SRMG: Billboard Arabia Music Awards
The Brief
We were delighted to secure the pitch for designing the stage for the inaugural Saudi Arabia Billboard Music Awards, held in Riyadh in December 2024, in collaboration with SRMG (Saudi Research Media Group). With Billboard’s unparalleled ability to connect artists across genres, languages, and cultures, this project was an exciting opportunity for us to contribute to a global celebration of music.
Our goal was to deliver an iconic, end-to-end stage design that blended creative vision with technical precision, ensuring a visually stunning show and a seamless experience for both musical performances and the awards ceremony.
What we did
Drawing inspiration from Arabian culture and heritage, we crafted a stage design that merged the worlds of Billboard (Western) and Arabia (MENA) in a contemporary and future-facing way. Our design intension was to emphasise how music can bridge cultures and create meaningful connections. The centrepiece of the stage featured three interlocking, rotating pillars that opened dramatically to reveal performers and closed seamlessly during presentations, facilitating smooth stage resets and band changeovers. These pillars were adorned with multiple rows of LED screens, paying homage to Billboard’s Top 100 music lists. At the same time, traditional Arabian elements, including latticework and shurfat crowns atop each pillar, rooted the design in Middle Eastern culture.
While the Manual team was not directly responsible for producing or delivering the Billboard Arabia Music Awards, our extensive expertise in broadcast music events led us to serve as an extension of the SRMG team. We provided crucial oversight of the build and technical production, offering invaluable guidance throughout the planning phase and during the live event.
