Anghami, a new legal digital music service in the Middle East, has just launched in public beta, with a large catalogue of Arabic and International licensed content. Exclusive invites to download the Amghami iPhone app can be requested on Anghami.com. Android, BlackBerry, Nokia and web versions will be available in the next few weeks. With Anghami, gone are the days of cumbersome CD collections, complicated file transfers between computer and mobile and low quality, virus-infected downloads. Anghami is an app which provides its users with a seamless experience to listen to unlimited music on-the-go on their mobile. With millions of songs to search from, stream, download and share, Anghami makes listening to your favorite music enjoyable. The Anghami music service comes as a result of the absence of a comprehensive and trusted music platform catering to the Arab world. It aims to be a legal alternative to piracy. Based out of Beirut and co-founded by Eddy Maroun, a musician by heart, and Elie Habib, a tech veteran, Anghami intends to become every Middle Eastern music fan's hub. The service will enable subscribers to instantly play any Arabic or International song wherever they are — in the car, at the gym, or on the beach. Subscribers can also discover new music catered to their taste, share tracks in real-time with friends on social networks, create playlists and follow those of their friends and of course, download songs for offline play. “Both Elie and I share a true passion for music and technology,” said Eddy Maroun, CEO of Anghami. “This project is the fruit of two years of hard work and endless negotiations with reputable music houses, in the aim of bringing to the Arab world a comprehensive library of millions of old and new Arabic and International tracks in a delightful user-experience. Anghami considers Saudi Arabia to be the premier Gulf audience. As such, we have acquired exclusive streaming rights from Rotana for the Kingdom, and we will be introducing a full Arabic version of Anghami within a month, as well as very important B2B deals to target one of the most important countries in the region.” Elie Habib, Chairman and CTO, Anghami, stressed on the importance of such a platform for the region. “Music CDs are already considered passé, just like music tapes faded away several years back,” he remarked. “Today, many cars and music home appliances don't even support CDs anymore. We're in the cloud computing era. Why not have all the music we want everywhere, anytime, without the hassle of carrying CDs or downloading/syncing devices?” Anghami has partnered with leading regional music labels and aggregators such as Rotana, Melody, Mazzika, Platinum Records and others. Anghami will also stream music from international labels including Sony Music, EMI and Warner. The company plans to continuously license new content from indie bands and major labels. To optimize sound quality, Anghami's music is powered by the latest Dolby Pulse encoding for fast audio transmission, ensuring a smooth listening experience despite the lagging Internet connection in parts of the region. “The excitement we've been witnessing from both consumers and businesses has been incredible”, said George Audi, Anghami's Strategy & Business Development Manager. “Thousands of music fans have signed up for our pre-launch, and we are being approached by multiple partners in the region. We are excited about the upcoming opportunities to work with mobile operators, device manufacturers, entertainment and advertising agencies to bring music to an even broader audience.” This is only the beginning of what Anghami's co-founders call the “future of digital music consumption” for the region. While the public beta is still in exclusive mode, interested users can request their invite code from Anghami.com and once it's issued, try out the app firsthand for free for a limited period. Want to know more before signing up? Check out the videos about the service on Anghami's YouTube channel: youtube.com/anghami
