Official Release Date

ADW reports that Amr Diab's new album will be released on November 28, 2005. That means it will be ten days from now, which makes it really soon.

WAMA: The Best New Act

Thanks to the rise of Arabic music channels, Arab music industry has been producing new artists like mushrooms! However, music is always about quality, and never about quantity.

Many new comers, but very few worth watching. The best new act over the past one or two years, imho, is WAMA. Last year, this Egyptian boys band, composed of four college students, released their second album Ya Ghali A'aliya, and it was one of the best albums of the year.

The four boys are very talented, and even Amr Diab has collaborated with one of them, namely Nader Hamdi, to work with him on his last album, arranging most songs of Leily Nahary. During last Ramadhan, amongst the vast amount of religious songs that were produced, their song Kan Nefsi was one of the few that really stood out.

Production Companies War II

Last year was the year of war between production companies in the Arab World. Rotana, the biggest production company in the region, knocked out their main rival Alam El-Phan. First, Rotana signed Amr Diab in the biggest deal of its kind in the Arabic music industry, and then signed the rest of major artists who used to work with Alam El-Phan, such as Angham, Saber Al-Rubaie, and Mohammed Fouad. Later, Roatan purchased 60% of Alam El-Phan shares, and the war was practically over.

But with more than 100 artists, coupled with some bad management, Rotana was facing troubles, too. Many of their artists were complaining that they don't receive the attention and support they deserve from the company.

Recently, a new player has entered the market. Melody Music, a company owned by the well-known Egyptian businessman Nageeb Sawires, has called all Egyptian singers who have problems with Rotana to join them. The company, which has produced albums for some new comers such as Jad Choirie and Yara, has already signed with the Walid Tawfiq and Jwana Mallah, both from Leabanon. But the big news is that Kazem Al-Saher and Assi Al-Hellani are rumored to join the company soon.

At the end of their report (Arabic) on this subject, Al-Hayat newspaper was wondering if Rotana is paying enough attention to the changes in the market, and questions their ability to survive, even if they lost some of the major names on their list.

ADW, Relaunched

Amr Diab World, Amr Diab's official website was relaunched last week. The new website, dubbed version 4, looks impressive with a new blue theme, and a great design with a special attention to details. Many new features were introduced in this redesign, including a rewritten biography, a new 'Events' page, and a shopping section.

Something I really liked was that the forums were redesigned to look like an essential part of the website, and not like an offsite thing. Another great thing was that they provide RSS feeds for both news and forums, which makes keeping updated with the latest much easier. This emphasizes the importance of forums, and gives a whole lotta appreciation to the efforts of the fans. Congratulation to all members of the ADW community, and thanks to Tantawi and the rest of the ADW's crew.

Enough Said!

It's officially Eid al-Fitr, and the album is not released yet. However, many speculations are taking place in the forums, and among the fans. The news section at ADW says Amr told them the release date would be late November, while some members at the forums are suggesting an earlier date. What's more interesting, is that some members have posted the tracks listing of the new album, with credits provided. Another member has also posted some lyrics. The final date for the release of the new album is still not confirmed, but it is highly anticipated to be during this month. I, for one, am sick of the expectations game, so I decided I will just wait patiently, and when the album comes out, I'll go to buy it right away. Enough said.