PopArabia FZ-LLC
Abu Dhabi-based MENA music publisher and distributor, majority-owned by Reservoir Media, with a formal Egypt presence via its Viral Wave acquisition.
- Based in
- Abu Dhabi, UAE (Egypt office in Cairo), United Arab Emirates
- Founded
- 2020
- Founder
- Spek (Founder and CEO; also Reservoir Media's EVP of International & Emerging Markets)
- Website
- poparabia.com
PopArabia FZ-LLC is a music publishing, rights administration and distribution company registered in the Abu Dhabi Media Free Zone, serving the Middle East and North Africa. It was formed in 2020 as a joint venture with US-listed Reservoir Media, which took a controlling stake at founding and has since increased it to 56.23 per cent, according to Reservoir’s FY2026 subsidiary filing. Founder and CEO Spek also serves as Reservoir’s EVP of International & Emerging Markets.
PopArabia acts as sub-publisher for Reservoir’s catalogue across the region and runs its own label and artist services. In April 2026 it acquired Viral Wave, a Cairo-headquartered label and distributor built by the Egyptian VC firm A15, bringing on more than 30 staff across Egypt, Morocco and the UAE and giving PopArabia its first formal physical presence in Egypt under a named General Manager, Rania Ibrahim. The combined company says it now administers close to 100,000 Arabic-language songs.
Clients reaching PopArabia through the Viral Wave deal include Ramy Sabry, Tamer Ashour, Tamer Hosny and Didine Canon16. A related Reservoir entity, Esmaa Arabia FZ-LLC, handles Gulf-region rights licensing out of the same Abu Dhabi free zone but has a documented mandate limited to the UAE and Gulf, not Egypt.