Mubasher: French music streamer Deezer has revealed plans that it will focus on domestic Arab content in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in the coming period to overcome competition from major rivals, its CEO has said.

The music platform’s competitors include Spotify and YouTube.

“We are slowly growing and there is always room for improvement, but we have very good products and hence are not afraid of [competition]. For customers in the region, we’re going to be the home of Arabic music,” Hans-Holger Albrecht told Arabian Business.

The CEO further noted that his company would inaugurate a Dubai branch in 2019, along with other offices in various Arab nations in the years to come.

Deezer has been on a “big journey” of change in the past three-and-a-half years, the top official went on, explaining that this journey has included partnerships with telecom companies to offer better customer service and product engagement.

There are “a lot of changes” still to come to the platform, he added.

In August, the music streaming platform entered into a partnership with the largest Arab music producer, Rotana, in order to provide users with various Arabic songs, in addition to offering Mazzika’s group content, Saudi Arabia’s Qanawat, and about 53 million international tracks.

In the same month, Paris-based Deezer also secured $186 million in investments from major investors, including French telecommunications provider Orange and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Waleed bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Company (KHC).