The Qatar Telecom (Qtel) Group recently brought top American pop and R&B singer and songwriter Ne-Yo to support the Oman and Kuwait launches of its mobile music service, Backstage.

The Ne-Yo performance in Oman, on behalf of Nawras, and in Kuwait, on behalf of Wataniya Telecom, highlighted the artist exclusivity and customer benefit that comes with the Backstage mobile music service, a tie-up between the Qtel Group and Universal Music Group.

In Kuwait, 75 videos were uploaded to video-sharing site YouTube within one hour of the Ne-Yo meet-and-greet session at the Avenues Mall, and the number of Backstage subscribers in Oman tripled following the concert held there.

Backstage customers are offered exclusive access to many of the world’s top musical artists, as demonstrated by the visit of Ne-Yo. The service was launched in Qatar at the end of last year and in Kuwait and Oman earlier this year, and will be rolled-out across the Qtel Group companies.

Backstage offers unlimited music downloads for mobile phones, tablets and PCs, as well as privileged access to industry stars and music heroes.

With the slogan of “Live it First”, Backstage customers also get exclusive material ahead of release dates and the chance to meet world-famous artists backstage, attend recording sessions, and win VIP concert tickets.

With an easy subscription process via SMS, PC or WAP, and for a minimal flat- rate monthly fee, customers can enjoy unlimited downloads from an international catalogue of now more than 130,000 international tracks, a statement said.

Backstage subscribers can build their own collections, create playlists to suit their mood, search by track, artist, genre or album, and share playlists with other fans and friends, through a specially-designed interface, it added.

For English language musical tracks, Backstage has partnered with the world’s biggest record label, Universal Music, which represents a host of the most famous names in music. – TradeArabia News Service