Iraq Fast Moving Consumer Goods: Entertainment

Movies

Except in Kurdistan, there are no movie theaters in Iraq. Citizens must purchase movies and music at stores or street vendors.

This available media is bootlegged, generally. There’s very little un-copied/ un-bootlegged physical media available to Iraqi citizens. There is no law that protects copyright in Iraq, which is subsequently frustrating for artists and companies. These media items are very cheap in Iraq, equating to only 80 cents.

Music

Music is bought through physical cd-s, and these are generally copied as well.

Online Entertainment Business in Iraq

There is no way to buy music online, or to purchase mp3-s. This is for two reasons: one, it isn’t available. Secondly, most Iraqi-s don’t have credit or debit cards, as the borrowing of money goes against religious muslim law, and most Iraqi citizens to not bank with institutions.

There are free satellite channels which provide movies and music. Iraq has dish and satellite – which gets TV channels for free. There are very few paid TV channels in Iraq. Paid channels in Iraq include:

• OSN: It is the American Showtime network translated to Arabic. This is expensive in Iraqi standards, and so very few Iraqi-s pay the fee to watch it.

Iraqi-s love American TV shows: Law & Order, Friends, Big Bang Theory. There are about 20 American shows that  are available to Iraqi-s. There are nonstop American movies as well.

Entertainment Preferences

Iraqi-s mainly buy Iraqi music, although they do also listen to Lebanese and Egyptian music. English-speaking Iraqi-s love American movies; however, arabic speakers prefer Egyptian movies. Iraqi’s enjoy watching Turkish, Egyptian, Kuwaiti, UAE and American TV shows.