August 19, 2008

By By Andre Paine, London

Sony/ATV Music Publishing has made a license agreement with Rotana Audiovisual, a leading producer, distributor and publisher of Arabic music and film. The deal covers the Middle East and gives Rotana's publishing arm the right to license and collect for Sony/ATV across the region.

"We are very excited to be working with Rotana in the Middle East and we applaud Rotana's efforts in opening up new, legitimate markets for our songwriters," says senior VP Sony/ATV Music Publishing International Guy Henderson in a statement. "With Sony ATV's global reach and its desire to find and develop new opportunities for its writers, we see this agreement with Rotana as a natural progression for our worldwide business plan."

As well as having 120 local artists on its recorded music and publishing roster, Rotana has a track record of licensing media networks including radio and television conglomerates. The company's film division has the licence for Fox releases. Rotana is also attempting to expand in digital exploitation and synchronization.

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