Life & Work with Yasmeen Afifi

Today we’d like to introduce you to Yasmeen Afifi. They and their team shared their story with us below:

Yasmeen Afifi is a multidisciplinary creative whose curiosity and pursuit of joy have guided her around the world. Throughout her life, she’s been able to visualize the big picture and be the maven, connecting the dots to bring ideas to life. Her passion for art and music landed her in a sweet spot where she’s dedicated herself to amplifying creatives and artists. In her professional career, she’s brought her talents to Spotify, NOOR Studios, and Microsoft, where her creative strategy shone across marketing campaigns for creators across music, podcasts, fashion, culture, and the arts. 

Yasmeen’s passion and love for magical soundscapes, as well as creative directing, naturally carved a career for myself in the music industry. She followed her passions for curating vibes through magical soundscapes with her gig out of college for Spotify USA in 2019. She spent four years at Spotify learning the ins and outs of the music industry, where she jumped around the marketing industry from Music Marketing to Experiential Marketing, which solidified her interest in amplifying the creativity in artists. 

Her tenacity at Spotify did not end with her 9-5 responsibilities on the experiential and podcast marketing teams– Yasmeen was identified to lead the global Arab employee community group, where she nurtured connection among Spotifiers and celebrated MENA creative excellence through experiential programming. Yasmeen produced panels and performances with artists Felukah, Vic Mensa, and Dounia and created networking events for MENA professionals to get to know each other. She tied the bow during her time at Spotify on the experiential marketing team, where she contributed to planning Spotify’s fan- and creator-facing events. 

Yasmeen is now the Co-Founder and CMO of NOORstudios, a 360 full-service creative marketing agency, production house, and record label. NOORstudios is a women-owned creative agency that specializes in visual storytelling, partnerships, and experiential activations. Yasmeen has coined herself as a “vibe curator.” Everything she puts her mind and energy to is rooted in intentionality the love for aesthetics, and nurturing her community… She’s worked on artist and brand development for emerging stars, curated events, and brand partnerships, and is passionate about uplifting her community and empowering creatives. 

Yasmeen’s involvement in the entertainment industry is ever-evolving, as she prides herself on being able to wear many hats. She has experience in music marketing and strategy, artist development, creative direction and photography, talent x brand partnerships, as well as booking artists for performances. Her love for music boils down to her passion for aesthetics and harmonic soundscapes, which has manifested through her range of experiences in the music industry. She has remained true to her core ethos of following wherever her interests may take her, and they’ve led her to program managing multi-channel integrated marketing campaigns for A-list artists, creative directed and photographing cover art for her favorite artists, connecting brands with artists for collaborations all the way to interviewing and moderating her favorite artists. She is excited to dive deeper into the music industry and continue investing her everything into the creative brilliance that is blossoming across the globe. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The more I embedded myself in the music and entertainment industry, the more I became frustrated with the lack of representation of MENA artists being highlighted on the global stage. I found myself in meetings with executives where I had to convince them why it was important to invest in artists hailing from the region. My biggest challenge and source of motivation was to invest my energy and creative resources into advancing the marketing support, creative production, and distribution to shine light on MENA excellence. 

In 2023, I co-founded NOORstudios, a 360 creative media agency and label based in NYC, Dubai, and Cairo, run by a team of North African women. Our ethos is to bridge the music, culture, and creative scene from the Middle East to the West with a focus on equipping artists to take on the global stage through artist development, marketing, and strategy support, as well as creative direction with their artist profiles. Through this process of partnering with artists like Elyanna, Nadine El Roubi, Wegz, and more, I became aware of the lack of financial investment in the music space. My biggest challenge evolved from creating awareness on the rising underground musical scene to now funding these artists’ projects and aspirations. I am hungry to explore all the avenues of monetizing through Web3, investments, as well as learn the intricacies of royalties and contracts to bolster emerging musical artists. I am invested, now more than ever, to integrate myself into the music scene, connect with industry executives, and learn how to finance the brilliance coming out of the Middle East in order to amplify the sounds and creativity blossoming across the MENA diaspora. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Yasmeen Afifi is the Co-Founder and CMO of NOORstudios, a 360 full-service creative marketing agency and record label. NOORstudios is a women-owned agency that specializes in bringing ideas to life through visual storytelling, experiential marketing, and partnerships. 

What matters most to you?
Throughout my creative and professional journey, the essence of nurturing community and genuine connections became of the utmost importance. I am committed to empowering my community with the resources, access, and connections to inspire creativity and fulfilling our life purpose. Creating safe spaces for people to feel inspired to tap into their creative nature is what matters. As artists, creators, entrepreneurs, we feel pressured to produce an output that is perfect. I’ve learned that the process is all about the creative journey, not the output. I try to embody childlike nature when approaching creative projects– tapping into playfulness and freedom. Energy and creative freedom inspires creation and propels people to nurture that internal fire. 

Contact Info:

• Website: noorstudios.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yngnefertiti/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasmeenafifi/
• NOOR Studios: noorstudios.org

Image Credits
NOORstudios