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BREAKING NEWS :
GETMO Arabia to bring digital downloads to MENA region
By Derek Francis on Wednesday, May 28, 2008
(l-r) Sean Emery, CEO –Arvato Middle East Sales, Ricky Ghai Executive Director Digital Media Group, Abu Dhabi Media Company, His Excellency Mohamed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Chairman, Abu Dhabi Media Company, Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, CEO, Sony BMG, Ed Borgerding, CEO, ABU Dhabi Media Company
Arvato Middle East Sales and Abu Dhabi Media Company yesterday announced the launch of GETMO Arabia, a new digital media platform for the Middle East and Africa.
The announcement, made at the MECOM 2008 conference in Abu Dhabi, will see a series of digital entertainment services launched under the GETMO brand, which is an equal joint venture between the two companies.
Abu Dhabi Media Company also announced a partnership with Sony BMG, in which the record label will provide local and Arabic content for the platform, which can be accessed via PC or mobile. GETMO Arabia offers services direct via its website, allowing users to download over three million songs, music videos, games and ringtones in English, Arabic and other Asian languages. GETMO Arabia is set to service the 33 million internet users and 80 million mobile phone users in the GCC.
"The launch of GETMO Arabia is testimony to our vision of creating a company which will bring innovative offerings across the entire value chain to redefine the concept of digital entertainment in this region," said His Excellency Mohamed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, chairman of Abu Dhabi Media Company.
"We believe the time is right for our groups to collaborate and give the audience in the region a compelling value proposition of entertainment on the device of their choice," he added. Sean Emery, CEO, Arvato Middle East, added: "For us, the convergence of media and telecommunications is the market of the future. We feel that consumers should be offered a significantly more compelling entertainment service compared to what they are presently getting from their operators and ISPs.
"Fully authorised download platforms that have accreditation from the international content labels will enable consumers to access more music, allow retailers to offer interesting music products, provide new revenue streams for enterprises and service providers and position Arvato as one of the region's leading and most innovative digital services," he continued.
The announcement, made at the MECOM 2008 conference in Abu Dhabi, will see a series of digital entertainment services launched under the GETMO brand, which is an equal joint venture between the two companies.
Abu Dhabi Media Company also announced a partnership with Sony BMG, in which the record label will provide local and Arabic content for the platform, which can be accessed via PC or mobile. GETMO Arabia offers services direct via its website, allowing users to download over three million songs, music videos, games and ringtones in English, Arabic and other Asian languages. GETMO Arabia is set to service the 33 million internet users and 80 million mobile phone users in the GCC.
"The launch of GETMO Arabia is testimony to our vision of creating a company which will bring innovative offerings across the entire value chain to redefine the concept of digital entertainment in this region," said His Excellency Mohamed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, chairman of Abu Dhabi Media Company.
"We believe the time is right for our groups to collaborate and give the audience in the region a compelling value proposition of entertainment on the device of their choice," he added. Sean Emery, CEO, Arvato Middle East, added: "For us, the convergence of media and telecommunications is the market of the future. We feel that consumers should be offered a significantly more compelling entertainment service compared to what they are presently getting from their operators and ISPs.
"Fully authorised download platforms that have accreditation from the international content labels will enable consumers to access more music, allow retailers to offer interesting music products, provide new revenue streams for enterprises and service providers and position Arvato as one of the region's leading and most innovative digital services," he continued.
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User Comments (5 comments) 
Posted by Carlos Saleem, Dubai, UAE on 31 May 2008 at 04:09 UAE time
Finally we have our own local music download service which doesn't require a fake cousin's address and credit card in the US or UK. Just downloaded my first track from GETMO. Site looks really funky, and they seem to have licensed a hell of a lot of content already. Pity that it is only for windows, but if you are a serious mac user, you probably have VMware installed anyways, which worked fine for me.
Posted by Derek Francis, Dubai, UAE on 29 May 2008 at 17:11 UAE time
Regarding your questions regarding compatibility issues, GETMO has provided me with the following answers:
CommsMEA: Is GETMO compatible with Mac/Apple computers? Do the files come in MP3 format, or WMA, or both?
GETMO: Yes, Getmo client supports Microsoft XP and Vista which can be easily installed on Apple Macs and supports WMA, MP3 in 2 months and therefore its compatible with iPods and iPhones.
CommsMEA: Do you need to use Internet Explorer? Are their any other compatibility issues to be aware of?
GETMO: Yes, currently you only have the full support of all options by using Internet Explorer V 6.0 or higher. Firefox, Opera and Safari will be supported soon.
Posted by dirkjan, dubai, UAE on 29 May 2008 at 11:40 UAE time
Sounds very interesting and looking forward using their services!!
As the company has great alliances, I am sure the downloads can be used on a Mac or iPod.
Posted by Doug, Dubai on 28 May 2008 at 17:22 UAE time
Reading between the lines, and looking at the current state of DRM, I'd expect that music will be offered in WMA format and so won't be playable on a Mac or iPod.
Posted by Magnus on 28 May 2008 at 16:43 UAE time
Sure we can't use our UAE credit cards for the iTunes Store but there are ways around that and at least iTunes is for Mac and Windows users. This new service seems to be only for Windows users (as the site says requires IE 6). Derek, did you ask them about that?