The Middle East’s music business has huge potential

Music has always spilled out of Cairo’s cafés. But the lilting tones of traditional songs are now being replaced by the rapping of musicians such as Wegz, a 25-year-old Egyptian hip-hop artist. His music is popular across the region. In 2022 his song “El Bakht” (“Luck”) was streamed 45m times—the most ever recorded by Anghami, the leading Arabic music-streaming platform. In 2023 he became the first Arab artist to announce a world tour with Live Nation, an American concert promoter.

This growth is not just confined to Wegz. Revenues from recorded music in the Middle East and north Africa rose by 24% in 2022, says IFPI, a trade body. In 2021 it was the world’s fastest-growing market.

Hip-hop is driving the trend. Spotify, another streamer, says hip-hop consumption shot up by 479% in Egypt between January 2020 and August 2023, and by 143% in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Other genres, such as Khaleeji pop from the Gulf, are growing, too.

Governments want to capitalise. Saudi Arabia’s official music strategy, launched in 2021, includes building 130 recording studios by 2030. An industry conference hosted in the kingdom, XP Music Futures, attracts global heavy-hitters. The UAE will introduce a new system to protect intellectual property (IP) in 2024—the first of its kind in the Middle East. Egypt has also announced plans to create a new IP office.

The potential of the market—and the presence of so much local talent—is also attracting international investors. In August the world’s biggest record company, Universal Music Group, acquired Chabaka, a firm in the UAE which represents 150 artists across the region. Reservoir Media, in New York, has teamed up with PopArabia in Abu Dhabi to acquire 100Copies, an Egyptian record label which played a significant role in the popularisation of mahraganat, a genre that combines traditional elements with electronic beats.

Many in the industry hope a local star will achieve a global breakthrough hit. That may well happen in 2024. ■

Ann Hanna, News editor, The Economist