How Similar Are Music Tastes in the Arab World?
From Morocco to Saudi Arabia, there’s a widespread assumption that the Arab world is culturally identical. The region may share a language, certain customs, and cuisine, but the picture is far less seamless when it comes to music.
For decades, traditional media such as radio, TV, and pan-Arab talent shows have helped enable cross-border success. It's even easier today with music discovery unfolding on streaming platforms and social media. From icons like Amr Diab to rising stars like Al Shami, some artists not only dominate the charts but also perform in multiple cities across the region several times a year.
But even with that history, the idea of a unified musical landscape doesn’t always hold up under scrutiny, and the reality for artists on the ground is even more fragmented. Breaking through, getting airplay, and building an audience come with wildly different challenges depending on where they are and the genre of music they are making. As digital platforms shift the playing field, it’s worth asking: how similar are music tastes in the Arab world?
One way to explore this question is by comparing the top ten daily tracks on Anghami (the MENA region's preferred streaming platform) between pairs of countries. This approach makes it possible to measure the musical overlap by calculating the average number of shared songs between each pair in a set period.
On average, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates share 8 out of 10 tracks in their daily Top 10, making them the most aligned pair. Other Gulf countries follow closely: Kuwait shares 7 tracks daily with both Qatar and the UAE. In the Levant region, Jordan, Palestine, and Syria display similarly overlapping tastes, with up to 7 tracks in common each day. Some pairs show no overlap at the other end of the spectrum, such as Morocco and the UAE, or Egypt and Algeria. Out of 162 unique country pairs analyzed, 57 share at least five tracks in their daily Top 10.
While shared track presence highlights audience overlap, examining the flow of talent provides deeper insight into cross-border dynamics. By analyzing the top 50 artists with the most appearances on each country’s daily charts, we can see which regions prefer local repertoire and which are more open to international stars.
Egypt stands out with the highest share of local artists at 86%, followed by Morocco at 46%. Algeria and Lebanon landed next, with 32% and 30%, respectively. On the other end of the spectrum, countries like Qatar and the United Arab Emirates had no local artists in their top 50. This doesn’t mean local artists never appear on their own country’s charts. Rather, it suggests that some countries consistently prioritize homegrown talent, while others lean more heavily toward regional or international acts.
For instance, Egypt, especially Cairo, has long been the beating heart of the Arab music scene, widely seen as the place where regional success begins. With a population of over 100 million and a diverse musical landscape that spans Egyptian pop, mahraganat, and rap, the country offers fertile ground for discovery and growth. Cairo’s status as a “trigger city” means that breakout hits there often ripple locally and across the region. For instance, both “Haygeley Mwgoa3” by Tamer Ashour and “Ya Amar” by Amr Diab were among the tracks that had many appearances in most countries’ charts.
The same goes for Lebanon. Despite ongoing political and economic challenges, Lebanese artists dominate the regional music scene, especially superstars like Elissa and Nancy Ajram. Their songs are played across the Arab world, from the Levant to the Gulf. Rising indie artist and actress, Marilyne Naaman, is the latest example. In 2024, she broke into the mainstream with her hit “nachez.” This year, she performed the opening theme song (titr) “ana min” for the Ramadan drama series Bil Dam. The success of “ana min,” which charted in multiple countries, demonstrates that traditional TV and opening theme songs remain significant in music discovery throughout the region.
Morocco, however, reflects a different trend. While Moroccan artists hold a strong presence on their national charts, they’re less visible across the wider region than Lebanon and Egypt. Morocco’s scene is more focused on domestic talent and, to some extent, neighboring North African countries like Algeria and Tunisia. For example, among North African countries, there’s a strong rap and trap scene, led by artists such as ElGrandeToto and Didine Canon 16. The reasons are layered: strong local support, a distinct dialect that doesn’t always translate regionally, and a music ecosystem that thrives on national identity more than regional crossover.
More often than not, these differences in music preferences are also reflected in the platforms people use. Despite the rise of streaming services, YouTube remains a dominant platform for music consumption across much of the Arab world, especially in countries where Spotify entered the market later or where data costs and app accessibility are factors. This is why massive discrepancies still exist between YouTube views and Spotify streams. Take Al Shami’s hit “Doctor” as an example: it has over 104 million views on YouTube, but just around 5.9 million streams on Spotify. That gap is more than just fan engagement, but regional user preferences, socioeconomic conditions, and algorithmic ecosystems. After all, YouTube is a free platform.
Another way to understand regional music preferences is by comparing platform charts. In Saudi Arabia, where both Spotify and Anghami have official daily charts, their overlap offers a glimpse into how aligned or distinct their audiences are. On average, there are 11 overlapping tracks out of 50 between the two platforms on a daily basis. While the common tracks were mainly global hits like Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With A Smile” and “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” by Billie Eilish, and a few regional hits like Sherine’s “Kalam Eineh” and “Habibi Leh,” by TUL8TE, most tracks on Spotify charts seem to be Western songs. In Egypt, a similar analysis shows that on average there are 19 overlapping tracks between the two platforms.
These findings are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to understanding the music landscape in the Arab world. In practice, what may appear as one region on paper is a highly fragmented network of scenes, sounds, and structures. However, the factors contributing to these differences are clear, including the size and development of the local music industry, cultural preferences, and the infrastructure supporting local talent.
Moreover, the uneven chart presence of local artists and the dominance of certain platforms in specific countries point to a deeper truth: in many places, it’s still harder for artists to break through in their own markets. While most artists can’t rely on streaming income, unless they’re global stars, the massive gap between YouTube views and Spotify streams highlights missed revenue opportunities tied to platform access and listener behavior, given that streaming makes up 95.5% of total revenue in MENA.
Major tech platforms and global music labels still treat the Arab world as a uniform market, assuming every music hub operates similarly, Beirut like Casablanca, Riyadh like Cairo. However, while many positive changes have been made and deserve recognition, the responsibility isn’t solely on global companies.
There are also small, meaningful steps that the artist and their teams can take, such as adding the correct credits to Spotify. Many artists still struggle with poor metadata on streaming platforms. Duplicate profiles, missing credits, and incorrect song information are common, even for major acts. These errors hurt visibility, damage discovery for the fans, and limit the artist to tracking their cross-platform performance and real impact. In addition, greater emphasis should be placed on educating artists about the role of data, audience segmentation, and platform-specific strategies, moving beyond simply releasing a song and hoping for the best.
Building a better, more connected music scene doesn’t mean tearing it all down and starting over. A lot of the pieces are already there. What’s missing is the support system, the infrastructure, and the little adjustments that can help good ideas scale. It starts by paying attention. Not just to the sound itself, but to the place it’s coming from.