IFPI ‘25 Global Music Report: MENA Has Fastest Growing Music Market
A rapidly expanding market, a surge in streaming, and a new wave of regional stars.
Mar 19, 2025
The Middle East & North Africa (MENA) is officially the fastest-growing music market in the world, with revenues soaring by 22.8% in 2024, according to IFPI's latest Global Music Report. This marks the second time in three years that MENA has led global growth, highlighting the region's increasing influence on the international music landscape.
Streaming continues to fuel this rise, accounting for 99.5% of total industry revenues. Subscription-based platforms like Spotify and YouTube have seen significant growth, while local giant Anghami remains a key player in shaping the region's listening habits.
'It is exciting to see MENA become the fastest growing region in the world for recorded music for the second time in three years' said IFPI's MENA Regional Director Rawan Al-Dabbas, 'The music market in MENA continues to evolve in exciting ways, all underpinned by the work and investment of record companies.?
The report also underscores the dominance of regional artists. Amr Diab, Ayed, and Tamer Ashour led The Official MENA Chart, with tracks that defined the year. Tamer Ashour's 'Haygeley Mwgoa3' held the #1 spot for 13 weeks, while Ayed's 'Lammah' spent 12 consecutive weeks at the top. Meanwhile, Amr Diab continued his reign with 11 songs in the year's Top 20, reaffirming his position as a regional icon.
MENA's music industry outpaced global growth trends, surpassing Latin America (+22.5%) and Sub-Saharan Africa (+22.6%). While North America, Europe, and Asia posted more modest gains, MENA's rapid acceleration signals a shifting power dynamic, with local markets playing a bigger role in shaping the future of global music consumption.
For the full report head to globalmusicreport.ifpi.org/
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CairoScene
3 days ago
- CairoScene
Your Summer Guide to the Biggest Sahel Parties
From Jamie Jones and Amr Diab to 'All Day I Dream' and P+US, Sahel's 2024 season brings a tidal wave of global talent, iconic beach venues, and back-to-back weekends of pure energy. Jun 18, 2025 Amr Diab, Who Made Who & Monolink Sol Beach, Marassi Fri July 4th The Martinez Brothers & Rolbac Sol Beach, Marassi Fri August 1st &ME Sol Beach, Marassi Fri August 8th Paradise Ibiza: Jamie Jones B2B Seth Troxler, East End Dubs, Kolter, Manda Moor & Awadly Solare, Ras El Hekma Fri July 11th Shorelines Festival Almaza Bay July 31st-August 2nd P+US: Bedouin & Jade D-Bay, North Coast Fri August 22nd P+US: Solomun D-Bay, North Coast Fri August 29th Fideles, Yulia Niko & Mohasseb B2B Ashmawy ESCĀ Beach, Ras El Hekma Fri August 22nd 'All Day I Dream' ft. Lee Burridge, Nils Hoffmann, Lost Desert, Amonita & Fulltone ESCĀ Beach, Ras El Hekma Fri August 8th Stephan Jolk, Apache, ThatGirlSherryK & Ziad Mousa ESCĀ Beach Club, Ras El Hekma Fri July 18th Crcl: Malandra Jr. Cassette, New Alamein Fri June 20th Pawsa D-Bay, North Coast Fri July 18th Folamour Kiki's Beach, Hacienda White Thu August 14th
Identity
5 days ago
- Identity
Why Music Collabs Across the Arab World Matter More Than Ever
In 2025, Arab music is no longer confined by borders, or genres, or dialects, or even expectations. A new wave of collaboration is sweeping across the region, not as a passing trend, but as a cultural, strategic, and emotional necessity. Artists are no longer just making music, they're building bridges in a region that desperately needs connection. For decades, the Arab world's music scenes functioned in silos. Moroccan rap lived in Casablanca. Khaleeji pop stayed in the Gulf. Levantine indie barely made it beyond Beirut. Even the biggest stars often catered only to local audiences, shaped by fragmented media ecosystems and limited industry infrastructure. But those rules are dissolving, and fast. The shift isn't just about the sound. It's about who the music reaches and what it represents. When Amr Diab and Cheb Khaled dropped 'Albi,' it wasn't just two icons collaborating, it was Egypt and Algeria, two giants with decades of history and distinct sonic legacies, coming together in one track. It was a rare moment of musical diplomacy: pop met rai, nostalgia met evolution, and fans across North Africa and the Levant tuned in to a shared moment. That sense of shared identity feels even more powerful in tracks like 'Kalamantina,' where Saint Levant's smooth, diaspora-inflected flow collided with Marwan Moussa's sharp Egyptian cadence. It wasn't just a song, it was a conversation between worlds. Every listener could find a piece of themselves in the mix. And that's the point. Arab youth today aren't defined by national borders. They're fluid, global, political, polyglot, and their playlists reflect it. Collaboration now is more than creativity. It's a form of resistance. In a region where politics, censorship, and media often divide, music has become one of the few spaces where unity feels possible. When artists collaborate across countries, they unlock access, not just to fanbases, but to stages, festivals, and charts that would otherwise remain closed. Music now travels faster than policy. A producer in Beirut can DM a rapper in Casablanca, send a beat to Riyadh, and drop the song on TikTok the next day. The internet has erased the logistical excuses. What's left is choice, and artists are choosing each other. Most importantly, they're responding to demand. Arab Gen Z isn't passively consuming music; they're driving it. They want stories that reflect their reality: not neatly packaged national identities, but messy, mixed, multilingual ones. The success of these collaborations shows that fans are ahead of the industry. They're not asking for representation, they're curating it. So why do collaborations across the Arab world matter more than ever? Because they reflect the future that Arab youth are already living. Because they offer unity in a time of fracture. Because they bypass the broken and build something new. And because they prove, again and again, that even in a region of difference, the beat still brings us back to each other.
Identity
5 days ago
- Identity
4 Egyptian Films That Hit Way Harder in Your Twenties
There's something no one tells you about your twenties: it's not some perfectly edited montage of 'figuring it all out.' It's more like jumping between jobs, cities, situationships, and Spotify playlists that no longer hit, and somehow, you're still thinking this might be the year everything makes sense. It's laughing hysterically in a car at midnight with people you're not sure will be in your life next year. It's the awkward weddings, the messy group chats, the friendships that quietly fade, and the late-night deep talks that remind you you're not completely lost and somewhere along the way, movies you once watched for fun suddenly feel personal. The friend group in Aw2at Faragh? That could've been yours. The creative frustration in Microphone? Too real. The emotional tension in Sahar El Layali? You've lived it and A7la El Aw2at? It makes you want to text that one person who knew you before the chaos. These films don't offer solutions, but they do make you feel seen and in your twenties, sometimes that's enough. Tell us which movie captures your twenties the most. Aw2at Faragh (2006) You probably watched it as a teenager and thought it was just about reckless youth and bad decisions. But in your twenties, it feels more like a mirror of the aimlessness, the quiet identity crises, and that sinking feeling of having too many choices and no clue what you're doing. It's not just a film about boredom, it's about what boredom turns into when you're lost, disconnected, and desperate to feel something real. Microphone (2010) For anyone who's ever tried to turn passion into purpose and felt that life was getting in their way, this movie is for you. Microphone isn't just about underground art and music. It's about that familiar urge to build something real in a place that doesn't always know what to do with dreamers. The film is quiet, unassuming, but emotionally loaded like all the times you've tried to make meaning out of chaos. Watching it in your twenties feels personal. It's not about making it big; it's about making it at all. Sahar El Layaly (2003) Because every friendship group has a point where things quietly start to fall apart, Sahar El Layaly feels like a love letter to the relationships you thought would last forever until they didn't. It's the unspoken tensions, the unresolved fights. The weight of things we never say but always feel. You watch it differently in your twenties not as someone judging the characters, but as someone realizing you are them. This film is about marriage, friendship, and betrayal but mostly it's about how easily everything can change. And how growing up sometimes means growing apart. A7la El Aw2at (2004) A film that proves the best times don't always look like it when you're in them. It's about three women trying to navigate love, grief, friendship, and identity, basically, every woman in her twenties. What makes it hit harder now is how real it feels. Messy, layered, intimate. The kind of film that doesn't offer answers, just reflections. It's about the women you become because of heartbreak, not despite it. About how old friendships resurface, how love is rarely convenient, and how healing never comes in a straight line. It's soft, raw, and strangely comforting. Being in your twenties is like watching these films: sometimes you don't get the plot, sometimes the characters frustrate you, and sometimes you cry in scenes that aren't even supposed to be sad. But somewhere in all of that, you realize you're not the only one figuring it out on the go.
