XP MUSIC FUTURES’s 2024 EDITION dedicats to fostering a thriving music community in the MENA region has unveiled a series of initiatives to support artists and professionals

 The world renowned conference will host panels, workshops and 3 full days of day and night programming. 

XP Music Futures, the groundbreaking music conference by MDLBEAST, has been making waves in the MENA region for some time now, cultivating the music scene, community and industry. This year’s theme for XP Music Futures is Flourish. This focuses on scaling up on the reach and impact of XP by more exposure and becoming much louder. Collaborate with educational entities to grow our impact on the youth, work with partners on Xperiences and demo lab, plus focus on the maturity of our 6 initiatives. The event, held at Riyadh’s JAX District from December 5th to 7th, is due to offer a highly dynamic program that spans both day and night. Bringing together some of the best minds and talents in the industry both locally and internationally. 

The three day conference returns with dozens of sessions including fireside chats, keynotes, panel discussions, fishbowls and workshops designed around growing the music scene and industry within the MENA region. Daytime events will focus on four key pillars that have been identified as the foundation for building a music industry: Talent, Scene, Impact and Innovation. As the sun sets on the conference the lights come on and the music starts with a full night program of parties, showcases and performances from both local and international talent. 

XP will feature a variety of local and international experts in their field, ready to share their wisdom and knowledge with those in attendance. Previous editions have hosted renowned global and regional stars that have come and shared their wealth of knowledge. Artists and innovative industry figures such as producer and label owner Don Cannon, DJ Khaled, Cosmicat, Nicole Moudaber, Fat Joe, David Guetta and many more have spoken at the Riyadh event. 

In 2024 XP Music futures will once again play host to a number of its exciting initiatives that encourage growth within the regional music industry. Such as XPerform, which gives the chance to regional talents to perform at XP Music Futures and grow their music career with MDLBEAST Records. Xperform is giving the chance to regional talents to perform at XP Music Futures and grow their music career with MDLBEAST Records. Judges for this year are Shamma Hamdan, Defencii, Hassan Abouelrouss and Rawan Alfassi. 

Xchange tackles the latest issues in the region’s music industry and curates a series of workshops that take place in cities ahead of the XP conference. The key objectives of the workshops is to invite key experts to dive into XP’s pillars to identify hot topics for the conference programme, and to give an opportunity for bottom up community building between key members of the region’s music industry. XChange hosts a series of touring workshops that will take place this year in; Kuwait,Tunisia & Riyadh, ahead of the main XP conference.  

Hunna, derived from the Arabic plural of “she”, is a women-led initiative on a mission to amplify female talents and a platform, while providing sanctuary for MENA women within the music industry. Hunna provides essential support required for personal and professional development, seeking to challenge and transform outdated and inequitable systems prevalent in our societies. 

Storm shaker, a DJ competition, inviting aspiring DJs from all over the MENA region and beyond, to showcase their craft. This competition will also invite some of the key individuals from the music industry along with a selected rep from MDLBEAST records to judge and determine four finalists. 

The Artist Management Bootcamp (AMB) is a hybrid two-week bootcamp designed to equip aspiring artist managers with the skills and knowledge needed to navigate the music industry. The program aims to cultivate a new generation of successful artist managers through a curriculum covering a broad range of topics by industry experts, fostering growth not only for themselves but also for the wider music ecosystem. Our mission is to elevate the music industry by empowering managers to effectively support artists in achieving their career goals while ensuring sustainable success for all involved. 

Then for the entrepreneurs, Sound Futures invites innovators to pitch their groundbreaking ideas. Sound Futures invites aspiring musicians and innovators to pitch their groundbreaking ideas to music industry investors, with the goal of securing funding and mentorship for their careers.

The Xine is a love letter to the regional music ecosystem. Written annually, it’s a yearbook frozen in time. A still snapshot of the state of our scene and the people who bring it to life, with insights captured from our XChange series of touring workshops.