Simsara Music

Simsara is an artist management, music PR and special projects agency, founded and run by Sarah El Miniawy, working with an intimate roster of artists at the forefront of alternative and experimental music in the Arab world. Sarah developed her PR experience working for the Barbican Centre for eight years whilst pursuing a master’s degree in music and anthropology at SOAS. Born in Algiers to an Algerian mother and an Egyptian father, she was brought up between the two countries before moving to London in 2005. Sarah is currently based between Stockholm, Cairo and London. Alya El Hosseiny joined Simsara as a Music Management Coordinator based in Cairo. After several years working in the independent arts field in Cairo, she obtained her PhD from New York University in Middle Eastern Studies, with a dissertation in comparative literature. We have developed tried and tested blueprints for artist and music project management with an understanding of the creative process, and the social, political and economic realities facing independent Arabic music today. One of our main goals is achieving economically sustainable careers for musicians, allowing them to focus on their art only, over long periods of time. With loyalty to and understanding of our artists’ visions, we support them with uncompromising artistic practises, through partnerships with the right entities, thoughtfully developed PR & Communication activities, and a symbiotic long term management relationship. The agency’s objective to pick artists and projects with high artistic merits is what informs its boutique nature. Instead of growing our roster, we conceptualise and produce our own music development projects, feeding into the long term goal of stimulating and supporting quality artistic production, and allowing us to work with a wider range of artists and music professionals.