The Story

As a concept, “Regional X International” was curated to help bridge the gap between regional artists, and the international scene. In its first edition, it produced a regional dance hit and a partnership with GAG Events that led to a successful on-ground event at the XP Music Conference.

“Let Love Shine” by Dish Dash featuring Alex Lur signifies the progress being made by Saudi’s budding electronic music scene. The Canadian up-and-coming DJ joins forces with Saudi headliners Dish Dash to produce a piece that not only captures the essence of the commercial-melodic wave sweeping the global dance music scene, but also delivers in terms of stats and chart positioning.

The Challenge

Up-and-coming artists always find it challenging to reach a wider audience, this rings true especially for MENA region artists trying to get their music heard by an international audience. This is where “Regional X International” came into play, Freedom Music’s first release as a music label; a project that represents its core values of bringing people together through music & entertainment, while helping bridge the gap between regional artists and international audiences.

We Achieved This By

Choosing the right combination of artists is only half of the equation, the other half is how to market the track and its release on different platforms, and understanding these platforms in order to maximize your track’s potential, This was right up our alley, we lined up 3 remixes by 3 artists with different styles that complemented the original track and ensuring the single release is followed by a carefully-planned remix EP featuring Tone Depth, Musumeci, and Sasha Carassi, adding to the buzz around the release.

To add to the track’s hype, an up-beat animated music video depicting a post-modern cyberpunk Saudi Arabia was specifically made for the video, by an independent regional visual artist. As the cherry on top, Freedom Music Arabia landed at the XP Music Conference in Riyadh. Which hosted the track’s release party, where Dish Dash debuted it for the first time. The energetic duo was joined by Alex Lur, whom they wrote the track with, alongside Afterlife’s ToneDepth on deck and local artist Nomad.

The Results

This project was a milestone for the emerging Saudi electronic music scene, putting it on the global scene’s map. Let Love Shine’s release party during the Riyadh XP Music Conference was attended by a crowd of 800+ enthusiastic partygoers, and was preceded by the track’s meteoric climb on Beatport’s charts, peaking at number 5! The music video for the track garnered online attention amassing more than 71k views on different social media platforms.