami features licensed content from leading Arabic labels, independent artists and distributors. Anghami also features music from the major International labels such as Universal, Sony, Warner and is continuously licensing new content.Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, it has offices in Beirut, Dubai, Cairo and Riyadh and operates in 16 countries across MENA. It is the only service available in English, Arabic and French, and remains close to its customer base, not only thanks to its pan-regional presence but also via the 56 million user data points it generates every day. To learn more about Anghami, please visit www.anghami.com.
About Vistas Media Acquisition Company Inc.
VMAC is a blank check company, also commonly referred to as a Special Purpose Acquisition Company, or SPAC, formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities in the Global Media and Entertainment sector.
To learn more about Vistas Media Acquisition Company Inc., please visit https://vmac.media.
Contacts:
Investors:
F. Jacob Cherian, CEO
+1 212- 859-3525
fjc@vmac.media
Ashley DeSimone / Jake Pisano
Ashley.desimone@icrinc.com / jake.pisano@icrinc.com
Middle East Media:
ASDA’A BCW:
Dhanya Issac
Associate Director
Tel: +971 4 450 7600
Email: dhanya.issac@bcw-global.com
US Media
Zeba Rashid, ICR
Email: Zeba.rashid@icrinc.com