YouTube has unveiled a suite of upcoming AI-powered capabilities that will help both new and established creators and artists globally including across the Middle East and North Africa to create, edit, and share content in bold new ways. These AI-powered tools, introduced at Made On YouTube, will help unlock powerful new forms of creative expression, take the friction out of the creative process, and allow YouTube creators to reach more viewers.Showcasing the limitless potential AI can bring to creators, artists and the creative industry, today’s key announcements include:  The introduction of Dream Screen, a new generative AI feature to unlock creative expression on Shorts: YouTube will introduce Dream Screen, a new experimental feature that allows creators to add AI-generated video or image backgrounds to their Shorts simply by typing an idea into a prompt for creators. With Dream Screen, creators will be able to generate new, fantastic settings for their Shorts that are only limited by bounds of their imagination.    Since launching Shorts in 2020, Shorts has now climbed to over 70B daily views globally from over 2B logged-in users every month.  YouTube is bringing Aloud, an AI-powered dubbing tool, into YouTube so creators easily reach audiences well beyond their primary language.    Available to select creators, the feature is currently being tested in English, Portuguese, and Spanish.  Next year, YouTube Studio will tap generative AI to spark video ideas and draft outlines to help creators brainstorm. These insights are personalized for each channel and based on what audiences are already watching and interested in.    YouTube has been testing early versions of AI-powered tools in YouTube Studio with creators, and more than 70 percent of those surveyed said it’s helped them develop and test ideas for videos.Tarek Amin, Director of YouTube in the Middle East and North Africa, said: “We’re committed to helping creators across the region to thrive on YouTube by helping them to take their creativity to new levels through these AI powered tools which were designed with content creators and their needs in mind”.YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said: “At YouTube, we want to make it easier for everyone to create. Building on our long track record of innovation and our strong expertise in AI, we believe these updates will enable creators to push the boundaries of creative expression -- by making the difficult things simple and impossible dreams possible. Today’s announcements are part of YouTube’s continued commitment to putting the creative power into the hands of billions of people. This is the start of a new era of creativity, and we can’t wait to see what our incredible community of creators and artists do next.”

Dubai : XP Music Futures, one of MDLBEAST flagship events, the Saudi music entertainment company, and YouTube announced today their partnership in support of Saudi Arabia’s music industry and emerging artists from the Middle East.The partnership will see YouTube sponsor the XPERFORM initiative, which aims to discover and nurture emerging musical talent in the Middle East. YouTube will also run a bootcamp to help artists reach a wider audience using YouTube’s multiple formats. The partnership comes as part of YouTube’s efforts to support Saudi Arabia’s music & entertainment industry and emerging artists. XP Music Futures, the 3-day annual conference on 7, 8 & 9 Dec, Riyadh KSA, launched XPERFORM in 2022, a music competition for vocalists. The competition allows applicants to share their vocal talent and the opportunity to potentially grow their music careers with MDLBEAST Records, the company’s record label arm which produces and distributes music by local, regional and international artists.YouTube offers a platform for emerging artists from across Saudi Arabia to share their vocal talents with the world using different formats, including long-form, Shorts or livestreams. Globally, YouTube surpassed 80 million Music & Premium subscribers including trailers and over 2 billion logged in viewers watch a music video each month on YouTube as of June 2020.YouTube’s multiple formats are also supporting musicians & musical artists. In January 2023, fan-created Shorts increased the average artist's audience of unique viewers by more than 80% globally. Meaning that fans on Shorts are nearly doubling an artist’s total reach, so artists can spend more time doing what they do best: making great music. YouTube also shared that in January 2023, artists active on Shorts saw more than 50% of their new channel subscribers coming directly from their Shorts posts on average."We are thrilled to partner with YouTube on XPERFORM this year, to discover and nurture the next generation of musical talent in the Middle East," said Nada Alhelabi, XP Music Futures Director."This initiative aligns with our mission to create opportunities for artists and showcase the vibrant music scene in the region."Commenting on the partnership, Liliana Abudalo, The MENA head of YouTube Music said “We’re excited about our partnership with XPERFORM and the opportunity to support the music industry in Saudi Arabia, whether labels, music artists or producers. We know that YouTube is where creators make the deepest connections with their audience at scale: creators including artists tell us that the relationships they build with their fans here are deeper, more lasting and more meaningful than anywhere else. We hope that through the multiple formats YouTube has to offer more music artists in the Kingdom can reach a wider audience”XPERFORM applications will open between April 30th and May 20th. The top 25 applicants will be invited for a live audition day on June 25th, at the Music Hub, a music educational center part of the Music Commission in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The selected contestants will be tasked to sing acapella or with an instrument in front of the 5 XPERFORM judges. The judges will then select the top 10 contestants, who will participate in an exclusive boot-camp that involves one-to-one coaching from YouTube on how to utilize and reach a wider audience using YouTube’s multiple formats including Shorts, livestream and long form content. The bootcamp will also help coach the artists on channel optimization to increase their reach on YouTube and how best to prepare for the next stage of the competition.The 10 finalists will then go through a popularity contest on YouTube Shorts where the audience will be able to vote for their favorite contestant via Shorts to help the judges decide on the top 5 contestants who will perform at XP Music Futures. This collaboration between XP Music Futures and YouTube will provide aspiring musicians with an opportunity to showcase their talent and connect with both a local and a global audience.The Saudi singer, Asayel was discovered through XPERFORM in its ‘22 edition and has signed with MDLBEAST Records.

Rise Studios, the newly-launched entertainment company driving investment in content from regional markets, appoints Diana Baddar as Managing Director for Digital Content and Development to drive the company’s digital content strategy and business. Diana will build relationships with major platforms and identify regional talent, focusing on bridging the gap between long and short-form content. Diana brings two decades of industry experience to Rise Studios, having spent eight years at Google where she spearheaded the growth of YouTube in the MENA and Turkey markets. As the first Head of Women at Google in MENA, she worked closely with regional female content creators to build their channels on the platform. Some of her major accomplishments include relaunching Sesame Street in Arabic after a 20-year hiatus; launching YouTube Space Dubai, an official blog and portal for creators in MENA, and achieving a Guinness World Record for the most viewers of an Iftar Livestream on YouTube. Prior to her work at Google, she directed the business development and affiliate channels at OSN, establishing new opportunities for OSN, Disney, Discovery and E! Entertainment. She also worked on the launch of OSN’s first VOD platform, OSN+.Watan Network, one of the largest multi-channel networks in the Arab world with over 5 billion combined views monthly on YouTube, Facebook and Snap, is already part of the Rise Studios group with certified partnerships in place with YouTube, Daily Motion and Facebook. The network supports original content owners with monetising their content, protecting their copyrights and building business strategies. Diana will propel the digital content strategy through Watan Network, in conjunction with the major platforms, by using into her network of content creators to develop untapped regional stories. She will also lead talent identification for long and short-form content, bridging the gap between TV and digital platforms.Commenting on the appointment, Amanda Turnbull, CEO of Rise Studios said: “We are ecstatic about welcoming Diana onboard. She brings exceptional digital knowledge to the business with over 20 years’ experience in our industry. She is perfectly positioned to drive our digital content strategy for the business, championing the rich talent we have in the region.”Diana Baddar said: “It gives me great pleasure to be working alongside industry veterans with such a clear mission: to work closely with our community of creators to showcase their talent to the world, delivering a lean-forward entertainment experience for viewers.”